# St Barts Forums > Getting To St Barts Forum - Airlines, Ferry Service, Charters >  >  Winair No Longer Prints US Air Boarding Passes

## tim

Just flew home from St. Barth.  I had bought my Winair tix from US Air, so I thought surely they would print my US Air boarding passes. The Winair agent tried two different systems, but he couldn't get it done.  Because I had all flights on the same itinerary I could not check in with US Air online.  Therefore, we had to go around to the US Air ticket counter in SXM to get our US Air boarding passes and go through security upstairs.  We took an earlier Winair flight than planned to make sure that we had sufficient time in SXM to go through the hassles .

P. S. Thanks to the folks at Wimco for letting us use their computer to try to print our US Air boarding passes.  It wasn't the fault of their computer that we couldn't accomplish it.

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## Jim Kelly-Evans

not good...sorry to read this...any chance the USAir/Winair arrangement will be re-established in the future?

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## JEK

I suspect the switch has been made to the AA res system and thus the failure. Unless AA and WinAir and reach an interline agreement, I don't think this is coming back.  I just received an email from both carriers allowing me to merge my US miles into AAdvantage.


image.jpg

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## andynap

When I book again in April I expect to see the new AA flights into SXM. Maybe something will happen between now and then but I never used Winair going down so the luggage thing never mattered to me. Going home tho I did use Winair.

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## cbuncamper

Hi Tim,

As was mentioned, the New AA broke the interline agreement since August 1st, 2014......For persons that were booked before this the check in still worked until we changed our new Reservations system in November 2014

We will try to once again convience AA of the importance of this Agreement when the systems from US and AA are merged........For now United if this is an option check's the bags thru

Claudio








> Just flew home from St. Barth.  I had bought my Winair tix from US Air, so I thought surely they would print my US Air boarding passes. The Winair agent tried two different systems, but he couldn't get it done.  Because I had all flights on the same itinerary I could not check in with US Air online.  Therefore, we had to go around to the US Air ticket counter in SXM to get our US Air boarding passes and go through security upstairs.  We took an earlier Winair flight than planned to make sure that we had sufficient time in SXM to go through the hassles .
> 
> P. S. Thanks to the folks at Wimco for letting us use their computer to try to print our US Air boarding passes.  It wasn't the fault of their computer that we couldn't accomplish it.

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## stbartshopper

We booked out tickets way in advance so maybe what cbuncamper says will work with us. We buy our WinAir tickets direct from WinAir and our USAIR tickets directly from USAIR. We have looked a number of times at buying our WinAir from USAIR and have always found the thru ticket more expensive by quite a bit. We do have to check our bags on the interline- WinAir but that is quick and do not have to go thru customs.
Tim, we are confused as to why you did not print your boarding passes at your Villa or a near by hotel when you check in 24 hours in advance? That is what we always do. But we understand if Win Air would not check your bags all the way thru, why you had to stand in line at USAIR to check them. What a pain! Hopefully in the second quarter, as John suggests, this may all be straightened out for future visits. We will see.

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## tim

The US Air web site would not allow me to preprint my boarding passes.  The site referred me to Winair, which could not print my US Air boarding passes.

I'm very familiar with the US Air web site.

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## andynap

> The US Air web site would not allow me to preprint my boarding passes. The site referred me to Winair, which could not print my US Air boarding passes.
> 
> *I'm very familiar with the US Air web site*.



You think?? :)

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## JimH21111

Tim:

Where you able to obtain WinAir boarding passes and check your bags through to SBH on the way down?

Jim

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## tim

I had bought my Winair tix from US Air back last winter when that was still possible.  All my flights were on the same itinerary, and US Air has a policy to check bags though to the final destination if all the flights are on the same itinerary.  Therefore US Air checked our bags though to SBH.  However, we did have to pick up our Winair boarding passes at the Transit Desk in SXM.  Actually, since we had engaged Premium IV to help us transit the SXM airport,  their rep picked up our Winair boarding passes on our behalf.

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## cec1

. . . those Premium IV folks are pretty handy to have around!

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## JimH21111

Thanks Tim. Our flights are also on the same itinerary so hopefully we can at least check our bags through to SBH on the way down. Sounds like there is nothing that can be done going home. Our annual SBH trip is earlier this year. Given the weather here at home we are ready for SBH! Let's hope that there are no flight delays on Saturday.

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## cbuncamper

Hi All

Just for information sake, US Airways by rights should not check the bags thru seeing there is no agreement any longer between the two carriers, the systems normally control this as is the case on the WM end
Maybe they have not blocked this on their end as yet but they will shortly do it. As far as I was told, only the persons with US Airways tickets purchased before the 01August termination last year, they would have accommodated

As a suggestion, keep enough time between the flights just incase they don't check the bags thru......

Claudio

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## JimH21111

> Hi All
> 
> Just for information sake, US Airways by rights should not check the bags thru seeing there is no agreement any longer between the two carriers, the systems normally control this as is the case on the WM end
> Maybe they have not blocked this on their end as yet but they will shortly do it. As far as I was told, only the persons with US Airways tickets purchased before the 01August termination last year, they would have accommodated
> 
> As a suggestion, keep enough time between the flights just incase they don't check the bags thru......
> 
> Claudio



Thanks Claudio. We purchased our tickets on July 29 so we will keep our fingers crossed.

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## JimH21111

> I had bought my Winair tix from US Air back last winter when that was still possible.  All my flights were on the same itinerary, and US Air has a policy to check bags though to the final destination if all the flights are on the same itinerary.  Therefore US Air checked our bags though to SBH.  However, we did have to pick up our Winair boarding passes at the Transit Desk in SXM.  Actually, since we had engaged Premium IV to help us transit the SXM airport,  their rep picked up our Winair boarding passes on our behalf.



Tim: Did you use Premium IV on the way home? I have never used a transit service but perhaps its time to give Premium IV a try. Jim

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## tim

I did not use Premium IV on the way home, but it would have been a nice luxury.  We had to go around through Immigration to the US Air ticket counter to get our boarding passes, and that takes some time.  Be sure to allow a couple of hours for your SXM connection.

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## andynap

In my opinion it's better to use PIV going home than arriving.

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## katva

> In my opinion it's better to use PIV going home than arriving.



I agree with you, Andy. Leaving is such a pain!  It's great to just have someone else do it for you!!! :cool:

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## andynap

> I agree with you, Andy. Leaving is such a pain!  It's great to just have someone else do it for you!!!



Because it's more difficult PIV charges more

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## JEK

Screen Shot 2015-01-27 at 8.26.36 AM.jpg

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## SherylB

Rob and I are actually getting really good at carry on only - coming back home in November we were able to check in online with Westjet, but the kicker was getting our boarding passes printed while still on island. We booked our villa directly through the owner so didn't have the option of using Wimco or SBP. But our villa manager came through and hand-delivered two lovely printed boarding passes!

That allowed us to to skip immigration and going back out into the main departure hall to get our passes (which we've had to do before and DOES add a significant amount of time to your transfer process). The only issue was that the security scanner in the transit area was broken both coming and going in November, so we had to be escorted past immigration and directed to go up the elevator to the main security screening area. Which also could have added more time if there was a long line up - but we breezed through both times.

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## Chipper

Tim, so you basically had an easy trip down to SBH, bypassing immigration. But on the way back you had to go through immigration so as to access the US Air ticket desk for boarding passes. I am assuming you did not 
get the VIP service for going back bec this ended up being a travel day surprise. Did I get all that right? We are going early Apr but I got our US Air/WinAir tix from USAir July 27, so we should be ok according to Claudio, except for coming back unless WinAir can help to get that part fixed(being able to issue US Air boarding passes). Any chance of that Claudio?

Also, JimH, sounds like your trip before mine (Apr 11-18)....  If so, can you let me/us know how it went.

Lastly, Tim, I have always used St Barths Services in the past and been happy with the service. Do you consider PremVIP better and why please?

Thanks guys.

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## Chipper

> Rob and I are actually getting really good at carry on only - coming back home in November we were able to check in online with Westjet, but the kicker was getting our boarding passes printed while still on island. We booked our villa directly through the owner so didn't have the option of using Wimco or SBP. But our villa manager came through and hand-delivered two lovely printed boarding passes!
> 
> That allowed us to to skip immigration and going back out into the main departure hall to get our passes (which we've had to do before and DOES add a significant amount of time to your transfer process). The only issue was that the security scanner in the transit area was broken both coming and going in November, so we had to be escorted past immigration and directed to go up the elevator to the main security screening area. Which also could have added more time if there was a long line up - but we breezed through both times.



______________

Chazzay, were you on US Air? Do you have any idea how the manager was able to print your boarding passes in SBH for your flight from SXM?
TIA.

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## andynap

Chipper- if you are renting thru Wimco or any agency they will print your boarding passes. Otherwise, Central Alizes in  Gustavia has computers and printers for a nominal fee.

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## Chipper

Thanks Andy. But for the last few trips we have rented our villa from someone on-island thru vrbo after using Wimco and SBP for yrs.
My main concern was the problem Tim had with WinAir no longer printing the USAir passes requiring him to go thru immigration, which we want to avoid by cking bags all the
way through. But looks like you saying that can be done by doing it yourself at Central Alizes?

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## KevinS

Check Centre Alizes hours when you reach the island.  They may not be open on Sundays.

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## andynap

Thanks Kevin- typo- Centre Alizes.

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## tim

I went by the Winair desk today.  The only place I can get my US Air boarding passes back to the USA is at the US Air counter in SXM.  That  is due to the fact that Winair is my originating flight from SBH.  I do not know about those who have separate itineraries for the return trip to the US on US Air.

Not only that, but Winair can no longer check your bags on US Air flights.  Passengers must now reclaim their baggage in SXM and recheck it at the US  Air ticket counter.

I don't know if Premium IV is better than SBS.  All I know about Premium IV's service is the outstanding job they did for me in January, about which I've already written.

Chipper, on the trip down I had purchased my Winair tix from US Air last February.  Therefore we could check our bags through to SBH on Winair.  As it turned out US Air had a mechanical problem in CLT that caused us to misconnect with Winair in SXM.  US Air paid for our hotel, meals, taxis, and Winair rebooked us for the first flight the following day.

​Edited by Tim.

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## JEK

High season problems.

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## andynap

Tim- what if you have carryon only? Still have to check in at the Usair counter?

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## tim

> Tim- what if you have carryon only? Still have to check in at the Usair counter?



That depends.  If your US Air flights are on a separate itinerary, theoretically you should be able to print your US Air boarding passes at any computer or the kiosk in the SXM Transit area.  The key word here is "theoretically."

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## JEK

Seems to be it is a moot point as within weeks/months there will be no USAir.

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## cbuncamper

In deed US Airways will disappear sometime but I believe all the US Airways customers should write US Airways / American and stress the importance of these agreements and the convienece it is to all passengers whom are clients from all of US, this goes for most of the mayor carriers as they dont believe or understand the amount of passengers that make connections

As Winair, we will continue to convience them to instate these agreements and make the required investments

Claudio

Ps.....As a reminder, we do check bags on United Airlines if they are an option

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## cassidain

> I believe all the US Airways customers should write US Airways / American and stress the importance of these agreements and the convienece it is to all passengers whom are clients from all of US



Claudio, perhaps you can provide an AA email address by which we can express these concerns. Their website does not make it easy to find such a means to convey a general, non-specific-flight comment.

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## andynap

Try these email addresses 

image.jpg

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## cassidain

Way to go, Andy! Let's all of us AA folks start a campaign. Booking/confirming/checking in all the way to and from Gustave III makes life easier.

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## bto

> Tim- what if you have carryon only? Still have to check in at the Usair counter?



andy, we left the island yesterday with carryon bags….did not check in at the US Airways counter.  Checked in online and had boarding passes printed on island.  Went straight to the gate.  Easy.  In the past, we have printed boarding passes from the kiosk with no problem.

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## andynap

> andy, we left the island yesterday with carryon bags….did not check in at the US Airways counter.  Checked in online and had boarding passes printed on island.  Went straight to the gate.  Easy.  In the past, we have printed boarding passes from the kiosk with no problem.



Great. Let's hope that AA picks up where Usair left off.

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## JEK

Worth an email or two, but be aware the same management team that stopped the interline agreement is now running AA.

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## Chipper

> I went by the Winair desk today.  The only place I can get my US Air boarding passes back to the USA is at the US Air counter in SXM.  That  is due to the fact that Winair is my originating flight from SBH.  I do not know about those who have separate itineraries for the return trip to the US on US Air.
> 
> Not only that, but Winair can no longer check your bags on US Air flights.  Passengers must now reclaim their baggage in SXM and recheck it at the US  Air ticket counter.
> 
> I don't know if Premium IV is better than SBS.  All I know about Premium IV's service is the outstanding job they did for me in January, about which I've already written.
> 
> Chipper, on the trip down I had purchased my Winair tix from US Air last February.  Therefore we could check our bags through to SBH on Winair.  As it turned out US Air had a mechanical problem in CLT that caused us to misconnect with Winair in SXM.  US Air paid for our hotel, meals, taxis, and Winair rebooked us for the first flight the following day.
> 
> ​Edited by Tim.



Thanks Tim. That is helpful to know. Looks like, at least at this point, I will engage the VIP services coming home, but not going down.

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## cbuncamper

Hi all

these are the 2 emails we recomend to send to

to doug.parker@aa.com
he is President and CEO of AA, and copy art.torno@aa.com he is SR VP MIA and the Caribbean falls under his direction


Regards

Claudio






> Claudio, perhaps you can provide an AA email address by which we can express these concerns. Their website does not make it easy to find such a means to convey a general, non-specific-flight comment.

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## Chipper

> Hi all
> 
> these are the 2 emails we recomend to send to
> 
> to doug.parker@aa.com
> he is President and CEO of AA, and copy art.torno@aa.com he is SR VP MIA and the Caribbean falls under his direction
> 
> 
> Regards
> ...



I just sent them my email. Please take a few minutes to do this. 
It may be in vain, but perhaps will help. I included my AAdvantage status and included Suzanne Rubin and Sean Bentel from Andy's post in addition to the 2 above.

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## JimH21111

Our experiece mirrored Tim's. We were able to check our bags through on the flight down because our tickets were purchased before 8/1 and our flights were on the same itinerary. On the way home, WinAir could not issue boarding passes for USAir or check bags past SXM. We had to clear customs in SXM, collect luggage, get boarding passes at USAir desk, go through customs and security to reach main boarding area. That process took about 1 hour on a busy Saturday.





> Tim, so you basically had an easy trip down to SBH, bypassing immigration. But on the way back you had to go through immigration so as to access the US Air ticket desk for boarding passes. I am assuming you did not 
> get the VIP service for going back bec this ended up being a travel day surprise. Did I get all that right? We are going early Apr but I got our US Air/WinAir tix from USAir July 27, so we should be ok according to Claudio, except for coming back unless WinAir can help to get that part fixed(being able to issue US Air boarding passes). Any chance of that Claudio?
> 
> Also, JimH, sounds like your trip before mine (Apr 11-18)....  If so, can you let me/us know how it went.
> 
> Lastly, Tim, I have always used St Barths Services in the past and been happy with the service. Do you consider PremVIP better and why please?
> 
> Thanks guys.

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## JimH21111

Some have commented on this thread that the situation would have been different for those flying United. However, there was a couple on our WinAir flight home who were traveling on United. While Winair was able to issue them United boarding passes, WinAir was not able to check their luggage through. I thought this was strange. They still had to clear customs, collect their luggage, recheck their luggage and go through the main security checkpoint.

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## SherylB

> ______________
> 
> Chazzay, were you on US Air? Do you have any idea how the manager was able to print your boarding passes in SBH for your flight from SXM?
> TIA.



Hey Chipper, we were flying on Westjet to Toronto. We were able to check in online 24 hours in advance so I just emailed the boarding pass file to our villa manager and he printed them out for us.

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## lloyd

Chazzay
us too.We use WJA to Toronto regularly.We print the boarding passes here 24 hours before,and go right through the intransit.
we love the WJA run :YYZ- SXM.In winter,connecting can be a little tight- 30-40 minutes,but with carry on,never a problem
In summer,when it's daylight saving time in Ontario,the connection is a breeze

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## Chipper

Fwiw, here is the response I received. Mr Torno indicates that WinAir should, according to the termination agreement, check the bags from SBH back to one's home airport. Part of that obviously includes boarding passes. Maybe Claudio can address why this (apparently) is not being done on the return leg.
I still think it would be good for AA/USA to get many emails about this subject.
****************

 Dear Dr. Lind,
Thank you for reaching out to American Airlines regarding your concerns with codeshare options to and from St. Barths.  We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty to American Airlines and salute your status as an AAdvantage® Platinum customer. 
While we have determined to discontinue our codeshare, the good news is that your trip in April is fine.  US Airways still continues to check bags through to WinAir so you should have no problems with the connection since on the outbound trip, you have 1h:10m to make a connection in St. Maarten where the minimum connecting time is 1h:00m.  Additionally we have no reason to doubt that WinAir would routinely check bags to US northbound, as was intended when we coordinated the termination of the interline agreement (your ticket was purchased before the agreement was terminated). 
As to the future, we continue to look for opportunities in establishing a codeshare agreement to St. Barths.
We reiterate our thanks for your loyalty.

Sincerely,

Art Torno

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