On Wednesday, Sun Country announced the addition of two new destinations to its network: Belize and St. Kitts & Nevis. This is the first ever seasonal nonstop service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Belize and between Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Kitts & Nevis. Both destinations are available now for booking at suncountry.com. These are the latest route additions for Minnesota’s hometown airline turned low-cost carrier. Read the full Sun Country press release here.
The New Routes
Sun Country will start flying a seasonal route from Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) to Belize Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE) from December 22nd, 2018 through April 20, 2019. Sun Country will operate the route once a week on Saturdays for roundtrip flights.
The new seasonal nonstop service from Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) to St. Kitts & Nevis Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport (SKB) will operate from December 22, 2018, through April 20, 2019, with roundtrip options exclusively on Saturdays as well.
Sun Country is now charging for checked bags, carry-ons, and seat selection. A checked bag is $25 each way and a carry-on bag is $30 – $35 each way, adding roughly $60 – $70 to your flight cost. Seat selection on this route ranges from $11 – $64 each way. First Class is not available on these routes, due to the redesign of the Sun Country cabin. With fees, expect to pay around $750 roundtrip for these new routes.
Our Analysis
Are these Sun Country Flights from Minneapolis to Belize and St. Kitts a good deal? It’s going to depend on the availability of these low fares the airline is promoting. Both routes could be a solid deal even after factoring in the additional fees. We have seen some recent flight deals to Belize City (BZE) out of Minneapolis for $293 with one stop on United, making the nonstop route more than double the price of recent deals.
Keep in mind both of these new routes are seasonal. Service to both Belize and St. Kitts begins December 22 and ends April 20.
Hundreds of travelers learned the hard way what can happen with seasonal routes when Sun Country canceled some of its final flights out of Mazatlan (MZT) and San Jose del Cabo (SJD) due to the April snowstorm in Minnesota. The airline then refused to book a charter and left it up to customers to book their way home.
After days of bad headlines, the airline finally relented and agreed to reimburse travelers for their additional expenses. While we’re certain Sun Country has learned its lesson, it’s smart to keep this in mind if you’re booked toward the end of the seasonal schedule.
Vice President of Networking and Pricing at Sun Country, Ben Brookman, says:Â “We are pleased to be the first airline to offer scheduled nonstop service from MSP to these two great destinations, and look forward to offering Minnesotans affordable nonstop service to even more vacation hot spots.”
Bottom Line
New nonstop routes out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, especially to beautiful destinations like Belize and St. Kitts, is exciting news. Just remember that Sun Country charges extra if you bring a bag or want to pick your seat. It is important to look at the additional fees on Sun Country. As long as you know what you are getting with your ticket, these nonstop routes can be attractive options.Â
Lead Photo Credit: Chris Lundberg – Flickr