TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums US VI and Puerto Rico San Juan Airport Question

Flying United and transferring to Cape Air on Nov 1. I was wondering do I need to go thru customs and agriculture or is it a straight walk over with no delay.

If arriving SJU from the US you WILL NOT have to clear Immigration, Customs or Agriculture. You’ll simply deplane and follow the overhead signs to the departure gate for your Cape Air flight. Make sure you don’t inadvertently leave the secure area because if you do you’ll have to re-clear TSA.

Assuming you’ll be flying back through SJU on your return trip, you’ll go through Immigration, Customs & TSA when you land at SJU and then connect to your flight back to the US mainland.

Don't forget USDA inspection right before you get to TSA.

Thank you Fletch for the info. I have a nonstop going home the following week from STT to IAD so it just becomes a domestic flight from there luckily, even though IAD tried to make the whole plane go thru customs in April caused a big ruckus.

It’s not quite a donestic flight from STT to IAD. Customs clearance is required however STT is a preclearance facility so you will clear customs in STT before you board. You will also clear customs when you arrive in STT by ferry so you get to do it Twice!

Yeah George, sorry anytime I don't have to clear customs at IAD its a win for me, so I feel its kind of like a domestic flight. Love Aruba for that fact as well, get all that hassle out of the way, fly land and leave.

Has anyone done this recently? In November we are flying in on American and flying to Beef Island on InterCaribbean. Don't think I have ever done InterCaribbean, we usually take Seaborne or Cape Air. The last time we transferred from American (or United) to Seaborne or Cape Air we had to go out through the airport and go back through TSA. This was in 2017. Have they changed this?

If you carry on luggage you dont leave the secure zone and just go straight to Intercarribean desk. If your luggage is checked on American flight then you will go out of secure zone to pick up bags, Then you have to come back in through security. Pre chek or global entry is a big help if you need to do this.

Good to know. We will have a checked bag and my husband and I have global entry so we will go out and get the bags and have the rest of our party stay in the secure zone. Thank you!

When we transfer in SJU we use a porter for claiming checked bags and transporting to USDA to check in. It cuts a lot of time and effort off the schlep. Just mentioning it in case you have a short connection or want to ease the way.

Well... CGirl, you talking about from SJU or STT TO EIS?
How many in your party? How many bags are you going to claim and Re-check?
Passengers have to ID bags, check-in, associate bags to reservations (PNRs), show passports, ETC.

Since the thread is San Juan Airport Question I am talking about SJU, LOL! Hopefully it will just be 2 bags. We will have a bag of boat stuff/food and a bag with our paddle board. As far as clothes we travel lightly so those will all be in our carry ons. I will make sure the bags are checked in under my name and my husband's name. Better for us anyway because we get a free bag each with our mileage account.