TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Flight Back to US - SJU Layover

We are doing our first BVI charter in June. We are getting ready to book our flights and will be doing EIS-SJU-DCA. We are considering one possibility with 1 hour and 15 minute layover at SJU - is this enough time for customs, etc?

We've really enjoyed reading TTOL over the last few months and have learned a lot. Thanks to all.

Rick

1 hour 15 is doable, I prefer a bit more as the flight doesn't always get out of EIS on time.

I'd hop on 1 hr 15 minutes SJU to EIS, but wouldn't necessarily do it in reverse if I had another flight to catch out of SJU to the East Coast.

Day of the week, time of the day, there are a lot of variables. WE've checked into EIS 2 hours before flight time, gotten hustled onto an earlier departing flight for SJU and gotten bumped in SJU from our originally RESERVED flights outbound from SJU.

It is all an adventure. Sometimes it takes more than one try to appreciate all the goodness that " adventure " represents.

Breeze

While we're on this topic.....the oh-so-wonderful United Airlines changed their schedules (as many of us have found out the hard way) for May -- we are now flying LAX/IAH/SJU and are going to buy tickets to EIS (don't ask).

We land at SJU at 3:47pm and there's a 5:25 Seaborne flight to EIS.

Realistic?

If all on time.....no problem

First time we were going to have a short connection on what I thought would be a busy day (Memorial Day) I signed us up for global entry. Hasn't really made a huge difference, but its probably saved us anywhere from as little as 5 minutes to as much as 15-20 minutes or so.

Plus with global entry you also get TSA pre-check, so if you travel at least yearly, I think its well worth it. Even more so if you travel more frequently.

We did see someone who only had an hour between flights make it one time though, so it is doable.

...have had Global Entry for quite some time....I travel all over the world for work.

So are you saying 1 hour isn't enough time to get flight in San Juan to get back to states? Do you have to clear customs in San Juan? Are the terminals far apart? What if I am not checking bags?
Thanks.

1 hour is a enough - just tight - if there's any kind of delay, it could be a problem. As long as you are traveling on 1 ticket, I wouldn't worry about it. If it's separate tickets, then it is riskier.

You do clear customs in San Juan - that's why global entry helps speed things up. Checked bags don't really make a difference - once we get to the bag claim in customs, they're usually waiting for us and you just drop them off right outside customs.

Who is your connecting flight with? If it is AA/USScare, they tend to lock the doors 10 minutes before and nobody is getting on.

That is too true....

Air sunshine from virgin gorda to San Juan and us air to atlanta. I have a 70 minute connection. Or wait 3 hours for next flight.

Could it be done? Probably. Would I want to? Probably not.Since I don't think ( I may be wrong,have been before,will be again)that Air Sunshine is a code share with USScare, so if you miss it, they don't owe you anything. I'd take the 3 hour connection going back myself.

do Air Sunshine and USAir code share? We have had a very tight connection with Cape Air being a separate booking but that was because of the checked bags. It was going to the BVI, At the time I think we were on UsAirways, we had an hour and a half which we thought was fine, but Rex had to go outside of security to get the bags to recheck them on the Cape Air flight. Gathering the bags and re-doing security took easily an hour so making the 1/2 Cape Air check in was crazy, thankfully we stayed in the airport to let them know he was in the airport and on his way. As long as the flights are on time and you have carry on you would be fine. If you do have checked bags send someone ahead just in case.

agree with HSV, if that Air Sunshine is delayed for any reason and they do not code share, you would have to pay for the missed flight. So 1.5 hours vs 3 hours I would be tempted to just go with the safer choice.

We are thinking of doing the same thing in the opposite direction. Probably better off booking Cape Air for slightly more $$$ and flying to EIS at 7:58pm instead of 5:25 off the 3:47 arrival in SJU from Houston.

I'd go with the 3 hours layover. Take your time, get some food, the 3 hours will go by very quickly, you'll be relaxed and full.

Thanks for all the responses. BTW we are doing a code share jetBlue/Cape Air.

Hopefully it is OK to ask this related question under this thread - Being our first BVI charter, what is the typical timing like on the morning of the return, as far as any return checkout, cleanup, getting stuff off, get to airport, etc? We are going to be at Norman Island the last night. Is a 2 pm out of EIS reasonable, or is it best to stay another night on land?

Rick

2pm out of EIS is fine. Most charter companies require you be off the boat by noon I think. Who are you chartering with? It's probably similar with most of them but might be helpful to know.

We are always with Moorings or Sunsail and we get back to the base a couple of hours before we need to be off the boat. It allows us to take our time getting ready..etc. We usually do most of the packing the night before and just finish up in the morning. Once at the base, we finish up anything left over, return dive tanks..etc shower and often have something to eat before taking a taxi to the airport.

With Cape Air/Jetblue code sharing, you could risk the short layover, just be aware if you did miss the plane, you do risk not getting on the next flight if its sold out - so you could overnight in San Juan (worst case). But you wouldn't lose your ticket, JetBlue would get you on the next available flight.

Thanks Matt,

We are with Moorings.

Rick

Just a reminder - this is from a previous post, what you need to get done in that amount of time:

On your return to SJU, you will go through USA Immigration first. Once through that, you go downstairs and pick up any checked baggage, and then proceed through USA Customs. Upon exiting Customs you are forced to leave the secure area. Before you go back through TSA and into the secure gate area, put your bags through the Department of Agriculture conveyor-belt, as you will not be allowed to go through TSA without Agriculture's stickers on your bags.

Forgetting the Agriculture sticker may mean you have to wait in the line for your bag drop all over again.

Then you will just need to be off the boat by noon and they'd recommend you be on a taxi at noon anyway. I'd recommend getting back to the base by 10, but you could get in at 11 if you were all ready to go.

There is a debrief, but that is pretty quick - usually takes us 10-15 minutes depending on how long our list of issues is. Last time we just handed them a list

The only reason to stay another night on land would be to reduce the shock of getting off the boat and going directly home in the same day, I always find the thought of this to much to bear <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> but for work or flight reasons it may not always be an option. If you do not have any commitments, that extra wind down day (or two!) is nice.

Agree - we avoid this scenario like the plague. Just having to take the ferry from JVD to Tortola and then connect to the ferry from Tortola to St. Thomas was enough to do me in this past October. Having to fly all the way home in Coach on Delta after that? and in REGULAR coach, not "economy comfort"?? was enough to make me want to chew nails.

I am now on the verge of an anxiety attack....We have a 1:35 layover in SJU on February 14. We fly in on Cape Air for a transfer to US Airways.

It was suppose to be 2+ hours but Cape Air changed the flight back in December, months after we purchased our tickets.

Both flights are under one ticket.

1:35 should be fine and with them both on 1 ticket, I wouldn't worry. I've seen someone make it with less than an hour.