That was my thought. In the grand scheme of things, this is peanuts.

Yep, totally agreed Matt. When you factor in the time it takes to get from STT to the ferry dock, wait for the ferry, the ferry ride over, then waiting in the cattle line to clear customs, then factor in the cost of the ferry and all the fees there, the cab, tips, plus the chances of finding a zoo at STT on the way home, the cost differential between flying into EIS vs STT just doesn't seem justified to us. It is a nice, scenic flight from SJU-EIS, and on top of that, it is SO much nicer to deplane and clear customs with a half dozen other travelers, step over to the car rental counter and be off on vacation!

Every year I head down I compare the EIS vs STT option for getting into Tortola. Getting a couple of extra hours on Tortola is nice, and we have done that route, but When I booked last year price was not even close.
Almost $400 per ticket more to get into EIS. (just checked kayak and IAD to EIS is running $800-$1200. STT flights are about $480) Even taking the taxis, we about cover all our provisioning with the price difference.

Once we touch down in STT we are on island time. And the view from the ferry on the trip over ain't too shabby either.
We arrive STT @ 1:30 and will be in Roadtown by 4pm.

Now put in ferry dock at the STT airport...now that would be nice! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Just checked AA.com for our next dates. Looks like the cheap flight to STT (with a stop) from BWI is $505 round trip. Looks like flying Southwest BWI-SJU non-stop for us should be about $345 rt, plus another, let's just call it $300, from SJU-EIS. So, we're paying an extra $140 (before factoring in ferries, cabs, fees, tips) per person and chopping probably 3-4 hours off our travel day.

I guess it all depends on where you are flying from and what factors are important for you. For me, I am not "there" and relaxed until I am "there". And I especially don't enjoy standing in a hot, cramped line with people pushing and shoving waiting to clear customs. If you asked me while standing in that line if I would pay $200 to go straight to the front of the line, I'd hand you my wallet and say "take what you think is fair"!

To each their own! I'm glad people prefer flying in to STT. If everyone did fly into EIS, my tickets would just cost more.

I know for us coming from Indianapolis, it was $300-350 more. I really wanted to just fly in to EIS and forget STT, but with a group of 6 it was $1800-2100 more in airfare. It just wasn't worth it. Not to mention we were having a hard time finding 6 open seats from SJU to EIS on the weekend on the same flight.

One thing to also keep in mind. If you are flying on two different bookings and a flight is delayed you no longer have a booking with the other airline. I have all to often over the years watched people have big issues when a flight on one airline is delayed and you miss another flight. As a courtesy most airlines will let you standby for a later flight but they are often full.
Make every effort to book all your flights on one passenger record so someone owns your problem.
George

TPCOOK,
Thanks for the notification about the ferry baggage fee.