STT Vs. EIS??

Do you guys have any preference about where to fly into? Is it all about price? Can you still bring your coolers into EIS? Any thoughts or opinions would be awesome. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

We've only flown into EIS. This works out best for us for a few reasons: price, coach is only about $100 cheaper to go through STT, first is normally almost the same EIS vs STT. Second we have been doing land based after our last 2 charters on VG or Anegada, so EIS is very handy when we return. Granted when we land at EIS and have to cab all the way to West End we have a $70 cab fare, but you would have cab and ferry expenses if you go into STT. In my opinion I would use whichever fits your schedule & budget the best. No need for a porter at EIS either!

Price and convenience. Can you get a non-stop into STT? The fewer moving parts you have, the less chance for a FUBAR that messes you out of a day or so of vacation. From many parts of the country, it is a lot cheaper to fly into STT, even when you add on the ferry. However, if you have to have a connection just to get to STT and flying into EIS isn't that much more, that's the way I personally would do it. Your mileage may vary.

On a similar note, I can't book all the way through on delta from CHS-EIS with a SJU connection. So I will obviously have 2 separate tickets. Do I need go back through security once I land in SJU? I'll have about a 2 hour layover.

For us..and with a home on the west end..flying through STT works far better and cheaper. We usually fly SFO..MIA..STT. I have had horrible experiences at San Juan and avoid it like the plague..I hear that's not the norm, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. The ferries may not be that reliable but we always make it across..usually after a cold one or two with Michael at The Petite Pump Room.. a nice relaxation after a long overnight flight..One piece of advice...some credit cards have been compromised after using them for the ferry..pay cash if you can. Still better than having your valuables ripped off from your bags in San Juan.

We fly through EIS for a few reasons. Timing. We can fly direct Boston to SJU and then use Cape Air. So we get to the BVI earlier. Cost is also very similar so that doesn't play a big factor. Plus the scenic cape air flight is a huge plus!

Manpot, what was your experience with SJU?

We have done both, but 95% of the time go through SJU to EIS. We are on the east end, so it would take half a day to get here using the ferry, plus the taxi would eat up any savings.

For us, STT only works if we charter a plane to EIS, or if we can connect using Cape Air. The latter can work very well if you are booking last minute.

The other big factor is your final day: you have to allow lots of time going through STT, especially on the weekend. The lines at Customs and Immigration can be long, as well as the airport lines, given that most flights leave about the same time.

San Juan is not perfect, but we, and many of our neighbors, have taken to flying in late the day before, staying at the airport hotel and catching the early Seaborne flight. This saves money and makes for a much more restful arrival.

I think a number of members that have traveled through SJU in the past have had items stolen from their bags. I'm not sure that's happened recently at all.

We've gone through there over a dozen times over the past 4-5 years and never had an issue.

Matt--BUT! Have you had anything of value in your bags??? I know for us, we are VERY wary of SJU and NEVER leave anything of value in the bags there. We actually try not to bring anything of much value regardless, but going through SJU, it goes double or triple. As far as actual connections through there, the experience with customs/immigration/getting a gate/fast baggage/etc has in general been good the past few times through there.

I would emphatically echo Malcolm's statement. I too have had several horrible experiences flying through San Juan.

The first time, returning from Toronto, my flight to Tortola was cancelled. Because of the way the travel agent here on Tortola booked the flight, American claimed they were not responsible and would not pay for a hotel.

I had "blown the wad" in Toronto and I don't own a credit card, so spent the night at the airport. No fun at all.

Another time, it took so long to go through the TSA check point, I missed my flight despite being there in plenty of time. Someone from a different airline from the one I was using, came through the line twice calling all passengers for this flight or that to the front of the line and ahead of me. They were late getting into line because their flights had been delayed.

They made their flight and I didn't, despite the fact that had they [color:"red"]not[/color] been called ahead of me, I would have easily made my flight. I was once again told that the airline wasn't responsible and had to pay for a hotel room overnight.

On another occasion, I was hauled aside for a physical pat down ... for no reason at all. The woman who patted me down took exception to my voicing my opinion that it would be pretty hard to hide any weapon or illegal substance considering I was wearing a pair of shorts with no pockets, a t-shirt and flip flops. I guess that was the wrong thing to say, because she sent me for an internal search. Very humiliating and time-consuming. I missed my flight AGAIN!

Twice I had things stolen from my checked luggage and once, my brother-in-law was made to check his carry-on. Naturally, he had valuables in the carry-on and asked if he could take them out before checking the bag. The lady at the counter said there was no time, took the bag and when we reached Tortola, all his valuables (including about $2,400.00 in cash) had been stolen. It took the thieves no time at all because it went right out to the tarmac. The bag wasn't out of our sight for more than 5 minutes before it was loaded into the plane.

I will [color:"red"]NEVER[/color] fly through Puerto Rico again as long as I live. TSA agents are rude and aggressive, the TSA line ups are ridiculously long and all too often, flights are cancelled.

Any chance I get, I fly to St. Maarten and then wherever I may be going ... but if that option isn't available, I take the ferry to St. Thomas.

I sympathize with the bad experiences going through SJU.....but we've had an overall decent experience using that airport. It ain't perfect by any stretch, but in general it has worked for us. Used to fly AA out of Hartford to SJU and then onward, these days it's JB non stop to SJU and then onward. EIS always runs way more $ than STT. I also have never left anything of any value in my checked stuff. That goes for any airport....had way too many friends in their younger days that worked for airlines and heard the horror stories.

Thanks for all the great info folks.

As many many posts have indicated for various reasons (ferry issues, pullout of routes by major carriers, time zones, SJU issues, sky rocketing $ of SJU-EIS flights, on and on) it's getting harder and harder to get to Tortola to enjoy our beloved sailing.
Our recent trip to BVIs via STT from Denver had "schedule" changes by Delta (ie cancelled our ATL-DEN) flight and rebooked us on a flight that left 30min before we got into ATL (go figure that one). For us, the 45min SJU-EIS puddle jumper was as much as DEN->SJU!! IF we could even get a flight to work for us (yes, the trials and tribulations of the high season travel). Either way given the time zones/flights we'd have to overnight SJU or STT or spend 6-8hrs in the airport. We did get hit this time with some new (at least to me) $15 "baggage handling" fee each way on the ferry over the tix cost. Wasn't expecting that additional $60 each way for the 4 of us, nor heard about it here on TTOL or ferry web sites. Then hit the multiple ferries trying to dock and offload at the same time. So FYI for others taking the ferry route. Makes the SJU-EIS a bit more attractive IF one can get on a puddle jumper flight.
Love sailing in the BVIs but it's getting harder and harder to justify the $, the hassle. Like so many others here would love the BVI govt to "fix" the ferry situation since the companies won't do it. But that's been discussed ad nauseum here so no need to continue that in this thread.
Just venting!

Mr M-

I am not sure what the Delta flights are costing you but we have been very happy with AA (codesharing w Seaborne) booking DEN,MIA,SJU,EIS. The last flight in Oct and next one in June were red eyes that get us to EIS by about 1pm.

Cuba will soon provide a great and easy to get to alternative to the BVI. All the big charter companies are doing advance work down there. The BVI may be forced to up its game and become far more tourist friendly rather then view us as a cash cow to be milked dry.
G

Hello nearby CO'dian Riverfrontbrewer! Off season flights aren't an issue and via SJU-EIS is the route of choice for sure. High season is another issue and have out of sight flight $ on Delta, AA, SW or other. I looked hard and long via multiple airline and non-carrier flight search engines. The SJU-EIS was the killer leg in $ for anytime Feb-Apr.

I wont go into my worst ever EIS/SJU experience..but it happened the day I was flying from Tortola to London for my mother's funeral..worst flying experience of my whole life..thanks AA..EIS and SJU..that will put you off for life.

We stopped using the ferries years ago to get to the BVI. The best option is to pick up or meet your boat in St. Thomas if you can make that work. If you must get to the BVI then the best option is a flight to SJU and then have a charter flight meet you. We have never had a bad experience traveling through San Juan. Over the years our friends and crews have experience great angst and disappointment trying to make the combination of plane, taxi, ferry, taxi to the BVI work. We no longer support those sailing with us taking the ferry to join or leave us. The angst that is repeated in words over and over here on TTOL with ferry travel is just not worth it for our holidays. To many the charter flight is the highlight of the trip. The growing option is direct flights to boats on St. Lucia. Cuba will and is changing everything. When the 9,000 foot runway is finished on St. Vincent more direct flights to sailing will be open. Hopefully the powers that be in the USVI and BVI read all this and work towards a combined effort to manage airlift in and out of all the Virgin Islands.

I feel your pain. I'm ready to book for July, but Delta has been over $1000/pp r/t from MCI. In the past I'ts always been in the $600 range. Delta is my preferred carrier because I have status with them and can generally either significantly reduce the cost or upgrade the tickets. Frustrating.

As it stands I'm leaning toward SWA to San Juan, charter to EIS and Delta home from STT. Using various points even with the charter it would be cheaper than Delta to STT R/T for the three of us.

Riverfront and MrM I also feel your pain. We have one more leg from Grand Junction then you guys. We can fly Delta to SLC, United to DIA, or AA DFW. STT has always been more convenient and less expensive. We did have a Leatherman stolen in SJU. In many years and many ferries, we have never been stranded in STT or BVI, guess we are lucky.

20+ year STJ visitor that has been drawn to VG 3x over recent years here - STT defies logic at times. Departures are jammed into a short window and lines can spill out into the parking lot. Carry-on only can ease the pain but C&I and TSA can be their own nightmare.

Since we can fly to sju more reasonably than STT, we have chartered to VG our past three trips. depending on group size, it can be not much more than cape air or seaborne (to EIS). Also chartered between STT and sju. Sju via charter is a whole different ball game. I actually sort of like it now.

A couple of years back, I had a dirty old beach bag monogrammed with my name stolen a out of my checked luggage at sju. Each trip since we joke about looking for someone at the airport carrying it. Of all things to steal, they must have needed it to carry their loot.

Must have run out of garbage bags to carry their loot that day..got to love recycling SJJ style..

ha! Ever since I zip tie our checked baggage shut. We dont check anything of value but damn it, I missed having my beach bag on that trip! I am sure the zip ties only deter the lazy thieves it no one has cut them yet.

Yeah, it's nice to live in out of the way places, but it makes travel challenging! We now have about a 3 hour drive to DIA, but that's not near as bad as having an extra leg on an already long trip. I wonder if one of those private jet services out of Centennial Airport could go direct to EIS??!!

That is one of the EIS rubs the runway is too short to support any jets other than those individually owned. The FAA is much more flexible about where you can land and takeoff in your own jet. Any jet traveling under the certs and labels of "charter" cannot land at EIS. Even the biggest businesses are moving to at least some shared jets placing greater demand to extend the runway. If you fly long enough you will end up with a poor experience at connecting airports Kemnedy, OHare, ATL all have major hiccups each year. The only place I have ever slept on the floor was DIA. San Juan midday has never been an issue for us. STT is always a mess with cattle hoards of infrequent travelers. I will take the airlines worse days over the ferries total lack of communications anytime. Read a few months of TTOL the ferry angst and uncertainty eclipses all other real drama and issue. My favorite line... Friends do not let Friends ride the ferries.

We have flown No Way DIA, $150 from GJ. It is a nice quick flight, better then the 4 1/2 hour drive to DIA.