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San Juan Connections

Posted By: Will_L

San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 01:28 PM


For a party of 4 with checked luggage on Southwest air arriving SJU at 4:05.. Assuming they are close to on time. how long should one allow before selecting a departure. Cape Air has a 5:30. Departure. It would be mid June.

TIA
Posted By: JasonHelmbrecht

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Will_L

For a party of 4 with checked luggage on Southwest air arriving SJU at 4:05.. Assuming they are close to on time. how long should one allow before selecting a departure. Cape Air has a 5:30. Departure. It would be mid June.

TIA

That would be fine. You just walk out, collect your bag and walk outside to the Cape Air area. No additional security.
Posted By: GeorgeC1

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 02:47 PM

If they leave the sterile area to claim their bags they will have to go back through security. I think however it’s enough time as long as everything goes perfect. CapeAir’s bag check line can be slow however.
Posted By: macaroni

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 03:15 PM

We arrived Jet Blue...waited a while for our luggage....then went to cape air check in...that was slow, then went back thru security...we got to go thru tsa pre check line since we had it coming in on Jet Blu...the regular line was much longer. This was a Sunday...then a very long walk to the cape air desk. We arrived SJ at 10:30 and got to the gate at 11:45.
Posted By: RatmansWife

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 03:49 PM

I agree with Macaroni, that could be tight, especially on a weekend. If we fly Southwest we overnight on San Juan. Otherwise we buy all flights on one ticket so luggage gets transferred and we don't leave security. Carry-on only probably would be okay.
Posted By: JasonHelmbrecht

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by GeorgeC1
If they leave the sterile area to claim their bags they will have to go back through security. I think however it’s enough time as long as everything goes perfect. CapeAir’s bag check line can be slow however.

Yes, sorry. I thought the OP was talking about STT. My bad.
Posted By: macaroni

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/01/2021 10:03 PM

Yes...carryon would have been fine.....and we should have done that but the flight was packed and we didn’t want to have trouble finding a place for our bags.....
Next time....no checking...we are traveling very light....though we usually come into SJ the night before and take the earliest cape air flight out the next morning...like that much better...no stress...but we were afraid with the quarantine/testing requirements for Puerto Rico....we might have an issue.
Posted By: JasonHelmbrecht

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/02/2021 07:54 PM

Learned something new today. When departing EIS for SJU, you are required to fill out the PR travel portal even if you are in-transit. I honestly don't think PR requires it but passengers can't check into InterCaribbean without the QR Code. Not sure about the other airlines but I saw it in action today for InterCaribbean. Doesn't take long to do even on your phone but doing it in advance is probably easier.
Posted By: Will_L

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/02/2021 11:21 PM

ThanksJason ,

I see intercaribbeam has a 555 departure from San Juan at reasonable fare. Have they been pretty dependable of running that last flight? I heard something about a rumor perhaps going to be stopping service a while back? Maybe I have my carriers mixed up. There is a huge price difference w Cape Air.

That would give about 2 hrs getting back thru security ..Are they a similar hike as CapeAir...any difference in getting checked in?
Posted By: xrayman67

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/03/2021 03:34 AM

I had flights with Intercaribbean scheduled for May round trip. Both flights have already been canceled. Of course I had to ask Intercaribbean for this information. They didn't offer it up front.
Posted By: caribbeangirl13

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/03/2021 03:44 PM

We did the 5:55 flight on InterCaribbean in January and it was flawless. We were worried because we had about an hour and 1/2 for our connection and had to grab bags, make the hike to Inter Caribbean and check in but everything was very smooth and our flight went as planned.
Posted By: macaroni

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/05/2021 12:01 AM

[quote=JasonHelmbrecht]Learned something new today. When departing EIS for SJU, you are required to fill out the PR travel portal even if you are in-transit. I honestly don't think PR requires it but passengers can't check into InterCaribbean without the QR Code. Not sure about the other airlines but I saw it in action today for InterCaribbean. Doesn't take long to do even on your phone but doing it in advance is probably easier.

Jason...I went to the PR travel portal to fill out, but it asks where you are staying in PR....what did you put? Was I in the correct form?
Thanks!
Posted By: JasonHelmbrecht

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/05/2021 12:58 PM

Our guests were instructed to put the airport hotel as the location they were staying.
Posted By: MichaelW

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 12:15 AM

***not trying to hijack this thread but I think this actually is related... two questions about SJU connections---

We have a trip to Virgin Gorda in November, making some assumptions that the world will be a calmer and somewhat safer place in 7 months.

The American Airlines ticket from PHL to EIS I am looking at has a codeshare with Seaborne with a 49 minute connection in SJU. I usually don't book any flights with less than an hour layover but with no need to pick up bags/re-checking them and go through security, can this actually be sane? (We planned to take one checked bag, but if it makes a huge difference we may travel lighter with carry on only.) November is not a busy season, but SJU is almost always a little unpredictable...
What's the physical situation to get from AA terminal to Seaborne? Seaborne, like all airlines, publishes rules saying they can cancel your ticket if you don't check in 45 minutes before the flight. Can that be done?

Second part is a little weirder. One potential return flight on JetBlue has a 5 hour (yes, FIVE HOUR) connection in SJU, codeshare with Cape Air I believe. Wouldn't that give them a lot more time to lose my checked bag?? doh With that amount of layover, I was thinking it could make sense to book separate tickets, deal with baggage claim and security (and customs?) manually... It really doesn't save much $ so wondering if it's worth it.

Thanks in advance for any snarky comments... as well as insightful ones!
Posted By: RatmansWife

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 12:39 AM

We are looking at an AA connection with 47 minutes (one ticket). You shouldn't have to check in or go through security. If they sell you the ticket like that, I think it's on them to get you on another flight if needed. Not sure I'd do it if it were the last flight of the day, but otherwise I'm considering it. We're thinking of business class, which would get us off the plane earlier. The bigger delay can be waiting for gate-checked carry-ons, so I'd avoid that.
Posted By: GeorgeC1

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 02:35 AM

If you book the flight on one ticket the booking airline owns any problems. If you miss the last flight they would need to put you up and get you on a morning flight. You might also be due compensation. Typically if your connection was the last flight of the day they will hold it if you are running a bit late. The exception would be if the airline can claim the delay was weather related.
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Posted By: Will_L

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 12:21 PM

I’d love to do that but Southwest doesn’t code share to EIS as far as I know and only goes as far as San Juan. We have a bundle of their miles. I also have American miles but unlike Southwest, unless you catch them just right on a long flight they won’t allow you to book the most logical flight. I much prefer the Southwest approach or Capital One where you also can use FF miles on any seat on any airline. So after checking with a charter, worrying about herding the cats to make the InterCaribbean flight we ended up booking the last Cape Air flight at 7 pm. That’s a pricey ride per mile but used to their operation that is subsidized as a commuter airline here. I’ll ride twice as far on Cape Air to STL for $39.00 than the flight to Tortola. I also recall reading about your confidence in safety of Cape Air compared to other carriers which matters most of all. A lower fare is only a better value if the plane makes it. I’m hoping there are no snags.
Posted By: GeorgeC1

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 01:55 PM

What date are you flying on?
Posted By: Will_L

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 02:24 PM

June 13
Posted By: GeorgeC1

Re: San Juan Connections - 04/07/2021 03:38 PM

I looked to see if Cape Air had a earlier option you might be able to standby for but at the moment they don’t. That might change if bookings increase. I am going down on the 18th but still undecided about going to the BVI or having the boat brought over to the USVI.
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