Ridiculous San Juan Layover - JetBlue
 

My wife and I are headed down to St. John for a well-deserved 5 day mini-vacation away from our lovely (but sometimes mentally/physically taxing) 2 year old twins.

To maximize our beach/relaxation time and minimize our travel time, I noticed that JetBlue had a very inexpensive red-eye flight ($59 each way) from NY to San Juan that leaves at 10:30pm and arrives in San Juan at 3:15am! The earliest flight out of San Juan to St. Thomas (no airport in St. John) is 6:45am on Carribbean Sun Airlines (who??) or at 8:30am on AA/American Eagle.

Does SJU allow people to sleep in the airport at this hour? (i.e. is the airport still "open" Is it really smart/safe to do so?? I see there is a BEst Western at the airport but cant see spending $160 for a few hours of sleep in bed. Suggestions??

Secondly....would you go with no name Carribean Sun Airlines at 6:45am or American Eagle and sleep in the airport until 8:15am? (I could go with Cape Air at 7:15am but my wife would never step foot on a Cessna!)

Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Eric

Well, I've stayed at the Best Western and it is a dump. Although, I've never been in the SJU airport at that hour, I believe it should be safe.

I haven't been to SJU often, but I have been there in the early morning, before 6:00 am. It was surprisingly busy with pax for early morning flights. You should be safe, but uncomfortable. The first shops and restaurants I noticed opened at 6:00 am.

Stretch out on the carpet for a couple hours, if you dare. Have a leisurely cup of coffee and a pastry at 6:00 and take the 8:30 AA flight.

I have been at SJU in the middle of the night on more than one occasion. Not much open, but a lot of people wandering around. 3 hr layover will not kill you. Had many 8+ hour layovers.

What's wrong with Caribbean Sun? There are a lot of small airlines flying around down there. some have been there a very long time.

I have flown on Caribbean Star AL(I do not know why 2 airlines owned by the same guy) a couple of times. One time, the pilot came out to move some people from the back of the plane to the front. It was the president of the company. his picture was in the little magazine in the seat pocket.

They fly dash 8's which are very nice short hop airplanes.

SJU airport isn't bad...you can stay there...but no airport is really pleasant to sleep in. I'd probably actually choose Caribbean Sun before Eagle!!

We were in the exact same position a few weeks ago. (We took the JetBlue redeye to San Juan (arriving at 3:15 am) and then the first AA flight (8:30 am) to St. Thomas.

(Yes, the airport was open. There are flights at all crazy hours of the day).

Neither of the conventional options looked appealing:
1) paying $160 for 5 hours at a dump hotel
2) crashing at the airport

(By the way, when I was at the San Juan airport, I went over to the hotel to see if they would give a pro-rated rate for a just a few hours, and they were not flexible at all. They were also sold out).

So, we took an alternate route....it sounds crazy, but we rented a car. It was cheaper (only about $25), and we had privacy. Basically, we wound up driving around a little bit, and then sleeping in the car for a few hours.

:eek: I'll presume you know San Juan better than I do. Where did you park? I suppose a lot at one of the bigger hotels/resorts would have some oversight. But, then you would look suspicious yourself sleeping in a car.

You could try a side street or a hotel parking lot.

I didn't say renting a car was a perfect solution to the problem. We preferred it to staying in the airport (uncomfortable and no privacy) and compared to the airport hotel (too expensive).

Excellent idea!

I've found that sleeping at SJU could be more comfortable than doing so at LHR, as a comparison... but then again, what airport is "comfortable" to sleep in??

Do have a sleeping bag if you plan on hitting that carpet.

I think i may have a solution....
 

The President's Club (Continental) is open at 3:30am and people on ebay sell "guest" passes for about $15-20. I checked with CA and they have told me that you DON'T have to be flying with them to use the guest passes. (I will bring my email from them just in case). So I think I may go that route and sleep in a nice leather chair in a more quiet, safe, and relaxing atmosphere rather than in the main terminal.

Thoughts?

Caribbean Sun/Star is a good airline. A little quirky but hey you are in the islands.

I have slept on the floor on San Juan two years ago. Arrived on a late CO flight and then was on the early Eagle flight to STT and cabed over to Red Hook for a ferry ride to STJ. I very much enjoyed it.

I would not rent a car and sleep in it in SJU. I am in SJU everu other month for biz and it is not safe especially to sleep in a car. Two years ago I saw what happened after a car jacking, a dead guy on the street. The airport is safer as their are police there on patrol and there will be at least 20 other people with you in line at the AA counter doing the same as you.

In STJ do not forget to go cross island to eat at Skinny Legs and let your hair down.

Good plan! I know the DL CRC didn't open until 6:00 AM. IIRC, there is concourse-specific security? Not sure if that will cause trouble if your flights are in another concourse.

This is probably why the fare is so cheap. This is one of the drawbacks to many Jet Blue flights, their schedules are laughable.

Definitely go with this option. I have flown Carribean Sun several times on this route and it is a great option. No need to waste time waiting for the eagle flight.

Another question on SJU:

I have a flight out of SJU leaving at 7:30 AM on a Wednesday. The resort (Wyndham) is an hour from the airport. Now I notice that our corporate travel service recommends that we get to SJU 3 hours before a flight.

It appears from the earlier posts that the airport will be open and operating. My question- do I really need to get there at 4:30 AM? I'm taking CO, if that makes a difference.

probably not, but just beware the Ag dept's scanner line can suddenly bloom to a really long line, which is a process one must go through if checking bags in addition to the typical counter line delays.

Thanks for the advice on the scanner. That means I'm going to do this trip with a duffel bag and my computer backpack- nothing to check.

Have never had a really long delay at the SJU security. They had a puffer going, and it was the elite line and also the slowest--I had to "ask" to move from it to a quicker line...but then they gave me the whole gamut, shoes etc. I still beat the puffer line, though.

I fell asleep (early morning) on the coach at the presidents club in iah. The attendent woke me up and said no sleeping was allowed.

I wanted to let you know how this worked out- the hotel's shuttles began at 5 AM so it was either leave at 5 AM or pay $80+ for a taxi. There were 3 of us on the CO 7:20 AM flight. Security was pretty empty at that hour and if someone from Agriculture checked my carry-on bags I never noticed. A good number of shops were open.

Getting there at 4:20 would have been ridiculous. Maybe you need the 3 hours for a noon flight but we certainly didnt' need it this morning.

thanks for reporting back Athena53 ^ ^

so many FT'ers ask a question on the board, go on a trip and never post their own experiences. :td:

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I've got a 6 hour overnight layover at SJU coming up in a couple of weeks. Looking for suggestions, and this thread popped up. But it's got some old information -- the PC has now closed, as has the DL lounge. And new concourses have opened.

Will I be able to stay airside for the 6 hours, or do they 'close' the terminal and chase everyone out? Any good thoughts on sleeping? Yes, I've read the SleepingInAirports guide to SJU, but figured I'd ask here. Reports over there are that it's really cold -- maybe I'll bring my sleeping bag!

I've been in the airport at every conceivable hour, and the most that should happen to you is that a police or security officer might ask you what you're doing. If that much. (YMMV though, since I've now read that they try and remove people from the secure area)

However, I suggest bring a sleeping bag or blanket, as this airport is kept cold 24/7. One thing to note, most of the concessions close between 10-11pm. If you're hungry, you're going to have to leave the airport to eat.

HI

Just wanted to post a recent data point for sleeping at San Juan. As part of status credit run on AA arrived at 1:25am from Miami, slept on the carpet at one of the empty gates near gate 15 terminal D I think as I was turning around on the 7am flight back to miami. No problem with any security/staff as I did not see any and stayed in dark gate in the corner on the floor with noise cancelling headphones and eye mask, stayed airside as had only carry on, actually there was another 2 or 3 people doing the same thing at a gate further up, but apart from that pretty deserted. The floor was not great but I had a sleeping bag, and I did not see the point of using a hotel for 5 hours. admirals club opened at 6am if that is of interest to anyone. Going to a trip report at some stage if I can get motivated.

I have to wonder about the cost/benefit equation. It depends on how you value a largely sleepless night and exhaustion the first day of your stay on beautiful St. John.

How does the cost of a red-eye Jet blue ticket to SJU, a connecting flight to STT, and some sort of solution for the SJU layover compare to taking an earlier flight with a quick connection or a flight directly to STT that would facilitate a good night's sleep and a more energized start to your stay on St. John?