AgtMulder

Hello, I will be on a TACA flight from San Pedro, HN to San Salvador. There I will be connecting to my final TACA flight to JFK. It gives me a ~50 minute window to connect. I assume these are on separate planes because my itin lists separate flight #s and describes one aircraft as an Airbus 319 and another as a 320.

My question as this will be my first time transiting through El Salvador is what type of formalities should I expect in the whole process? Even though my only stay in the country will be for less than an hour, will I need to go through customs and passport control (get the passport stamped?) Is 50 minutes enough time? Has anybody done an international connection as tight as this appears through san salvador before?

I am traveling on paper tickets if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

CRHeel94

You don't have to clear immigration or Customs. 50 minutes should be plenty of time to get to your gate. I fly through this airport regularly with Taca.

AgtMulder

Thank you. I guess I was just used to the whole 2 room smaller airports common to C. America where you enter and are immediately shuffled to customs, then have to cross the hall and go through security again to get to the departure lounge zones.

CRHeel94

No problem. I've heard that the San Salvador airport will go an extensive refurbishment in the next couple of years; ten years ago it was possibly the best airport in CA (not saying much), but they've been resting on their laurels the last few years.

DLFan2

When I was there a couple of years ago, it was a refreshing improvement over many others in C.A. It was quite modern looking. TGU is quite a dump by comparison. No problem with your connection, BTW. You will remain in the transit hall rather than having to clear customs and go through security.

AgtMulder

Thanks. One more question - in the unlikely event I mis connect, are there many hotels and such in the area? I believe I was told once that the San Salvador airport is located quite a bit away from the city.

I assume in the event of trouble I could just go through customs to a hotel outside the airport since US citizens require no visa?

Lin49

There's an airport hotel about 5min. away from the airport. But there's nothing else around that area.

All the other hotels are about 45-60min away. Taxi's from the airport cost approx. $20. There are many good options such as Inter-Continental, Courtyard by Marriott, Hilton, etc.

CRHeel94

Don't stress about missing your connection. This is Taca's hub and they really optimize everyone making their connections.

There's one hotel 5 minutes away. I don't remember the specific brand (Comfort Inn? Quality Choice?), but it's the same people that run the Intercontinentals in Central America. Taca will put you there if you miss your connection. It's not a bad property to stay a night and Taca will ship you out early the next am.

nevansm

Nothing like bringing up a 3 year old thread....

Is a connection through San Salvador still relatively simple? I'm flying JFK-SAL-LIM. Any special forms or anything I need to fill out when arriving at SAL, or LIM for that matter. This is my first time in C. America.

andreadbc

I don't know about forms at San Salvador but when you arrive in Lima you have to fill out an Andean Migration Card and keep the lower portion until you leave the country.

TacaCopaFlyer

If you are just connecting in SAL, no forms needed, unless you plan on leaving the airport. Connections there are really simple and TACA is very good at getting you there for your next flight with out much delay.

Alinacheung

I'm from China, mainland. I want to get the ticket to Los Angeles, San Salvador, Lima. I don't know if I need any transit visa because only 50 mins for me to the next flight. Before when you were in San Salvador, did you have to get any visa for transitting?