Earliest Flight From San Juan

[BarbGar]

#1 Just wondering what would be the earliest flight to consider from San Juan. I know they always say no earlier than noon, but I have seen others that carry off their luggage make flights by 10:00 am or 11:00 am. What would be a comfortable/reasonable time for a flight when carrying off ones own luggage?

 

#2 - Has San Juan picked up the the luggage direct program - whereby the ship takes the luggage to the airport and gives you your boarding pass. If so, what would be the earliest flight to consider in that regard?

 

Thanks so much for your help and expertise.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Dany

[Clarea]

I'd be OK with 11am, but would not want to schedule much earlier than that.

[Lacoop]

I did the cruise out of Puerto Rico in Oct and I too would not have done anything earlier than 11:00. You have to get your own luggage and bring it to the airport. Puerto Rico does not have the option for the luggage to go directly to the airline. You have to bring your luggage to an area in the airport where you have to put it on a belt for scanning by the US. Dept of Agriculture (I think that was the agency) and they put a sticker on it BEFORE you can go to your airline to check your bag. if you go to the airline without the sticker, they will send you over to the checkpoint and you have to wait in the lines all over again to check in. That is why you need to allow for extra time because the wait can sometimes be longer than others. There is no way to know.

[Kcjarvis]

We have been on AOS 4 times and have always taken the 9:35am flight without a problem.

[satxdiver]

We have been on AOS 4 times and have always taken the 9:35am flight without a problem.

 

You do love to live on the very edge.

 

The part about having to put your luggage through a scanner monitored by the Dept of Agriculture is quite correct and there can be lines. Then you have to go to the check in counters (more lines), through security (more lines) and finally board the plane.

 

It is several miles between the cruise terminal and the airport and on a busy day (not Sunday morning), the traffic can be awful. A short taxi ride can turn long. Traffic tends to get all congested in front of the cruise terminal causing further delays. If you are planning on an early flight, carry your luggage off the ship and be one of the first to leave the ship.

[notsomadhatter]

We leisurely left the ship and were sitting around at the airport from 10am until our noon flight.

 

I think I'd probably do 11 in the future but 10 would make me nervous.

[erniesband]

Be aware that there is construction going on at/in the airport and will be that way for quite a long time. They are redoing 2 of 4 concourses and that may make the time it takes to get through everything longer than it already is. I wouldn't book a flight any earlier than 11AM.

Edited November 26, 2013 by erniesband

[Tapi]

Piece of advice: if the lines for the USDA security checkpoint (and at the airline check-in counters) are long, spend a few bags on a bag porter. They will take your bags and bypass the line at the USDA checkpoint, put them through the machine, and drop them off right at the airline ticket counter.

 

The airport workers at the SJU airport all seem to know each other and a nice tip will get you ahead if everybody else. My mother gave the porter $20 one time and he chatted up his buddies at the airline ticket counter and then at the security checkpoint to get her to the front of the line at each point. :D

[clott]

We were off the ship and sitting at our gate before 9:00. Our flight wasn't until till 2 but they had some seats in a 11:00 flight so she asked us if we wanted to take them and we did.

 

As was mentioned use the porter. He went right into the ag inspection and took our bags straight to the gate

[lakelorain]

We were in group 3 getting off the Jewel in October(not a walk off). We were at the airport by 8am. It wasn't crowded. There were no lines anywhere. Unfortunately our flight wasn't until 2:45pm.

[NorbertsNiece]

Was at SJU and in line at the check in by 9am after my TA last week, and that was using the RCCL transfer bus. As not a US citizen I couldn't self disembark with my case and had to collect it. I wasn't due to leave the ship until 9am..... was hanging out in the Diamond waiting area when the crew member said, 'Go if you want,' so I did.

[wrp96]

Timely thread - made me not sweat last night when I booked that 11:20am flight home.:p

[VillaHappy]

Coming home last week from the Jewel, we had a 9:40am flight direct to PHL. I knew we were pushing it, but ended up being no problem. Customs can really slow things down, and there is no predicting that.

 

We kept our luggage in the room and were the first to leave the ship just after 7am the next morning. We were at the airport before 8am, and caught our flight without any worries.

 

As a pp said, there is LOTS of construction at the airport - it has really changed since we were there in Feb of 2013! Lots more walking to do, etc.

[Cigar King]

FWIW, we had a 3:00 flight and we barely made it. This was from a TA, and nobody was allowed to leave the ship until corner finished his job. I'm sure ours was unusual, but, it could happen again. If there's a delay when debarking you may miss it.

[Kcjarvis]

Just off Adventure. Sitting at the gate at 755am. Easy express departure, plenty of cabs waiting, No traffic, short check in line and 10 min TSA line.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[sueb]

Thank you for the info...we are sailing in Feb and this is one item I hadn't addressed yet. Are the porters at the airport at the drop off area?

[jb008]

Just flew out of SJU on Saturday, 12/21. As long as things go smoothly, and you're willing and able to do self-assist or can snag one of the first disembarkation groups, you'd be fine with an early flight. However if there's ANY delays on the ship being cleared or even other small delays (e.g., you get selected for additional screening at CBP, traffic, etc) you could be in a tight spot.

 

Also as a caution about SJU TSA - they don't always offer expedited security for frequent fliers/premium tickets. When I got to the airport about 12:45 PM on Saturday they only had TSA PreCheck and the general line. Not a big deal, but in a situation where every minute might count, that's frustrating to not be able to count on being able to access expedited TSA lines even though you qualify.

[Kcjarvis]

Thank you for the info...we are sailing in Feb and this is one item I hadn't addressed yet. Are the porters at the airport at the drop off area?

 

Yes there are porters.