usvi-on-line
Sunday July 4 airport departure - Pia, Julie, locals?
Sunday July 4 airport departure - Pia, Julie, locals?
Ok, I will start out by saying I am not one to push/chance times at the airport. I rather get checked in and be sitting down in a timely manner then push it to the last minute. That being said, here is our situation -
We leave Sunday afternoon, on July 4. The Caneel ferries run at 10:30 am (leaves Caneel) to the National Park dock and 12:30 pm to downtown.
Our flight is at 3pm. It says on Caneel's site that they recommend a 3 hour prior arrival at the airport. I do not want to take the 10:30 am ferry, that puts us at the airport way too early.
If we take the 12:30 ferry to downtown, I am guessing that would put us at the airport at 1:30pm.
Our flight is at 3:00pm. Delta.
We would use a porter. We are checking luggage.
Am I crazy for thinking about taking the 12:30 ferry?
Is 1:30 prior to departure cutting it too close?
Are there events on Sunday the 4th that I don't know about that could delay us?
We leave Sunday afternoon, on July 4. The Caneel ferries run at 10:30 am (leaves Caneel) to the National Park dock and 12:30 pm to downtown.
Our flight is at 3pm. It says on Caneel's site that they recommend a 3 hour prior arrival at the airport. I do not want to take the 10:30 am ferry, that puts us at the airport way too early.
If we take the 12:30 ferry to downtown, I am guessing that would put us at the airport at 1:30pm.
Our flight is at 3:00pm. Delta.
We would use a porter. We are checking luggage.
Am I crazy for thinking about taking the 12:30 ferry?
Is 1:30 prior to departure cutting it too close?
Are there events on Sunday the 4th that I don't know about that could delay us?
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Xislandgirl
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Hope you have a great trip. I am sure looking forward to it. The final countdown is tough!-
gymnastika
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- Location: texas
arrived at the airport a couple of times with less than an hour to takeoff... (dollar taxi is slower than i thought) -
stjohnjulie
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TouristTrapCheryl
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- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:43 pm
- Location: Salt Pond, St John USVI
10:30 Boat = “No Worries”
....
Not to 'dis my earlier Island friends comments, but if it was me, I'd be there
3 hours before the flight. Which means I would get to the airport at noon.
10:30 ferry gets you to STT between 11-11:15. Taxi gets you to the Airport 12ish. The fastest you will clear
customs is 12:15 so you will have a 2 1/2 hour wait in the terminal before boarding. What, even on St John,
can you do with those 2 1/2 hours that is more valuable than your peace of mind knowing you will make
your flight with time to spare?
And no matter how early you may be, check-in and go through customs and security. Remember every single
passenger on all departing flights gets in that one line for customs and security. Even if you get to the
“airport” early, don't hang out a the bar at Island Beachcomber or the roti stand across the street. There
could easily be a hundred people clearing customs around the same time if just 2 planes are departing at
the same time. I've seen people miss flights because clearing customs took over an hour.
You do not want to be standing in customs when they announce final boarding for your flight, I've seen it
happen and it is not pretty.
If you are looking for hard-core Island Girl approval of what you may think is “anal-retentive stateside”
thinking to take the 10:30, you've got my approval. Take the 10:30, sometimes you have to make your own "no worries".
10:30 boat, 2 1/2 hours waiting for plane is “no worries”.
This is just my opinion. This is what I would do if I was catching a 3pm flight.
Not to 'dis my earlier Island friends comments, but if it was me, I'd be there
3 hours before the flight. Which means I would get to the airport at noon.
10:30 ferry gets you to STT between 11-11:15. Taxi gets you to the Airport 12ish. The fastest you will clear
customs is 12:15 so you will have a 2 1/2 hour wait in the terminal before boarding. What, even on St John,
can you do with those 2 1/2 hours that is more valuable than your peace of mind knowing you will make
your flight with time to spare?
And no matter how early you may be, check-in and go through customs and security. Remember every single
passenger on all departing flights gets in that one line for customs and security. Even if you get to the
“airport” early, don't hang out a the bar at Island Beachcomber or the roti stand across the street. There
could easily be a hundred people clearing customs around the same time if just 2 planes are departing at
the same time. I've seen people miss flights because clearing customs took over an hour.
You do not want to be standing in customs when they announce final boarding for your flight, I've seen it
happen and it is not pretty.
If you are looking for hard-core Island Girl approval of what you may think is “anal-retentive stateside”
thinking to take the 10:30, you've got my approval. Take the 10:30, sometimes you have to make your own "no worries".
10:30 boat, 2 1/2 hours waiting for plane is “no worries”.
This is just my opinion. This is what I would do if I was catching a 3pm flight.
-cheryl
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stjohnjulie
- Posts: 570
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:34 am
- Location: St. John VI
Cheryl, normally I would be with you on this one BUT, if you use a porter at the airport, it is the magic bullet to the front of the line at customs. I am typically a hyper early kind of person (like, I take my son to school and it is not uncommon for us to arrive before all of the teachers do). I hate being rushed, and I hate being late even more. So if you take the customs line out of the equation, 12:30 should be enough time, even for me 
Ok, it's been awhile, but when we took the ferry from Caneel, I remember a taxi-driver meeting us and taking our luggage to the Caneel office at the airport. We had lunch/shopped in STT, and then he picked us up and brought us to the airport. We retrieved our luggage and went through the check-in process.
If you get to STT at 11:15a, you could shop/lunch and be picked up around 12:45p. Have a porter help with the luggage (if you can still store it at Caneel office) and you should be fine.
On our last trip, AA made an announcement as we were deplaning to check in 3 hours prior. We didn't, but we were also flying on a Tuesday morning and the airport was empty. I think as long as your luggage is checked-in an hour before flight time, you are OK.
Have a great trip!
If you get to STT at 11:15a, you could shop/lunch and be picked up around 12:45p. Have a porter help with the luggage (if you can still store it at Caneel office) and you should be fine.
On our last trip, AA made an announcement as we were deplaning to check in 3 hours prior. We didn't, but we were also flying on a Tuesday morning and the airport was empty. I think as long as your luggage is checked-in an hour before flight time, you are OK.
Have a great trip!
janet
As promised, I am reporting back on our 10:30am vs. 12:30am ferry issue for a 3pm flight.
Even though Caneel's own directions say we needed to be on a ferry at least 3 hours prior to our departure, they scheduled us for the 12:30pm ferry and assured me we would have plenty of time.
We did have enough time at the airport but I will say, I was shocked by how crowded the airport was on a Sunday afternoon. We used a porter (Daphne again) so we breezed right through. Seriously, it was like high season, there were almost no empty chairs.
Delta boarded us early and we were in the air by scheduled departure time.
Even though Caneel's own directions say we needed to be on a ferry at least 3 hours prior to our departure, they scheduled us for the 12:30pm ferry and assured me we would have plenty of time.
We did have enough time at the airport but I will say, I was shocked by how crowded the airport was on a Sunday afternoon. We used a porter (Daphne again) so we breezed right through. Seriously, it was like high season, there were almost no empty chairs.
Delta boarded us early and we were in the air by scheduled departure time.
That is just awful! Why? My husband probably would have walked out of the airport and checked into a hotel. He absolutely can't stand to wait in the airport, tied to the whole uncomfortable-with-flying-thing.lsugolfer wrote:We left on the 3pm Delta flight and took the 10:30 car ferry. We had plenty of time when we got there after going through customs and returning the rental car to the airport.
Not because we were moving quickly but because Delta delayed out outbound by 4.5 hours...
They had a mechanical problem on the flight in ATL before departing to STT. Had to wait on another plane/crew.
It actually went by decently fast. Had a few drinks at the bar, bought some magazines and made friends with the other delayed people. It was actually a pretty hectic day for flight delays. I think every airline had some issue.
It actually went by decently fast. Had a few drinks at the bar, bought some magazines and made friends with the other delayed people. It was actually a pretty hectic day for flight delays. I think every airline had some issue.
