Travel Time

[jimg20]

We sent our final villa payment Saturday morning and it arrived in Coral Bay today. That sounds like a new record.

We are in our final planning stages. We arrive on a Friday afternoon at STT at 2:50 pm. We'll have to claim checked bags for sure. The dive equipment will not fit in the OH compartment. We have a commitment from Rachel to pick us up and get us to RH. Now, I know that we can't count on the plane being on time, the bags being unloaded and delivered in a timely way or the traffic between SST and RH. Given all of that, is it reasonable to expect to make the 4 pm ferry that afternoon? It matters because SJ Car Rental closes at 5.

Thanks

JIM

[gobucs]

Cant the car rental place just leave the car with the keys?
I don't know about making the 4 pm ferry though, Even if everything went smoothly you will be cutting it close. But it can be done

[Pia]

50/50 shot at that time of day but I would say a chance but a slim chance (it has taken over an hour for me to get to Red Hook at that time of day) so by the time you taxi to the "gate", deplane, wait on luggage and get on the road it might be 3:15pm +/- but you really have zero way of predicting traffic between 3pm and 5:30pm

Pia

[Pulley]

I would bet against making the 4:00 ferry and suggest call St. John car rental now to make plans. If you do make it just call and let them know.
Pulley - 35 days to go but who's counting.

[Coconuts]

FWIW, I had guests arriving a bit after 5 PM who found St John Car Rental closed when they arrived, despite having let them know that their flight had been delayed. I ended up having to run them and all of their bags up to Coconuts, and then bring them back down in the morning to get their car. The owner of SJCR, long time resident and President of the St. John Historical Society Lonnie Willis is great, but her staff can be strict about closing promptly at 5 PM. Work it out for sure ahead of time; ideally they can at least secrete a key somewhere.

Not having to wait around for a ten passenger van to fill up, and with Rachael at the wheel, I'll bet that do you make the 4 PM ferry (a tailwind wouldn't hurt), but if you don't, take advantage of the opportunity to explore what Red Hook has to offer:

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... =1&t=26384

All the best,

Kevin

[PA Girl]

We were delayed once and the villa greeter picked up our keys at St John Car Rental. We went down the next morning and completed the paper work. I would communicate through your villa rental company.

[liamsaunt]

I just signed paperwork with St. John Car Rental for our summer trip and there is a new thing on there stating that if you are arriving after 5PM you should pick up the car the next day. I have been able to have my villa greeter get the keys for me in the past, but I am not sure if that is still an option. Definitely call your management company to work things out in advance.

For what it is worth, the past couple of trips, our checked bags have come out reasonably quickly at STT...a heck of a lot faster than when we get home to Logan, which has the slowest bag claim ever!

[ArkieLovesSTJ]

Rachel will normally take the "scenic" route at that time of day to avoid traffic. I would bet that, if your flight is on time and your luggage comes out in a reasonable amount of time, Rachel will be able to get you there for the 4:00 ferry.

We are headed back down at the end of October. We can't wait we took our first and last trip to STX in February. We wait to get back to STJ, again!

Hope you have a great trip, JimG20!

[psufan]

I second having someone on island picking up the keys before they close. My son lives on island. He has a friend visiting this week. Her flight was significantly delayed. She had rented a vehicle from STCR. My son went to the office and they gave him the key and they just told him to stop in the next morning to fill out the remaining paperwork. They were very helpful.

[Pulley]

Next time you may want to consider renting your car on STT and taking the car ferry. That is what we will be doing in 34 days!

[jimg20]

All good advise. Thanks.

I am normally on Island Time once we get to STT and I don't think about the trip across the island much. I was hoping that you would say that it shouldn't be a problem, but that isn't happening.

We have asked Windspree to set up a late pick-up from SJCR. If we catch the 4 pm all the better. We always think about STT car rentals, but never have done it. There are some potential problems with that, and we like giving the money to an STJ company.

We normally come in on an earlier flight, but Delta changed the times of the flights. Their new schedule would have given us a 40 minute layover in ATL. Can that be done? Sure it could. Could there be a problem that delays the first flight and makes us miss the second? Oh yeah. It happens all the time. I wasn't willing to find that I missed the first flight and can't get seats on second flight: and, unwilling to fight with the possibility that we get on one flight and the bags get on the other. So instead of getting in about 1:30, we get in close to 3 pm. What the hell. We're on vacation.

Thanks

JIM

[PA Girl]

We normally come in on an earlier flight, but Delta changed the times of the flights. Their new schedule would have given us a 40 minute layover in ATL. Can that be done? Sure it could. Could there be a problem that delays the first flight and makes us miss the second? Oh yeah. It happens all the time. I wasn't willing to find that I missed the first flight and can't get seats on second flight: and, unwilling to fight with the possibility that we get on one flight and the bags get on the other. So instead of getting in about 1:30, we get in close to 3 pm. What the hell. We're on vacation.

Thanks

JIM

Oh boy, do I understand what you are talking about! Been there, done that.

I became OBSESSED with flight times for our upcoming trip. I stared at a 50 minute connection in PHL that would have got us to STT around 1pm but decided the risk of missing it was too great. More than once we had to sprint to make a longer connection because we landed and departed at the absolute opposite ends of the PHL airport. I remember one time the gate agents were yelling for everyone to run, that they were shutting the doors.

I finally decided to leave a day early and stay on STT for one night.

[cocosmom]

I think it is a good thing to try to make another arrangement just in case. We recently had a Sat. arrival time of 1:27. Didn't bother with a private taxi since we thought we could not have made 2:00 ferry. Due to being on the last boarding group we were told our carry-on would not fit, so we had to check it. The plane arrived early and we got to get out the back door. It was 1:10 when we had feet on the ground. With carry on we may have made the 2:00. We waited at least 20 minutes in a VERY HOT terminal. We were lucky to be last on in a van but made it shortly after the 2:00 left. Of course the 3:00 was delayed 20 minutes by the car ferry seating in front of it. so, since anything can happen, I would try to make other arrangements.