USVI-On-Line

Hi- I am debating whether to rent a car in STJ or STT, and have read that taxis will sometimes drop off passengers at hotels before getting to Red Hook. How likely is that to happen? There will be 5 of us (3 kids). I Think I'd prefer to rent in St. John, bit not if the taxi ride will be 45 min. or longer. Many years ago, I remember it was about a 25 min ride. still?

Some will disagree with me, but, in my experience, the likelihood of hotel stops on the way to Red Hook is 100% in a public taxi. There is the possibility of getting the CA ferry. There is also the private taxi option. Give one of them a call and see if you can negotiate a good rate. That would result in about a half hour drive, and the kids would get an interesting tour of STT. I've never done it, but you can get a water taxi in CA. I am told that this is a fairly expensive solution.

I have always avoided renting on STT because of the potential service problems with the car in STJ and the company in STT. I have heard that some of the STT car companies are making arrangements to get their cars serviced on STJ. That would be a question I would ask if I were planning to rent a car from STT.

Have a great trip

JIM

In 14 trips, I have never had a taxi stop.....

I've never had a taxi stop at a hotel on the way to the ferry, but I know others on the forum have.

My strategy has been to talk to those around you in the taxi line - get together a group the right size to fill a van and you'll be off directly to the ferry.

If it is a busy plane arrival time at the STT airport the dispatcher will load a taxi with only Red Hook passengers - no hotel stops - you can arrange a private taxi ahead of time and with 5 people the rate will be cost effective - depending on your timing there is a 5:30pm Charlotte Amalie - Cruz Bay ferry - [usually].
Renting a car on STT would give you the advantage of shopping at CostUless or Plaza Extra in STT before boarding the car ferry in Red Hook, only packing the luggage once, and an easy time on your return to the airport after vacation.

Our first 3 trips to STJ we rented our car on St John. It went fine, no issues.

This last trip we rented from Amalie on STT and after what a great experience it was I will only do it that way again.

We happened to drive onto the car ferry 2 minutes before it pulled away from the dock, so of course that helped. Timing the ferry is something you should consider.

We only had the 2 of us, so doing it this way probably didn't save any money but with a family of 5 you would definately save $. Not to mention you can load up the vehicle once on STT and then unload once when you get to your accomodations on STJ. That was a big plus for us!

Amalie's rep picks up 1 person of your party as soon as you land, while the other person grabs the bags. They take you to a hotel lot that's 2 minutes away. Sign some papers and you drive back to the airport and pick up the rest of the party.

Easy peasy!

Amalie puts you on island time and vacation quickly! Have rented from them the last several years and it is much easier, less stressful than the taxi, ferry, taxi route. Especially with a family of five - you'll save some $$$ too!

If everyone in your party is ready with carryons , can't we all go to the lot to do paperwork and avoid driving back to airport? Our plane arrives at 1:26pm on a Sunday in June and my mission is to make the 3pm car barge:)

I'm not sure that the 20 minutes difference would be a factor in a vacation to stj.
In all the many years we,ve been coming down, there Always seems to be a stop between the airport and redhook.....it's basically stupid but it happens often....that said maybe a private taxi is the way. I know you're going to have a great time,but missing the ferry after a long day is something that should be able to be avoided by the taxi guys...

Thanks for all this info- it's very helpful. If we decide to rent with Amalie on St Thomas, how is the drive to Red Hook? Are the directions easy? It would be a Sunday afternoon.

We've rented on STT for all 11 (or is it 12?) of our trips and I wouldn't have it any other way ESPECIALLY with kids. You load up once at the airport and go...no multiple transfers of luggage and dealing with car seats is much easier if your kids are young enough to need them.

Amalie is fantastic. We've used Budget in the past but after 3 bad experiences in a row we switched to Amalie and won't ever go back. With Budget we waited for a Jeep for 1 to 2 hours on 3 separate trips and then I was done...before that I was recommending Budget on this board.