Early AM layover in San Juan???

Schnell · Post by **Schnell** » Mon May 04, 2015 8:06 pm

Anyone ever have a early AM layover in SJU? Looking at a JetBlue flight leaving at about midnight and arriving in SJU after 3am. Next flight is 7am to STT. Can travelers stay in the secure area since it a 3.5 hr layout at a really odd time? Our previous decade of traveling has brought us through MIA on American but their recent merger has changed things so shopping other airlines.

PaminMaine · Post by **PaminMaine** » Mon May 04, 2015 9:37 pm

Yes, we have done it several times. In fact, we did it for our March trip this year. The airport is going though some construction, and this year we were in a different area than previous years. The chairs were new and were hard metal, and the airport was freezing! Not comfy to snooze in, and limited coffee joints open. However... being on island at 7:30 a.m.... I'll do it again!!!

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Tue May 05, 2015 1:04 pm

Having spent the night in the SJU airport, yes, it is possible to stay inside the secure area. It was a miserable experience that I would never willingly repeat. Nothing was open so take your own food and drink.

When we went through SJU in February, it was sort of a construction mess but a lot of the areas looked like they were about to be finished.

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Tue May 05, 2015 3:24 pm

I took the JetBlue midnight flight from Boston with my group last summer. We arrived at SJU around 3:30 AM, and caught the 7AM to STT. I concur with PAGirl, I would never do this itinerary again. You are allowed to stay inside the secure area, but it is impossible to sleep, and nothing is open food/drink wise. Arriving on island in the morning was a change of pace (we went to Honeymoon until we could check in to our villa), but honestly everyone was so tired from the disrupted routine that we ended up losing our entire third day of vacation to villa gravity because the lack of sleep caught up to us all and everyone was too tired to venture out.

I should also mention that we had to pay for our rental vehicles starting the day before in order to secure them for our morning arrival (and they still were not ready when we got to the car rental place).

Schnell · Post by **Schnell** » Tue May 05, 2015 4:38 pm

Thanks for the feedback. You all said what I already felt. Possible, but not ideal. Think we are going to shop some flights. This AA merger has really jacked up the prices and schedules from recent years!

crasherino · Post by **crasherino** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:10 pm

This is all good information. I am considering heading straight from Thanksgiving dinner to the airport to surprise my wife for her birthday. With child care and what not, I figured the best way to maximize our time would be to take the 11:59 through SJU. I thought that while the transfer sucks, at least we'd get there first thing and catching up on sleep on the beach is better than being in the cold.

But, it sounds like its pretty miserable. May have to re-consider.

loria · Post by **loria** » Tue May 19, 2015 10:19 am

i know of someone who did this itinerary recently and their 7 or 8 am flight was canceled and they couldn't get rebooked until about 2 pm..... so ... yuck

david@va.beach · Post by **david@va.beach** » Tue May 19, 2015 2:05 pm

we had to do this years ago and it sucked big time! Air travel these days are bad enough with good schedules. but starting out with that schedule = jet lag for a better word.

samoka · Post by **samoka** » Sat May 23, 2015 7:40 am

I have flown from BOS to STT through SJU on the 11:55 pm flight twice now and am waiting to book it again for next Feb. I found it easy to sleep on the plane and to catch a couple of winks at SJU. I never sleep the night before a trip anyway so at least this way I get an extra full day without paying an extra nights stay. I didn't have to pay for an extra day with the car rental but ended up paying for a couple of extra hours. So I guess it all depends on if you think you would be able to sleep on the plane, In Feb there have been a couple of places open to get coffee and a snack. Good luck.

PaminMaine · Post by **PaminMaine** » Sat May 23, 2015 1:49 pm

Samoka,
We snooze on the plane as well. We had a great breakfast at Cruz Bay Landing when we arrived, while we waited for our jeep. Our rental agency is good about letting us pick up by 9-10 a.m. Off to drop off our luggage and hit the beach. Maybe a brief afternoon nap ( sometimes at the beach) and we are good to go !

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