I Doubt it!

Norm, you'll arrive at about 6:30am on St. Thomas at the Red Hook dock. Technically, you should be at the airport by this time (per Homeland Security guidelines), but low season Saturday mornings are easy and breezy traffic wise. Let's just say there's a taxi waiting for you at Red Hook and you move quickly to your vehicle. It's about a 40 to 45 minute drive to Cyril E. King Airport. So you'll be there by 7:15am or so. Still an hour before your flight.

Since our airport is so small, you stand a good chance of having a worry free departure if everything goes according to schedule. To be on the safe side, go on line and print out your boarding pass(es) the day before, and try not to break any "liquid violation" codes... you know, 3 ounces and below, in a quart size clear zip-lock - anything greater, check through... Smile for the x-ray, and it might not be a bad idea to hire a taxi ahead of time. To get dedicated service, the fee is $90 one way for up to 4 passengers, and $15 per person over that many. This is the government regulated rate for a private taxi.

Your villa manager or hotel should be able to make a recommendation, but if you don't have one, I'll offer Judy Wheatley's Taxi Service at 473-8900. That's her cell, and you should book in advance no matter who you use to ensure availability.

And... there is no "s" on the end of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. I know you didn't make it up, so I don't know where that way of saying it originates. I sure do hear it a lot. Not your fault. Maybe because there's a St. John's in Antigua...

Long story short, you should be OK, but your schedule is not the one recommended by authorities. I would not advise it in New York, Miami or any major city, but you stand a good chance of doing just fine leaving St. John via St. Thomas. Hope this helps, and that you're having an enjoyable stay.

Just make sure you are there early for that 6 a.m. ferry, because if you miss it you're not going to make your flight.

I rearranged my schedule to fly out later because I didn't think I could make an early morning flight.

I was always under the impression that you must be checked in at least one hour before your flight in STT and they will not board you after that especially if you are checking luggage.

Last year, we checked into STT an hour before my flight, and they wouldn't let us on. Not enough time to go through customs they said. We had to hang out at the airport for 3 more hours for the next flight. I wouldn't chance it myself. Spend the night at BW Emerald Beach right by the airport so you aren't stressed! Plus you can sleep a bit later as well!

I take this flight ALL the time and yes I make it every time taking the 6am ferry 🙂

Pia

It does say on my itinerary from Delta that I must be at the Atlanta airport and the STT airport (there were others on the list) at least 60 minutes prior to departure.

However, I barely made my plane home from Florida a few months ago. I got there after the time they told me was drop-dead to be there, but because the airport wasn't busy and it looked like I could make it through, they let me try. I even had time to go to the bathroom before I had to board my plane.

We always try to stretch our final minutes on the islands, we never want to leave so we linger at the villa, the beach or where ever until the very last second and we've never had a problem getting thru customs and onto the plane. We've never been to the airport more than 30 minutes before our flight as a matter of fact the last two times we walked upto the counter, checked in, went thru customs and then right onto the plane that was boarding on the tarmac and the plane left within 10 minutes of us getting our seats. I don't like wasting precious island time sitting in a stuffy airport so we definately risk it, besides.............what better place to get stuck than the islands?!

Norm,
If you are a Type A Personality, the Stress of Last minute's in Paradise may not be worth it. So Here's something to think about. What if the engine on the boat breaks down, What if there is an auto accident in front of you from Redhook to the Airport,What if your Taxi driver is late,what if you oversleep by 10 minutes, what if TSA inspectors decide to be extra careful today,What if US Customs decides to be a little more than helpful, what if the airline decides you didn't arrive as instructed and will not let you Board, Good Luck whatever you decide to do.

I wonder how Norm did on his trip out... Norm??? Norm, are U there???

For my own info, I'd like to know how it turned out since people ask all the time about "trying a t'ing" such as that. A trip report would'nt be too bad either!!!

Hey A Davis....there's not many trip reports on here anymore are there.....kind of quiet around these parts.

I'd suggest listening to Pia. She flits around like mad travelling back and forth between STJ (where she lives,) the US mainland and Europe too. If anyone knows about being on STJ and connecting with a morning connection to catch a flight from STT airport, Pia is THE MAN! Cheers!

Yeah, Pia, I I know you're off gallivanting again but where are my Allsorts? Bad child for true!

I did this on Friday - caught the 6 a.m. ferry and was at the airport in plenty of time for an 8:10 flight. Even had time to get breakfast and check out the gift shop. The airport wasn't crowded it all, although there probably will be more people on Saturday. If it was me, I'd go for it.

One of our girls did it yesterday with no problem. I was through customs and all that jazz in under 30 minutes and I had to wait to borrow an ink pen!