FURTHER ADVICE TO THOSE WITH SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE AND DESIRE TO SAVE BIG BUCKS

another benefit of renting at stt airport is ease of getting home. nonstops back to atl leave stt between 3 and 5pm, stj villa checkouts usually 10am. rather than trying late checkout, we go for 10am barge back to redhook, do a leisurely drive over north road and pullin for view back over ca with cruise ships and harbor. then up to mountaintop for the eye popping views of magens bay and back to east to see stj from afar, awesome even drove down to magens on one trip.

depending on flt time we'll go down from mttop to best western emerald beach, or take lesiurely drive around crown mountain to west end of mountain and views toward pr then to bweb. why bweb?, your basicly at airport, they have an open air restuarant with a lovely view of lindberg bay that you can enjoy with a leisurely late lunch that replaces trying to find decent food to take on planetrip home. foods not bad, prices good for vis, and can have a drink or two without having to go out for major drive again.

word of caution, not all rental cos allow cars to go to stj. we have used both avis and budget at various time depending on who had best rates for trip. also found than rates for budget are better on budget worldwide website than on stt budget site.

also tried buying groceries at large supermarket at tutu mall on first trip. found prices a little cheaper then starfish on stj, but not sure worth hassel. while we have never messed barge to stj, we were one of last cars on last barge on oct trip. be a bummer if had carload of refrigerated foods and no refrig till next day. also morning barges to stj seem to be a lot more crowded (only tried once when we decided to spend 1st night on stt) a lot of truck traffic to stj in mornings.

done 5 times since oct 04 and while have had a few close calls have always made it. we chose car size based on number (2 can get by with a jeep or compact and 4 takes full size to carry luggage too). SAVINGS usually 2-300 when you compare airport car rental rates and barge fares to stj rates, several taxi rides and ferry fares per passenger and bag. DO NOT PAY FOR ROUND TRIP BARGE FARE, WHILE CHEAPER, IT LIMITS OPTIONS ON RETURN SINCE YOU WAIT FOR SAME COMPANY'S BARGE.

maybe some of you out there can use this info. while our first time this way had my bride threating to kill me if i got her home, now seems easier than 40 mile drive to atlanta on an expressway with 75 mph 18 wheelers.

Thanks for the feedback.

Last year all we saw of STT was the shortest route from the airport to Red Hook. This time we will plan to leave STJ early in the day and take a leisurely drive following your STT scenic route back to the airport.

Does anyone know exactly which STT Car Rental Companies specifically restrict their vehicles from going over to STJ ???

wes,

hertz prohibits stj, don't know about any of local companies.

papabou

papabou:

Looks like we are going to use Thrifty (near STT airport - Lindburg Bay). I just called down there and they said we are free to go anywhere we like with the car. The only thing is that Thrifty does not offer Free roadside service on STJ. That works for fine for us.

Not sure if its worth an extra $200 to go with a Jeep over a Toyota Echo. Seems to me smaller (cars) is better on STJ. Parking in Cruz Bay is tight, all of the island roads are very narrow and twisted, and we plan to spend as much of our eight day stay OUTSIDE of the car as possible. A Jeep probably would be fun for a one or two day escape from a big resort. We just need something light and cheap to get us from Point A to Point B. (But hey- its a vacation. Maybe we will go with a jeep)

btw - Last year we rented from Hertz. They didn't ask if we were going to STJ with the car and we didn't say. They did ask us for a local telephone number and we gave them a friends number on STT. Hertz probably would have said something if we had given them a STJ number.

Wes-NH

wes-nh

where prior posts, seems like a lot of folks like thrifty. may need to give a try if they are cheaper.

we had great time with a cavalier, a corolla, and a jeep wrangler (free upgrade & hardtop) with two people, and a camry and a taraus for 4. camry bottomed out several times on speed bumps and was hard to get on/off barge, had to do extreme angles. rented a jeep on couple of trips to see some of stj you can't really get to in a small car: end of road at reef bay, lameshur bay and rte 108 from coral bay back to centerline rd. south shore rd up gifft hill is tuff when raining too. could see all sites with one day rental and still save!

word of caution on taking rental car to stj when rental co specifies can't: no insurance either through rental agency or own company or credit card gap coverage since all non owned coverage requires you be be "legally" driving to have coverage. if you take car to place prohibited by rental agrmnt, you are bare!

have fun!

papabou

papabou:

Good Point on risks of going (auto insurance) bare. Better to confirm any STJ car rental restrictions up front to avoid a nasty surprise later. Last year we didn't know enough to even ask that question.

We are leaving for the islands a week from today. Ready to escape this winter wonderland for a while.

Best Regards,

Wes-NH

We're headed to STJ in March and are looking into renting a car - probably a jeep on STT and taking the barge.

Everyone keeps saying you don't want to miss the last ferry...our flight gets in late afternoon. What time is the last ferry?

Also, we're going to be traveling with a toddler - any suggestions about car seats? Should we bring ours, or rent one from the car rental agency?

Thanks for your feedback.
Tom

Tom,

You can check the "Ferry Schedules" link at the top of this page; the last car ferry from STT to STJ leaves Red Hook at 7:00 pm.

I really wouldn't go with a small car. I always like to save a buck, but that's not a place where I'd cut corners. There are some roads where you'd probably bottom out. There are also some driveways that you won't make w/o 4wd. Roads on STJ also get very slick when it rains (and it doesn't take much rain to make them slick). I'd really want 4wd to handle the hills and switchbacks after/during a rain.

Going to STT in late april for 5 days and thinking of extending over stj for another 4 or 5 nights -- any seasoned travelers to STj have any good recommendations on lodging or locaations that are best for this kind of stay. will rent jeep on stt and take over and will be sure it is allowed to take over.

thanks

Pab

nick,

as i said size of load decided size of car. camry only one had bottoming problems, BUT THERE ARE MANY PLACES ONLY 4WH DR CAN GO INCLUDING NUMEROUS VILLA DRIVES WE'VE SEEN. all our cars had front wheel drive and never had problem on centerline or north shore rds due to rain but did have to get running start a couple of times on northshore eastbound approaching peterbay. also had to shift to 4whdr in jeep few times because of rearwheel dr when car would have had no problem.

jeep a must for some spots, too small for more than 2 with luggage, stt cars lot cheaper than jeeps but won't go everywhere. we have same situation here in ga. REALLY, IF YOU WANT TO SEE ALL OF STJ YOU EITHER WALK OR NEED A FULL SIZE HUMMER WHICH I DON'T BELIEVE IS AVAILABLE. nuff said.

papabou

Hi Tom;

Last January was our first trip to the USVI. Our flight was delayed about three hours in Jan Juan, so we don't get into STT, pick-up our rental car and find our way (driving on the LEFT side of the road) to Red Hook until about 8:00pm.

If you miss the car barge - all is not lost. You can park the car for a fee at the ferry terminal and take the passenger ferry to Cruz Bay until 11:00pm There are taxis waiting at CB to take you to your lodging. Its a hassle, but you can go back and get your car the next morning. (time better spent enjoying your vacation)

Our problem is that we were staying at the far end of the island. Its only about 12 miles from CB, but it was like going to the far ends of the earth late at night at 20 mph over the dark winding road to find a cottage that we had never been to before. Taxi fare was $80.00 (one way).

Nick is right - there are a lot of challenging roads, switchbacks and driveway on STJ. If you plan to venture down a lot of the paths less traveled - go with a jeep. We rented a Toyota Echo last year and got around just fine. The money we saved went to food and drinks. The secret is - go slow.

Our kids are in their 20's, so can't help you with the car seat question. A quick toll call to your STT car rental agency would probably be worth the cost.

Hope this helps.

Wes-NH

Wes,
Would you mind telling me where you're flying out of? We live in Maine and we're going to STT and STJ in June and I haven't found any direct flights to STT. I've checked AA out of Boston and most of the flights stop in San Juan (which I'm trying to avoid) and I've checked Spirit out of Providence and they stop in Ft Lauderdale which wouldn't be too bad but I would much prefer a direct flight. Thanks for any info you can offer and enjoy your escape to warmer weather!!

Jeanne

Hi Jeanne:

As we all know, finding the best air fares with minimal layovers to STT (or anywhere) is like picking winning lottery numbers.

We are flying US Airways (Manchester to Philadelphia to STT) $642 per person ($1,284) We searched Travelocity, Expedia, and AOL Travel every day for weeks and finally figured this was about the best we could do. We booked our flights in mid November. Today (one week before departure) we could have booked the exact same flights on Expedia for $595 pp ($1,190), almost $100 less. Go Figure.

USAir, United, Delta, Continental, and AA all fly into Charlotte Amalie from mainland cities. June is the off season for Caribbean destinations, so there may be fewer flight options. My suggestion is to keep looking and asking until you find a route and fare that you are comfortable with.

Good Hunting.

Wes-NH

Continental has a direct flight out of NJ. It runs daily. but it may go to san juan.. i forgot now...

American has the cheapest deals - $208 DFW... the secret is on their website - the main page has a link to flexible dates. I promise it's worth it

Best Fares will have a deal occasionally. check on tuesdays

Tom
We were in Stt last summer with our grandchildren, rented a minivan from Hertz and paid $100 for a rental car seat only to discover later in the week the car had a built in car seat! Nice of them to let us know. How old is your child?
Once during a winter visit we saw a couple with a baby poolside at the Wyndham and it looked like they were camping, porta crib, stroller and a lot of other stuff.
Our daughter has a friend that travels with a small pop up "house" and just makes a bed on the floor to keep the baby feeling secure without the hassle of a crib or falling off of a bed,thought that was a great idea, and would work well at the beach and for shade, just thought I'd pass that along. Have a womderful time!

Jeanne,

Check Bestfares.com. Look for Continental flights routing through Newark.

As I mentioned in previous posts I am flying from Missoula, Montana to STT for $243 per person round trip on Continental. Missoula-Minneaopolis-Newark-STT. (including all taxes,fees, etc.)

All of the stops are pretty standard flying from Montana. Flying out of Portland, Boston, or Providence you could probably make it in one stop. (or direct from Boston)

Check the "Snooze You Lose" deals on the left side of the page. I just checked the fares from Providence, Boston, and Portland... they looked pretty good.

Hi,

I just read your post and have a couple of questions for you. I rented a place for July through Destinations St. John. They advised to get the rental car there, said if there was any car problems then we would not have anyone to help us on St. John. Do you know if you can rent a truck-jutney on STT. These vehcile will hold 8 or 10 people, two in truck cab and then there is bench seats that face one another in the truck bed. I would like to hear your comments on whether or not there would be any "bottom hitting" in this type of vehicle - there will be 8 or 9 in my party.

We are also going to take as much food with us from Atl as we can. Do you fly Delta? What is the cheapest you have found tickets that are nonstop. Right now for July they are showing $597.50.

Thanks for your help.

Vickie

Hi Vickie,

You cannot rent a jitney in the VI unless you also "rent" the driver. Jitney's are privately owned and you need a taxi permit to operate one. These permits are about as difficult to come by as NYC cab medallions. Perhaps you can rent a couple of minivans. Whether or not you'd bottom out depends on the roads between the place you're staying and the places you want to go. Check availability with the car rental agencies but if you are unfamiliar with the villa you're renting and have opted to trust a particular villa rental firm with such an important aspect of your vacation I'd recommend you seek out and heed their advice about vehicle rentals.