RJ
Tip: You are on vacation and there is no connecting flight or bus to catch. Start practicing 'island time' upon arrival and do not get too worked up over anything.

Yes...I have traveled with my kids through airports. Enjoy your trip, the island(s) and most importantly, time with your family. 🙂

Lots of rum punch? Lol!

You'll be fine. We travel with three young kids and we tell them it is their duty to keep an eye out for the luggage. That keeps them occupied for a while.

Just relax, enjoy your vacation and remember you are limin on island time. No worries!

Which airline? I have tips, depending on the airline.

us air

If USAir out of STT let's you check in online, do that. I seem to always have to stand in line...but I think that might have been due to seating configuration issues for my daughter and I.

You can always walk to the front and get your customs declaration forms off of the counter without waiting in line for it (or even pick one up when you arrive on your first day and have it filled out when you arrive at the airport to depart), if you were able to obtain a boarding pass another way (kiosk or online check-in).

Use a porter to check your luggage in.

We got pulled out of the loooooooong USAir line and brought to the First Class line last time I checked in becuase our final destination was Philly and we were on the STT-PHL non-stop. A USAir lady was walking around asking for people who were final to Philly. If that's your case (final to a hub), keep an ear/eye out.

Remember, there's a bar in the terminal.....a treat at the other end of the madness....your farewell rum punch.

thats what we are on Phila non stop both ways,Thanks

Rig...what blu said. Keep your eyes and ears open when you get to the airport and also when you are leaving.

If the baggage carousals aren't working, you'll be directed to another part of the airport to retrieve your luggage. That was nuts. Hopefully, that doesn't happen too often.

Also, another mistake we made was thinking we could get some rum to bring back home at the airport. Once you're inside the airport, you can't. They don't have a duty free shop on out bound flights. The duty free shop is located where the in bound flights come in and even at that, I have a bathroom that's bigger...lol

We traveled with our then almost 4 and 15 month old last November and it can be hard. It was naptime after a long traveling day when we arrived and both kids did a little (ok, a lot) of screaming in the airport waiting for our bags and car. The baggage claim area is a very busy and luckily loud place. It was also very hot. We had to wait quite a while in the car rental line and then another 30 minutes for the car to actually arrive (through Budget). They did get it a little quicker when I told them I didn't care if it was clean. So, be prepared for the worst from the kids, fill up their cup with some cold water when you arrive and try to stay calm, it won't last forever. This November we're planning to rent from dependable Car rental and hope that we get out of the airport quicker. If you have a couple of families, maybe have someone take the kids outside for a snack and the island breeze while the rest get the bags and/or cars. Have fun, the airport is only a small portion of your trip.

We also found that they were very picky about the snacks we wanted to bring back in with us like applesauce for the baby. Definitely just go with non gel like snacks.

i am flying into STT 20th june and due to land at a quarter past 8pm....final destination is STJ...i am a bit of a worrier when it comes to travelling TO places (going the other direction is a different story!! NEVER in a hurry to get home!)...anyhoo the worst case scenario would be a delayed flight that landed after 8:15....bagaage problems etc...should this happen do ye reckon that i'd still make the last ferry out of red hook? stupid question probably but i like to cross all the t's and dot all the i's.... :OP

You should be fine - probably won't make the 9pm ferry unless you have carry-on only but you will make the 10pm. The last ferry is at midnight so you have a huge window.
You must be on the AA flight as I arrive on that 8:15pm flight on Monday after a short 4 days in Denver and will plan on the 10pm as I will have luggage as it is a business trip 🙁

Pia

Pia, how about leaving from St John. We'd like to take the 12 noon CA ferry the day we leave. Our plane leaves at 3 pm. Is this cutting it too close? I heard that the CA ferry is small, plus unreliable. I hate to leave too soon!

I have heard horror stories about USAir -- but has anyone had any problems with flying on United to STT? We are coming in direct from DC on United on Saturday (2 days!!) and arrive at 12:20pm. I think we get in earlier than alot of other flights on saturday but I am preparing myself for the worst.

We also leave the following saturday at 3pm -- is 2hrs prior enough time? I have read customs can be a bear....esp. on saturdays.

Eric

Something that I've seen intimated, but not stated outright, is that you can't bring snacks/lunch to eat in the STT airport at the gate area while you wait for your outbound flight - is that the case?

Not sure about the snacks/ lunch...but there is a small restaurant at the gate area. They serve hot and cold food and have table seating. It is kind of Caribbean cafeteria style.

They do not have a 12 noon CA ferry only an 11:15am and a 1:15pm (around the time you want and the 1:15 is waaayy too late for a 3pm flight) so you either need to be on the 12 noon Red Hook and go straight to the airport (no that is not too early - I always allow 3 hours before flight time to be on the ferry especially a weekend) or the 11:15am CA and you then will have a small window (about 45 mins) for shopping in CA but on a Saturday give yourself a minimum of 2 hours in STT airport.

You can take food into the STT airport but no drinks (you know the 3oz rule 🙂 ) or fruit - at least I have but it has been a small snack not a full plate meal.

Hope this helps

Pia

we just left on a saturday. the CA ferry was an hour late and the porter in STJ was a racket. you need to let him watch your bags to get on the ferry. there is no sign to let you know this, but go ahead and give him money if there are a lot of oeple waiting for the Charlotte ferry. it only holds 49 people. he kicked 2 old ladies out of the line because they had not given him money. then you have to pay the ferry captian more $$ for each bag.

we got to the airport an hour later than we expected, and still had 1:45 minutes. the customs line was at least 3 hours long (longest i have ever seen). (longer than LAX on new years day) a bag porter came around and was offering to let people skip the line. it seemed shady, but i aksed how much. ($10 per person) anyway, you were really paying him to carry your bags. he took us down this long hall and we skipped the entire custom's line and still barely made our plane.

if you are leaving on a sat., get to the airport as early as possible.

Pia, thanks for the tip about the ferry. I just thought from my research there was a noon CA ferry. It really sounds too rushed to trust it. We'll probably take the 11:15 ferry, which means that we won't have time for one last lunch at the beach bar! Maybe we'll stop and get sandwiches at the deli grotto, have my husband return the car, and take the 11:15 ferry. By the way, we leave on a Friday.

I think about this trip every day!

I think STT needs a new airport...anybody else?

You wouldn't think so if you had flown in and out to the OLD airport. I am not 40 (almost) and I remeber flying into and out of the "hanger" and landing on a much shorter runway - much, much shorter.

This one is a world away. Almost too much so.

I fondly remember the hanger. :)...and flying through San Juan.....with the people, and their chickens, on board.