California Bay Area to San Juan

We have a b2b scheduled this December 6th through the 20th. to San Juan.

 

When I booked last December I checked and air at that time seemed pretty reasonable.some were the same price to FLL.

 

We thought to avoid boston, New York, New Jersey in case they get weather delayed. That means flying to Miami or DFW or Atlanta as far as I can tell.

 

I have also noticed some of these flights are longer than getting to Europe and that makes me wonder why I picked this cruise in the first place.

 

I have checked ita, kayak and choice air for a magic ticket that is less time and less money. It changes daily. So before I buy something I thought I would ask here to see if there are suggestions. And I have noticed prices are often quite lower in early December and not sure if waiting is going to be a mistake.

 

Thank you..

I see flights for your dates on UA (leaving from SFO) RT for as low as $399 and the total travel time is not that bad; only about 11 hours.

 

However, you're going to have to connect at EWR. Personally, I'd book it, purchase travel insurance, and not worry about it.

I spend hours looking but never saw that price! Will check united directly.

Not knowing what your price range is... Be sure to check routes on Jet Blue and Virgin America. Often these matrix style comparison sights don't include these smaller companies, but both fly out of SFO.

 

IMO both of these carriers are superior to the majors for economy seating/amenities, and if you can upgrade to their premium products (especially the new Mint product for the SFO - JFK portion) your long flight will be considerably more comfortable,

 

Good luck!

I have checked Jet Blue. I know seat guru rates virgin high in comfort but we used it last time to FLL and I would have rather been on Hawaiian air.

 

The mint one way is 749..,it sounds nice!

 

Mostly wondering why I am spending so many hours to get to San Juan when I can get to London for TA faster. Of course I haven't been to San Juan so maybe I will love it as much.

 

Mint to San Juan part way 12 and 13 hours about 1000.

1039. price virgin to London and delta to sfo return in first class from Miami.

To be fair, I have only ever flown Jet Blue or Virgin in their "premium economy" sections, but still find them superior to american/delta/united economy comfort style seats and entertainment. In my opinion, very much worth the upgrade fees if you can swing it.

 

We flew from SEA to San Juan on Jet Blue thru JFK (red eye). Yes, the flight is long, but the layover in between gave us plenty of time to stretch our legs and eat (the jet blue terminal at JFK is very nice).

 

Airfare is expensive...period. If my flight is more than 5 hours, then I factor in the cost to upgrade to a more comfortable seat (usually business class). I know not everyone can justify that kind of expense, but for me it means less vacations but in a style I have become accustom to.

 

However you get there, enjoy San Juan. It's a lovely city with delicious food.

Thanks for the recommendation. As soon as a wrap my head around the travel time being longer than to England I will buy a ticket.

 

I have oodles of delta miles but maybe it is time to try a better reviewed seating.

Thanks for the recommendation. As soon as a wrap my head around the travel time being longer than to England I will buy a ticket.

 

If this helps, "It is what it is", as they say. Airlines are not going to add more flights to SJU next month. Short of chartering a private NetJet the situation won't improve. Choose your personal balance between cost and transit time and go for it....keeping in mind there are far more flights and capacity to England than SJU.

 

I assume you're starting in HNL? Through mainland cities on the West Coast you will have to connect a second time; nonstops were discontinued several years ago. Might as well have a single connection. DFW, IAH, ATL, ORD, EWR, JFK are a few possibilities. It will be a bit difficult to minimize your connection time...focus on redeyes that arrive at the connecting city first thing in the morning, then connect on a mid-morning flight to SJU.

Edited August 23, 2014 by kenish

Thanks for the recommendation. As soon as a wrap my head around the travel time being longer than to England I will buy a ticket.

The travel time is longer because of the connections involved.

 

Great circle distances:

 

HNL-SJU 5889 mi

HNL-LHR 7237 mi

 

You can see it HERE (and play around with other routings as well).

That's an awesome map. I need to train my mind to think this way.

Thanks Kenish...usually we do lay over east coast or lax. So many combinations possible. This time we leave from SF.

I agree to wait till close just remember choice air time restrictions as must be booked so far in advance by I think 40 days of the cruise

 

Enjoy

 

 

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As a fellow west coast flier, I found flying in the day before and getting a room was cheaper than paying to get there on the day of travel. The airlines know the cruise ship travel dates and accordingly raise the rates. You are also returning during holiday time, schools out and people are traveling for xmas.

Last year if you used the exact same dates, the 20th was a friday so lots of schools still in session and no ships disembarking, this year is a saturday so you get first day of vacation and ships disembarking passengers, causing even greater increase in cost.

Another thought is flying to Mia (or close airport) spending the night there and then flying to SJU. Yes it adds time but for cost it may work better.

Thank you. I check daily and follow all inspired ideas. Through Texas, through LA, hang out in Miami. I wonder how many acupuncture appointments it will take if i go straight coach, and that cost verses mint jet blue. I even checked in moving one week earlier, but the cabin category is more.

 

Not only is it faster to London, it is also faster to Honk Kong from SFO.

 

I should be grateful to vacation at all.

The airlines know the cruise ship travel dates and accordingly raise the rates.

 

Agree with all your post, except this part. Look in an online tool and you will see that published fares and inventory is no different on "cruise days". What is different is thousands of people are purchasing fares for that day and the lowest fares sell out quickly.

Look in an online tool and you will see that published fares and inventory is no different on "cruise days". What is different is thousands of people are purchasing fares for that day and the lowest fares sell out quickly.

Are you sure? Not specifically at cruise ship ports, but on my usual routes I do see days of anticipated high demand for which inventory is simply not loaded in the bottom booking classes. Given that the airline never has any obligation to load any inventory into any booking class, this is not unexpected.

I'm trying to figure out why you keep bringing up London and travel times when it appears you're planning a cruise vacation to San Juan. Maybe you should just start a thread comparing apples to oranges.....:rolleyes: Either you want to go so SJU or you don't. If you do, find some tickets you can be happy with and buy them. Otherwise, I guess hang it up and go to London or Hong Kong and see an acupuncturist......

Edited September 2, 2014 by bouhunter

Are you sure? Not specifically at cruise ship ports, but on my usual routes I do see days of anticipated high demand for which inventory is simply not loaded in the bottom booking classes. Given that the airline never has any obligation to load any inventory into any booking class, this is not unexpected.

 

My comments were based on checking fares out of MIA/FLL/SJU from the LA area (ended up doing SJU both times). But I can see where events like World Cup, Super Bowl, etc. could be factored into available fares, makes sense!

I'm trying to figure out why you keep bringing up London and travel times when it appears you're planning a cruise vacation to San Juan. .

 

Very perceptive. A few years ago i began a time wasting habit of second guessing my cruise choice if there were other options with easier flights or better rates that I may like as well. I fall somewhere between the looking for reasons to cancel and looking for better deals. The whole syndrome settles down after final payment and I either jump ship and plane or not. I think it is some type of vacation panic attack syndrome.:D

Our entire family is sailing out of San Juan on 12/7, and I researched flights for all of us flying out of 3 different airports. Son #1 is flying from the Bay Area; we are flying from LAX.

 

We are all meeting up in San Juan at the same hotel from Thursday, 12/4 through Saturday, 12/6.

 

I found booking one way flights was actually cheaper for him. He's flying Southwest going out, and JetBlue coming back. JetBlue has more comfortable seats, but Southwest's schedule worked better for him since he has to work for part of the day he flies. Today Southwest has their Oakland flight for $233 to SJU. Coming back from SJU there are several airline choices for around $370 one way. The roundtrip cost is over $740 on one ticket.

 

I use mobissimo.com to check for price and schedule, and then go directly to the airline site to book online.

 

I never found a nonstop to SJU, by the way. The Southeast airports fly nonstop, but not the West Coast.

I never found a nonstop to SJU, by the way. The Southeast airports fly nonstop, but not the West Coast.

 

IMO several things led to airlines shedding West Coast-SJU nonstops. SJU was a center for "offshore" manufacturing and finance in the 80's and 90's and there was a lot of business traffic. AA even had a SJU hub. That has declined and leisure travel is lower-yield. At the same time, airlines cut their fleets (supply of seats) by roughly 20% and allocated aircraft to the more profitable routes. Another important item is fuel...a 6-7 hour flight is inefficient in a 757 / A330 class aircraft.

 

On leisure/discount routes, the "sweet spot" is a 737 / A320 with a full passenger load on a 3-4 hour flight.

Edited September 6, 2014 by kenish