For our trip in February, we are switching from Winair and SXM to Tradewinds and SJU. The chaos of SXM and a long travel day have become too much. Is it necessary to procure the tradewinds VIP service in route to SBH? Any recommendation for hotels for the San Juan layover? Many thanks for your help. We haven’t been back for a few years and are very excited to get back on the island.
Trying Tradewinds for the first time
- Thread starter LindaB
- Start date
The VIP “meet-&-greet” service is very nice to have, but keep in mind that it’s only applicable upon arrival into SJU when in transit to SBH on the same day.
(a) It is not available for Tradewind flights into SJU from SBH . . . and
(b) it is not available if you’re arriving SJU en route to SBH, but will be overnighting in San Juan before continuing to SBH.
With respect to (a), there is very personalized service available, at no charge, in the respect that an agent, meeting your SJU-arriving plane, will lead all passengers, with assistance of pilots, from the plane to baggage claim and immigration / customs areas (both of which are dedicated to Tradewind-arriving passengers) & then will guide them to luggage claim areas, ticket counters of other airlines, & TSA security for transferring passengers. It’s extremely professional & helpful.
Regarding (b), Tradewind — as it has been explained to me — simply doesn’t have space to store luggage of overnighting passengers.
Finally . . . one last “VIP” note — if there are multiple passengers on a flight into SJU who have reserved Tradewind’s VIP service, the passengers are aggregated for the service when disembarking at SJU. That is, there likely will be only one Tradewind agent who will gather (i.e., “aggregate”) the arriving, VIP-reserved passengers & escort all of them, at the same time. (In using the VIP service for 10 or more years, this has happened to me on only one occasion.)
San Juan hotels . . . at the upscale end, the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel is lovely &, on certain nights during the week, has available it’s exquisite (IMO) gourmet dining room, “1919 Restaurant“ (a limitation is that male guests in the Restaurant must wear long pants). A bit less expensive is the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel . . . not as elegant as Condado Vanderbilt, but still quite nice. Approximately across the street from the El San Juan (i.e., not on the beach) is -- in something of a ”budget” category — a very respectable alternative, a Hampton Suites hotel.
Enjoy your visit!
(a) It is not available for Tradewind flights into SJU from SBH . . . and
(b) it is not available if you’re arriving SJU en route to SBH, but will be overnighting in San Juan before continuing to SBH.
With respect to (a), there is very personalized service available, at no charge, in the respect that an agent, meeting your SJU-arriving plane, will lead all passengers, with assistance of pilots, from the plane to baggage claim and immigration / customs areas (both of which are dedicated to Tradewind-arriving passengers) & then will guide them to luggage claim areas, ticket counters of other airlines, & TSA security for transferring passengers. It’s extremely professional & helpful.
Regarding (b), Tradewind — as it has been explained to me — simply doesn’t have space to store luggage of overnighting passengers.
Finally . . . one last “VIP” note — if there are multiple passengers on a flight into SJU who have reserved Tradewind’s VIP service, the passengers are aggregated for the service when disembarking at SJU. That is, there likely will be only one Tradewind agent who will gather (i.e., “aggregate”) the arriving, VIP-reserved passengers & escort all of them, at the same time. (In using the VIP service for 10 or more years, this has happened to me on only one occasion.)
San Juan hotels . . . at the upscale end, the Condado Vanderbilt Hotel is lovely &, on certain nights during the week, has available it’s exquisite (IMO) gourmet dining room, “1919 Restaurant“ (a limitation is that male guests in the Restaurant must wear long pants). A bit less expensive is the Fairmont El San Juan Hotel . . . not as elegant as Condado Vanderbilt, but still quite nice. Approximately across the street from the El San Juan (i.e., not on the beach) is -- in something of a ”budget” category — a very respectable alternative, a Hampton Suites hotel.
Enjoy your visit!
You have all been very helpful. Unfortunately, as we are coming from Pittsburgh, making it all the way to SBH in one day is not possible with adequate time for airplane transfers so we must spend the night in San Juan. So it looks like the VIP service will not be available to us since we will need to overnight in San Juan. Again, thank you so much, and we are looking forward to traveling Tradewinds. We have always heard nothing but stellar regards.
If you are arriving late and leaving early the next morning I would just stay at the on-site SJU Airport Hotel. It isn't the best but the restaurant/bar is decent. Free breakfast the next morning and off you go to paradise without the hassle of taxiing all over for one-night.
You’ll love the personal attention!
elgreaux
Senior Insider
The other option would be to overnight in PHL and head down the next day via San Juan...
Tradewind...wonderful to fly with.
Tho years ago, the hotel at SJU airport treated us horribly so I would never ever recommend. Do the other recommendations from cec1, he knows his 'stuff' when it comes to SBH, SJU & the rest of the world.
Like elgreaux said, no S on Tradewind...
Tho years ago, the hotel at SJU airport treated us horribly so I would never ever recommend. Do the other recommendations from cec1, he knows his 'stuff' when it comes to SBH, SJU & the rest of the world.
Like elgreaux said, no S on Tradewind...
Thanks, Nancy . . . yes - I’ve done a lot of overnighting in San Juan. Some planned, some not.
I was going to stay quiet about the hotel “in” SJU. BUT . . . after being there a number of times & trying numerous room types, I’d recommend finding something else. (Tradewind, BTW, does have discounted rates with some nearby hotels.)
Though erikb923 describes the bar/restaurant as “decent,” I would — generously — say “neither bad nor good.” The rooms, moreover, are quite dated . . . and one should wisely choose not to go barefoot, IMO. Finally, it’s not necessary to “taxi all over” — the Hampton Inn & El San Juan hotels, e.g., are about a 10 minute taxi ride . . . Condado Vanderbilt is about 15 minutes.
I have found that being in a nice area for the evening . . . with quality food options readily available . . . and reasonably attractive rooms . . . mean much more to me than the perceived convenience of being in the airport hotel. (A recent review on Yelp captured the place well, I think — “No frills just a place to sleep.”)
Yes, I was more talking if you are arriving SJU at like 8pm or something and have the early 7am flight to SBH. I wouldn't spend $600 for a night at a "nice" hotel but that's personal choice I suppose. Embassy Suites is also nice, can lose some money in their casino as well!
cassidain
Senior Insider
AA has recently extended their checked bag carry over to 12 hours. Consequently, on way down this February we are taking early evening flight to CLT (leaving checked bags in AA's care), spending the night in airport hotel, and taking 9am flight to SXM connecting with SBC to SBH in time for stress-free villa check-in and provisioning, etc.
shihadehs
Senior Insider
after our 2 recent trips through SJU connecting to Tradewind we are opting back to overnighting then taking early flight over.
on those trips American was delayed both times and our connections were extremely tight. Had VIP both times and they rushed us onto Tradewind. Not worth the stress anymore. We have overnighted several times in airport hotel. Next trip we will fly into SJU early night before. Taxi to a nice dinner off campus then back to hotel. Sleep in a fairly decent room and have breakfast included next morning and just walk over to Tradewind check in. Airport hotel has discount rate if you fly Tradewind.
on those trips American was delayed both times and our connections were extremely tight. Had VIP both times and they rushed us onto Tradewind. Not worth the stress anymore. We have overnighted several times in airport hotel. Next trip we will fly into SJU early night before. Taxi to a nice dinner off campus then back to hotel. Sleep in a fairly decent room and have breakfast included next morning and just walk over to Tradewind check in. Airport hotel has discount rate if you fly Tradewind.
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BostonAndy
SBH Member
We've done the overnight in San Juan a number of times. The last time we stayed at the Embassy Suites -- and found it enjoyable. The pool area is quite nice -- and we even won a little money in the casino. An uber to the airport was about $5. Another benefit to doing the overnight is that the 1st Tradewind flight to SBH in the morning is much more reasonable priced.
With the improvements in the SXM airport as well as reasonably priced JetBlue BOS <-> SXM -- we no longer do the Tradewind route. In March we're booked on a civilized 10 am flight out of BOS and should arrive SBH by 4:30 pm.
With the improvements in the SXM airport as well as reasonably priced JetBlue BOS <-> SXM -- we no longer do the Tradewind route. In March we're booked on a civilized 10 am flight out of BOS and should arrive SBH by 4:30 pm.
Thank you, Nancy! Yes . . . many years working to get here, & I’m hopeful for more ahead. In friendships, I have great connections helping to make it happen!
