Flying from Vancouver to San Juan, Puerto Rico

[whee-sailing]

I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to fly Vancouver - Puerto Rico! The flight times are just awful. Most arrive in the middle of the night or are red eyes (but with multiple stops and layovers so it's not like you're sleeping). I thought about flying to Fort Lauderdale an extra day earlier and spending the night (I was already intending to arrive in San Juan the day before) and then flying from there but if my luggage gets lost on the flight to Fort Lauderdale (there will be a layover) then I'm hooped. For those who've done it, how did you do it?

 

And yes, I do regret not looking into this before I booked the cruises. The last time I flew to Puerto Rico I lived somewhere else.

[Lizabu]

Even coming from Ontario we had to change planes in Miami. I think your idea of splitting up the flight and spending one night in Florida is a good idea.

[Fouremco]

I don't know about availability on your dates, but Air Canada has a direct 4h 50m flight from Toronto that departs at 08:20 and arrive at 14:10. With lots of options for you getting to Toronto, that might be worth considering.

 

As for luggage getting lost, I suspect that your odds will be the same no matter what combination of flights you take.

[whee-sailing]

That's what I thought I could do: Vancouver to Toronto or Montreal to hop on those direct flights, but unfortunately they are only going on Sundays during my time frame.

[Fouremco]

Sorry to hear that, as it would otherwise be a good solution. 

[LHT28]

Can you cancel & find another sailing  that will work with the flights available to you ?

[AlbertaCruisers]

From Edmonton, it used to be that our best option was American Airlines here to Houston and then Houston to San Juan, but a red eye was involved. 

[whee-sailing]

I won't be canceling; it's three back to backs that I got at a great price and with no single supplement! I was just curious what other people's experience was. Whether they found it easier to arrive in the middle of the night or do the red eye.

[AlbertaCruisers]

I prefer a red eye if you get there in time to have some day left. We normally get to Florida around noon after our red eye through Toronto. We check in, get lunch, head to the beach or the pool for a while, do a decent supper and then go to bed early. I normally go to bed around 8 pm local time and I wake up feeling great the next day. I try to sleep as much as possible on the red eye and the next flight. I like it better than losing the whole day to travel. 

[bookbabe]

Try through Orlando.  Are there direct YVR to MCO flights at all?  Then do your overnight stay at the Orlando airport.

 

We ended up with that route for our February cruise out of San Juan, YYZ to MCO then MCO to SJU the next day.  There’s lots of flights and our cruise has an overnight in San Juan the first day, so we are flying to SJU embarkation day rather than our usual day-before.  The timings just worked better.

[whee-sailing]

There are no direct flights from Vancouver to anywhere in Florida (currently, that is). It's always been a hassle for us to get to east coast sun destinations. Air Transat started direct flights to Fort Lauderdale in 2019. I got to take their direct flight back from a cruise in Feb 2020 and it was SO nice, but they haven't brought those back post Covid.

 

Unless the TA can scramble up something better I'm probably going to go with the red eye leaving at midnight, going through JFK, and arriving in San Juan at four in the afternoon. It's JetBlue, so that's a big con, but it's only one stop instead of two so that's a pro.

[bcwife76]

Westjet definitely has direct flights to MCO from YVR but I don't know if they are offered all year long and they are only once a week. So probably not a big help to you. Definitely try and break up the flight if you can and spend a day in FL so it doesn't seem as bad. We've looked at PR cruises before too but then looked at flights from Vancouver (or lack thereof as you are finding out) and went nope. Once you get it sorted out it will be worth it in the end to enjoy your fabulous cruises 🙂

[LHT28]

How about  Delta  to MCO via Sea    then you are not connecting in  winter  where flights can be delayed

Then MCO to SJU  the next day non stop on Jet blue

[deepcman]

From someone who has flown to PR more yhan i like to admit, the best options to fly to San Juan is thru JFK or Miami. Both these airports run flights almost every hour to San Juan. 

Good luck

[whee-sailing]

Thank you for the info on West Jet. They are indeed going direct to Miami at that time but only on Saturdays, which does not work out. Bummer.

 

My concern with splitting it up with an overnight somewhere is if something happens to my luggage between Vancouver - Seattle - Orlando, then the next day when I fly to San Juan I'll be out of luck because the luggage would only be sent to Orlando as everything is not the same ticket.

 

I do get that JFK has more weather risk in the winter, but if I book through the cruise line then that's their problem. Although all day I've just gotten "The application has encountered an error. Please try again." whenever I try to check flights. Maybe I should take that as a sign. 🙂

[Lizabu]

1 hour ago, whee-sailing said:

Thank you for the info on West Jet. They are indeed going direct to Miami at that time but only on Saturdays, which does not work out. Bummer.

 

My concern with splitting it up with an overnight somewhere is if something happens to my luggage between Vancouver - Seattle - Orlando, then the next day when I fly to San Juan I'll be out of luck because the luggage would only be sent to Orlando as everything is not the same ticket.

 

I do get that JFK has more weather risk in the winter, but if I book through the cruise line then that's their problem. Although all day I've just gotten "The application has encountered an error. Please try again." whenever I try to check flights. Maybe I should take that as a sign. 🙂

You can book it on the same ticket though. I’ve done it and it’s just a really long layover. Sometimes a travel agent can help you figure it out if you’re not sure.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, whee-sailing said:

I do get that JFK has more weather risk in the winter, but if I book through the cruise line then that's their problem. Although all day I've just gotten "

I would confirm that  in writing

They may book the ticket but  if the flights are delayed or cancelled  it is up to the airline to get you to your destination it may be  the next  day or a week later

 Make sure you buy trip cancellation/interuption insurance  that covers  that scenario

 

Option would be to drive or bus to SEA   then get the non stop to MCO  you will collect you bag  then get the flight the next day to SJU

 more complicated  but your luggage  will probably make it 😉

 

[Fred&Lily]

We have cruised out of San Juan eight times since 1999. We drive from London Ont. down to Detroit and usually take the very cheapest Spirit flight with connections at FLL or MIA with never more than an hour layover.  On the right day of the week you can get a $99 fare DTW to SJU on Spirit.

From Vancouver the best route would be YVR to YYZ and then YYZ to SJU. Both Westjet and Air Canada do that route.

[Cariboocruisers]

We are going on a cruise out of Tampa in February and have a similar issue with flights as the OP. The choices are YVR-YYZ-TPA (or MCO) with a 4 hour layover in Toronto (almost 13 hours total) or driving the extra couple of hours to SEA and getting a non-stop flight that is under six hours.

 

We are leaning toward the SEA flight because there are two flights a day on Alaska, while the Westjet flight is only once a day. So if there are any issues, we at least have a backup flight since we are leaving a day early anyway.

[em-sk]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:19 AM, whee-sailing said:

There are no direct flights from Vancouver to anywhere in Florida (currently, that is). It's always been a hassle for us to get to east coast sun destinations. Air Transat started direct flights to Fort Lauderdale in 2019. I got to take their direct flight back from a cruise in Feb 2020 and it was SO nice, but they haven't brought those back post Covid.

 

Unless the TA can scramble up something better I'm probably going to go with the red eye leaving at midnight, going through JFK, and arriving in San Juan at four in the afternoon. It's JetBlue, so that's a big con, but it's only one stop instead of two so that's a pro.

 

Both WestJet and Air Canada are going to start offering flights from Vancouver to Florida non-stop.  However that does not mean onward connections would be any better.  

 

If you try flying from anywhere in the region to their (Vancouver, Seattle, Portland) your going to have the same problem.  Jet Blue is not a bad airline.   

 

[dolfan1980]

I just booked a SJU cruise for January and also had a really hard time with flights from Ottawa.  We are flying through Montreal with an overnight on Friday night and then down Saturday morning direct from Montreal (sail on Sunday).  Coming back I booked Southwest to Fort Lauderdale and Flair home (which if they go belly up will figure something out lol.  I also wasn't expecting it to be so hard, the last time we did YOW-IAD-SJU no problem at all.  Good luck.

[westcoasttech]

On 10/10/2022 at 3:22 AM, em-sk said:

 

Both WestJet and Air Canada are going to start offering flights from Vancouver to Florida non-stop.  However that does not mean onward connections would be any better.  

 

If you try flying from anywhere in the region to their (Vancouver, Seattle, Portland) your going to have the same problem.  Jet Blue is not a bad airline.   

 

The AC direct flights (YVR to MIA) seem to be starting towards the end of December.  They are not daily, just offered a few days per week (don't know if that will change in time?).  I've arranged to stay an extra night in MIA at the end of my cruise so I can use it for the return flight to YVR.  I know it doesn't make much financial sense with the extra expense of a hotel but it does shorten +10 hour traveling to a single flight of just over 6 hours, and avoids that rushed feeling of disembarkation day, so I'm going to treat myself and give it a try. 

[dolfan1980]

On 10/2/2022 at 3:40 PM, whee-sailing said:

I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to fly Vancouver - Puerto Rico! The flight times are just awful. Most arrive in the middle of the night or are red eyes (but with multiple stops and layovers so it's not like you're sleeping). I thought about flying to Fort Lauderdale an extra day earlier and spending the night (I was already intending to arrive in San Juan the day before) and then flying from there but if my luggage gets lost on the flight to Fort Lauderdale (there will be a layover) then I'm hooped. For those who've done it, how did you do it?

 

And yes, I do regret not looking into this before I booked the cruises. The last time I flew to Puerto Rico I lived somewhere else.

I recently booked my flights for San Juan in January from Ottawa and also can't easily get there either and am overnighting in Montreal unfortuantely.  I think if you're checking bags and want to stay with the same airline at least, then perhaps book a daytime flight to YYZ or YUL and then onwards in the morning.  You could always do a red-eye, but I agree that those are brutal.  At least if you lose your luggage you can get it sent the next day perhaps.  I'm a never check luggage under any circumstances person, so I understand your dilemma.  

 

You could probably do the same thing with United/AA/Delta too who fly to YVR and do an overnight stop in Atlanta/Houston/Fort Lauderdale/Dallas, etc.

[Magicat]

I just did a high level search...does JetBlue fly from YVR?  They had some good flight options, long days but no overnights.  Not sure of your exact dates so just guessed at Feb for 8 nights.

[dolfan1980]

4 hours ago, Magicat said:

I just did a high level search...does JetBlue fly from YVR?  They had some good flight options, long days but no overnights.  Not sure of your exact dates so just guessed at Feb for 8 nights.

All of those departures from SJU were the problem I came up against, nothing that works for a departure from a cruise.  We ended up booking Southwest to FLL and Flair to Ottawa coming home.  A risk, but I have AC status so as long as we get to Florida I can get last minute tickets on AC from there without too much trouble.