Air
Nonstop flights to San Juan are approximately 3¾ hours from New York; 2½ hours from Miami; 3½ hours from Atlanta; 3¾ hours from Boston; 4½ hours from Chicago; and 4½ hours from Dallas.
There are dozens of daily flights to Puerto Rico from the United States, and connections are particularly good from the East Coast, although there are a few nonstop flights from the Midwest as well. San Juan's international airport is a major regional hub, so many travelers headed elsewhere in the Caribbean make connections here. Because of the number of flights, fares to San Juan are among the region's most reasonably priced.
Airports
The island's main airport is Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín (SJU), 20 minutes east of Old San Juan in the neighborhood of Isla Verde. San Juan's secondary airport is the small Fernando L. Ribas-Dominicci Airport (SIG), also called Isla Grande, near the city's Miramar section. From either airport you can catch flights to Culebra and Vieques, and from SJU you can also connect to other destinations in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean.
Other Puerto Rican airports include Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández (BQN) in the northwestern town of Aguadilla; Aeropuerto Eugenio María de Hostos (MAZ) in the west-coast community of Mayagüez; Mercedita (PSE) in the south-coast town of Ponce; José Aponte de la Torre (RVR) in the east-coast town of Ceiba; Antonio Rivera Rodríguez (VQS) on Vieques; and Aeropuerto Benjamin Rivera Noriega (CPX) on Culebra.
Ground Transportation
Before arriving, check with your hotel about transfers: except in San Juan, where it's not allowed, some hotels and resorts offer transport from the airport (fee or no fee) to their guests; some larger resorts run shuttles regularly. Otherwise, your best bets are taxis turísticos (tourist taxis). Uniformed officials at the airport can help you make arrangements. They will give you a slip with your exact fare to hand to the driver. Rates are based on your destination: the base rate for a taxi turístico is $12 to Isla Verde, $17 to Condado, and $21 to Old San Juan. There's a $1 charge for each bag handled by the driver. Other costs include a fuel surcharge (currently at $2 per ride), an "airport fee" ($3 per ride to or from the airport), and fees for rides with more than five passengers ($2 for each additional passenger up to seven passengers), as well as a nighttime surcharge ($1 per ride, 10 pm–6 am).
Flights to Puerto Rico
San Juan's busy Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín receives flights from all major American carriers. American Airlines flies nonstop from Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, and Philadelphia. Delta flies nonstop from Atlanta and New York–JFK. JetBlue flies nonstop from Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Newark, New York–JFK, Orlando, Tampa, and Washington National. Southwest flies nonstop from Baltimore/Washington, Chicago–Midway, Fort Lauderdale, Houston–Hobby, Newark, Orlando, and Tampa. Spirit Air flies nonstop from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. United flies nonstop from Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Newark, and Washington, D.C.–Reagan National.
It used to be that travelers arriving at San Juan's international airport had to transfer to nearby Aeropuerto Fernando L. Ribas-Dominicci (known as Isla Grande Airport) to take a flight to Vieques or Culebra. These days, all carriers servicing the islands run flights from the international airport as well. (That said, if you don’t mind changing airports, flights to Vieques and Culebra are much cheaper from Isla Grande than they are from SJU—and even cheaper, by as much as half, from Ceiba, about a 90-minute drive from San Juan.) Air Flamenco and Vieques Air Link offer daily flights from both airports in San Juan, as well as from Ceiba, to Vieques and Culebra. Cape Air flies between the international airport and Culebra, Mayagüez, and Vieques.
San Juan is not the only gateway into Puerto Rico. If you're headed to the western part of the island, you can fly directly into Aguadilla. United flies here from Newark; JetBlue flies here from Ft. Lauderdale, New York–JFK, and Orlando; and Spirit Air flies nonstop from Fort Lauderdale. If the southern coast is your goal, JetBlue flies to Ponce from New York–JFK and Orlando.
Flights to the Caribbean
Puerto Rico is also a good spot from which to hop to other Caribbean islands. Cape Air connects San Juan to St. Thomas, St. Croix, Nevis, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda. Seaborne Airlines departs from San Juan International to Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, Martinique, Nevis, St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda. JetBlue offers direct flights from SJU to St. Thomas, St. Croix, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, and Santiago.
