San Francisco to San Juan (SFO–SJU) — Airlines, Schedules & Connections

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated US territory. US citizens travel to Puerto Rico with the same freedom as traveling between US states. No passport is needed. A valid government-issued photo ID (driver's license or state ID) is sufficient. There are no immigration or customs formalities for domestic travelers. At Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, you walk off the plane and collect your luggage with no border checkpoint.

Puerto Rico uses US currency, US federal law, and the US Postal Service. Your US health insurance, driver's license, and cell phone plan work here. Mail delivery uses standard US ZIP codes (006xx to 009xx). Puerto Rico is in the Atlantic Standard Time zone (AST), UTC-4, which is 1 hour ahead of US Eastern Time during daylight saving time and the same as Eastern during standard time (Puerto Rico does not observe daylight saving). Old San Juan's colonial architecture, the El Yunque National Rainforest (the only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest System), and Flamenco Beach on Culebra are the top draws.

Direct flights from New York JFK to San Juan run about 3 hours 30 minutes on JetBlue, Delta, United, and Spirit. Miami to SJU runs about 2 hours 30 minutes. Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, and dozens of other US cities have nonstop service. SJU is the busiest airport in the Caribbean and a hub for flights to the US Virgin Islands, the Eastern Caribbean, and South America. Because this is a domestic flight, no TSA PreCheck or Global Entry distinctions apply beyond what you use on any US domestic flight. Car rental starts at $30 per day. The Tren Urbano metro runs a single line from Bayamon to Sagrado Corazon in Santurce for $0.75 per ride. AMA buses cover the San Juan metro area at $0.75.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) runs from downtown San Francisco (Embarcadero, Powell St.) to the SFO station and then a free AirTrain shuttle to all terminals (30–40 min from Embarcadero, $10.45). BART also connects Oakland and Berkeley; useful for East Bay travelers. Trains run from ~4am to midnight.Taxis from downtown San Francisco cost $40–60. Ride-hails (Uber, Lyft) pick up in the designated area in the garage and are often $30–50 depending on surge pricing. SamTrans buses serve Peninsula cities. Highway 101 and I-280 are heavily congested during commute hours; BART is faster than driving at those times.