RAC

In February, we are flying to San Jose, Costa Rica with a connecting flight in San Salvador.

We only have 57 minutes to make our connecting flight. (We arrive at 7:33 am and leave at 8:30 am). Both flights are TACA.

Presumably, we'll have to clear immigration, collect our bags, clear customs, recheck our bags, and clear security and still get on the plane before it closes its doors.

Is this correct, and is it possible to manage this in such a short period of time? Any suggestions?

costaricalover

RAC,been there done that, and am doing it again in less than 2 weeks. San Salvador is a tiny airport, nothing like Costa Rica's! Not as small at Tambor, but MUCH smaller than any other international airport I have been to. So no worries!
Don't panic upon landing when steam fills the plane - it's just the humidity. I thought the plane was on fire when it first happened!

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Actually, San Salvador's airport is larger than San Jose's and it receives more traffic.

Never fear: Connections are a breeze. No passport control or customs because you never officially enter El Salvador, and your bags will be transferred automatically for you. All the TACA gates are together so you just walk to your connecting gate.

MichelleY

Ditto previous posters. They make it very easy for you.

costaricalover

Did I fly into another airport? When I went 3 years ago it was small!

RAC

This is a great relief. Thank you all.

Now we can turn our worrying efforts to the boat ride from Drake to Sirena.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

If you just connect TACA to TACA at San Salvador, it probably seems small, especially if your connecting gates are right next to each other, as has often been the case for me. It's a huge airport, not O'Hare/Miami/Heathrow huge, but for Central America it's large. It puts San Jose to shame.

Officially, San Jose has 16 gates, although only eight or nine of them are true gates with jetways. The rest, you have to go downstairs and take buses out to the plane. San Salvador has close to 30, and they're real gates.

costaricalover

Thanks, Jeff. Thought I was losing it there for a moment. We connected Taca to Taca, so guess I must have missed a large part of the airport.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Now that I think about it, 30 gates at SAL is too many. It's more like 20 to 25. It's still larger than SJO.

ontheroad24

I have a flight from Toronto to SAL on LACSA airlines with a 40 minute connection to make a flight from SAL on Guayaquil on TACA on December 29.

I'm wondering if the fact I'm switching airlines is a major problem, or whether or not it is reasonable to still make this 40 minute connection.

Also, would my bag get transferred automatically or will I have to pick it up?

General opinion about making this connection, thank you.

MichelleY

I believe LACSA and TACA are one in the same. You will not have any problems and your bags should be checked thru to your destination.

marshallm

I had the same fear flying from San Jose to San Salvador and then onto Houston so we actually changed our flight. All of the TACA flights we had been on (IAH to San Salvador, then San Salvador to Lima, then Lima to Costa Rica) had been late by at least an hour so I figured the track record was bad. However, (just my luck) the flight from San Jose to San Salvador was on time so I changed it for nothing (and $175 poorer).

hopefulist

We had 45 minute layovers coming and going between Guatemala City and Roatán last summer - plenty of time.

Enchanting_girl

No reason to be afraid of. As Michelle said TACA and LACSA are the same thing, LACSA was the Costa Rican airline, then it joined TACA as a whole group of Central American airlines, however they kept some codes because of different regulations. If you see a LR or TA code in your flight number, is the same thing, no reason to worry about it.
Also not a problem with your bags, they will be automatically checked thru the final destination.
Hope this helps!