Travel Information

2021 Camper Travel Information

For Summer 2021, local families will be dropping off their campers directly at camp during a staggered drop off between 11:00am and 12:30pm to ensure a smooth and safe intake process. We appreciate your flexibility with the changes we feel necessary to implement this year in our travel procedures due to COVID-19. We will be sending out detailed travel and drop off information closer to the start of the summer to all enrolled families. 

For campers out of the area and within driving distance to camp, we recommend also dropping off your campers at camp whenever possible.

Please be sure to complete the online travel form found in your Campminder portal before the summer so we know how your camper will arrive at camp, and whether your camper will be dropped off by car or taking a plane to camp. Specific health and safety requirements for traveling to camp will be sent to families closer to the start of camp.

 

Driving to/from camp

 

First Day of Camp

 

• We ask that families drop their children off at camp between 11:00am and 12:30pm during their assigned arrival time.  Please follow posted signs and staff member instructions to best ensure a safe and efficient camper drop off experience.
• To ensure proper care of your child, we are unable to welcome your camper before 11:00am.
• We will provide camper families with specific drop off instructions in the days prior to camper arrival
• Should anything change with regards to drop off last minute, we will contact camp families directly via phone and or email.

 

Last Day of Camp

 

• We ask that families pick children up between 9:30am and 10:30am. Please follow posted signs and staff member instructions to best ensure a safe and efficient camper pickup experience.
• We ask that families not pick up campers earlier than 9:30am on travel day to ensure that they have eaten breakfast, have had time to say goodbye to their friends and counselors, and have all of their belongings in an easily accessible space.
• We will provide camper families with specific pickup instructions in the days prior to camper departure
• Should anything change with regards to drop off last minute, we will contact camp families directly via phone and or email.

Flying to/from Camp
We also recognize and are proud of the geographic diversity of our camp community. For those who will be flying to camp from out of the area, we have listed suggested flights in our arrival window of 9:00am-12:00pm into San Jose airport (SJC). We have also suggested flights from SJC during our departure window from SJC of 1:00pm-4:00pm on the final day of each session. We ask that you only book flights within this travel window to guarantee that our staff can provide transportation for your camper(s) to and from camp. If you cannot find a flight to/from SJC during our travel window, we kindly ask that you email Ari Friedman at arif@ramahnorcal.org to coordinate alternative transportation plans.

All flights arriving within our travel window (9:00am to 12:00pm) are met by Ramah staff at the gates. Ramah staff will then escort arriving campers to baggage claim. Also, all departing flights within our travel window (1:00pm to 4:00pm) will have Ramah staff escorting campers through security to their gates. 

Ramah staff may not be able to assist campers at the airport who are traveling on flights outside these windows and parents will need to make other arrangements for transportation to/from camp.

Unaccompanied Minors: 

Any young camper who will be flying as an official “unaccompanied minor”, for which their family is paying the airline an additional fee, must notify us prior to booking. Flight times must still be within the time windows shown above.

Should anything change with regards to flight arrivals/departures last minute, we will contact camp families directly via phone and or email.

Recommended Flights to Camp:

Departure Airport	Arrival Airport	Airline	Flight #	Departure Time	Arrival Time
Los Angeles (LAX)	SJC	Southwest	#2767	8:55 AM	10:15 AM
Los Angeles (Burbank)	SJC	Southwest	#1998	9:45 AM	10:55 AM
Seattle	SJC	Southwest	#3446	7:40 AM	9:50 AM
San Diego	SJC	Southwest	#810	9:00 AM	10:20 AM
Las Vegas	SJC	Southwest	#1496	9:45 AM	11:10 AM
Portland	SJC	Southwest	#111	9:35 AM	11:20 AM
Denver	SJC	Southwest	#2518	10:25 AM	11:55 AM
Phoenix	SJC	Southwest	#3628	7:55 AM	9:55 AM
New York	SJC	Delta	#327	8:15 AM	11:58 AM
Nashville	SJC	Southwest	#892/1496	6:35 AM	11:10 AM
Washington DC	SJC	Southwest	#1002/3256	6:15:00 AM	11:50 AM

Recommended Flights from Camp:

Departure Airport	Arrival Airport	Airline	Flight #	Departure Time	Arrival Time
SJC	Los Angeles (LAX)	Southwest	#3579	3:10 PM	4:30 PM
SJC	Los Angeles (Burbank)	Southwest	#1369	1:55 PM	3:00 PM
SJC	Seattle	Alaska	#597	2:55 PM	4:55 PM
SJC	San Diego	Southwest	#2153	3:50 PM	5:10 PM
SJC	Las Vegas	Southwest	#2043	3:40 PM	5:05 PM
SJC	Portland	Southwest	#1128	3:55 PM	5:40 PM
SJC	Denver	Southwest	#2515	2:15 PM	5:40 PM
SJC	Phoenix	Southwest	#1950	1:25 PM	3:15 PM
SJC	New York	Southwest	#2926/783	1:00 PM	11:00 PM
SJC	Nashville	Southwest	#1950/3134	1:25 PM	10:00 PM
SJC	DC Area	Southwest	#2515/1301	2:15 PM	12:10 AM+1

Things to Know for Flying to/from Camp:

First Day of Camp

• All campers arriving on flights within our travel window (9:30am to 12:00pm) will be met at their gate by Camp Ramah in Northern California staff. Please ask your child to remain at the gate until a Camp Ramah in Northern California staff member meets them. While our staff members do their best to be at each gate on time, please remember that there are many flights arriving very close together and our staff may just be a few gates down. Please have your child wait at their gate.
• Campers flying as unaccompanied minors must contact us prior to booking these flights.
• Ramah staff will be at the airport by 9am.
• The Airport Shuttle departs for camp promptly at 1:00pm.
• A light lunch will be provided.

Parents must make prior arrangements for alternate transportation to camp for any flights arriving after 12:00pm.

Last Day of Camp

• All campers riding the Airport Shuttle will be helped with checking bags, getting boarding passes, and moving through security.
• Campers on flights departing between 1:00pm and 4:00pm are escorted to their gates.
• Ramah staff members CAN NOT stay with campers whose flights depart after 4:00pm. In the event of a delayed flight past this time, a camp representative is on call to assist at the airport as needed.
• Staff will attempt to help campers check bags for flights departing after 4:00pm, but airline policies may prevent this. Campers are then responsible for checking their own bag(s).
• The Airport Shuttle departs camp about 9:00am, arriving at the airport between 10:30am and 11:00am.
• A light lunch will be provided.
• Prior arrangements must be made for any flights departing before 1:00pm. 

Health and Safety for Flying to/from camp:

• We will publish the health and safety protocols for flying to/from camp in May

All information listed in the table is current as of the revision date, but is subject to change without notice by the airlines

VEHICLE RULES FOR RIDERS

To assist us in our safety efforts, please discuss the following transportation rules with your camper(s) prior to the start of camp.

1. Passengers should remain seated at all times with hands and arms inside vehicle.
2. Seatbelts should be fastened – one person per seatbelt.
3. Noise level should be such as to not distract the driver. There should be no throwing of objects or other disruptive behavior.
4. Passengers should enter and leave the vehicle under the direction of a staff member and/or driver. If the vehicle makes an emergency stop, passengers should follow directions of staff member and/or driver and use buddy system if leaving the vehicle.

These rules are posted in each vehicle and enforced for the safety of all of our passengers and drivers. Please make sure your camper(s) is familiar with each rule.