TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BVI Opening December 1st 2020 to International Tourism

We just got off the phone with Air Sunshine. They relayed that their agents have been informed that the border opening may be pushed back to December 15 and are therefore not booking any flights before that date. Oh no. Can anyone confirm this?

Haven't heard anything locally yet but we are due for a curfew update today or tomorrow so maybe we'll hear more then.

Thanks Jason!

There will be mayhem here if they change that date. People are already getting very restless that it's taking so long to announce the protocols. They are focus on renaming holidays, contract ceremonies, additional documentation for work permits, and political ego bruising instead of getting the economy running again. So infuriating!

Oh good Lord....please no.....that would truly suck...

If they move the date to Dec 15 you can kiss the tourist season goodbye completely. Folks are getting tired of all the political issues in the BVI. It is truly tiring and frustrating. I really feel for the people that live in the BVI to have to go thru this harassment.

I am praying there is no validity to this - maybe Air Sunshine is just being hyper careful since no protocols have been announced...we for sure would not move to later in December as that would put us into high season rates

I very much doubt this rumor.

I want to doubt it too....but it was an airline agent saying they wouldn’t book a flight!

Of course...if you go to their website? It is showing flights available from SJU to EIS...so go figure....

Have you looked at InterCaribbean? They are booking flights online and already flying to EIS. They have more flights and have been more reliable in my experience. Air Sunshine has never left me at SJU but they almost never stick to their schedule. Be aware, they will weigh both your checked bags and carry-on and will charge you for anything over the published weight (I think 35 lbs). Sometimes they are a couple of hours late but other times they've been very early and said they were about to leave without me.

Air Sunshine does not have any space inside the secured area of the terminal so you wait by the ticket counter. There is no seating space so I usually wait outside near the drop off curb. If they decide to leave an hour early, it's tricky to know. Then they walk you thru the ticketing area, clear you at a strange security area used by employees, walk you thru the bowels of the luggage area and out to a shuttle bus. The advantage is they sometimes combine flights with VG and you get to land and clear in Virgin Gorda! Very cool dirt runway landing and much easier to clear immigration and customs.

On another note, the new curfew info came out late last night and no change was announced to the opening date.

Awesome - thank you, Jason. I am now out of my tree - LOL.

Thanks Jason - I already changed my arrival (12/3) flights (had booked two one way routes instead of a RT) with Delta via SJU and Silver. I was working on re configuring my return (original flight out of STT but want to be safe in case the seaports aren't open) looking at Air Sunshine as their timetable worked best and we are private pilots so like the smaller planes. You could not book a one way return out of EIS so we called them - that is the response they gave so who knows what is going on. It shocked me so wanted to fact check here.

Yeah, Carol, most airlines are waiving the change fees in the short term (for the rest of this year at least) and maybe forever. A fare difference on rebooking is refunded as a credit for future flight (unless you've purchased a fully refundable ticket). I've rebooked once so far with no issues (and got a credit) and will likely have to rebook again as the situation changes. (I did make the mistake of purchasing seat upgrades....those are not refundable....and I have no idea why not). We are flying thru SJU and on to EIS. We didn't want to deal with the uncertainty of getting in by ferry from STT. Also, the thought of getting on an over crowded ferry is a little concerning. If you can't find good flights from state-side all the way to EIS, try booking to SJU and check interCaribbean Airlines separately for the SJU to EIS leg. You'll have to deal with baggage and getting back thru security at SJU, but at least its an option.

Hope to see some of you fine people out on the water in December! And best of luck @Manpot. Our thoughts are with you here in smokey Marin.

Stay safe and smooth sailing.

Chris.
Abby Normal To
Tortola

If it does change, we'll be the first ones in! We're on a red eye, connecting on the early morning Cape Air flight on the 15th. Jason is bang on - they need to focus on the re-opening, and stop squabbling with the U.K. If we can't come without quarantine, we'll cancel.

My prediction months ago was that they wouldn't re-open until they ran out of money to pay government workers. Starting to look pretty accurate.

Smith's Ferry Services recently posted on Facebook "Passenger travel will resume on December 1, 2020, when the BVI officially opens its borders". It's possible they know something that hasn't been announced yet. Seems like good news!

The water taxi takes us directly to Nanny Cay. In the past, the captain clears customs and the passengers to not get off the boat. The protocol may be different now.

Great news Jason..thanks..

I'd give it a few days of operation before I'd book. You dont want to get stranded in St. Thomas for any length of time. Knowing the BVI I'm "cautiously pessimistic". LOL

I am a lot less pessamistic right now...hope to see you there..bring your facemask!

I’m hoping this works out. Testing is one thing but it doesn’t change how much of this virus is out there. I have been surprised at how tenacious the bug has been thru the summer and how diabolically evil it is in spreading. Good news is that death rates have gone way down and soon seem to be on the way to influenza like numbers. That’s not just better treatment due to knowledge but I believe the evidence that the beast has become more infectious and less deadly.

If any of you have a college around you, you’ve likely seen 100s of cases on the campus and spread in the community since the semester began. In our town of 50,000 with a college with 7000 students, they have 250 cases. Our town had 4 deaths Friday. The incidence had been pretty low all summer and there is a mask ordinance in effect since July. Looks like that deal at the Whitehouse last Saturday had a positive case slip through and to date up to 9 cases and counting. No political comments please, but it illustrates the problem.

What are the odds with people coming from everywhere that there are not exposed but not yet positive or exposed during or after testing, on their way asymptomatic cases. In 96 hrs before and 48 after a test how many people and surfaces does one possibly contact? How many contacts do those people that you contact have in the last ten days?

Like the kids returning to the party er I mean college, pent up Island visitors in a group that’s been tested negative will likely have a sense of security. Unfortunately that test means nothing likely for 3 or 4 days before and ever after it was taken as to whether you are infected. Alcohol, old friends, the sun and sea bringing on a great desire to seek the shade of a watering hole to quench that thirst.

My worry is and I’m probably/hopefully wrong, that the government will freak at first few cases and impose onerous new restrictions. As long as the virus is prevalent in the countries from where tourists are coming it will make the trip.

I suspect, like in Canada, that the numbers will rise as the weather gets colder and more people are inside.

It's nearly two weeks since the government's announcement, and not a peep about details. People in the BVI are complaining about not receiving the stimulus payments loudly promised some time ago. The government is letting everyone down.

We need reliable info and soon! Anybody in Gov reading this???

they gave up reading here after boatyball

LOL...that is funny Peter...

Sure glad you have that beautiful refuge in Sonoma. No sand, no surf, but plenty of wine. Hydrate.

And nobody had much more to say, anyway.

Obviously many here are extremely eager to finalize travel itineraries for their vacations or to get to their place in the BVI in December and beyond, and it’s been a long, painful wait for everyone - moreso for those who have been dealing with the harshest effects of this pandemic. And with the anticipated details of that opening still not forthcoming, many have become even less patient.
We also can’t wait to return and see the friends we’ve made there, contribute to the businesses, and enjoy the beauty. But we want everyone there to be safe too, and not experience the same fall back to stay-at-home that the USVI and many states in the US have as travel opens up. So we hope to see the Dec 1 details soon, but things can change as that is two months away...
Waiting patiently...

I would love to go back down to VG but I have adopted a wait and see approach - flight costs won't be a problem even if one purchases close to departure dates and by waiting it keeps the options open.

I bought aa tickets from Miami to STT Dec 1-15 for $388/rt for 2 persons. Same trip 1 week later double the price $366/rt for 1 person Still waiting on government to do something.

We see airline fares fluctuate sharply (Often much more than doubling) all the time as I’m sure you know. It seems a bit risky to book flights for Dec 1 arrival without the details we’re waiting on?

Is there a webpage for VI Airlink that shows the flights?

just go to viairlink.com and click the book online button.

Jason, just tried that - not working.

Weird. It's working for me. If you have an option, try a different browser. For me it works with Chrome but not always Microsoft Edge.

VIAirlink.com works for me as well using Chrome. It will not work with iOS.

Okay, I tried with iPhone and Mac desktop.

So the government is going to talk to all stakeholders and this means no protocols till at least Oct 21 Total incompentance. WAY, WAY too late. Talk should have been done months ago. Tourism is dead for 2020 and well into 2021. Owners of villas, hotels charter boats are going to start hurting big time. Workers will be hurting way into 2021

Sounds like its time to implement a new tourism tax to generate more revenue. What shall we call it? We have run out of departure tax, NPS fee, environmental fee, etc., nomenclature. We need to get really creative so none of the rich US tourists realize its another ripoff. Suggestions?