TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin How would SXm entry be possable with last minute Covid test

Hi all ,
Need some ideas or advise . Here is my story . We are planing to leave for SXM on Nov. 28 ( morning ) . We will be staying at a hotel the night before we leave . ( Fri . Nov. 27 )
We have our Covid test scheduled for Monday Nov. 23 ( five days before we arrive ) . Called the people that are going to administer our test today and they said the tests are coming back
3 to 5 days after taken . So if the test would happen to come back on the day we are at the hotel or worst case scenario the day we are to leave ( Sat. Nov. 28 ) Will we be able to fill out the SXM health questionnaire
and attach the covid results on the day we would be arriving ? Also if we have all the paper work but still no approval are they allowing covid back up tests at the SXM airport ?
Thanks in advance for any advice . Jeff

Jeff,

We are also scheduled to arrive on the 28th and have our appointments scheduled for the Tuesday the noon before our Saturday morning flight and I am a total nervous wreck over this. The testing center assured me we would have the test results back in time, even after I asked them if they were allowing for a holiday in there. I’m a true ‘what iffer’ ’ and having read the requirements I am very skeptical.
The way I read them, you have to get the results back from your test and upload them to the form and submit it and then wait for the island approval which some say takes an hour and others say many hours.
Good luck to both of us..........

You will not be allowed to board the plane without negative test results and approval letter from SXM gov't.

Thanks Pat ,
Let me know how things go for you . If we make it ( we have a total of 5 couples going ) we will be on Orient every day . So if you are in the area come up and say hi .
I would love to celebrate our achievement and buy you a drink or seven . We really might need all of then by then .

I really don't think that the airlines care about an approval letter. MAYBE a neg test MIGHT be requires depending on the airline but we just went to USVI (with the same 5 day test and approval thing) on Delta and were never asked about either before boarding....

With that said I would NOT take that chance if I didn't have at least the neg test result in hand

Just make sure your tests are within 120hrs and not just 5 days prior to your last flight to SXM.

We are all scheduled for out test on Nov. 23 around 4:30 PM . Our flight leaves on Nov. 28 at 8:30 AM . So we are at about 112 hrs .

IMHO you are cutting things way too close. Thanksgiving is involved--I'm sure the labs won't be working on that day--and you also have a travel day involved. It's a bad week to try to go there with the restriction that are in place right now. I would be trying to find out if there is any way the lab can speed things up so have the results on Wed.

Does the hotel that you are staying at have a "Business Center" with computers that you could use?

Hello Jeff,
We're headed down the 30th, and have the Thanksgiving holiday in our testing window as well. My wife is in healthcare, and works for the largest system here in the Detroit area. She checked through her sources, and was told the labs will be fully staffed and working as normal through the holiday. 24/7/365 operation. They did say that testing supplies like reagent are getting tight. They have seen test results for PCR's slip from 24 hour turn-around to 48 hours due to the increase in testing numbers, but see no issue in getting us our results in plenty of time to get it into the portal unless something changes drastically.

The allowable testing window starts at 120 hours before your flight departs if direct, or 120 hours before your connecting flight inbound to SXM and we're going to do everything we can to stay within it. Much depends on the lab your test provider is using. Most large hospital systems have their own labs, and their affiliated doctors and urgent care locations can use them. CVS, clinics and unaffiliated urgent care facilities and the like use independent labs like Quest Diagnostics, which have widely varying processing times based on location and demand...even how often the lab courier picks up at your test location has an impact. If they pick up at noon and you get tested at 1pm, there goes 1 day right there. We're actually going two different routes just for peace of mind. My doctor pal says the Quest in our area is turning his test results in 72 hours from pick-up right now. Best of luck, safe travels.

Good 👍

One of the couples that are going , works at the hospital that the lab will be testing . . She did say that the lab is working 24 / 7 . And that they will be testing on Thanksgiving day . I really could not have made my test any earlier .
I only have 8 hrs . to play with now . Thanks Jeff

I am also thing the same way that you are . My wife will take her laptop with us when we go to the hotel . That will be on Fri. So if we get the approval late after noon or that evening we can go down to the front desk
and send the email to them . Thanks Jeff

Thanks Gomer36 ,
We have a person going with us , that works at the hospital where we will be getting our test . She said the test is done in house . So that is good because it will save some time .
She also said that the lab is working 24 / 7 . And will be working on Thanksgiving . ( Hope they get paid well !!! ) Jeff

Have a great vacation. Wish we could have met you there!
Another time. Pennsylvania at a pool party with good friends?
carib cheers,
doctorj

hey Doctorj ,
We would have had a great time , but I'm sure we will meet up soon . Stay safe Jeff

Everyone on our flight to SXM had their documents, including health form. test and approval letter scrutinized. At least one person I saw was left behind.

Elaine...health form? Do you mean the EHAS application form? We didn't print those before we submitted them, and there was no way that I saw to save them. We will print our test results and approval letter, but there's no way to print that application form. I can't see why we'd need that anyway, since we can't have gotten the approval letter without submitting it.

We carried a printed copy of the “Pre-Approval” .pdf document that was emailed to us from Sint Maarten EHAS and negative lab report. Some folks just showed the info on their phone but I only saw a couple do that.

I saved the emails as back up.

To Boucharda

This was NOT true with Jet Blue on my flight out of Boston on the 7th. They scrutinized EVERY form - both SXM approval AND test results.

You also need BOTH printed out for PJIA.

Sorry, you are right. Health form not necessary, but test and approval are!

Just out of curiosity of those who traveled to the Caribbean it would be interesting to know the airline they used and if they asked for test results and entrance permission forms before getting on the aircraft.

Delta didn't ask in BOS or EWR for us but, as mentioned above JetBlue did ask in BOS

We had to show our “Final” lab report and SXM Pre-Approval both in Baltimore(origin) and again in Miami. There was no online check-in allowed. We flew AMERICAN on both legs.

JB for us. From JFK

Interesting conversations. We are traveling 12/05 and our last Delta leg lvs Atl at 9:50 AM arriving at 2:42 PM. So that means we have to have had our test after 9:50 AM on Monday 11/30?? Want to get tested at a CVS Pharmacy but with the Covid rates rising here they will only say 2-5 days. Just a little anxious.

Yep, got those! Printed, and on both phones. Belt and suspenders approach..

Can't wait!

"So that means we have to have had our test after 9:50 AM on Monday 11/30??"
Correct.

I traveled down in September to SXM on American from BWI (via MIA). They asked for my approval in Baltimore at check in. And they checked everyone's approval paperwork at the gate in Miami. So yes, at least on American, they wouldn't let you on the plane without pre-approval paperwork.

Is the time recorded on the test or just the date? I've been tested a couple of time and cant find a time on the report. If they are checking for the time, are they allowing for the various time zones?

"If they are checking for the time, are they allowing for the various time zones?"

Good question.

My results from LabCorp have the time of the test listed on the form.

Mine had "collection time" on it but it was 5 hours after we actually had it done.

That gives you an extra bit of time for flight delays.