Looks like they have made the requirement on the PCR test from 120 to 72 hours! I wonder why? It seems like they would make the travel requirements easier instead of stricter? They continue to hurt their economy and really sad for the island residents!
Maybe has something to do with the Delta variant of the virus? Can't really say what drives the thinking behind some of the decisions that are being made. We keep trying to "plan ahead" for a trip back to SXM, but it seems for every step forward you take two steps back. We are very hesitant to 'jump off the ledge' and try to plan a trip with the uncertainty that exists. Airfare and deposits to secure your condo (or other lodging) almost seems like a crap-shoot right now.
It is now 72 hours, yes. Supposedly the reason is that it is now easier to comply with the 72 hour rule for PCR tests or 48 hours for antigen tests, than it was a few months ago. They announced well over a month ago that 'soon' they would start accepting proof of vaccination only, in order to allow entry into SXM. Instead of giving a date to accept only proof of vaccination, they subsequently announced the change to 72 hours. Truthfully, I think it IS easier now to accomplish (in the US anyway) than it was months ago, at least for those who don't have an overnight trip from the West Coast.
It probably is Carol, but we live in the St. Pete area and are flying out of fort Lauderdale. The day before is a travel day for us as well. Not sure if I want to jump through those hoops. We got there March to May when it was 120 hours. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people who live on the west coast start going back to Hawaii as they no longer have any requirements to get in.
What really kind of makes me mad is that about 50% of that island is not vaccinated!! Most Americans coming in are vaccinated and all of us have had the covid test. They need to look at themselves before they bite the hands that feed them.
Sorry, not sure how the day before is a travel day, if you are only going from St Pete to FLL?? I don't disagree though, that some people from the West Coast might start going back to Hawaii and/or to Mexico, which as far as I know, never have had any requirements???? Crazy, but whatever.
Sorry, not sure how the day before is a travel day, if you are only going from St Pete to FLL??
Since it's a 3 1/2 hour drive, I understand them driving down the day before. We do that when we fly from Raleigh, and it's only a two-hour drive. Easy to stay at a park and fly hotel, leave the car there, and take their shuttle to the airport. It's especially convenient for an early morning flight, which most of ours are.
OK, yeah, sorry, I'm sure a lot of people do that. We drive 3.5 hours the same day, but we probably are the exception. We're also not retired, so if we were, we might drive down the day before.
I posted this on FB. Super easy and explains different testing done at Walgreens. Not sure what other pharmacies offer. But hope this helps with testing. 72 hours prior to travel is pretty simple if done correctly. Of course issues happen. But even the 48 hour antigen is super quick!
Thank You. We do leave the day before--thankfully no longer working. Since it is Fort Lauderdale we like to check in and go to dinner at Kelly's for fried clams and haddock. We are transplanted Boston people and that food is hard to get here. So, I suppose we could get up in the middle of the night and drive there but we are there often (usually) and at this point don't want to jump through hoops. It does seem from reading the posts here and on Jeff Berger's site that people getting the ID NOW are getting results back pretty fast, and most getting the okay back pretty quickly as well.
I am sure we will make the attempt but really hope the island will make some decisions regarding fully vaccinated people getting in a little easier.
We had nightmare problems with the paperwork going down. Thank God for friends on the island that saw that some how my paperwork went down as a "J-PEG" and not a "PDF" file. OH MY GOD talk about panicking!! Took 12 hours to fix it, resend it for the fourth time!!! Then to wait on line for results in Marigot was like holding your breath for an hour!! As one poster said, the government needs to encourage the population to get vaccinated. Hopefully we can just show proof of vaccine without all this jumping through hoops paperwork!! I think I mentioned this we where so relieved when we made it through customs and more EFFEN paperwork, we walked of the airport without our luggage!!!
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