TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin AA Verifly--what is it?

What is this, what kind of information do they take, and what's the point of it? Thanks for any info.

Kinda explains it...3-4 paragraphs down

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info...ation=DirectURL&title=covid19testing

OK, I see that it supposedly helps you check in easier at Miami. Does anyone have any experience with using this, that it did help you? One poster here said that it did NOT help, when checking in, in SXM., other than checking in online. Still had to stand in the long-a$$ line at Juliana.

We also flew out Saturday. We used the Verifly app. We were in the long long line. When we reached the lady with the attestation forms she asked if we had Verifly. She looked at the app on our phones and gave us a couple of papers to indicate we were good to go. She also noted we were in first class and told us to skip the line and move to the priority lane which as in another room which we could not see from where we were in line. We were in a currently unused part of the airport. We did not have to print anything out or fill out any forms at the airport because of the Verifly app.

Another thought...we bought Abbott BinaxNOW Covid take home tests and brought them to St Martin to use for returning to the US. Test is easy to use and takes about 20 minutes. You do have to have internet availability. We bought 6 for $30 each.

bethandsteve--There was some pre-printed form that they gave us line in June that we just had to sign, I believe, no big deal. If that's the only thing one gets from Verifly, it's not worth it.

Sounds like they changed the departure area somehow?? The first class line was very visible for AA when we left in June.

Regarding Binax NOW, did you HAVE to buy 6 tests?? We are only 2 people..

"The first class line was very visible for AA when we left in June."
Yes. Same here. It was right beside the regular check in counter.

No. You can buy any amount. I think the single test price was $50.
We entered the airport in doors that were behind a wire fence that was opened for use on Saturday. You could not see into the main departure area from there. I did go up to the entry point into the main departure area and asked the rep since we had fc tickets if could go through and he said he could not move us around so many people. The other rep got us through.

OK, thanks. I will look into it, to see if it's worth it for us.

I just used Verifly yesterday in SXM. You fill in all the information and upload your test results. Once approved you can checking online and get boarding passes. When we got to the airport we skipped the long line and went straight to customs. We only had carry on. Well worth it in my opinion.

OK, well THAT is good news, if that will be the situation in future!!! Did you see if there was a separate line to just check bags?? If not, it is pretty much irrelevant to most people..

Verifly gets terrible reviews in the App Store. We have used it twice with mixed results. In July SXM-DFW it approved both of us but AA would only allow one of us to check in online and get a boarding pass. That defeats the purpose. In August CUN-DFW we used it and AA allowed both of us to check in online and get boarding passes. We do not check bags so it kept us out of long check in lines. I would say it was useful then. I think it depends on the airport whether or not it is worthwhile if you are checking bags. I know at DFW there are bag check kiosks where you get and tag your own bags and then give them to an agent. Verifly might be marginally useful in that situation.

Does Verifly cost? I’m guessing it’s up to the airline if they accept it or not.

On JB I have pre-paid for checked luggage, as it was going to be cheaper than paying at the airport. Would be nice to just have a luggage drop without waiting in line.

There is no cost to the passenger for Verifly

Where do the results come from? Certainly not a lab…Something in the box? Like a pregnancy test?

The test itself is just like a pregnancy test, except that you do a 1/2"- 3/4"-deep nasal swab instead of peeing on it. The test shows the results right in front of you in 15 minutes. It's great if you just want to know for your own peace of mind, but by itself it is not sufficient for either EHAS or return to the US. The end result is a 2.5/"2.5" test kit with a 6" swab sticking out of the end, and 1 pink line for negative, 2 pink lines for positive. Test results are only valid between 15 and 30 minutes after taking the test. Each Kit contains two tests, to be taken 36-72 hours apart. Apparently, with Antigen testing, results are better with two tests taken 1.5 to 3 days apart.

I've heard that there are services that do tele-medicine monitoring of your self-test and provide documentation sufficient for travel, which is what bethandsteve must have done.

Eight of us returned to the US last week using the Abbott BinaxNOW Covid take home test. No problem at all. Don't think it is good for entry to St Martin.

Bethandsteve… certainly interesting. Returning from the UK next month into the US. Would this be acceptable? Can you bring some more detail to what’s involved pls and the timetable.. Appreciate it.

We used Verifly to enter our SXM test results. One of us was able to check in on AA, the other it didnt like names. All we could figure is the test pharmacy put one of our middle names in the results and not the other.

In the end, no net positive effect as they still checked results before getting. aA line to check bags in.

Maybe it would have helped a lucky person with carryon only save a little bit of time.

We bought on Emed.com. Look for the product approved for travel and CDC authorized. The product is BinaxNow home test. The site is easy to use. There is another Binax product sold at Walgreens but it is not approved for travel. You need to check with the airline if ok, but I do not see why not. The only problem I see is getting the kits to you. We bought ours in the US and took them with us to St Martin for our return to the US.

BethandSteve...hope you had a great time!! Too bad the Red Cross closed up the tests. They were good while it lasted!!
See you in March. We are all booked.

Look forward to it. Not sure of our dates yet, but our plan is to be there.