I agree completely with your entire report. We love Sxm and have traveled there for the past 16 yrs. Living in Maine a winter break is needed! We were on island last March. And like many others spent days trying to get a flight home. Not an easy task. In our case, I hold JetBlue at fault for a lot of our angst.

We had thought that if we could get vaccinated in time there might be a chance we could return this year. Well, we did get our vaccines. But, like you, I agree. Too many hoops. Living in New England, weather changes on a dime. If our flights got cancelled due to weather ( or any other reason the airlines concoct) our negative tests would expire and trip would be off. Or once we got on island, who knows if the government would change requirements and we would be forced to evacuate yet again.

So this winter I enjoy Sxm via webcams. Hopefully, next year we will be able to return.