How far out are you looking/booking?

Hey all,
Wondering if anyone here is already booking a trip for 2021? Who is rolling the dice for the winter? Looking online at flights the prices look pretty good, but there's no guarantee to actually make the flight.
Hope you all are doing well.

Hi all, it must have been about 5 years since i posted! 3 kids growing like weeds and were finally looking at a family trip (or a "send the kids to grammy's" trip!)

Looking at a January 2021 booking and guarding investment with trip insurance.

Booked for March 2021 and also Nov. of this year. No idea if either will happen. Too many hoops to jump through will lead me to cancelling.

Looking at our annual first of April trip. We have usually booked by now, but it's a wait and see this year.

Booked for 4 weeks May 2021 with air and counting on my place at Flamingo. If not I have a backup villa reserved.

May 2021.

We have dates booked at Beachside Villas for June next year, but haven't booked air yet. I am somewhat surprised that AA Miami to SXM is now over $400 r/t for tickets with reserved seats, which is quite a bit more than we paid for our cancelled trip in June this year. So, kind of dithering at this point, whether to just wait a bit on air, and hope the prices go down for next June. Of course, there is the real possibility that they will go back up to around $600, which is what AA normally ran, before Jet Blue started running flights to SXM from FLL.

When I started looking at flights yesterday for January, on a whim, I found round trip from Bos to Sxm for $400 per person. That is as low as I can remember seeing them. Now I'm falling down a rabbit hole of possible planning.

Booked for 3 weeks next May. If we don't have a vaccine by then, heaven help us....literally. Would consider an October/November trip this year if circumstances allow.

Currently booked for 1 week at the beginning of Nov. 2020 and 1 week at end of May 2021.

Booked for November 15 2020 for an extended stay, just hope everything has improved as far as Covid is concerned.

Looks like a lot of May 2021 hopefuls.

We're still booked for this November. Fingers are crossed that it happens.

Was booked for 9/29 for 10 days until AA cancelled the flight 4 days after booking flight from Miami to SXM. Now moved to 10/7. It is challenging coming from California anyway let alone in this crazy time. Hoping for the best!!

Us, too, Georgia but the closer we get, the less optimistic I become.

We are also booked for April and November 21, too, and hoping that eventually, one of those trips will happen. I'm still pouting over the cancellation of April 2020.

Booked for Oct 2020 for two weeks...If we have to cancel we will. watching how the numbers react.

Missed July, and had planned on October/November.

Given that it is only 12 weeks away....I don't feel it will happen.

Kinda planning for the normal two week visit in January but definitely impacted by testing issues and, even though we stay at SBR, the French side is an important part of our trip...

Definitely up in the air and not too confident of it happening

Still booked for late October for five weeks. Haven't started researching the Covid test issue, and that may be a problem as it takes 48 hours just to get there.

Yup...the Sunday arrival makes it a no go for me.....

Edit: reply to above post

We are booked month of january. Flight not booked yet. It is refundable but I need to find out up to what day of cancellation it is refundable. i.e same day as flight if we don't have required medical documents. who knows what they will be by end of year.
French side accommodation so we will see. We can easily self isolate there if we have to. Hope not.
I think there will be insurance policies for medical if you get covid there but no evac I'm sure. Fingers crossed!

JB is waving cancellation/change fees up to September 8th.....for now...looks like AA is September 30th..Delta looks like one year from purchase

Booked for late January to mid-March (8 weeks). Not at all confident that it will happen, but hoping for the best.

We are booked for 2 weeks starting Oct 31, 2020. We are hopeing that things will get better as we have flights and room booked but will wait before booking a car.

We are booked for 2 weeks this November and for 2 weeks next March.

Just rebooked for 10 days in October, MIA - SXM $297 round trip on AA

Flights are cheap right now.

We're still booked for 5 weeks on the Dutch side, starting mid-January 2021.

There are so many hurdles and issues that need to be satisfied, I would only give it a 50/50 shot of actually happening. So I have held off booking a car rental or flights (even with waiving of cancellation fees and a 24-mth. future credit on WS), although I am monitoring both regularly. The fluid situation and constant rule changes don't make planning any easier.

If WestJet is going to resume filling the middle seats, then a 5-hour flight without a vaccine, even with masks, will add to the potential risk, IMO. Getting a 72-hour turn-around on a Covid-19 test for entry is also problematic. Finally, can we get adequate travel insurance and will the 14-day, full quarantine still be required when we return home?

So many questions and not so many answers!! Time will tell. Things may change for the better; but if not, we will likely have no choice but to push it off for a year. Unfortunate, but there you have it.

You are all impressively optimistic. I'm looking at November. November 2021.

I recently booked my Jan/Feb '21 trip from Syracuse on AA for only 30,000 miles round trip with a Thursday departure and return.

We're still hoping that our two weeks at the end of October and one week in November will work. We have our villa in St. Martin booked and the airfare paid. Now, we have to hope that the French side will open and the flight won't be canceled. Still have to book the car rental with Leslie! Naturally we have insurance on the airfare, but our girl who we rent the villa from is very flexible and can change our villa one more time if necessary.

Bought our tickets on United this week for March 2021, for 5 weeeks. They were waiving any change fees on tickets purchased through July 31 and we wanted to take advantage of that. Will we actually get to go? Who knows. Sure hope so.

Most airlines including United bumped it up another month to August 31st so that helps a bit (tickets purchased by date)

Booked for February 2021 earlier this year, but bought cancel any reason insurance, pretty expensive insurance, but afraid I will need to use it.

we are booked for Febuary/March 21 fingers crossed

Booked some timeshare related somewhat flexible lodging at SBBR for late sept and early October but did not book flights because I am pretty sure it wont happen and could use miles to grab late air depending on pricing. My area is not a hot spot now..... When we went same time last fall (never had traveled that early in fall for obvious reasons) we lucked out with weather and the minimal “crowds” and numerous outdoor dining spots all work In this situation.

More importantly, we booked Windstar’s Wind Surf ship first sailing of the season from SXM for 13 days Nov 28-Dec 12 and I did book UAL for that from EWR with option to cancel for future air credit. I am also backing that up with timeshare (and II’s E-plus 3 retrades option to extend beyond) in case the cruise is cancelled .... I’d use the air tix to enjoy a land stay instead. So much uncertainty but I pay attention to flexible change and cancellation options air and lodgings are offering. Thought a non-stop vs a connection in MIA etc would be less risky. Biggest challenge with flight date is Thanksgiving holiday falls in the 72 hour window -yikes. .

We're looking to return in Nov 2021.

Still booked for mid November but prepared to cancel if necessary.

I would gladly pay for the COVID test at the airport because It's doubtful we could meet the 72 hour requirement here.

totally agree with you Indi....10-19 Nov here

Thanks Folks and please come because we all need you good Folks .

Don't know.... just yesterday canceled November in USVI , as the COVID numbers are not going the right way for the USVI and BVI, which I hoped to visit on this trip. Right now, tickets for SXM and AXA in hand for end of January thru late February, thru Miami, and not liking the way Miami's COVID numbers are going, and watching SXM's numbers... well, have to wait and see.

hey rural, in the same boat as u for the Nov trip....fingers crossed

My expectations are not high at this point. I think the next 6-8 weeks will tell a lot. If I have to jump through a lot of hoops to make the trip or on the island, I will cancel.

We arrived Thursday. Weather is awesome, people were happy to see us. There is no traffic, no wait at a restaurant, beaches are not crowded. We literally have the entire Royal Islander pool to ourselves. Businesses are asking us (begging almost) to tell American tourists to come. Businesses and their employees are hurting and live on tourism. Basically, do the same thing here as home. Wear a mask in stores and social distance. There are sanitizers everywhere and a lot of places do temperature checks. Planes were empty coming here, 30 or so on our flight and 30 or so on the flight yesterday. In my opinion, there has never been a better time to be here. So, if you can meet the requirements to come and you are not at high risk, then come!

Beachbumz--since you live in Florida, where did you get your test? Were you able to get a compliant test, or did you have to re-test when you arrived?

Thanks very much for your constructive comments. We all still have to live and die lol.

Still hoping for November, Lesley. Please don’t cancel our reservation.....

We are.saying prayers for you guys as well as for all our SXM friends from over so many years. You guys are strong and like with everything else you’ve endured, you will survive! 🙏🙏

This is all so much.

I saw a post on FB where the couple were THE ONLY table at Sunset in Maho. That must be a very strange feeling.

It's like that all over. Have had a couple of business people say last week was the worst week since reopening. Breakfast at the YC this morning with 3 people, one the bridge operator.

How can I cancel your reservation Pat ?
Please have faith and stay strong and safe . But we need you Folks . We don't have any natural resources .

The biggest problem, in my mind, is the fact that the government of Sint Maarten has made the testing requirements almost impossible to meet. And they have stated that the reason the requirements are so stringent is to deter travelers from the US. They can't have it both ways; it just won't work.

Correct, and the constant flip-flopping on requirements and misinformation and usually NOT posted on an official government site makes me very cautious.

I would have to disagree with that statement. The 72 hour window is pretty standard for any country wanting testing done. Croatia even went to 48 hours last week now. There are companies out there doing test that can turn around quick and not have the EUA statement on the results. You just have to search them out.

And another hoop to jump through, if it gets too complicated, I will cancel.

As will we. As much as we really want to see the island in real time, there’s only so many hoops I’m willing to jump through to be there, always with the knowledge they can still add more restrictions last minute.

I fully understand the concerns the island has for its own people and coupled with the lesser amounts of medical facilities, I get it, but I just don’t know how many more chances and changes I’m willing to deal with at this point.

Rooms and flights booked for 3 weeks starting end of May 21.
Lesley I will be contacting you soon to reserve a car. Just waiting to see if we will be coming back sooner.

Booked and hopefully going for our three weeks in Nov/Dec, and also booked for April. I'll test prior assuming that is possible, pay to be tested again in SXM if need be. What is the bribe rate presently? Asking for a friend.

125.00 in PJIA

Those of you who do make it to the island and business people, here lie Leslie) need to tell the businesses that they need to pressure the government to modify the 72 hour requirement. Currently that makes it impossible for the vast majority of Americans to comply. As others have said, yes health of the islanders is a huge concern, but the Island cant have it both ways. If they really want tourists to come in numbers to sustain the island economy then they need to loosen up the rules.

I honestly think that is the point of the rules, to allow a few in only

The Prime Minister has actually stated that as a fact.

My simple answer to the original question is infinity. Even if the confusion over what the tests say is settled, and even if it were easily possible to get the tests and results in the required time span, there is still the border issue. If we can't stay at our favorite French side places, go to the French side beaches, eat at the French side restaurants and see our friends there, we will wait it out for however long it takes.

We just booked flights on Delta for last week of May. If the French borders remain closed, we will cancel. Agee with Biturbo that we'll just wait however long it takes. I booked now only because we had some Delta certificates that were about to expire.

We got our april trip cancelled and we booked our december trip in january, before all the Covid thing....We keep our fingers crossed, so far our flight is still on but as for now, the government (Canada) stated that we should avoid all unnecessary trip and we have to self-isolate for 14 days when we come back so that makes it hard to do. Plus the PCR test....what if we are asymptomatic and the test turns out positive ? I don't know if we would be able to get a refund for everything at the last minute !

Bluejacket - May's a great time. Maybe it will work for us also.
Extreme - I know, right? I hope everything works out.

Carol, I guess I didn't update my location. I live in Phoenix, AZ now. We actually traveled from St. Thomas to St. Maarten, so we were tested in St. Thomas. We went directly to the lab there. We do know of a lab in Phoenix that can get results within the 72 hours. Also, our friends flew in from Las Vegas and I know a lab there that got them the results in time. Basically, you have to find a private lab, not one of the big ones that is being fed by everyone.

We have told all of them that that is the problem. There is a finger prick test that gives results in 15 minutes. It's 90% accurate from what we were told. St. Thomas accepted that test. I think those odds are pretty good if they just did the test at the airport vs the risk of contracting within the 72 hours...just my opinion.

BeachBumz--OK.

Many of the restaurants and businesses that we all love are struggling to survive. We went to Pburg yesterday and it was desolate. We spoke to a French lady who said that many of the businesses had already permanently closed. She is upset that the French side closed the border. Beach chair guys sitting around with no customers, begging us to get chairs, jewelry stores begging us to come in (more than normal), many are just closed. It was very sad, much worse than when we came after Irma.

What I love about the locals is not a one of them complains, unless asked, but they are struggling.

Just to put that 90% accuracy rate in perspective. A team from Johns Hopkins Medicine found that the RT-PCR test may miss more than 1 in 5 covid-19 cases. So the accuracy rate of the RT-PCR test is less than 80%. Story Here.

And that does not surprise me. IMHO, way too much being put into testing when it may or may not be 100% accurate or even close. Another false sense of security, as are many things associated with this situation. Thanks for the link.

But testing is better than not testing, as is wearing a mask.

Yes, IF the test results can be trusted and are accurate.

Again, still better than nothing.

A false positive or negative does nothing to help this situation.

So, your response is to not test anyone? Nothing is perfect in this world. You do what you can do.

Not saying that. I believe in testing but not all test are accurate and will skew statistics which many policies are made from.

It sounds like the PCR test is the most reliable one but regardless, you do what you can do.