My arrival experience
I'm going to attempt to explain the current process at the airport as I've experienced it.
Qualifiers...
*I used Club Mobay so the process was made much easier for me especially towards the end which I'll explain.
*My situation is slightly different from a tourist as I have a home in Jamaica...but most of the steps on arrival into the Montego Bay (Sangsters) Airport are similar.
*I was not required to do a Covid test coming from Canada.
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Two days before arrival...
I opened the Visit Jamaica website, entered an email address for a code & then proceeded to answer all the required questions including immigration/customs form questions you'd normally fill out on the airplane.
*For tourists staying at hotels, villas, airbnb's...your property has to be on the list of Covid certified properties otherwise you will identify in another category and will be required to self isolate for 14 days.*
Once completed they sent a travel authorization almost immediately....I printed a hard copy. Others visitors that I noted, had downloaded it on their phone. https://travelauth.visitjamaica.com/
Day of travel....
I was required to arrive at the airport an extra 30 min. earlier than usual....hand sanitizer, masks (only removed if eating or drinking), Covid related questions, 2m or 6ft apart requirements etc were mostly being followed.
On the second leg of my flight they asked to see my travel authorization for Jamaica. On the plane...I was again required to fill out a hard copy of the immigration/customs form.
Once off the plane...I met my Club Mobay representative and was required to hand sanitize and my temperature was taken. I was given a small piece of paper with my temperature written on it.
We came to an area where soldiers were directing everyone and attempting to keep people 6ft apart. Club Mobay has a separate line for their guests and I hand sanitized again. Once at the desk they asked to see the paper with my temperature on it, asked where I was staying, asked how I was getting to my destination and confirmed whether each was Covid certified.
*For tourists not wanting to self isolate for 14 days...your hotel and driver have to be Covid certified. You'll be required to sign that you understand the rules of the Covid corridor and their Covid rules in general.*
*For those that stay long term or in a non Covid certified property...you'll be given a form to fill out twice a day with which you'll be required to write down your temperature for the next 14 days. Your driver still has to be Covid certified.*
Next stop is immigration...the line up was long. This is one area Club Mobay helped me timewise the most, as the regular line up was long. After hand sanitizing.... I was sent immediately to the immigration officer who of course asked regular immigration questions, but also asked to see my Travel Authorization confirmation.
After immigration....I passed the duty free shop and thought I should definitely stop & pick up some cheap Tito's...but, I got distracted having to hand sanitize again, then being asked for my temperature paper and then sent to speak to one of the soldiers. I'm a little vague about this procedure as I think it's a second desk area only for people staying long term or those that had to self isolate/quarantine. I was fortunate that the Club Mobay representative knew the procedure and he had a soldier load the Jamcovid app with GPS on my phone and away I went without having to sit down at a desk again. The app is required for their twice daily video check-ins for people needing to self isolate for 14 days.
Baggage area...
Same as usual...pick up your bags and proceed to the customs area. Once through....I headed straight for the Club Mobay lounge, filled two large beer mugs and was on my way.
It was kind of cool stepping out of the building and seeing so many driver's faces that I knew...everyone was so kind and excited...Club Mobay rep was confused and asked why so many knew me....felt important for a millisecond...lmao!!!
And please note...not one person in the airport can believe anyone is telling tourists not to come down! From the Club Mobay rep, to the immigration officer and the drivers that I asked about how they felt hearing there are people saying not to come down...they just shook their heads...
Ask any question you can think of that I may have missed....I'll do my best to answer or if anyone else can add more detail...please feel free.
Originally Posted by fargoman
