I am five days away from my 35th trip to Aruba. I am starting my trip report now to document the process of jumping through the hoops to get there.
For my Covid test, I am going to be doing the Vault saliva test that jet Blue recently introduced and which is accepted by Aruba for entry (I am actually flying American Airlines, though). On Thursday morning, I will perform the test at home (while on a Zoom call with an inspector from the testing company) and send it via pre-paid UPS Next Day Air.
I elected to try this method, as there are no testing sites near me that produce results within the 72-hour window. The closest site to me that might work is a 90+ minute drive away. I am hoping to avoid having to test at the airport upon arrival.
I have been mostly quarantining since last Wednesday (except for a few quick errands) and plan to keep a low profile these last few days, until I head to Connecticut on Saturday to stay over before my Sunday morning flight.
My December trips to Aruba are usually one week, but I decided to rent a second week. At my timeshare, Playa Linda, there are plenty of owners who have their weeks available to rent, so the price was good. I even got a refund of $61 when I changed my flight itinerary!
This will be a much welcomed and needed vacation! The pandemic robbed me of my usual two-week trip in early April, as well as a planned trip in May for a friend's daughter's wedding.