I need an urgent answer about US travel - can anyone help?

[Mykittensmittens]

UGHHH!!!

i have some elderly relatives staying from the US. They are both US citizens and travelled here from the US a week ago.

they fly home Monday.

they’ve told me today they have no idea what testing they have to complete before flying.

they are both fully vaccinated.

I’ve tried to read the information on the CDC and gov.U.K. Websites but it’s really unclear what they are actually supposed to do. It’s so difficult to understand and it’s link after link.

I THINK they are supposed to get a lateral flow (described as a SARS2 rapid antigen test) in a testing centre, or at the terminal, prior to travel. It doesn’t have to be a PCR but it has to be done by an approved outlet.

has anyone travelled to the US recently that can confirm this?

thanks

I don't know the US rules but I noticed that most airlines have a 'covid hub' on their website where you can plug in the travellers' details, vax status etc. and then it tells you what requirements apply including any that are specific to that airline. I've found this to be much easier that trying to decipher gov websites.

I’m travelling in July. They need a test 24 hours (or the day) before. It can be lft but needs to be done over video call or in person. If they use the verifly app it will be easier to get through check in although I think virgin don’t use verifly app but other airlines do.

Thank you. It’s an American Airlines flight so I’ll have a look.

They are such a liability it’s untrue!!

They have to have a test done in the 24 hrs before they travel. The test needs to have a print out or certificate that has their name, dob, the test performed, what type of test it is, the day and time of the test and the result

the hard bit is getting the results back in time

there are usually places at the airport you can book into to get tested that do all this, but they are expensive. You also want to book a slot as they often do not have any stand by slots available

alternatively if you are in a major city there are often labs that will do it for you

it can be a pcr or a lateral flow (it just has to be an approved test in the country you are leaving from) but it HAS to have a print out…you cant show up waving an actual test saying look there is only one line

if they are flying on BA or AA get them to download verilfy. Its an app that walks you thru all the paperwork and confirms you have what you need before you get to the airport, reduces the stress alot

if they come to visit again, tell them to bring Lucira tests with them for going home (buy on Amazon)

Yes, at this time all air passengers, 2 years or older, travelling to the US, regardless of vaccination or antibody status, are required to provide a negative COVID-19 viral test result or documentation of recovery unless exempted.

We're using Qured www.qured.com/ for our tests

Thank you.

I don’t think we can arrange it here where we live due to timing. They leave here (north) Saturday and spend 2 days down in London before flying from Heathrow.

it looks like there is a company in T2 who do an antigen test for £39 the day prior. They have early flights so Sunday night are in an airport hotel. I think I should book the terminal test for Sunday PM and get them to go over and take the test.

i think that sounds right?

That sounds right. If you can sort verifly on their phones then they can upload the results once they have them.

I’m travelling to the US on Wednesday & using this company:

www.projectscreen.co.uk/lateral-flow-test-kits/testing-for-travel/

It needs to be a witnessed lateral flow test, NOT a PCR. So immediate results. This company video call you at home & watch you do the test. No-need to go anywhere! I’ve got a test on Tuesday, 22 hours prior to my flight.

Just to clarify - they don't have to test 24 hours before, it's the calendar day before.

E.g. if they're returning home on a 2pm flight, the test doesn't need to be at or after 2pm, it can be any time during the day/morning etc.

If it helps, plenty of high street pharmacies offer LFTs which they either supervise or do for you - wait just 15 minutes for results and they'll print and sign your "certificate" there and then

You do have to book these, and mine cost £30 at Lloyds (I believe Boots and no doubt others charge roughly the same)

They leave here (north) Saturday and spend 2 days down in London before flying from Heathrow

I take your point, especially as I always travel down the day before flying too

But even London has high street pharmacies in it, without the need to have it done at the airport and probably pay more

We're just back from the US. Couldn't get the verify app to work (can't accept recovery certs). BA said don't worry about it, it's obsolete, at the airport 12 days ago. We had an in person lat flow cert from the airport testing place and a covid recovery certificate respectively. Nobody asked to look at them. The only thing we had to do was fill out the US attestation form, which has no links to the tests.

Just get them both a certified late flow the day before - either at a testing centre or a video supervised one just in case. But really we didn't need them.

We used breathe assured supervised over teams. It needs to be supervised (either in person or via video)

THINK they are supposed to get a lateral flow (described as a SARS2 rapid antigen test) in a testing centre, or at the terminal, prior to travel.

Yes, I flew back to the US a couple of weeks ago and got it done the night before at an airport testing centre. Results in less than 30 minutes. Similar situation to your relatives, I was staying in an airport hotel the night before. I'd recommend getting the test done in the terminal as it was a faff finding the off-site testing place, it was in a car park and not well-signed. Signage was much better in the terminal.

I hope they drop this requirement soon, it's so irritating and Covid cases are rising over here anyway, so it doesn't make much difference!

@Pennox I know what you're saying, but honestly, as someone who now lives in the US, I wouldn't risk skipping the test. You'll have an unpleasant experience with immigration if you don't follow the rules and get found out. It isn't worth it.

Halo do tests. They might be worth a look. They have a testing place at Heathrow

We didn't skip the tests/recovery certs. We had them. I'm just saying nobody asked to look at them and we weren't required to prove that we'd done them. US immigration had no way of knowing whether we'd done them or not, just our attestation form that said we were vaccinated etc. I'm not advocating not doing the tests. I'm suggesting that perhaps they will indeed phase it out soon as they don't seem to be actually checking whether people have done them.

I have traveled quite a bit during covid and I wouldn't fly anywhere now without printouts of my vaccine certs and at least a certified lateral flow/recovery cert - I use Express Tests in person as local to me so just as convenient to go there as to do a video one.

I realized that you'd had them, @Pennox, I'm just warning people not to cut corners as US immigration takes everything very seriously, you don't want to risk irritating them in any way! No one on that side checked my results either, but I did have to use Verifly for check-in with BA.

I'm traveling again soon and have already paid for my return test...bet I won't get a refund if the requirement is lifted. 😂

Yeah I also would not want to piss them off. Just reporting my very recent experience which is that the BA person at the gate told me not to bother with verify as it's not being used/updated anymore (currently doesnt work properly on Android phones) and to just fill in the attestation. So we both travelled with no completed verify app and so were expecting manual checks, but no one asked us for any evidence of 24 hour test or vaccine certs. Which surprised me tbh. I travelled internally within the US too and was the same, no one checked or seemed to care - 2 airports, a ferry port, 4 flights and 2 ferries.

So if I was going to the US again tomorrow I'd book the cheapest certified lat flow test I could find for the day before and carry the resultant certificate with me just in case.