Sharing my experience using the in-terminal CareNow test facility at DFW airport this week. My route was LHR-DFW-HNL with an overnight at the convenient Grand Hyatt at DFW.
As of right now, CareNow is not explicitly listed as an approved provider on the Safe Travels Hawaii website, but it is indeed part of the approved partnership with AA and their test results are indeed accepted by the state.
It was easy to “check in” online for an appointment at my preferred time, about four days in advance. It might help others to know that, in the context of CareNow, “check-in” means “schedule an appointment”. So I would recommend that you "check in" as soon as you know your travel plans.
Although it doesn’t specify this on the CareNow website, the test site is airside, in the south end of the connector between terminals B and D. The nearest gate is D40 but the site is not at D40.
Being airside, it would be a tricky situation if you were to test positive. The paperwork you are required to sign in order to use the test facility indicates that the test results will be shared with AA. Who knows if they actually do that, but if you test positive, then perhaps they will have to offload your luggage.
There were two people in line when I arrived, around 9:15 am. The test site is quiet and comfortable. I filled out some paperwork and was called into a test cubicle within two minutes.
A nice nurse came in and swabbed my nose -- note it was just my nostrils, not the long or deep swab that exists in other places. Because of work, I’ve had lots of COVID tests, long swabs and short swabs, and this was the easiest of all. Felt like it went about half an inch into my nose. Not painful or uncomfortable in the slightest.
They told me to wait in the testing cubicle for my results, which took about 15 minutes. The results are presented on a piece of letter size paper with the test company logo at the top, your personal details handwritten on the left side, and the sticker printout from the lab machine stuck on the right side.
Nobody was rushing me to leave, so I stayed in the cubicle for long enough to scan my test results and upload them to the Safe Travels Hawaii website. By the time I reached the Admirals Club at gate D24 a few minutes later, the document status had changed from “Verification in Process” to “COVID NEGATIVE”.
All in all, a very easy and smooth process. This will be my preferred LHR-HNL route for the foreseeable future
