kyleay

Thanks. We had trouble with finding a place to get a rapid test and were getting worried so we ended up getting a very expensive PCR test. :-( Oh well. Cheers,
--Kyle

jamienbaker

Another endorsement for eMed. Comfort of your lodging. Not a diss, just hoping others will find it a learning experience. Safe travels - Jamie

SusanDK

There are 500+ test centers in Denmark, one of which is 1 km from our VRBO flat, and another that is 1 km from my in-laws home, with many others in between. It honestly seems simpler to us to do this than having to order the eMed kits in advance and plan to Zoom with the technician. I've read that it's best to take more than one test kit per person in case one is faulty, etc. We may also wish to be tested locally during our trip and will use the test center and be familiar with it already, so no inconvenience to do so again a day or two prior to our return flight.

We will be there for a full month and, even though fully vaccinated, will likely quarantine for a few days after arrival, then be tested locally, before visiting the family since my MIL is 91 and FIL is 88, and considering that we will have been on a TATL flight, in airports, etc. and possibly exposed.

Of course, all of this is based on the rules not changing between now and mid-September. I do understand that taking the test in the comfort of one's hotel room can be far more convenient in many cases, particularly in a country that one is unfamiliar with and/or if vacation time is limited. But my husband is Danish and I lived there for 30 years, and we are spending a full month to visit the family, so based on what I'm reading, I think using a local test center will work fine for us.

jamienbaker

Fair points. Agree 2 kits best. I left mine on top of a bus in Iraq in 115 degree heat and it didn’t work. Had backup in cooler temp. Enjoy your trip, greetings from Greece.

GUWonder

Given how some related California doctors had fully vaccinated colleagues come up positive for Covid-19 earlier in July and seem likely to have been infected with the Delta/India variant which mega-boosts up viral load in the nasal pharynx of even the fully vaccinated that have a breakthrough infection, my bet is that the US test requirement to fly to the US will remain at least well into the fall for even fully vaccinated Americans. And much the same expectation for the US mask mandate remaining when flying.

Yes for the most part. But if on separate tickets, they may know in CPH if attempting to thru-check the bags across separately ticketed PNRs as allowed under Star Alliance practice for checking bags across separate tickets when the flights are operated by Star Alliance carriers and meet some other conditions for being thru-checked across tickets. Then at CPH, at times they do try to see if meeting the onward travel conditions too even when it involves separate tickets. Been there, done that, a lot.

CPH and Malmö both have very convenient, relatively cheap paid rapid antigen testing available too. I go for the paid rapid antigen testing, even as free testing in Denmark is plentiful and more reliably useful than the more limited, free testing in Sweden.

SusanDK

Yikes! Hope Greece is cooler.

SamirD

I used to be wary of the emed test thinking that a local one would be better, but after experiencing the ease of emed, I would definitely take them and as they can be a primary or secondary backup test in case of a false positive.

One needs to remember that it doesn't really matter what the real rules are and it's only what your particular airline and particular flight accepts without trouble, so emed may not be the only solution for each scenario, but is a great backup or 'second opinion' in cases when it cannot be the primary test.

michael1023

I still feel as though this whole test before flying back is a money grab. How much is the emed test? 120 something? Way too much IMO…

saaveraward

$75 for a 2 pack, cheaper than a lot of Euro pharmacies.

jamienbaker

time is money. I shave while taking my eMed tests. In Venice I went and grabbed a coffee while waiting. Here in Greece I may take a swim, or maybe open some wine and read a few chapters. Find a local pharmacy and wait in line? Count me out. That’s not why I travel.

SamirD

Considering you get 6 of them for that much, $20/ea isn't bad for a lab test as most lab co-pays are that much.

The other type of emed home test available at walmart was $20 for 2x tests. Test through my insurance are free, but I have to drive about 10m, wait and come back. When my time is more valuable, home testing is the way to go, especially just to know.

kac2138

I read the CDC website but I feel like this is asking to get yelled at by a check in agent somewhere. Three days prior to the day of the flight and the CDC says if you have a Friday flight, a TUESDAY test works. So if your flight is day T, you can really go t-3. So like theoretically if you took the test on Wednesday at 12:01 AM and your flight was Saturday at 11:59 PM, you would be good?

StingWest

That's what I should have done last week (also in Greece). Instead I stared at the test for 15 mins, sometimes imagining the growth of the second line

The other advantage to the self-test is that you are guaranteed not to have to suffer the brain-scratching deep dive Q-tip probe that you get at some places (like the Swiss one I also visited last week). Children will especially appreciate the Binax self-test.

ExpatExp

Well done. Excellent example of dealing efficiently with today's travel realities.

saaveraward

For those who have experience, is there ever a long queue to reach an eMed proctor? I know it's 24/7 but have no idea what the best time of day is to avoid a wait while in Europe.