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US to require air travelers to provide a negative test within 1 day of departure

Old Dec 3, 2021, 7:22 am
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Last edit by: l etoile
10 June 2022 - The Biden administration will on Sunday end a requirement that air travelers to the U.S. undergo Covid-19 tests before departure, according to federal officials.

The testing requirement is set to end June 12 at 12:01 a.m.



CDC Order and FAQ: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

CDC Order updated 2 December 2021:
  • If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get a COVID-19 viral test (regardless of vaccination status or citizenship) no more than 1 day before you travel by air into the United States. You must show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight.
  • If you recently recovered from COVID-19, you may instead travel with documentation of recovery from COVID-19 (i.e., your positive COVID-19 viral test result on a sample taken no more than 90 days before the flights departure from a foreign country and a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel).

All air passengers 2 years or older with a flight departing to the US from a foreign country at or after 12:01am EST (5:01am GMT) on December 6, 2021, are required show a negative COVID-19 viral test result taken no more than 1 day before travel, or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, before they board their flight.

What types of SARS-CoV-2 test are acceptable under the Order?
You must be tested with a viral test that could be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Examples of available NAATs for SARS-CoV-2 include but are not restricted to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), nicking enzyme amplification reaction (NEAR), and helicase-dependent amplification (HDA). The test used must be authorized for use by the relevant national authority for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the country where the test is administered. A viral test conducted for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, including DOD contractors, dependents, and other U.S. government employees, and tested by a DOD laboratory located in a foreign country also meets the requirements of the Order.

eMed (Abbot BinaxNOW, one of the approved methods) Thread on Flyertalk: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2048940-issues-re-emed-abbot-binaxnow-navica-tests.html
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US to require air travelers to provide a negative test within 1 day of departure

 
Old May 16, 2022, 2:58 pm
  #1066  
 
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Originally Posted by VickiSoCal
A friend's son is flying EDI-LHR-JFK on BA/AA today. Checked in at BA in EDI and completed attestation saying he has a negative test. Did not do a monitored test and has not been asked for one. At LHR with a boarding pass for AA and still no one has asked.
Did he use Verifly? BA encourages (requires?) it and when we used it we had to upload our negative results and at the airports all they asked to see was the approved pass on Verifly, not the actual test result.
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Old May 16, 2022, 3:36 pm
  #1067  
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Originally Posted by CDTraveler
Did he use Verifly? BA encourages (requires?) it and when we used it we had to upload our negative results and at the airports all they asked to see was the approved pass on Verifly, not the actual test result.
He did not. Don't think he could have gotten checked in if he had.
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Old May 16, 2022, 3:53 pm
  #1068  
 
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Both of Canada's main airlines, AC and WS, only require the attestation at check-in and asking for results is hit and miss. You can do OLCI on both without ever showing your test results and be issued a boarding pass to the US.

The legislation only requires carriers to keep record of the attestation on file and not the test results....so this is why some carriers simply DGAF about the test itself.
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Old May 16, 2022, 6:44 pm
  #1069  
 
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Not totally linked, but HHS will extend the Public Health Emergency Declaration past the current mid-July end date. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ency-past-july
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Old May 16, 2022, 6:56 pm
  #1070  
 
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Originally Posted by m8_rotate
I understand that at the point of entry in the USA, border guards have the right to check. I have flown into JFK BOS SFO and LAX in the last three months. I have seen these checks at SFO only, and probably one passenger in 5 at the most. So whilst clearly there has been a breakdown in the checking pre-departure, the US Govt, can still deny entry at the point of entry and bounce the passenger back to the airline. A qured video LFT test costs circa 23gbp. I don't understand why someone would play the system, even if it is brokenmy own humble opinion of course.
Are you saying that a US citizen can be denied entry upon arrival to the US and sent back to the country they came from if they fail to produce a negative test result? I was under the impression that they can't do that and is the reason why there's no test requirement for land entry.
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Old May 16, 2022, 7:04 pm
  #1071  
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Originally Posted by friedablass
Are you saying that a US citizen can be denied entry upon arrival to the US and sent back to the country they came from if they fail to produce a negative test result? I was under the impression that they can't do that and is the reason why there's no test requirement for land entry.
Last summer I encountered random checks by CDC personnel after arriving back in the US as we exited the aircraft. No idea what would happen if a US citizen didnt have the appropriate Covid documentation.
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Old May 16, 2022, 7:11 pm
  #1072  
 
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Originally Posted by TomMM
Last summer I encountered random checks by CDC personnel after arriving back in the US as we exited the aircraft. No idea what would happen if a US citizen didnt have the appropriate Covid documentation.
I'm certainly not one to try finding out, but I highly doubt they have the authority to bar a US citizen from entry. I think the most they can do is penalize the airline for not checking before departure.
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Old May 16, 2022, 8:14 pm
  #1073  
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Originally Posted by friedablass
I'm certainly not one to try finding out, but I highly doubt they have the authority to bar a US citizen from entry. I think the most they can do is penalize the airline for not checking before departure.
It is possible that the airline DID check the documentation, but the passenger didn't think he needed to save that document after it was checked.
PS: That one can cross into the USA via a LAND crossing (without a negative COVID test), but has to be tested when arriving by air, makes the whole "system" not creditable.
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Old May 16, 2022, 8:39 pm
  #1074  
 
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Originally Posted by wooootles
If only the government had the resource to deploy actual trained federal agents to monitor such atrocities instead of leaving it to the gate agents, such blatant acts of deception would not have slipped through.
Or the government could stop wasting resources chasing its tail trying to enforce ineffective rules that serve no useful purpose.

The testing requirement has stopped exactly zero new variants.
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Old May 16, 2022, 9:57 pm
  #1075  
 
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Originally Posted by 84fiero
It's interesting that a few similar anecdotes have come up recently on another travel forum of agents not asking for or seeming interested in the test document, only the attestation form. Yet my most recent three experiences returning to the US were the opposite. The airline agents looked at the test results but didn't collect the attestation form and didn't even take it when I tried to give it to them. One looked at it for a second before handing it back, the others just said they didn't need it without even reading it. A few anecdotes aren't a trend, of course, but I do wonder if there's either lax training at this point or perhaps some "compliance fatigue" setting in among some agents.
This has been my experience with multiple UA flights so far when checking in on flights returning to the US. Haven't been asked for an attestation when checking in at the airport, but have been asked for a peek at the negative test result.

Originally Posted by CDTraveler
Did he use Verifly? BA encourages (requires?) it
BA does not require it. They did ask for an attestation when checking in at the desk. A screenshot of the confirmation page saying it was completed was sufficient.
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Old May 16, 2022, 10:29 pm
  #1076  
 
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Originally Posted by stupidhead
Or the government could stop wasting resources chasing its tail trying to enforce ineffective rules that serve no useful purpose.

The testing requirement has stopped exactly zero new variants.
Pretty much. They wanted FA's to be mask enforcers, Check in agents to be test gatekeepers, OSHA (and employers) to be gatekeepers of vaccinations. Then surprise pikachu face when their mandates fail.
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Old May 17, 2022, 1:23 am
  #1077  
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First longhaul flights in nearly 3 years for us soon to the USA. I can't say I look forward to it at all but have no choice this time. There is so much paperwork involved now that it feels like visiting a very exotic destination. This nonsense has to stop asap.
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Old May 17, 2022, 4:31 am
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Originally Posted by friedablass
Are you saying that a US citizen can be denied entry upon arrival to the US and sent back to the country they came from if they fail to produce a negative test result? I was under the impression that they can't do that and is the reason why there's no test requirement for land entry.
My response is based on what I have seen, and understand. Which may not be as comprehensive or as detailed as some members. It was aimed at visitors to the USA, not residents. My point was that the rules are still fixed, whether you abide by them or not, and this thread does seem to stir up responses in varying degrees of enthusiasm, wit, and sarcasm. Hopefully, we can all look back at this period in time and reflect, assuming WWIII doesn't break out. Until then, I and my traveling companions will abide by the rules, whether I/we agree with them or not.
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Old May 17, 2022, 8:04 am
  #1079  
 
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Originally Posted by friedablass
I'm certainly not one to try finding out, but I highly doubt they have the authority to bar a US citizen from entry. I think the most they can do is penalize the airline for not checking before departure.
Correct, US citizens can't be denied entry once they show up at a US point of entry.
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Old May 17, 2022, 8:15 am
  #1080  
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Now the CDC recommends all domestic travelers complete a COVID test before departure, regardless of vaccination status: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ing/index.html.

I wouldn't say this bodes well for ending the one-day test requirement any time soon.

Israel, which has had some of the most stringent entry requirements, is ending all COVID testing for air travel on Saturday: https://www.timesofisrael.com/air-tr...ting-saturday/
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