GUWonder

The average airline rep at European airports dealing with the US-bound flights of relevance to me are not working like auditors. The airlines could have a checklist to use to make sure they comply with all the technical requirements for the relevant certificates of recovery, but they don’t spend the time doing so. On my most recent US-bound flight from Europe, the airline only cared that I handed in a multi-page form. They didn’t even look inside to see how it was completed by me, didn’t look at test results or anything else. And it was the same for those just before me using EU or other Schengen country passports to fly to the US. If I had slipped them an unfilled form, they wouldn’t even know who had done so unless wanting to spend time delaying the flight to try to figure out who had and had not submitted a properly completed attestation form. And this kind of non-auditor mentality has been the norm for what I’ve been seeing during a lot of flights this spring to the US.

Kawliga

To simplify the point I was trying to make: if it’s “signed,” it should be fine.

Nayef

Need some reference to any official explanations of the rules for my specific situation: father, mother and sister were slated to fly back to the US via LH. Dad started experiencing mild symptoms and tested positive the day of travel when they took the PCRs necessary for US-bound travel. Sister tested positive today (June 2nd) but mother is still negative while having symptoms. They delayed their flights and their trip to the US is slated to begin at 11:45 pm their time on June 14th. I know the requirements say that a positive test can be used instead of a negative test if 10-90 days have passed, and mom has the option to test on June 3 and/or 4 in case she tests positive. If she tests positive during a sample taken the morning of June 4th, would LH or any other airlines be anal and not consider it 10 days to June 14th for any reason? The sample would be taken 10 days and perhaps 12 hours before departure. There's also a chance she could get tested on June 3rd but we don't obviously know if she'll test positive or negative despite the symptoms.

DCJoe1

Don't know how exact LH will be. But the UA app specifically states that to use the positive test/recovery cert option, the positive test has to be dated between 11-90 days of the day of flight. If flying the 14th, I'd try and get the test done on the 3rd if possible.

Nayef

That's odd because on IATA and TIMATIC they both say 10-90 days (so does LH which gets their info from IATA):

84fiero

Both of which essentially conflict with the CDC by omitting the different timing criteria for being cleared to travel for symptomatic vice asymptomatic situations:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...travelers.html

The link to "meet criteria to travel" goes here:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...#do-not-travel

weezl

Here is my experience with UK-US travel this week on VS:

1. On vacation abroad, I tested positive with one of the lateral flow kits the US Govt sent to our home (brought a few kits with me) 2.5d after arrival; had common cold symptoms
2. Stayed in and isolated-- that sucked. I called VS to ask them what would happen if I tested positive the day before the flight home. They referred me to the US guidelines (those stating the proof of <90d positive test and letter of recovery are all that are needed).
3. After I recovered from symptoms, I emerged outdoors and tried to save what was left of the vacation (but still masked when outside)
4. At 5d before returning to the US, I retested positive with another home kit, still asymptomatic; I emailed my PCP and told my story, anticipating that I would officially test positive within 1d of travel to the US, and thus need the letter (I was right)
5. I called VS (again) and asked them what I would need if I was positive. They referred me to the CDC links again. I called yet again and this time they referred me to the US Embassy in London, who picked up the phone then transferred me to a recording of the same info in the CDC links. VS continued to maintain that the rules were not theirs but rather those of the US. This turned out to be false, see below.
6. Received pdf letter from PCP documenting the date of the onset of my symptoms, the date of recovery of symptoms, the date of the initial positive test (prob didn't need that one detail), and documentation of the official positive test that I had 1 day prior (they wrote the letter presumptively so that with the time diff they didn't have to wait to see that I was officially positive in the wee hours back home and THEN write the letter)
7. Took the official, supervised lateral flow test in London at T-1d, which was positive as expected (cost: £28 near the Hyatt Churchill, 30 min turnaround to get PDF result emailed- but if you loiter a tad, you can see your test evolving)
   FYI, you will see in the links provided by others above that the CDC just says the positive test needs to be <90d prior to travel- it does not specify any other required timelines (but the airlines DO specify- see below and also the even stricter LH and UA criteria mentioned in the other posts)
8. At the VS Upper Class Wing check-in desk on the day of departure, I submitted my printed letter and proof of positive test. I told them that these were the required docs per US/CDC but they said specifically, we have our own guidelines for how far out one has to be after testing positive before they will allow you to board. They said I had to have recovered with no symptoms for at least 5 days. This was never stated on my calls to VS!! I was already rolling my eyes, readying a contingency plan for flight/hotel/work.
   In any case, they took my paperwork to discuss the situation with their supervisor(s) and came back with the ok to fly. Had my PCP letter said anything short of 5d of recovery, they would not have let me fly.
   
   It is really frustrating that things cannot be spelled out with enough detail that one can set expectations for delays, dates of testing, PCP letters, backup flight and hotel (and work back home) plans, etc. Grrr

whitewave

This is where we are: my 22 year old daughter is stuck in Ireland and I am now with her. She and her twin brother flew/arrived on Monday/Tuesday, May 24. Her symptoms began on Wednesday, May 25. She tested positive on a rapid home test on Friday, May 27.

Short story about her brother. He continued to test negative and went home on Monday, May 30. He remains negative.

1) I read the CDC form and it said she could fly on day 11 after symptoms began, so I called aer lingus and changed her flight to Monday June 6. I flew over on Sunday/Monday May 30 and booked my return on Monday June 6. I THOUGHT that would be good because that was day 12 from symptoms.

2) When I called trip insurance, they said she needed an official positive, so my twins took a taxi and found a place and she took her test and received her official positive. God only knows who she may or may not have infected (she did wear a KN95). I had no idea at this point that it would be this test date that would be the basis for her recovery letter.

3) She was sick as a dog for 7 days and Covid also caused her to get her period early, so yeah… complete mess. When I got there, I dealing with a sick, weepy and very unhappy young woman. I went to 3 pharmacies over as many days trying to find all of the supplements because pharmacies in Ireland in the city center of Dublin are completely deficient compared to the US. I can’t get melatonin (prescription only) but I can buy viagara and all the vibrators I wanted. 🥴 There is no way she would have been able to care for herself.

4) I continue to test negative.

5) As of Thursday June 2 she is completely fine. Her complexion is back to normal and she is barely even coughing now. Her appetite is back. She was no longer considered infectious by the CDC since Monday, May 30. (Day 5 for triple vaccinated people) she continues to test positive, which is normal and she might continue to test positive up to something like 3 months

6) As I am working on getting a recovery letter, I realize last night that it’s day 11 *from the official positive*, which is news to me. In reading on Reddit and other places on the net, this is a common misunderstanding (thinking one can fly 10 days from symptoms starting). I now realize our return dates are out of the question.

7) It’s a bank holiday weekend in Ireland so the prices went sky high in Dublin. I hope her trip insurance appreciates our move to Kilkenny in order to save everyone money. (She double masked on the train, which was miserable).

8) I’m having trouble finding a provider for the recovery certificate when it comes time for that. It seems many places are a scam where they take your money and never send the certificate. The place kipper recommended never got back with us once we sent in the information requesting an appointment (which was before I figured out my timeline was incorrect).

9) my husband is a doctor so I’m trying to get him to work on calling the medical director of the county health department to see if he will write a letter for us. His wife is European and they are over here all the time, so I suspect he has a firm understanding of all of this and he might be our best bet for a legitimate recovery letter that is above board.

10) We tried (really just to experiment) vodka in the nares and saline spray in the nares and both resulted in positives. Tonight we are going to try both just for see. This is an exercise in futility.

11) We looked into flying to TIJ but it’s like $1200 for each one way ticket and 2 stops and a really long trek. It’s too much for what amounts to another 3 day delay in return. We hope to be able to get the certificate on June 8 and fly on June 9.

12j After the bank holiday is over, I might try to find a general medicine doc here to get the certificate.

13) Since we have to change tickets again, I think I’m going to change airports from Dublin to Shannon. All she wants is to go home. She cries about it about once a day. (Hormones and recent illness)

14) We only came to Kilkenny for a breather and were to go back to Dublin tomorrow, but if we change to Shannon, we will go to Limerick tomorrow via Waterford. The hotel where we are today in Kilkenny doesn’t have an opening tomorrow and it’s slim pickings because of bank holiday, so we have to decide where we are going after checkout (probably Waterford for a night).

This has been very frustrating with trying to gather all of the information about how to get home. It really does feel as if you are all alone in this. We are still considering flying to Toronto (much cheaper one way than TIJ) but I’m waiting until tomorrow to see if DH can find a doc willing to write a legit letter of recovery or if we can get in to see a doc in Ireland. However, I know how much docs in the US get backed up after a holiday so I don’t know if we should expect that here.

15) We might try zoomdoc for a certificate as she isn’t established with a doctor in the states. She aged out of the pediatrician and uses urgent care walk in when she is sick, so she isn’t currently a patient of a doc she can call. DH thought he might write the letter, but I don’t know if that would be suspicious or not. (Even though it would be a legit letter with no fudging of dates)

We do not want to commit fraud by changing the positive letter in the MS word program.

This is really the pits.

If you have nothing nice to say, please scroll and roll. I’m trying to hit all points in order to help anyone else in the future who uses the search button. I love the ignore button.


if anyone cross checks my posts for dates, please know I am still jet lagged and it’s all running together for me…. It’s nothing on purpose. Also, for instance, we both thought her official positive was on a Friday and the email and test date show it was Saturday, so that is one example on how our memories are not objectively correct.

wooootles

For better or worse I had COVID 2 weeks ago. Worst sore throat ever by a country mile aside, I was able to recover after a few days then used quick.md to get a signed recovery certificate online. I’ve seen on reddit that this plus the positive test should be good enough for <90 days for going back to the US. I have a big int’l trip next month so this is weight off my shoulders from scrambling for a test and hoping it’s a negative…

whitewave

Yes, Toronto is much cheaper and easier than TIJ. My sister works for WN so she could likely get us from Buffalo to our home airport (1stop).

I also cannot get over how difficult this is to find a way to get a recovery letter. A legit recovery letter. It’s probably easier to get a fraudulent one.

whitewave

We tried to use this service yesterday (before I discovered my timeline is wrong) and I’m not convinced it’s legit. I don’t think you can use it if you don’t have WhatsApp and we filled out the form yesterday morning for an appointment and we have heard nothing ever since, crickets. So now I don’t trust it; I don’t trust that she can get a recovery certificate from them in time to fly…


My daughter and I are in travel purgatory.

The more I think about this the more I think that Toronto might be our best bet, as it’s a sure thing. I don’t like this feeling of not knowing who, how and when my daughter can get her recovery certificate. It truly might just be easier to do the Toronto route.


FYI, I am 4x Pfizer and my last booster was on April 5, 2022.

whitewave

Yes, I just read about this on Reddit. If you have had Covid, get the recovery letter before you travel and then you don’t have to worry about getting back. Believe me, that is much better than what we are going through.

whitewave

I truly don’t know the answer as I am still looking into this. She will be day 10 from her documented positive (day 11 from her home antigen positive and day 13 from onset of symptoms)…what is the worst that can happen? Stay one day in Toronto, which is what we intend to do anyway? At least it will be the same continent.

In other words, we aren’t trying to game the system. I’m trying to stop wasting my time trying to figure out how to get a legit recovery letter from a legit source.


edited: I don’t know what we plan to do yet. We will discuss at dinner. If anything, my intent is to show how ridiculous this all is: the us government and trip insurance required a sick AND CONTAGIOUS person to use public transport to go find a testing facility in order to obtain an official positive. Now, there are absolutely zero resources on HOW and WHERE to get a recovery certificate. It’s like playing whack a mole.

edited again: since she is triple vaccinated, I guess she would have to wear a mask for one day? (Using the official positive. No mask needed going from the at home positive) 🤷🏼‍♀️




Does anyone have a sample letter of recovery I can see? My husband is working on this, but since we live in BFE no one knows what to put in one. I know name, date of birth and recovered from Covid and fit to fly, Anything else?


Trying to figure out this stupid letter of recovery has been the most stressful part of this entire ordeal.

susiesan

I am going in for an annual physical next month and I am going to tell my doctor I had covid and ask her for a covid recovery letter. I will be taking a cruise in Europe in August and will be flying home from Amsterdam. If I have this letter then I don't have to spend my last day of vacation trying to get a covid test on a Sunday when pharmacies in AMS may be closed.

jphripjah

I'd include passport number if possible. And make sure that "name" includes the full name in passport, i.e. with middle name.