Covid tests for Portugal and TAP [Suspended 30 June 2022]
May 8, 2022, 1:58 am
#196
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Just to welcome you to Flyertalk and to the TAP Forum itsstacy. Thanks so much for giving your experiences, and yes, if your second jab was the last jab and it was more than 270 days ago then you need a booster. That's a common travel requirement within Europe. I hope you have a good time in Seville.
May 9, 2022, 6:18 am
#197
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bahamas
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 958
This post was really helpful as I was starting to stress about requirements morning of my trip. Here’s my actual experience from 5/6/22 as we did a transit through Lisbon to Spain.
At SFO, TAP staff asked for vaccination card for transit through Portugal. Mine was accepted but my husbands was not because his second shot in the series was more than 270 days ago. I got a booster back in November. Luckily that morning before we left to airport, we did the Binax now at homw
covid test with telehealth through eMed. We had 6 packs of these as I planned on taking them with me to Spain for our return to the US. On here, I confirmed that test is not officially allowed but people’s experience showed it could be accepted. Iń our case, the airline did not question it. Im
sire they just looked at name, Bday, date of test and results. That worked to clear my husband.
They also asked for our QR code for Spain’s health questionnaire, which you can g et from putting in your vaccination card info.
at Lisbon airport, they only asked for passport and nothing related to covid.
at Sevilla they didn’t ask for anything - not even the QR code.
hopefully this helps others!
At SFO, TAP staff asked for vaccination card for transit through Portugal. Mine was accepted but my husbands was not because his second shot in the series was more than 270 days ago. I got a booster back in November. Luckily that morning before we left to airport, we did the Binax now at homw
covid test with telehealth through eMed. We had 6 packs of these as I planned on taking them with me to Spain for our return to the US. On here, I confirmed that test is not officially allowed but people’s experience showed it could be accepted. Iń our case, the airline did not question it. Im
sire they just looked at name, Bday, date of test and results. That worked to clear my husband.
They also asked for our QR code for Spain’s health questionnaire, which you can g et from putting in your vaccination card info.
at Lisbon airport, they only asked for passport and nothing related to covid.
at Sevilla they didn’t ask for anything - not even the QR code.
hopefully this helps others!
May 9, 2022, 7:42 am
#198
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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If you are arriving from outside Schegen (e.g. USA - LIS) and are transferring to PRG then you clear Schengen immigration in LIS. They can be lines during the morning peak. If you are doing a transit to PRG from inside Schengen, e.g. MAD-LIS-PRG then there are no passport controls, you walk to the departing gate with no checkpoints.
May 9, 2022, 10:54 am
#199
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bahamas
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 958
If you are arriving from outside Schegen (e.g. USA - LIS) and are transferring to PRG then you clear Schengen immigration in LIS. They can be lines during the morning peak. If you are doing a transit to PRG from inside Schengen, e.g. MAD-LIS-PRG then there are no passport controls, you walk to the departing gate with no checkpoints.
May 9, 2022, 10:56 am
#200
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 2
My wife and I are flying to Lisbon on Friday (TAP Airlines out of SFO). We have 6 of the eMed kits (BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag) and plan on using these to get out of USA and into Portugal. We are both vaccinated and boosted (Dec'21). I know that the eMed kits are not technically on an approved list, but reading these forums it seems like they "check the box" for those who are inspecting.
You all are veteran travelers, do you think we will be ok, or do we need to go get a Kaiser test or pay for another test somewhere else?
Thanks for the insights.
You all are veteran travelers, do you think we will be ok, or do we need to go get a Kaiser test or pay for another test somewhere else?
Thanks for the insights.
May 9, 2022, 12:24 pm
#201
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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My wife and I are flying to Lisbon on Friday (TAP Airlines out of SFO). We have 6 of the eMed kits (BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag) and plan on using these to get out of USA and into Portugal. We are both vaccinated and boosted (Dec'21). I know that the eMed kits are not technically on an approved list, but reading these forums it seems like they "check the box" for those who are inspecting.
You will be fine. They just want a decent bit of paperwork showing your name, test date and negative status. No need to overthink this one.
May 11, 2022, 12:12 pm
#202
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
Datapoint:
When i chceked in at EWR, they told me they stopped checking for tests from April if you were vaccinated. Checked my CDC card.
When I checked in at AGP, they asked if I was vaccinated and verbal yes was sufficient.
on 5/5, they checked for EU or SpTH QR code at Sevilla at a rate of 1 per every 20 passengers.
When i chceked in at EWR, they told me they stopped checking for tests from April if you were vaccinated. Checked my CDC card.
When I checked in at AGP, they asked if I was vaccinated and verbal yes was sufficient.
on 5/5, they checked for EU or SpTH QR code at Sevilla at a rate of 1 per every 20 passengers.
May 14, 2022, 2:45 pm
#203
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: UA 1MM, Marriot (via SPG) Lifetime Gold
Posts: 632
Sorry...sometimes reading several pages of posts leave me more confused than when I started, so I apologize in advance for my basic question. My wife and I (US citizens) will be in Paris and plan on taking a flight to OPO. We are vaxed and double boosted with our last booster in April. We plan on getting an antigen test in Paris within 24 hours of our flight to OPO. Uh...is that it? Anything else we need?
May 14, 2022, 5:22 pm
#204
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Sorry...sometimes reading several pages of posts leave me more confused than when I started, so I apologize in advance for my basic question. My wife and I (US citizens) will be in Paris and plan on taking a flight to OPO. We are vaxed and double boosted with our last booster in April. We plan on getting an antigen test in Paris within 24 hours of our flight to OPO. Uh...is that it? Anything else we need?
May 15, 2022, 7:53 am
#205
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: UA 1MM, Marriot (via SPG) Lifetime Gold
Posts: 632
Yes, that's absolutely fine. It's possible your booster certificate will be enough as far as the gate agent is concerned, but the antigen tests - which are relatively easy to get in Paris - will seal the deal, from a legal perspective. I'm expecting Portugal to relax the requirements in the near future. Most passengers from Paris to OPO will be on European or similar vaccination certificates, which is all they would need.
May 17, 2022, 5:36 pm
#206
Join Date: Dec 2009
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You're as likely to get Covid as you’re in the US, UK or most other places I am afraid
May 17, 2022, 6:24 pm
#207
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: UA 1MM, Marriot (via SPG) Lifetime Gold
Posts: 632
In general, I think that's true, but at the moment Portugal has a covid case rate (142 per 100K) that significantly exceeds either the US, UK or Spain (all under 20 per 100K). We'll still be going...
May 18, 2022, 1:38 am
#208
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Portugal has got a BA.5 surge on at the moment, and on current estimates BA.5 is likely to be dominant aound 21 to 23 May, the first place in Europe. It appears BA.5 can be caught if you have had BA.1, we think that's less likely if it is BA.2, but we don't know yet if that's more about timing or more about the antibody reaction. A nuisance, certainly, but it shouldn't deter people. Those who are extra vulnerable should have a booster in the last 3 months.
May 18, 2022, 7:43 am
#209
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: UA 1MM, Marriot (via SPG) Lifetime Gold
Posts: 632
Portugal has got a BA.5 surge on at the moment, and on current estimates BA.5 is likely to be dominant aound 21 to 23 May, the first place in Europe. It appears BA.5 can be caught if you have had BA.1, we think that's less likely if it is BA.2, but we don't know yet if that's more about timing or more about the antibody reaction. A nuisance, certainly, but it shouldn't deter people. Those who are extra vulnerable should have a booster in the last 3 months.
May 18, 2022, 9:44 pm
#210
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 703
For those of you flying TAP to or through Lisbon (and at EWR if applicable), were you able to get your boarding pass like normal at 24 hours prior to your flight or did you have to go to the check in desk and show covid documents before you got your boarding pass?
Earlier conversations made it clear boarding passes are not available without covid documentation examination by TAP check-in personnel. I'm wondering if enough time has passed that maybe we'll get our boarding passes and not have to go to the check-in desk. I am not optimistic since TAP does not have any way of uploading covid documents into their app, but would love to know if things have changed.
Earlier conversations made it clear boarding passes are not available without covid documentation examination by TAP check-in personnel. I'm wondering if enough time has passed that maybe we'll get our boarding passes and not have to go to the check-in desk. I am not optimistic since TAP does not have any way of uploading covid documents into their app, but would love to know if things have changed.