Thanks for the report!
we are going to London at the end of April. if the US keeps the test to fly requirements , how do we go about getting these tests done. ? will our hotel help us?
hoping by then, this new BA2 rise in cases will be on teh downward. Surprising since BA1 hit the UK pretty hard; have to wonder how many of those that got BA1, are getting BA2. that would also worry me, as I had BA1.
There is a specific BinaxNOW test kit that includes an online proctor–you take the test in your hotel room night before your flight and test results are emailed to you–accepted as proof to re-enter the US. You load the Navica app on your phone (QR code is on the box). You use your phone, tablet or laptop to take the test while a proctor supervises.
Just be sure to purchase the correct test kit–available on emed.com in sets of 6--store.optum.com sells them in smaller sets (2,4,or 6).
Search youtube–there are plenty of videos on how to take this test.
We are preparing to visit Canada and Scotland later this year, so I’ve been doing lots of digging. Again, PRAYING this test requirement will be dropped so all this won’t be required.
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As MADad said you can arrange the test for observed self administration over zoom or equivalent but I was having trouble with electronics and wanted to do it in person. Just got online and looked up “Fit to Fly” tests near where I was staying then booked an appointment for the day before flying back. There are lots of testing sites though in person tests are more expensive than the online options and quite a lot of price variability between sites. Airports have testing available too but I wanted to know asap in case I had to rearrange flights on so on. I think though, by the time you travel there’s a good chance all restrictions will have been lifted.
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Re-upping a question I asked a couple weeks ago. We have a trip to Vienna scheduled for 4/19. Tomorrow is the deadline to cancel our flights with BA (we booked these flights last June and got a great rate for business class seats). We had mentally prepared ourselves to cancel and planned an alternate domestic trip, but now we’re leaning towards going to Vienna. Cases are still very high there but starting to trend down, and now we’re hopeful of getting a 2nd booster soon (our original boosters were in early December). Thoughts?
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I’m itching to plan my next getaway but the dropping of mandates left and right are holding me back. I thought it might be London to visit my family (last trip was Dec 2019) but reading the report above by @Onetogo2 just made me shudder - so I just mentally crossed it off my short list. I know that eventually I’ll need to join the crowd but I’m (by nature) a “wait and see” kind of person. So that’s where I am now…waiting and seeing…so far I’m not thrilled with the view.
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We’ve done three trips to the UK since last fall and I’m going again next month. I recommend the Randox rapid tests, you just upload a photo on their app and get a certificate back that is good for travel. No need for proctoring like in the eMed tests. Cost is now down to 11 pounds per test for click and collect (you order online then pickup in one of a bunch of corner shops around London or elsewhere in the country):
If you prefer you can go to one of their testing centers (there’s a bunch in central London) and they will conduct the test, but it’s slightly more expensive.
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I suspect you’re not getting many responses because it’s so difficult to know the future with both Covid and the war going on.
Both factor in to our not planning anything for our August trip yet. We know we have both a local and further away “safeties” to put it in college terms, so anything beyond that is likely to be relatively last minute planning seeing what’s out there, available, and desirable with world or US conditions.
If your sole worry is Covid and you aren’t high risk if you were to get a case (esp due to being vaxxed), personally, I’d go, but that’s just us. We have been going places and have the time plus means that if we caught it elsewhere we could wait out the needed time period to return without putting others at risk by traveling. Not everyone is in that situation due to work requirements or finances.
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Thanks. We have a “safety” trip planned domestically but we’ve reached the fork in the road where we need to cancel our BA flights if we’re not going to Vienna. We’re not high risk except for age (early 60’s). I’m retired and my spouse can work remotely if we were stuck there. And we have the means to wait out the time if we needed to quarantine or isolate.
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With the BinaxNow test, you get the result right away. If you don’t pass, you have time to rebook a hotel somewhere.
I don’t think Covid will be going away and we’re not getting any younger. Those factor in to our returning to travel - even with the upcoming train trip with FIL for his 94th birthday. We all have our Covid “seatbelts” on (aka vaxxed + boosters) and will take our chances.
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We figure that getting tested in the airport prior to flying home would be WAY too stressful. At least with the test results the night before, we can sleep with one less worry hanging over our heads.
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The current US entry required the test be ‘the day before’ and not 24 hours. This is on purpose to allow for potential flight delays.
We tested in the morning, the day before our afternoon flight. Connected through the app, swabbed, got ready for the day while the test was cooking, then fully enjoyed our last day away!
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Are there food trucks at the South Rim?
Plane tix to Paris booked!! We have previously done Paris and Normandy. Still in the planning stage but if anyone has any suggestions, please share!! Loose itinerary so far is training to Strasbourg from Paris then renting a car. Driving the Route des Vins then making our way down through Burgundy and the Loire Valley to Provence. From there hiking in the Pyrenees and maybe a stop in Bordeaux before heading back to Paris. 18 days in June/July. Any don’t miss stops/sights??
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Not as exciting as France! But we are finishing up a quick trip to Savannah. And a first for us in two years… the hotel serviced our room! It was nice having clean towels and a professionally made bed.
As far as masks went, we saw barely any. Maybe < 5%. We didn’t wear ours either. The only exception was after my allergy coughing fit on the trolley. Even though water and Benedryl cured it quickly, I figured it was the nice thing to do plus it helped keep anything else out of my airways.
Edit - shameless brag. So glad I’m still able to carry all my luggage (carryon and a large recyclable bag of bottled drinks and snacks, and a purse) up 4 flights of stairs without it being a big deal. Maybe I still have some life in me yet lol
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Ugh, I’m going down to Texas on April 9 and just read this story in the Austin newspaper:
"Abandoned rental cars snaked down the road outside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Monday morning and passengers waited in a security line that reached outside the terminal and onto the sidewalk.
Some travelers waited in security lines for hours, missed flights or even had to make alternate travel arrangements over the weekend as the airport was unable to handle unusually high passenger traffic generated in part by several high-profile sporting events.
Airport officials on Monday even took the step of issuing a fuel shortage alert due to a lack of available fuel supply — a measure an airport spokesperson said is becoming more common as the airport gets busier with more flights scheduled. A fuel shortage alert calls for flights to arrive with more fuel than normal in case there is no fuel available for them at ABIA."
I fly back from Austin on April 17, a Sunday, which the article said is one of the busier days. I have TSA pre-check, but I’m not sure how much it will help. I am not looking forward to this trip.
Recently returned from 2 glorious weeks in Italy. DW and I (50s) and our teens. No issues whatsoever. Italy and other EU countries had reduced entry requirements between when we booked and when we traveled, so much of what we’d prepared to transit through AMS and arrive in Italy was moot.
We did need our vax cards for entry into just about everywhere while in Italy, and museums and churches still had indoor mask requirements.
And, testing is so easy and ubiquitous there - we had a half dozen places to choose from within a 5 minute walk from our hotel in our departure city. None of them had a wait, and results were ready in a few minutes. The results were checked upon check-in at the airport but not afterwards.
Honestly in the grand scheme of things it was easy. Maybe we got lucky as there were no issues with particularly long lines or anything like that. But I would do it again in a heartbeat (in fact we are booking summer travel as I type).
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According to Xanterra there are, when they’re open anyway. It’s likely too early in the season now, but won’t be in a couple of months.
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I hope that is not the case this coming week as I am heading there to babysit! I arrive Saturday around noon, and my daughter and SIL fly out Monday at 6:30am. We all also have TSA Precheck, and I have never had more than 2 people in line before me, even when I flew back home the Friday of SXSW and the start of Austin Spring Break.
What a nightmare!