I think what makes more sense is to do rapid test the day of (prior to check in) if we do not want infected people on a plane.
But I know at least a dozen people sick with omicron covid that tested negative on rapid tests, sometimes multiple rapid tests, before testing positive later. It would be nice if that meant they weren’t contagious but I doubt that is really true. Rapid testing might help cut down some people, but by no means would it be “safe”
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I know plenty of people, including doctors, who sincerely believed their minor symptoms were due to allergies or other things, and took domestic planes and trains, before later testing covid positive.
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i so agree!!!. Being vaxxed these days doesnt make a difference of getting Covid, just how severe. Also a friend of mine swears that everyone she knows that is boosted has gotten Omicron , and everyone she knows that just had the original shots has not.
Flying/traveling before Covid, one always took a chance of catching something. The testing before getting on a flight to the US, might have caught some cases here and there that were asymptomatic, but rapid tests are all about timing and likely did not catch many, so the requirement made no sense. When I went to London for work I had to jump through hoops to get the testing done, and i stressed about it
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Being vaccinated, boosted or previously infected reduces one’s likelihood of severe illness or worse probably because the body is more capable to suppress, to some degree, the replication of the virus. The reduced viral load should also help reduce the likelihood of transmission to another person.
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If you travel as family, one can test positive and not the rest, if you stay to wait for the other person to recover, the other family members might get covid, this could technically delay forever, very costly. Not to say the uncertainty. Do you want to leave your kids in a foreign country? Not only that rearranging flights the last minute is very stressful, trust me I’ve done that, so I’m glad they finally removed this testing requirement.
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I don’t even buy that anymore. And that’s not been what I’ve seen with Omicron. Unvaxxed, vaxxed, boosted - there’s no rhyme nor reason on severity. The worst outcomes right now are in the elderly.
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There are certainly inconsistencies, and even contradictions, in the data (and our own observations) because of incoherent samples with large variability. With COVID, it’s nearly impossible to isolate the underlying causes (e.g. many of the vaccinated and boosted individuals may be more active socially and take fewer precautions) with current methodologies and knowledge, which contributes to all the confusions. In the absence of better knowledge, I believe we have to go back and rely more on first principles, as scientists often do in their fields.
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I would counter that with most of the unvaccinated have been more active socially and taken fewer precautions through out the entirety of the pandemic 
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They do but they may have been infected before (some perhaps more than once).
Agree on the hassle of testing. Most people on my last Europe trip had to test in Croatia, on a Sunday, with all nearby pharmacies closed for testing. A few people had/understood the home tests, but fortunately our guide managed to email a pharmacy and they put someone on staff to do the Sunday testing for those who didn’t. It could have been a real goat rope for people out on their own.
I highly recommend you check out travel insurance on Squaremouth. It usually only costs a couple hundred dollars to get it, you can make sure it covers whatever you need, and you can see exactly how well the policy is rated. If this trip is highly expensive for you, the delays, cancellations, medical issues and quarantine would really hit hard. It’s well worth it for the peace of mind.
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That’s definitely the plan and I hadn’t heard of it before this forum. So a big thanks! It’s on my do list when we get back from visiting the kids this week
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Have not traveled anywhere since 2019. We are scheduled to go to a wedding on the other side of the island and have a staycation in mid November. S and his fiancée and D are scheduled to be with us. We hope everyone will stay healthy at the wedding and reception.
Avoiding groups and masking everywhere might be the insane part now at least when we were in France a couple weeks ago. All the seating was outside (hey the weather was great and people were sick of being stuck inside!) and it was crowded (very much a party atmosphere in the cafes). You couldn’t distance yourself anywhere unless you were wearing a hazmat suit.
I was the continuous worry wort about testing and it did put a definite damper on the enjoyment of my trip. Fact is the covid testing was only required for airline travel–no land crossing, no cruise travel etc. Only international air and everyone else had already canned it.
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I agree that removing the testing requirement will not affect the spread. And I can understand those who have found the testing requirement burdensome, although that has not been my kids’ experience in many different countries in the past 2 years. But it is also apparent that for most folks having a mild case of Covid will not prevent them from getting on airplanes or other forms of transit.
When I was at a conference recently I was one of the few wearing a mask indoors. Why? Because I didn’t want to be stuck in that city for 5-10 day after the conference if I contracted Covid. Not because of a testing requirement but because of public health guidelines. So I’ll just say, if you travel, remember that is the being sick part that asks of you to stay put and quarantine, not the testing requirement. And know that there are folks traveling with you with active Covid.
Be safe and care for those around you.
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One of my kids been to Europe twice in the last 6 months, she’s never complained about anything. So it’s not a problem for her, but I think the CDC changed to 1 day testing in Dec because when I was there in Sept, it was 3 day pre-test.
Global Entry issue: We applied in January 2022. I received conditional approval within a week, and found an interview site about 3 months later at an airport about 4 hours away. DH has yet to receive his conditional approval. He called a few months ago, and they told him the average wait was 4 months. But he’s still waiting, and it has been over 6 months.
THEN, if and when he ever does receive the ok to schedule an interview, there are currently no openings within a 4 hour drive for many months – if at all.
Mine is basically worthless to me, since we always travel together. I might get through a line faster, but then would need to wait for DH anyway. Frustrating!
Anyone else have such a long delay? No way to expedite that we can find.
One thing some folks have done was make an appt at a destination they travel to and have the appt when they’re there. Some places are busier than others. When we were there, there was a couple who flew in from neighbor islands as HNL has the only interview place in the state. Have read of other folks who had their interview data location other than the one closest to their home due to scheduling challenges. We had no glitches or delays in ours —original nor renewal, so can’t help you there.
You can do your global entry interview and approval while returning to the US. There’s a different line for it but it is very quick.
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My daughter had an appointment for May ‘20- this year she received an email she could re schedule and I agree very difficult- she ended up signing up for email notification when slots open due to cancellation ( I guess)- this cost her $12 but she did get an appointment quickly- actually was notified quite a bit about appointments anywhere from a few days to a few months out.