Re-entering US from abroad

A negative test is still required to re-enter the US at this point correct?

curious about two things:

first, anyone know if this is on the chopping block soon?

second, has anyone done this lately? specifically, we’re going to Italy next month. curious how people worked it. did you schedule there, did you bring a home test and have someone watch you perform?

I just got back from London. I was able to book an antigen test the day before I flew. I don’t think it’ll be that difficult for you to do the same in Italy coming back

Look into Emed. You buy the tests online and then bring them with you to your destination. It’s important you do not open them. You then download their app and someone video streams you administering the test to yourself and they send you a certificate after 15 mins and a negative result. We used it to get back from Spain. Worked great.

Did this last October coming from Italy. It was easy to arrange onsite tests at our hotel. Did this 3 week ago coming from Paris. There you can stop into a drugstore and have a test result in hand in FIFTEEN MINUTES.

If I recall correctly, 250 or so companies (travel, hospitality and others) petitioned the government last week to drop the requirement hoping that happens before we come back from Europe in a couple of weeks

I thought I saw that eMed was $150 per test through United

$150 for 6 kits.

Same. And not that it was necessary but I loved when the person who’s checking the test asks “what do you see, 1 or 2 lines?”. Who would say anything but “one line, sir!!!”

this would be ideal. not saying I agree or disagree with where this is headed but it does seem a little incongruous to have no masking on planes, a country that is living as if COVID has been over for months, and a testing requirement to enter.

You’re asking for an answer that would surely generate a deleted post or time out.

i did this last week from rome
hotel sent me to a farmacia around the corner and it was over in 10 minutes

Ha! That old ‘political’ bugaboo on this site.

We are leaving for a Italy. Our hotel offered to book an appt at a local farmacia for us the day before our flight. We also are taking the emed tests from United as well as a few of the Abbott tests. We plan to know our results before the official ones to make private accommodations if needed.

bringing an extra test for beforehand is a great idea.

we’re doing AirBnb’s so im not sure if I can get them to set up testing for us, but its worth asking I guess too.

just fyi although i asked my hotel where to go they did not need to set anything up.
i just walked in to the farmacia and told them what i needed

Just flew home from Spain on Sunday and used the eMed testing option. Very easy to do and received my test certificate in my email shortly after completion.

Used local hotel-recommended pharmacies during a visit in Paris and Lisbon in Dec-Jan’22. It’ll be quick if you don’t have to line up as back then meant at least 40 minutes wait in line for the test, another 20 minutes for the paper results and a couple of hours later, you receive email results. Also, cheap at Euro 25 for the antigen.

Was in Dublin at the end of February to early March and upon reading here, bought and brought Emed-Abbot Labs home-travel self-test and performed at the comforts of the hotel as soon as I woke up early 1 day before my flight back to the US. Woke up early just before going downstairs for breakfast, good hotel online access, in the comforts of my hotel room and still in sleep clothes, took all of 15 minutes, done and with emailed results in the next 10 minutes.

question:

Has anyone actually tested positive on this thing and had to figure out what to do? what DO you do??

We did this in Rome last week as well. Very easy and inexpensive.

We noticed similar testing booths in various towns in Italy in our time there. Clearly not just for tourists, since they were in small towns with few hotels and not many tourists.

My FIL just came back from a Portugal/Spain trip where 30-50% of all the cruise participants tested positive during the trip. He had to test daily in Hotel in Barcelona until he received a negative test. Was then granted a Fit to Fly letter from the clinician. Had some trouble with Air France but was able to get them to accept the letter to enable him to fly back to US after his five extra days in Spain. Wound up testing positive again the day after he returned home. He’s now trying to recoup all of his bonus travel expenses through the trip insurance he purchased through the cruise.

I suspect it is really up to the airlines at this point to keep pushing for lifting the restrictions.

A friend travelled in Asia late last year, tested + as he took the test the day before his flight home, and was required to quarantine in a local hotel for 11 days (tested negative at day 10 and day 11 to produce paperwork for airline to allow him to fly).