PCR test result refused at airport

You have to meet the standard of your destination country (and any transit countries, per their requirements ). You need to look carefully at what Italy requires, and make sure to comply with that.

Your daughter's incidence was unfortunate.

Be mindful that each country has its own requirements. What works for one may not work for others.

I found this info on the embassy page for Italy:

Beginning on June 21 and valid until August 30, 2021, travelers from
the United States may enter Italy without the need to
self-isolate/quarantine upon arrival if they present a Covid document
compliant with Italian and EU regulations, commonly called the “Green
Pass”, certifying one of the following conditions:

An Anti-COVID 19 vaccination certificate for an European Medicines
Agency (EMA)-recognized vaccine. At present, EMA recognizes the following
vaccines: Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and
AstraZeneca. The date of the final vaccine dose must be at least 14
days prior to travel. Travelers vaccinated in the United States can
prove this via the “white card” bearing the CDC logo.

A medical certificate confirming recovery from COVID dated no more than six
months before departure.

A negative molecular PCR or rapid antigen
test result carried out within 48 hours of departure.

more details on the entry requirements can be found here:

https://it.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

I suggest printing out the info. and taking a copy with you.

I am glad she was able to head down the hall and (presumably) board anyway! It’s so hard to know!

My daughter took Emirates last week and originally had a test at CVS scheduled. It wasn’t a good experience for her trying to get it done, so she ended up at DFW with a $250 test that said it was approved for all destinations and results by midnight of the test date (she had a day of flexibility in her schedule that allowed for that). But she was really worried about the terminology/test and apparently was proved correct that it can be a concern.

Rosemary, are you sure your daughter got a true PCR test at CVS? They offer two types of test: a rapid test (antigen) and a PCR/NAAT lab test ( molecular test) which takes longer because they send it out to a lab and you do not get the result until days later.

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing

And according to this explanation, the word “rapid” refers only to the antigen test which gives results in hours. It does not refer to PCR tests which can take 2 days or more for results.

https://www.memorialhealthcare.org/whats-the-difference-between-covid-19-rapid-and-prc-tests/

If you look around various sites that discuss the covid tests, it seems the terms “rapid” and “PCR” are mutually exclusive.

Might help to know where your Daughter was flying to. I have a feeling it may not have been Italy, as someone mentioned, they do not require a test if you are vaccinated, and they do accept both Antigen and Molecular, as long as the method is a swab.

I flew this summer into Frankfurt & into Cairo. And then had the return flights. The airport staff were very cautious with international Covid test results. And they seemed a little burdened with reviewing so many & in various languages. I went as far as to use a yellow high-lighter to mark (1) the test taken date; (2) my name as person tested; (3) testing agency; (4) type of test - that it was a PCR. This seemed to help the reviewer.

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, the country my daughter flew into accepts both Antigen and PCR, but she opted for PCR since she had a stop on the way. I was just concerned if this is a real issue, airlines not accepting the rapid PCR (the one done at SFO was also rapid, just didn't say that on the sheet). But it could have been a fluke with Emirates, since no one here reports a problem.

There is not a rapid PCR test. The rapid tests are antigen tests useful if you are symptomatic . PCR tests take a day or two and can detect the virus even in asymptomatic individuals.

Without getting too deep into the weeds, there is not a "rapid PCR" test. There is a rapid molecular/nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) called ID NOW that some US pharmacies offer that is not accepted by some countries (Germany is one that does not accept it).

Any chance your daughter had the ID NOW test?

PCR tests take a day or two

The test itself takes about 4-6 hours to run. My health system has become a well-oiled machine as far as PCRs go. Turnaround time now is well below 24 hours. Show up in my office by 11 am, and you will have your PCR result by 8-9 pm same day. Show up by 4 pm, and you will have your result the next morning.

*The test itself takes about 4-6 hours to run. *

This was going to be point, the 2-3 days, or in some places up to 5 days, is mostly time to get the test to the lab, then processed and reported. For places that have testing on-site, it can be same day. This can be "rapid" for other types of NAAT tests. You can check accepted tests here: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php by clicking on the country. The trouble might be getting the test place to indicate exactly what type of test it is in standard language...of which it is a confusing mess of terms and acronyms. I agree, the term "Rapid" can be interpreted differently.

As an example, we plan to be in Italy in a few weeks, even though we are vaccinated, we are planning to get tests results to have in hand, our issue is finding the best test location that dependably gets results back in about 36 to 48 hours. Some places tend to hold the test kits until end of the day, or even next day, others get the test to the lab immediately.

We leave for Iceland next week. We are fully vaccinated but have we to have either a PCR Molecular or Rapid Antigen test within 72 hours of beginning our trip per the US Embassy, Icelandic Government and United websites. Since our 1st flight departs at 2:25 PM on 8/24, we are both scheduled for a Rapid Antigen Test on 8/21 at 3:00 PM. Hopefully, all results and vaccination cards will be uploaded to our UA accounts by 6:00 PM that evening.

Any other issues and we are ready to take an additional test. FYI, we scheduled our tests with one of the labs in Houston that handles travelers. Don’t expect a free test from CVS etc. to always be accepted.

Per Frank II who provides a lot of good comments on these boards, “Travel during Covid is an adventure itself.”

There is no such thing as a rapid PCR test. You are probably referring to a NAAT, which is not what the airlines need.

All of this said, we just returned to Europe (Austria) yesterday from the US on United/Austrian. Both my husband and son required a negative test result to board the plane. They did not accept the NAAT from Walgreens (which we did just in case) but they did accept their CVS PCR test. The PCR test samples were collected at 10 am on Thursday which was within the 72 hours from arrival in Vienna on Sunday at 8:30 am local time. The results were received at 11 pm on Friday, so 19 hours later. We were leaving for the airport on Saturday at 6 am, so I was sweating it. Had we waited any longer to provide our samples, the results would not have arrived in time. We also could not have provided the samples any earlier as that would have been outside of the 72 hour window. Good luck to everyone as this was a very frustrating process, especially as PCR test kits seem to be scarce.

Interpreting testing requirements for each country can be stressful for sure! We traveled to Sweden and needed test results no older than 48 hours, an impossible timeline when flying from our mid-size community in the US. If we tested the day prior to our flight the results would be older than 48 hours by the time we actually arrived in Sweden due to layovers along the way. We were able to get an RT-PCR test at the Salt Lake City airport during our layover. Results available in 2 hours for $250 each. There was a less expensive option if you had a longer layover - results in 4-6 hours. They also offered the 'rapid antigen test' for about $70 and results in 30 minutes. The testing lab is post-security. RT-PCR was accepted without any problem. I am glad your daughter was able to get a test and make her flight.