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What time of day to test before returning to US with a connecting flight in Europe

My family is heading to Spain in a week. Our return flight home connects through Frankfurt. Do we test 24 hours before our flight leaves Spain or 24 hours before our flight departs Frankfurt? TIA for the explanation!

Posted by
9462 posts

Neither.

You need to test within the day prior to your departure from Spain.

I.e. if your flight departs Spain on a Wednesday, you can test anytime Tuesday (or even on Wednesday, prior to your flight -- if you can get your results back in time -- for that matter).

The U.S. does not have a 24-hour requirement. It has a "day" requirement.*
*

Posted by
8094 posts

Although our flights out of Europe are not until midday, we prefer to go ahead and get the test done the prior day.

You never know when something comes up on the day of the flight--like someone oversleeping, traffic jams, flight delays, etc. Getting a Covid test might could push us over the edge mentally.

Posted by
3200 posts

Why couldn’t she test in Frankfurt, as that is the flight returning to the US?

I ask this because we are thinking of Rome to London Heathrow, test, stay overnight and fly back to US the next day. Personally I would rather get stuck in England than Italy.

Posted by
2267 posts

Wray- If booked as one ticket, the airline won't check you in for any part of the return itinerary (in OP's case, leaving Spain), without the test.

If you book Rome/London and London/USA as separate tickets, you'd only have to show results for the London/USA check-in.

Posted by
1363 posts

There’s some misinformation from a couple of replies above. It is the flight you are returning to the U.S on that matters— and that is the Flight from Frankfurt to the US if you are transferring to a different plane in Frankfurt. The rule is the airline you have the ticket with for the flight to the US must verify that you have a negative Covid test taken THE DAY BEFORE your flight home UP TO THE TIME OF THE FLIGHT. Forget 24 hours. Flying home from Frankfurt on Tuesday, the test can be done ANY TIME on Monday up to the time you board the flight. Flying home from Frankfurt on Saturday, the test can be done any time on Friday up to the time of the flight.
I flew home on Lufthansa. My trip started at Hamburg’s airport where I boarded a Lufthansa jet for Munich. After arriving in Munich I transferred to a different Lufthansa jet for the flight back to the states. No one asked for a test in Hamburg. They only asked for the test in Munich because that was the ✈️ flight taking me to the US.

Posted by
17646 posts

A1) Kenko, you may be your experience, but I dont think its good practice or good advice as it is very, very probable that if you are traveling on one ticket (meaning one reservation and one reservation code: WH6J) with a change anywhere, you should be and most likely will be checked before boarding the first flight as when you check in for the first flight you will be (should be) handed boarding passes for both flights, including the flight to the US.

A2) If you are traveling on two tickets, that means two separate reservations, then probably no problem,
A3) I tried exactly what you suggest late last year, outbound not inbound; and was denied access to the flight unless I split the ticket into two tickets ($$$$).
A4) I was able to get my test in time and made the flight, but .....
A5) My last flight back to the US I was asked if I had the test, but no one asked to see it; but they could have and I would have been up the creek with no paddle if I didnt have it.
A6) So when to get the test? the "day" before your first flight on your reservation home.

Posted by
1363 posts

James E, You are mistaken and need to read the US regulation. Conjecture on your part (“could be” and “should be” and “ most likely will be” and “it is very, very probable” ) is just that- conjecture. But it is not the regulation. The airline you fly with can implement any protocol it chooses - logical or illogical- in it’s effort to comply with the US regulation. That does not mean it complies with the requirements.
The CDC regulation states: “ Pursuant to 42 CFR 71.20 and 71.31(b) and as set forth in greater detail below, this Notice and amended order prohibits the boarding of any passenger, two years of age and older, ON ANY AIRCRAFT DESTINED TO THE UNITED STATES FROM A FOREIGN COUNTRY unless the passenger presents paper or digital documentation of one of the following…..”
For Alyssa, who stated she will “connect” with a flight to the US while in Frankfurt— the aircraft destined to the United States is not the aircraft flying from Spain to Frankfurt; it is the aircraft flying from Frankfurt to the U.S.
And so, any time the day before that flight occurs up until the flight is the time to get the ( hopefully) negative Covid test.

Posted by
17646 posts

B1) Still not prudent advice
B2) On my last two flights home from Budapest, on one ticket transferring in Istanbul, I was denied a boarding pass in Budapest until I showed my test (Turkey had no testing requirements); in Istanbul on one ocassion I was asked, but not required to present it (presumably because they knew I would not have made it that far with out it ... or lazy or ....) .
B3) From Houston (as I stated above), I was denied a boarding pass for my flight to Budapest that changed in Istanbul even though Turkey had no test requirement.
B4) This may not be the letter of the US law, but in my instances it was how the law was being implemented.
B5) Getting a quick test is no real issue and most every airport has a testing site; why risk it.
B6) The risk is too great and the avoidance of risk is too easy.

Posted by
26840 posts

What is under discussion here is the timing of Alyssa's family's tests, not whether they need them. It's not a matter of maybe wasting money. The US requires a negative test (or certificate of recovery + proof of infection); the only question is whether the family has to have those tests in hand before they board the flight to Frankfurt or can wait and be tested in Frankfurt. Why anyone would choose to do the latter with an ordinary (not overnight) connecction, I don't really understand. What if the airport testing facility closes for some off-the-wall reason? What if the inbound flight is delayed and the layover is too short to allow for testing? What if the testing facility appointment software is really bad and there's a 3-hour line for people with appointments?

The reason Alyssa asked the question, I'm sure, is that she thought she had to test within 24 hours, not within a day, and she wanted to be sure she calculated properly. I see no sign that she's looking for a reason to test in Frankfurt rather than in Spain.

I'm totally with James E. here. Why borrow trouble?

Posted by
2767 posts

I’m going to regret jumping into this but it’s 1 day from the first flight, from Spain in your case. Direct from the CDC FAQ under connecting flights at THIS ADDRESS

If your itinerary has you arriving to the US via one or more connecting flights, your test can be taken within 1 day before the departure of the first flight.
You also have the option of getting tested en route during one of your connections. However, you should consider where in the connecting airport testing is available and if you would be able to access it while in transit. If you choose this strategy and are unable to get a test en route, you will not be able to board your flight to the United States. You should also be aware that if you test positive en route, you will not be allowed to continue your travel and may need to stay at that location until you end isolation.
Please note, if you planned an itinerary incorporating one or more overnight stays en route to the US, you will need to make sure your test is not expired before your flight that will enter the US. You do not need to be retested if the itinerary requires an overnight connection because of limitations in flight availability.

I would not test in Frankfurt.. Imagine your test is positive. You’re now in the Frankfurt airport, no hotel, no familiarity with the city, stuck. Sure you could figure out a quarantine plan. But it would be easier to do so a day before, in Spain where you have a hotel room for the next nighy at least and can sit to make a plan, ask your hotel personnel for advice, and generally have time. Plus how long do you have, how long does airport testing take?

So test the day before, in Spain

Posted by
3951 posts

Alyssa, Kim has given you the simplest and best answer to your question. Test anytime the day before your flight leaves: i.e. if it leaves on Tuesday, test any time on Monday or Tuesday before it leaves. Some people prefer to test at the airport to save time - but that makes me extremely nervous, so I build in time to test the morning on the day before my flight. Sometimes that ends up being more that 24 hrs before my flight and sometimes not. But that is just a personal choice. I want a bit of comfortable time to make a plan, should I test positive.

As to Kenko’s point (for anyone else who might be reading) , I think there are 2 considerations: 1) what is the letter of the law and 2) what is happening. I am going to assume his flight from Germany was one ticket with a very long layover in Munich to allow for testing. (Otherwise his experience is not relevant to the question. See James A2.) Even so, to extrapolate that from this one instance that all airlines and departures follow the pattern of only asking for your negative test at the time of your final flight departing to the U.S. is a fallacy. It is one experience and may just as easily have been a mistake on the part of the agent in Hamburg. Nor does Kenko indicate he actually did wait to test in Munich - merely that he was asked for his test there.

My experiences are also only that - experiences. However, since July, 2021, I have flown back to the U.S. from Greece, Croatia, Prague, Spain (Barcelona), and Jordan on various airlines with various connections - all on a single ticket. Every single time, I was required to present my negative test (either printed or on my phone - different in different countries for different airlines) in order to board the first leg of my journey home. I have also, once or twice, been asked to show my negative test for the second flight in addition to the first flight.

Could I have argued in Barcelona that I was transiting and testing in Heathrow? Who knows and who would choose that? It would be different if my first leg was leaving a less-developed area where testing is not available. I suspect that is the intended application of that clause. So while it might be possible to leave Spain, transit and test in Frankfurt, it would simply not seem prudent to do so unless there is an emergency situation. Nor was it my experience that it was possible.

Wray’s case will be different than Alyssa’s and have a different answer.

Posted by
121 posts

Thanks all. We are going to do the Binax with Navica telehealth tests. I would not wait until we get to Frankfurt to test, I just wasn't sure if it was 24 hours that we had to abide by, in that case waiting until noon the day before (Friday) for our noon flight Saturday out of Frankfurt. Or if we could do them earlier in the morning Friday. The sooner I have piece of mind that last day the happier I will be!