Question about traveling and negative COVID tests & airlines

which European country?

A number of people here are trying to get quick turnaround tests but have been unsuccessful. How did you manage yours?

Are you in one of the special categories?

I'm going to Portugal. There's a local pharmacy in my state that does testing (PCR) and results in 48 hrs and an urgent care that does them in 15 min (but they are not the RT-PCR tests).

I'm just wondering what the airlines do with the tests and how they are verified.

I'm just wondering what the airlines do with the tests......//.....Also, are most airlines accepting physician signed letters, or do the results have to be direct from testing labs

Have you asked the airline(s) ?

I’ve been trying to call for hours now and several times have been hung up on. The airline I’m using is only open during European business hours and it’s been so difficult to contact a single agent. This is why I’m reaching out.

Catarina, which (U.S.?) state are you traveling from, and on which country's passport? Probably a dumb question at this point but are you quite sure you're allowed to enter Portugal? Which airport are you flying into and on what airline? Some provide the info on their websites, like this on the flytap.com site:

https://www.flytap.com/en-us/alerts-and-informations

But If flying tomorrow, you don't have the necessary 48 hours for test results to come back before you need to be on the plane. According to the flytap site, you must have results of a RT-PCR test in hand so I'm not sure how you'll pull this off?

Other info:
https://pt.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

Is your travel essential or for tourism purposes? According to the US government website, entry into Portugal is currently prohibited for tourists.

Not sure this will be helpful to anybody, but something that bugs me in reports everywhere.
An RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 (Covis-19), in a normal lab setting takes about 4 hours. The issue is always one of workload and batching - so getting a result ot nearly always takes longer. If we only got one test in the morning, we could get the results out by Lunchtime - but its normally approaching 750, with more arriving all the time - so our average is closer to 14 hours.

Catarina - I'm not sure if I can help - see if you can find a local lab using a system called Cepheid GeneXpert. It does a test in just over an hour (quicker if positive), and is an RT-PCR.

I don't want to raise hopes because a) it is an expensive test and b) In the UK at least, it is being rationed for emergency use only. Our large teaching hospitalgets an alowance of less than 30 a day.

I assume you have had the test and written results, and that you know your rights since your question is only about results on paper and a MD signature vs lab letterhead.

I will be doing the same, but to a different country. The labs I’ve contacted all send written results electronically.. So I don’t know if the airline will keep your paper. My suggestion is to make at least one copy of the paper and ask the lab to send you results electronically, as well.

Do you have only a physician’s note but nothing showing the lab work? Worst case scenario, they will send you to get the results from a lab and put you on a plane another day. At least, that’s what Air France was doing for the overseas French going back for the August vacation.

It’s all been very confusing. Your consulate should have the info on the website.

Thank you all for the replies. With things changing so quickly these days, it’s difficult to keep up with it all. Finally spoke with someone at the airlines and it looks like they require actual lab written results and not just a letter from a physician stating your results are negative (this is for Tap Air). Also, the results have to be within “72 hours, not 73 or 74 hrs”, as per the rep. Unfortunately, my doc didn’t provide me with those results so now I’ve got to get those before tomorrow. I’m assuming the airlines don’t have a method by which to check? My travel is essential and I’m also a Portuguese National so I’m hoping by some miracle I’ll be able to get there sooner than later.

That’s what I thought might be going on.

The lab should be able to email the results to you. Do they have to be printed on paper because few people can access paper copies within 72 hours.

Is the 72 hours before boarding, like with direct flights to France, or is it 72 hours before arriving at Portuguese passport control?

In any case, the advantage is that at least everyone in the plane with you will have been tested within the last three days, lowering the risk—and hopefully they remained safe after testing.
Boa viagem.

I had Covid in March and that certainly was no picnic. My husband had Covid as well but he was asymptomatic. He was the one who took care of me.

I never see any option to show a positive antibody test — even share the index information if anyone needs to see it.

The concern should be, what if you get your test in the email hours before you land .............. and you are POSITIVE. 80% are asymptomatic or have the sniffles. You will be in a very bad situation all the way around. So if you are going to do this I would, at a minimum:

Get one of those 15 minute tests before you book your flight
Purchase "Cancel for Any Reason" Trip Insurance.
Get one of those 15 minute tests at the same time as the PCR test
Lock yourself away until flight time.
Get yet another 15 minute test when you get home.

I am guessing $600 in added trip cost ....

Maybe we get lucky and these countries begin accepting the 15 minute test. They are being advertised as 100% accurate on positive tests and 80% accurate on negative tests. That is "reasonable" and could become a lot more reasonable if the test is repeated. Fingers crossed.

Thank you all for your replies! I had the test done within the time frame but did not have the actual lab results (just the physician letter). Luckily I've got them in hand and I'm ready to go. Thanks so much for the info!

Not sure how the airlines are handling this, but Germany has announced that ALL travelers from "hot zones" like the U.S. will be tested at the arrival arport or train station plus quarantined until negative test results are released (about 4 hours) -- and that tests will be free. However there are restrictions on who will be admitted -- at the moment recreational travel is not an acceptable reason.

Laura, that is a deal breaker. The only two places I have confidence that one could transit through are Heathrow and Istanbul. The IATA which I understand is what all the airlines reference when admitting passengers, has a web site where you can fill in your trip information including transit airport and it will tell you if you will be admitted. The trips I have tested never let me go through Frankfurt, but do London and Istanbul. I've also checked their websites and found confirmation that its possible.

catarina, I am glad,you were able to access the necessary paperwork! Let us know how it goes.