I really like the Pittsburgh airport. There’s a Hyatt hotel on the grounds, and they pioneered allow people to go through security even when not traveling same day, something we lost in this country after 9/11. The program meant people could meet arriving passengers, shop and dine, and planespot.

Now they have something new to like: on-demand Covid-19 testing inside the terminal from TACKL Health, located across from Gate A2, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

• Rapid antigen testing with 15 minute results ($95)
  
• PCR test with results in 24-48 hours ($125)
  
• Rapid and PCR test combo ($175)

Appoints for testing are available in addition to walk-ins, though health insurance isn’t accepted.

Even at a 10% error rate rapid tests, while not offering a guarantee, offer far greater comfort than no testing if you’re going to visit older family or even just visit with people outside your household. Indeed there’sa potential benefit to on-the-spot testing over PCR tests that take time to turn around, because you might be incubating the virus at the time of the test and not yet show positive.

If more people were being tested prior to travel that would give greater confidence to fly – knowing that everyone else on board had gone through a check as well.

Copyright: boscorelli / 123RF Stock Photo

Pittsburgh is hardly the first airport to offer testing. Airlines have made testing available for specific destinations where it’s required, and Oakland even introduced free airport testing albeit not located inside the passenger terminal. United even ran a series of testing-mandatory London flights.

As many people consider travel for the upcoming holidays, it provides some layer of peace of mind for those you’ll be visiting, and is a courteous thing to do for your fellow passengers, to give greater confidence you’re not asymptomatically or presymptomatically shedding the virus.