Tag Archives for coronavirus.
The CDC accepts antigen tests, and results can be provided in less than 30 minutes. If we want everyone tested for travel (or for any other activity) we need to make testing convenient and inexpensive. If you’re going to fly, show up at the airport, get tested, and go.
If there’s a chance customers might choose another airline because they can be confident that airline’s employees have been vaccinated against Covid-19, American would be forced to do the same thing in order to stay competitive according to the carrier’s CEO.
A CDC official has said that the Biden Administration is actively considering requiring a negative Covid-19 test for domestic flights and not just for international flights to the U.S. which is now in place.
However American Airlines CEO Doug Parker made clear to employees that this ‘rumor’ has ‘no basis in reality.’
With the Biden administration considering a Covid-19 testing requirement not just for international arrivals but now even for domestic flights, new types of tests with the greatest accuracy take on a new urgency. In China scientists believe their new anal swab test may be most accurate.
As of today the U.S. now requires a negative Covid-19 test within 3 days prior to departure, or documentation of having already recovered from Covid-19, for all air passengers flying to the country (citizens and non-citizens alike).
Here are 8 things to know about this new requirement.
In addition to reversing the Trump administration’s decision to lift bans on travel to the U.S. by non-residents who have been to Brazil or Europe in the past 14 days, the Biden administration will add South Africa to the list of banned countries.
Right now the South African variant of Covid-19 is most concerning, but this new policy will not stop it from entering the U.S.
Several months ago I wrote that as countries started requiring negative Covid-19 tests in order to travel people would start faking negative test results. And what we’re learning from people who are actually faking their tests is that it isn’t fear of a positive result that is causing them to create the fakes.
American Airlines told employees they won’t plan to require them to get vaccinated although they’ll encourage them to do so.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, on the other hand, wants to require it for his employees and thinks others should follow his lead.
Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, an emergency room physician responsible for the state’s arriving passenger testing program, says to expect the testing requirement for arriving passengers to be lifted this spring for those who have been vaccinated.
While we haven’t proven that those who have gotten the vaccine don’t spread the virus, or that they spread it far less than those who haven’t, no one believes it doesn’t have this property we just don’t know for certain the magnitude of the effect yet.
President Biden announced that in addition to the testing requirement going into effect January 26th for passengers arriving in the U.S. off of international flights, there will be a quarantine requirement as well.
The details of the quarantine rule haven’t been published yet – who it applies to and how long it will last.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
