As countries reopened to summer travel and flight sales alerts flooded my inbox, I decided I was finally ready to step back on a plane for the first time in nearly 16 months. My destination of choice was Greece, a country I wanted to visit just before the pandemic reopened for American travelers in May.
But the travel decision was easy for me: When booking a flight, I rummaged through an overwhelming amount of information about current protocols and entry regulations. Again and again questions came up that had no clear answer. Was there really such a thing as Vaccination certificate, and how do I get one on time? Given the constant change in 2020, would re-entry regulations change during my stay abroad and leave me stuck somewhere?
In my frantic search for answers, I was able to discover several online resources that helped me dig out of the rabbit hole. To begin with, travelers should take a look at the entry requirements for the country they plan to visit, which is listed in the U.S. Department of State website. Then it’s time to think about other details. “Have a copy of your vaccination card handy and think about getting travel insurance in case new cases break out and the rules change again,” says Cowen Airline analyst Helane Becker.
Here are three simple steps to make sure you know all of the requirements and have all of the documents you will need before heading to the airport international flight.
Take advantage of the airlines’ new resources
Some US airlines bundle all the necessary information for their passengers in one place. United Airlines‘ Travel Readiness Center is a one-stop shop that organizes any tests or documentation required for international travel by destination. “While pre-trip testing and documentation is key to safely resuming global travel, we know that travel requirements are constantly evolving and can be confusing for customers to prepare for a flight,” said United spokesman Jonathan Guerin. “Travel-Ready Center will make it very clear what passengers need for their specific journey.”
Delta has a similar tool that passengers can use before, during, and after booking: Delta Explorer Card. Passengers can simply enter their destination to see all entry requirements. The interactive map enables customers to search requirements for airports or regions around the world. There is even an option to exclude the more stringent requirements from your search, such as: B. Destinations that still require quarantines. (United also offers a similar booking resource with their Travel guide for travel destinations.)
Vaccination certificate or vaccination certificate?
An ever evolving aspect of international travel is what Vaccination certificate or tests are required across borders. The many explanations I found online of what is known as a “vaccination record” made me even more confused about which documents I would need for the trip. With no digital vaccination cards introduced by the US federal government, the best physical evidence for American travelers is the official CDC vaccination card.
Airlines make it easy to detect vaccinations and negative test results with resources on their websites and apps. “Go online to the airline’s website and look for the ‘Travel Ready’ section and upload your vaccination card or information to the website,” says Becker. It’s also a good idea to have a photo of your vaccination card handy on your phone as a backup.
Schedule a re-entry test to the US, the easy way
It’s not just your outbound flight that requires planning ahead: To return to the United States, planes still have to be show a negative COVID-19 test. Some resorts and hotels Offer On-site testing for guests, but if you don’t have access to these services, don’t worry. Airlines take the guesswork out of tracking down tests.
In January, Delta announced a test resource Page? ˅ highlights the COVID-19 test sites within its international network. For a more seamless overseas testing option, United and Abbot have partnered with offer Customers Abbott’s BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Home Test and Abbott’s NAVICA app– an option that I found incredibly helpful in easing my worries about how to present evidence of a negative result. United passengers can leave the USA with the BinaxNOW home test in their hand luggage and take the test abroad via the eMed digital health platform without having to look for a test center when traveling. “Airlines need to streamline the process further to make it as easy as possible for passengers to digitally upload their vaccination cards and potential boosters and make quick deals.” Tests at airportswhich some locations are already doing, ”says Becker.
For passengers, it is the best way to ensure that you are proactively kept up to date on airline resources regarding flight and immigration regulations.
