The information that you need to know, while you are aveling over the holiday season, thomas bellini is a news reporter for insider. We are so glad you’re here. We cover the news, but this is the news that you can use. I am one of the people that are planning to travel outside of the country, but i am driving. Also, family members want to come back to the u.s. With me, and now we are sort of constantly checking information in order to see if anything has changed. How is the travel industry reacting to the new changes? I am sure that it has thrown a wrench in to the business model. >> reporter: it really has, it is a stressful time to be in an international airline right now.
All airlines are closely monitoring the situation with omicron. The big three international u.s. Carriers like u.s., delta and united flight to overseas destinations that are going into lockdown. A few of their destinations have closed off already, so it is not a great time to be an international carrier. It is not just them. Any carrier that flies to an international destination from the u.s. Will be feeling and impact from this. Travelers will want to push back their trips or they will think twice about booking an international trip. They might stick to domestic destinations, it is a precarious time. We just had, last month that the u.s. Had reopened to many other european countries that were affected by the travel ban him only to have new travel restrictions come back. It is not a great sign from the white house that we were so quick to impose these new travel restrictions. It is really going to put paws on anyone who was booking an international trip, and with the added stress of testing within 24 hours, it is not a great time to be planning an international trip.
However, airlines are hesitant on making these changes. We have delta and united that are flying to south africa, even with the new testing requirements and the testing restrictions from that region. We have american and delta that are flying to israel even though the country is not accepting a good number of travelers. Airlines are being cautious. We are going to have to wait and see how this plays out before they make scheduled changes it. It is not a great time to leave the country, although it is doable.
>> right, i think that what americans need to understand, when we talk about testing we are talking about americans that are coming back into the country, they need to be tested first. The first thing that came to mind for me is — if i am from a foreign country, i would not have a first clue as to how to get a test, what test is approved, a quick turnaround time — are all of these things issues?
>> absolutely, if you are a first-time traveler leaving the u.s., the first time since the pandemic had, you would be understandably can used, frustrated, and, within the past year, there has always been a hassle for me. The good news is that the testing infrastructure in foreign countries is generally good. You can get pcr tests overseas, you can get rapid antigen tests. You find the testing site, and the cost. The good thing about the u.s. Is that we don’t require a pcr test to get into the u.s., whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. All you need is the rapid antigen test. They are readily available overseas. He will not spend and $50 for that test. Each country is different. You will get the test back within a day and most cases. That will be the best for international travelers coming back to the u.s., because the pcr test with the sub 24 hour turnaround time, that will be the most expensive, and it will also be the most tricky to find. I paid her then $200 to get a pcr test with a two hour turnaround time on a turnaround trip.
In terms of finding the test, each country is different, in terms of getting a good location. However the airlines often have a database of testing sites that they flight to and a great resource is also the u.s. Embassy and each country on the website i’m on the state department’s website emma each location, they have an excel spreadsheet that will give you testing locations, pricing and turnaround times. They also will that links for appointments.
>> very nice, that is news that you can use, you never think about contacting an embassy unless you are an trouble. You thought about the more expensive tests, they can get up there in price. That is the whole extra chunk, it could be as much as an additional airline ticket. Are the costs solely the responsibility of the traveler, or, i don’t know if insurance can cover any of it, what is the deal with that?
>> often times it will be the burden of the traveler to pay for the test. I have added no luck of getting insurance to pay for a test. It is not like new york city where i can get a pcr test that is covered by my insurance. Travelers need to build the price of the test into their travel budget. I always netted more than i need to in case i need to the two hour time for a pcr test. It is going to have an impact on travel budgets, and for a lot of the people that were vaccinated or have already had covid-19, it might seem like a waste. This is money that could be going to something else, but now it is going to attest that most people are expecting to be negative anyways. For the people that have not had covid-19, it is a worthwhile expense.
That is why i recommend trying to find the cheapest tests with the longest — sorry, rather the quickest turnaround time, you want to be in a foreign area and unable to travel back to the u.s. People might say if it cost me more than $200, i will shorten the length of my trip or i will stick to a domestic location, but i do need to get tested. It will have an impact on how people travel for sure because of the potential cost of it.
>> you travel a lot. You know that you can plan and plan and then sometimes there aren’t ups. Sometimes you don’t expect a traffic jam and then the time that you gave yourself becomes a zero buffer time. Sometimes labs and get jammed up . Sometimes it takes longer to get to these test results than you had anticipated. Is there any wiggle room with any airlines or any flexibility of someone cannot get the results of their tests before their flight?
>> absolutely, the airlines really do understand that it is not often guaranteed that you will get the results when you say, and with a tight testing limit of one day before departure, the airlines are really going to need to be flexible with this. I am already saying that it will be at their discretion, of course, but if there are seats available on the next flight than an airline should have no problem whatsoever saying if you cannot get on this one we will get you on the next one. So, if someone misses their flight because of testing, it might be another 24 hours before they are able to get on another flight, and then they will have to get retested, they might have to get retested depending on the rules.
It all just depends on the roles of the airlines. You really need to do your best, that is why the rapid test, the 15 or 30 minute turnaround times will be the best, because you do not have to worry about the test results not coming in in time. That is really why travelers need to stick with the rapid test.
>> yeah, so true. Okay, thomas, i was just thinking about how bent out of shape people are over having to wear masks on airlines. I can imagine the frustration of dragging your kids and the whole family to the front desk, then not getting the test in time. It’s just another level of frustration. I implore people to consider that it is the holiday