Our experience - testing requirements/air travel to U.S.

[Safari23]

My family is headed back to Toronto from Nashville as we speak. On their first leg to Chicago this morning she needed to show the test results to an agent at the kiosk where she printed the boarding passes. I was surprised a little, as that is technically just a domestic flight, but I suppose they knew they were connecting to Canada.

They just checked in at O’Hare for the flight home and were asked again for the results.

Thanks so much for this! I’m happy to hear the Walgreens tests aren’t crazy uncomfortable like the PCR tests!!!

I’m assuming your DD is 12+? Ours is only 9 and I’m trying to decide if we want to take the risk doing a trip to DL in the next few months. I was really hoping by the fall, numbers would be better there. Sigh. Also, I’m wondering what the added test on day 1 and 8 would be like for her. I’ve heard they’re ones you do at home. Can anyone confirm?

Also, spewey, do your wife and DD still have to test and quarantine on arrival? I thought that was still in place until August 9?

 

[spewey]

My daughter is 14 and fully vaxxed (as is my wife - I didn’t travel). Fully vaxxed Canadians returning to the country with a negative result no longer have to quarantine (as of last month).

You are handed a take home test upon arrival which is also required. This ones a little confusing; seems like you need to register and then have a nurse walk you through it over Zoom. My wife has just trying to do that in the other room but found out you have to do it before 7:30PM. So she’ll try again in the mornin.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

My daughter is 14 and fully vaxxed (as is my wife - I didn’t travel). Fully vaxxed Canadians returning to the country with a negative result no longer have to quarantine (as of last month).

You are handed a take home test upon arrival which is also required. This ones a little confusing; seems like you need to register and then have a nurse walk you through it over Zoom. My wife has just trying to do that in the other room but found out you have to do it before 7:30PM. So she’ll try again in the mornin.

I believe there is no more test on arrival if you’re fully vaccinated as of Aug 9 - but you may be randomly chosen.

 

[Safari23]

My daughter is 14 and fully vaxxed (as is my wife - I didn’t travel). Fully vaxxed Canadians returning to the country with a negative result no longer have to quarantine (as of last month).

You are handed a take home test upon arrival which is also required. This ones a little confusing; seems like you need to register and then have a nurse walk you through it over Zoom. My wife has just trying to do that in the other room but found out you have to do it before 7:30PM. So she’ll try again in the mornin.

Ok, I assumed she was older. I'm very envious! Ours is only 9, so she can't be vaccinated yet. So she has to do testing on return after the 9th, on day 1 and 8 from what I understand. But it sounds similar to what your wife has to do. If you don't mind, can you update how that does tomorrow over zoom? I'm curious to know if they make her do the full / deep nasal swab or if it's just lower nostril. We don't have anything booked yet, we're keeping an eye on the cases in CA, we desperately want to go to DL soon if possible!

 

[pangyal]

I wanted to add a quick PSA here for anyone who does the Walgreens test (Rapid ID NOW- NAAT). they will ask at the airline gate and at Canada customs to see the actual lab report; not the negative test result, but the lab report. This is not disclosed on the Canada.ca website. It took a little bit of concentrating during mild panic at the gate last month to find the links within the Walgreens test result email that take to you to the website, where you further click on another link to get a copy of the lab result in PDF format.

 

[pangyal]

Ok, I assumed she was older. I'm very envious! Ours is only 9, so she can't be vaccinated yet. So she has to do testing on return after the 9th, on day 1 and 8 from what I understand. But it sounds similar to what your wife has to do. If you don't mind, can you update how that does tomorrow over zoom? I'm curious to know if they make her do the full / deep nasal swab or if it's just lower nostril. We don't have anything booked yet, we're keeping an eye on the cases in CA, we desperately want to go to DL soon if possible!

Lower nostril only. They also allow the parent to do the swab if you are more comfortable with that.

 

[Lydia S]

Thanks for posting! I’m surprised to see that the Walgreens test is (now?) free. I could have sworn I saw a couple months ago that they were charging $149 USD/test. Did that change recently or am I mis-remembering?

 

[spewey]

Walgreens (like Shoppers) does several kinds of tests. I assume the $149- one is the PCR; not sure why the Rapid ID Now (NAAT) is free, but glad it is.

And, yes, as noted above - the agents need to see the lab report, not just a negative (both come in the email from Walgreens). The reason being of course is that not all negative results are equal - the type of test matters. CDC accepts Rapid Antigen, Health Canada does not. But they do accept the NAAT, and the lab report will indicate that.

 

[torontominnie]

We flew into Pearson from the states today and it was relatively painless all things considered. We did the Walgreens test which was as quick as ever and just printed out the lab PDFs. We uploaded all the forms to the various apps (united arrivecan etc) and that was fairly simple (although it took forever for united to verify and I’m still not sure why they needed the stuff in the first place). Check in was smooth and when we connected onto our AC flight we just had to show the lab print outs again before boarding (in a separate line before going forward with boarding group). It did look like a number of people didn’t make the flight and it went from full to lots of seats, but I’m not sure why people were turned away. Anyway, on landing the nexus line was open and quick and we were home with our checked bags and COVID tests within an hour. Overall could have been much worse. Hope this helps!

 

[PetePanMan]

I’m quite puzzled as everything I have looked up elsewhere has said that rapid tests do not satisfy the Canadian requirements (needs to be a full PCR). All this great info in this thread has proven otherwise

 

[pangyal]

I’m quite puzzled as everything I have looked up elsewhere has said that rapid tests do not satisfy the requirement (needs to be a full PCR). All this great info in this thread has proven otherwise

Rapid antigen test = acceptable to fly to the USA.
PCR/ NAAT/LAMP test = acceptable to fly to Canada.

It does get confusing with the differences in requirements and what’s accepted by each country for sure.

 

[ellbell]

We flew into Pearson from the states today and it was relatively painless all things considered. We did the Walgreens test which was as quick as ever and just printed out the lab PDFs. We uploaded all the forms to the various apps (united arrivecan etc) and that was fairly simple (although it took forever for united to verify and I’m still not sure why they needed the stuff in the first place). Check in was smooth and when we connected onto our AC flight we just had to show the lab print outs again before boarding (in a separate line before going forward with boarding group). It did look like a number of people didn’t make the flight and it went from full to lots of seats, but I’m not sure why people were turned away. Anyway, on landing the nexus line was open and quick and we were home with our checked bags and COVID tests within an hour. Overall could have been much worse. Hope this helps!

Did you have to have it printed or would electronic have been acceptable?

 

[PetePanMan]

Rapid antigen test = acceptable to fly to the USA.
PCR/ NAAT/LAMP test = acceptable to fly to Canada.

It does get confusing with the differences in requirements and what’s accepted by each country for sure.

Thank you….Very helpful

 

[torontominnie]

I think electronic was likely ok, but my phone seems to choose the worst moments to die, so for something that important printing out seemed easier. The naat test definitely works, we have crossed twice using it

 

[ChrisParker]

I believe there is no more test on arrival if you’re fully vaccinated as of Aug 9 - but you may be randomly chosen.

That's interesting. Things change so fast it's hard to keep up.

 

[spewey]

I’m quite puzzled as everything I have looked up elsewhere has said that rapid tests do not satisfy the Canadian requirements (needs to be a full PCR). All this great info in this thread has proven otherwise

Yes, there's a LOT of information out there, and it's very confusing, which is in part why I created this thread. I think when you say "rapid" people are referring to the "Rapid Antigen" test. The "Rapid ID Now" Walgreens test is not an antigen test - its an NAAT, which is accepted by Canada. Both are "rapid" - ie get results quick - but the process is different. The term rapid is tripping people up.

In the end what I always urge people to do is go directly to the source - the list of accepted tests page of the CDC and travel.gc.ca - rather than what others may say on the internet ...

 

[PalmettoPath]

We flew into Pearson from the states today and it was relatively painless all things considered. We did the Walgreens test which was as quick as ever and just printed out the lab PDFs. We uploaded all the forms to the various apps (united arrivecan etc) and that was fairly simple (although it took forever for united to verify and I’m still not sure why they needed the stuff in the first place). Check in was smooth and when we connected onto our AC flight we just had to show the lab print outs again before boarding (in a separate line before going forward with boarding group). It did look like a number of people didn’t make the flight and it went from full to lots of seats, but I’m not sure why people were turned away. Anyway, on landing the nexus line was open and quick and we were home with our checked bags and COVID tests within an hour. Overall could have been much worse. Hope this helps!

Thanks for sharing. I was wondering about the Nexus line being open so that's good news.

 

[PalmettoPath]

Rapid antigen test = acceptable to fly to the USA.
PCR/ NAAT/LAMP test = acceptable to fly to Canada.

It does get confusing with the differences in requirements and what’s accepted by each country for sure.

Indeed. We're doing PCR both ways just because we couldn't really dig through all this and figure PCR should be accepted by all. Is that correct as far as you know?

 

[PalmettoPath]

We flew into Pearson from the states today and it was relatively painless all things considered. We did the Walgreens test which was as quick as ever and just printed out the lab PDFs. We uploaded all the forms to the various apps (united arrivecan etc) and that was fairly simple (although it took forever for united to verify and I’m still not sure why they needed the stuff in the first place). Check in was smooth and when we connected onto our AC flight we just had to show the lab print outs again before boarding (in a separate line before going forward with boarding group). It did look like a number of people didn’t make the flight and it went from full to lots of seats, but I’m not sure why people were turned away. Anyway, on landing the nexus line was open and quick and we were home with our checked bags and COVID tests within an hour. Overall could have been much worse. Hope this helps!

I was just looking into the Walgreens test and step 4 says "Show your confirmation email, a valid state ID or driver’s license, and insurance card or voucher."

I'm assuming you just showed your Canadian ID and what about the insurance card. Was there any hassle at all?

 

[ellbell]

I was just looking into the Walgreens test and step 4 says "Show your confirmation email, a valid state ID or driver’s license, and insurance card or voucher."

I'm assuming you just showed your Canadian ID and what about the insurance card. Was there any hassle at all?

The FAQ on the website says if you have one. The insurance is optional. From previous accounts posted they weren't even asked for it.