Covid tests for travellers: LAX edition
July 22, 2021 12:50 PM Subscribe
My family is emigrating to Canada in a few weeks and we need to get Covid tests in Los Angeles before we cross the border. Please help us!
The tests are required for my wife and me and our 5-year-old son. We have another child who's under 5 and so doesn't need a test. We will be crossing the border by land. The requirements are:
There are also testing locations that do rapid turnaround in LAX itself, but (a) they're very expensive, and (b) our flight is at 7am and I don't want to have to wrangle two kids around the airport at that time of day with our massive amount of luggage and try to get them to hold still while somebody sticks a swab up their nose. The LAX option is firmly off the table.
Does anybody have relevant experience here? How can we get tested and make sure our results will come back in time so we can cross the border?
The tests are required for my wife and me and our 5-year-old son. We have another child who's under 5 and so doesn't need a test. We will be crossing the border by land. The requirements are:
- We must take the test at most 72 hours prior to crossing the border.
- It must be one of the accepted types of tests. There's a long list, but the main ones are PCR and NAAT. Antigen tests are not accepted.
There are also testing locations that do rapid turnaround in LAX itself, but (a) they're very expensive, and (b) our flight is at 7am and I don't want to have to wrangle two kids around the airport at that time of day with our massive amount of luggage and try to get them to hold still while somebody sticks a swab up their nose. The LAX option is firmly off the table.
Does anybody have relevant experience here? How can we get tested and make sure our results will come back in time so we can cross the border?
Response by poster: Sorry, I should have mentioned: we are not LA county residents, so the county testing sites aren't available to us. We can't use the public health sites in our county because we won't be there in the 72-hour window. Same with our primary care doctors.
The adults are fully vaccinated.
We are flying on Delta and crossing the border on August 12th.
We could do it after we touch down but we'd rather do it beforehand so as not to have to worry about it. We are taking a shuttle service across the border and I don't want to add any complication to that.
posted by number9dream at 3:01 PM on July 22, 2021
The adults are fully vaccinated.
We are flying on Delta and crossing the border on August 12th.
We could do it after we touch down but we'd rather do it beforehand so as not to have to worry about it. We are taking a shuttle service across the border and I don't want to add any complication to that.
posted by number9dream at 3:01 PM on July 22, 2021
Via Delta's Coronavirus Testing Locations page:
Trust Assure, locations in LA, PCR tests, results within 48 hours
QuestDirect by Quest Diagnostic: Schedule your in-person nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) online. Results are reported as RT-PCR or TMA, depending on the type of NAAT that is used (NOTE: You cannot select the type of NAAT that the laboratory uses). Results in less than 72 hours. $128.50.
If you're staying in a hotel before departure, try its website or call the concierge?
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:16 PM on July 22, 2021
Trust Assure, locations in LA, PCR tests, results within 48 hours
QuestDirect by Quest Diagnostic: Schedule your in-person nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) online. Results are reported as RT-PCR or TMA, depending on the type of NAAT that is used (NOTE: You cannot select the type of NAAT that the laboratory uses). Results in less than 72 hours. $128.50.
If you're staying in a hotel before departure, try its website or call the concierge?
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:16 PM on July 22, 2021
(I don't think that anyone can say for certain what the turnaround time on a non-rapid test will be by Aug. 6 - Aug. 9, unfortunately. Wishing you safe travels and a happy emigration.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:19 PM on July 22, 2021
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:19 PM on July 22, 2021
My suggestion is to get the test at LAX, but not the day you are scheduled to leave. Are you crossing the border the same day as your flight? Then schedule your test for a day or two before. Two days might push it if you have any delays, but if, for example, you are flying direct from LA to Seattle and then driving across, you'll probably be okay as there are lots of back-up options if there's a problem with your specific flight. Yes, it's expensive, but then you also know these are companies with the right kind of test, with guaranteed turn-around times.
LAX has standard PCR tests for $125 with 24-hour turn around time. Schedule it for late afternoon or evening 36 hours before you leave. You can book it now.
Also, here's one not at the airport: Carbon Health offers testing in LA at two locations. Price is $165 or less (it's not clear). They are one of the approved travel partners for Hawaii, so I'm guessing they'll work for Canada, and they have these pop-up clinics for travel.
posted by bluedaisy at 3:33 PM on July 22, 2021
LAX has standard PCR tests for $125 with 24-hour turn around time. Schedule it for late afternoon or evening 36 hours before you leave. You can book it now.
Also, here's one not at the airport: Carbon Health offers testing in LA at two locations. Price is $165 or less (it's not clear). They are one of the approved travel partners for Hawaii, so I'm guessing they'll work for Canada, and they have these pop-up clinics for travel.
posted by bluedaisy at 3:33 PM on July 22, 2021
Regarding Quest, which is mentioned above. The results will be reported via their "MyQuest" website, and you have to create an account. You also will need to upload proof of familial relationship (i.e a birth certificate) for your minor child, and it will take 1-2 business days for a human to approve it. Also, Quest messed up our "time of sample" by ~12 hours, putting the test outside the acceptable window for our recent travel. I would not recommend Quest for this sort of thing.
posted by true at 6:50 AM on July 23, 2021
posted by true at 6:50 AM on July 23, 2021
I am not in LA, but I did the naat test (accepted to fly to Canada) 2 days earlier at Walgreens, which was called ID-NOW and it took 2 hrs to get a result. I think results time listed on the site for that test was 24hrs. Then printed out the result which said NAAT on it. Not all the Walgreens offers it. I did it through the drive through window and the pharmacist watched as I swabbed my nostril.
I highly recommend following all of the steps on the travel Canada website and printing out the test results and the arriveCan app completion receipt for the officer. I saw so many people in front of me missing one thing or another and getting jammed up in customs. BTW you can't fill out the arriveCan app forms until 72 hrs before your departure which I found annoying.
posted by captaincrouton at 8:51 PM on July 23, 2021
I highly recommend following all of the steps on the travel Canada website and printing out the test results and the arriveCan app completion receipt for the officer. I saw so many people in front of me missing one thing or another and getting jammed up in customs. BTW you can't fill out the arriveCan app forms until 72 hrs before your departure which I found annoying.
posted by captaincrouton at 8:51 PM on July 23, 2021
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- From your doctor. If you need help finding a doctor, call 2-1-1 or visit 211LA
- At an LA County testing site – these sites offer free COVID-19 testing to persons who live in LA County, regardless of immigration status. Drive through or walk up testing sites are available and appointments are not always needed. Visit lacounty.gov/testing or call 2-1-1 to learn more.
"The City of Los Angeles, in partnership with Curative Inc. and CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), is providing free COVID-19 testing to ALL Los Angeles County residents, whether or not you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms." Curative's LA locations, filtered by PCR test, 37 sites. [Org. text: "Receive your results digitally in 1-2 days." Disclaimer along top: "Please note that due to high sample volume, results may only be available 2 or more days after receipt at the lab."] One Medical's tests, LA and Seattle, currently free 1-month membership, please check carefully for strings.
You're flying out of LAX, then crossing the border by land; which airline, and which crossing? When? Will the adults be fully vaccinated? For example, Alaska Air has customer testing options. Areas around airports may offer rapid testing for less than XpresCheck at LAX. Could you test where you touch down, while still in the US?
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:54 PM on July 22, 2021