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If you’re planning on traveling out of the country you’ll more than likely need a PCR test to board the plane. There are exceptions – some European countries are currently allowing entrance with proof of full vacciation, but odds are, you’re going to need to show a negative PCR test within 72 to 96 hours of flying. This can be quite tricky and pricey! Most tests that are free will give you results in 72 hours, but the tests that are fulfilled in 24 hours or less can be very expensive. Most often, antigen gets and Rapid tests aren’t sufficient…you need a standard PCR test.
This testing site in West Hollywood is charging $250 a test for results in 24 to 48 hours.
To my surprise…LAX is offering PCR testing with results in 3 to 5 hours for $125. This means… if you were scheduled to leave the country at 8 or 9pm, you could pop by around noon, and have you results the same day, prior to your flight, for half the price in west hollywood.
LAX Fit to Fly testing
London Heathrow offers test results by 10pm the next day for £59
Check your airport it may be considerably cheaper – worth the drive?
Getting a PCR test at LAX works really well for my situation. We’re flying from LAX to a different city to depart internationally and they are booked on completely different record locators. I don’t need to show my PCR test to fly from LAX to my departure city, but I will need to show it to board the plane there…two days later. I’ll just plan on us getting to the airport a couple of hours earlier than we would have planned – and it’ll save me a from having to pay in LA.
The biggest thing is whether people will want to spend the time getting to the airport – I’ll already be there so the inconvenience is merely an earlier than usual arrival.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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