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Why the airport made most sense to get my Fit to Fly PCR test

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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.

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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

a screenshot of a testLondon Heathrow offers test results by 10pm the next day for £59

a screenshot of a flight scheduleCheck 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.

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2 Comments

  • Christian August 23, 2021

    It’s certainly better priced and saves a trip. My only concern would be what to do if I tested positive an hour or two before my international flight.

  • Andrew Buckley August 23, 2021

    This test still costs $125. When I went to Italy, I scheduled a free, drive-through tests at both CVS and Walgreens. I scheduled the tests the morning of and the results come back the next day. I recommend taking a free test at CVS or Walgreens a couple days before instead of having to pay that much at an airport.

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