Border issue with Switch Health test

[kdr69]

ahhh the power of the media.  The ability to take a great testing solution find one event that throws doubt and confusion into its use and create more havoc for travellers so they can then report on how scary it is to travel these days.  Reading all these posts about people "unsure" and "scared" and "glad we didnt order".  I have 3 of these tests for our March cruise and will use them.

[A&L_Ont]

33 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

yes but they wont report on all the successful times it was used now will they.

 

Positive things doesn't make the news.

[CKCruising]

19 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

ahhh the power of the media.  The ability to take a great testing solution find one event that throws doubt and confusion into its use and create more havoc for travellers so they can then report on how scary it is to travel these days.  Reading all these posts about people "unsure" and "scared" and "glad we didnt order".  I have 3 of these tests for our March cruise and will use them.

I would have to disagree in this case (not in general).  Maybe I'm optimistic, but Switch Health should be bending over backwards to get this resolved (In my opinion it was one person at the border who decided to create a problem).  They are already in bed with the government, so they should have resolved this and come out with a statement.

Bringing this issue to light should only help future travelers.  As you said, I still plan to use these kits.

The Canada Government says "You must take a molecular test outside of Canada within 72 hours of your planned entry into Canada."  as far as I understand, these tests still qualify.

[Blueberry89]

4 hours ago, CKCruising said:

The Canada Government says "You must take a molecular test outside of Canada within 72 hours of your planned entry into Canada."  as far as I understand, these tests still qualify.

Yes they do but I believe the issue stems from where the test is taken. 
 

there was a case of some women from Winnipeg who crossed by car to catch a flight to Aruba. (Fargo, I think) They tested in Aruba before their flight home. That test wasn’t accepted at the border because it wasn’t done in country of entry. Had they flown to/from Winnipeg and changed planes in the US they’d have be considered in transit and it wouldn’t have been an issue. Similar to the original story that showed a Canadian address for the test. This is where confusion reigns. 

In my case, I was going to do it on the ship in our last port but I don’t know if it’s going to show a Mexican address. Their fine was $8500 each - pretty steep! I mean, it’s common sense that the test is the same regardless of where it was taken but we all know common sense isn’t all that common these days 🤪

 

I too, appreciate these stories coming forward - now we know which land mines to try and avoid!

[intr3pid]

12 hours ago, JillK said:

Out of sheer curiosity, do you mind sharing the cost of the rapid PCR tests you did via Walgreens? My parents may yet proceed with a cruise in April and are looking at options for re-entry PCR test. If supply is good at that time, this option may work for them.

 

Thanks! 

There are no rapid PCR tests at Walgreens.  These are rapid NAAT tests (ID NOW) that are accepted for re-entry into Canada.  Results in one to two hours, and totally free.  The only caveat is that you have to book your appointment about a week in advance - or as soon as they open up the new dates.  These free test appointments are snapped up in no time.

[bortman23]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:33 PM, odaisydukeo said:

Unfortunately I was sick over a week ago. I couldn’t get a PCR test and I didn’t know that I should go pay for one! I am sure I am negative now, but I could maybe try an antigen test.

As far as the testing by Walgreens we went end of Nov and early Jan in Vegas and Daytona respectively.  I went online and did a mock booking near cruise ports and seems like I could get an appt. Mind you, you can only book a week out.

 

We drove across early Jan without issue. I’m more worried I may not be able to get a test. 
I am pretty confident with double vax and having it that I have had my share of Covid!
 

I guess the logistics of getting of a ship, getting a test and getting home in 48 hours is the problem. Maybe the Switch Health ones will be recognized and that will solve part of the problem!!

 

 

Same issue here for us. Both negative now on an antigen test, and our cruise is March 4. I'm not really ready to spend $300 for two PCR tests now, to see if we still show up positive (but possibly negative), and then at least another $300 to fly back to Canada after our cruise. 

 

I'll likely get good covid insurance (Manulife) and hope we test negative before flying back from Miami. If not we'll have the insurance to cover a hotel for a week (11 days if we want to use the positive test). 

 

There's worse things than being stuck in Miami for 11 days, luckily I can work remotely.

 

The only pain I see now is Royal Caribbean charges $210 USD EACH at the Miami port!? Crazy price. So I'm thinking we'll get the Switch Health rt-lamp test, and hope that we don't run into issues.

 

Or maybe see if there is a CVS/Walgreens nearby that we can head to after the cruise, though there's no guarantee we'd get the results before our flight in the afternoon.

 

 

[bortman23]

On 1/20/2022 at 8:28 PM, intr3pid said:

There are no rapid PCR tests at Walgreens.  These are rapid NAAT tests (ID NOW) that are accepted for re-entry into Canada.  Results in one to two hours, and totally free.  The only caveat is that you have to book your appointment about a week in advance - or as soon as they open up the new dates.  These free test appointments are snapped up in no time.

 

I've done this on a few trips, it's been great, my only worry is about the turnaround time now. In the past i've received the results within a couple hours, but their guarantee is "24 hours" so with this current wave I'd be concerned I would not get the results in time. 

 

I guess making an appointment at the airport would be a good back up.

[CKCruising]

46 minutes ago, bortman23 said:

 

...The only pain I see now is Royal Caribbean charges $210 USD EACH at the Miami port!? Crazy price. So I'm thinking we'll get the Switch Health rt-lamp test, and hope that we don't run into issues.

 

Or maybe see if there is a CVS/Walgreens nearby that we can head to after the cruise, though there's no guarantee we'd get the results before our flight in the afternoon.

 

 

I think the Switch tests give a couple of benefits (aside from being about $100 cheaper per test).  If you are flying out the day of debarkation, you can do the tests 3 days earlier onboard.  ie.  For a Sunday 2pm flight, do the tests Thursday evening.  By doing this, (a) there is less chance of testing Positive assuming there is covid on the ship, and (b) if you test positive, you can reduce your extra quarantine time (11 days would be Monday, so you would only be an extra 8 days, rather than an extra 11 if you did the tests before your flight).  The negative would be what happens to the rest of your cruise.

[odaisydukeo]

2 hours ago, CKCruising said:

I think the Switch tests give a couple of benefits (aside from being about $100 cheaper per test).  If you are flying out the day of debarkation, you can do the tests 3 days earlier onboard.  ie.  For a Sunday 2pm flight, do the tests Thursday evening.  By doing this, (a) there is less chance of testing Positive assuming there is covid on the ship, and (b) if you test positive, you can reduce your extra quarantine time (11 days would be Monday, so you would only be an extra 8 days, rather than an extra 11 if you did the tests before your flight).  The negative would be what happens to the rest of your cruise.

Now to throw a whole other wrench into the plan, my husband and I were talking this morning and he said that it may be beneficial to fly from Niagara to the port instead of internationally. That way, if you did happen to get a positive test you could fly domestically and then drive across the border (I know there is a fine now). This may be ethically on the edge, however I am trying to be as strategic as possible. 
 

I also know the Walgreens ones you can’t go inside, you need to use the drive-through. On some of my other groups people were using an Uber to go through the drive-through. We’ve done it three times and each time we had a rental car or our own vehicle so it didn’t matter. That would be the only thing. I’m also planning on getting off the ship Saturday and not having to be home until Sunday/Monday morning to go to work. Each time we’ve use Walgreens we had it within four hours but as another poster said they say up to 24 hours. Again, I looked around at some of the ports and there’s tons of testing available a week out, so you just have to be diligent in doing that. The disadvantage is if you paid $150 for the switch health and you didn’t use them. I guess the $200 one at the airport would be your back up  if you went for the free Walgreens one.

 

Wouldn’t it be awesome if the testing eased up or was gone by March break? 🙂

[intr3pid]

9 hours ago, bortman23 said:

 

I've done this on a few trips, it's been great, my only worry is about the turnaround time now. In the past i've received the results within a couple hours, but their guarantee is "24 hours" so with this current wave I'd be concerned I would not get the results in time. 

 

I guess making an appointment at the airport would be a good back up.

You are right, the official time is 24 hours.  That said, the test can only be run on a sample no more than one hour old.  And the marketed time by the manufacturer to run the test is 13 minutes.  I suppose the administrative delays in looking up and reporting the results could take up to 24 hours.

 

We did five of these tests last week, and they were all back within a couple of hours.

[bortman23]

14 minutes ago, intr3pid said:

You are right, the official time is 24 hours.  That said, the test can only be run on a sample no more than one hour old.  And the marketed time by the manufacturer to run the test is 13 minutes.  I suppose the administrative delays in looking up and reporting the results could take up to 24 hours.

 

We did five of these tests last week, and they were all back within a couple of hours.

 

Yeah we may just book CVS/Walgreens and see what happens; then maybe also make airport testing bookings as a back up.

[mama-of-three]

10 hours ago, bortman23 said:

 

I've done this on a few trips, it's been great, my only worry is about the turnaround time now. In the past i've received the results within a couple hours, but their guarantee is "24 hours" so with this current wave I'd be concerned I would not get the results in time. 

 

I guess making an appointment at the airport would be a good back up.

I read somewhere that it took one couple five days before they got their free test results back. 

[son3cruisers]

On 1/22/2022 at 8:34 PM, mama-of-three said:

I read somewhere that it took one couple five days before they got their free test results back. 

So looking online to book one of these tests ahead of time. When I try to book one (dummy date for now) they ask for your State  ( no option for provinces) zipcode, and also for health insurance.Without putting in this info, I cant book one.  Maybe Im not looking in the right place? This was on Walgreens website. How have other Canadians bypassed this?

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by son3cruisers

[mikenbon]

I've heard of Canadians putting in their hotel address to bypass it.

[bookbabe]

On 1/22/2022 at 8:34 PM, mama-of-three said:

I read somewhere that it took one couple five days before they got their free test results back. 

They likely took the PCR test, which has to be sent off site for processing.  The Rapid ID Now (NAAT) tests are processed at the pharmacy, and in our experience taking a half a dozen or so of them over the last year, they’ve always come back in a couple of hours at most.  All the tests are free, people just have to book the right one.

 

 

11 hours ago, son3cruisers said:

So looking online to book one of these tests ahead of time. When I try to book one (dummy date for now) they ask for your State  ( no option for provinces) zipcode, and also for health insurance.Without putting in this info, I cant book one.  Maybe Im not looking in the right place? This was on Walgreens website. How have other Canadians bypassed this?

 

Hotel address, check “none” for insurance, use your Canadian ID (or your Nexus card if you have one)

 

[bortman23]

17 hours ago, son3cruisers said:

So looking online to book one of these tests ahead of time. When I try to book one (dummy date for now) they ask for your State  ( no option for provinces) zipcode, and also for health insurance.Without putting in this info, I cant book one.  Maybe Im not looking in the right place? This was on Walgreens website. How have other Canadians bypassed this?

 

 

I've booked through Walgreens and CVS many times, no issues using our hotel address.

[son3cruisers]

1 hour ago, bortman23 said:

 

I've booked through Walgreens and CVS many times, no issues using our hotel address.

Smart! Thanks. I was able to take a look at the booking site. Looks like they only post only about a week out.The ones I'm seeing in San Juan are drive  thru  although CVS says:

 "Drive-thru test (vehicle recommended)".

Recommended seems a bit vague. Wonder if they will allow walk ups. Or i guess we could rent a car for the day and venture out and about. Anyone tried a walk up at CVS? Walgreens says drive thru only. 

[bortman23]

42 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

Smart! Thanks. I was able to take a look at the booking site. Looks like they only post only about a week out.The ones I'm seeing in San Juan are drive  thru  although CVS says:

 "Drive-thru test (vehicle recommended)".

Recommended seems a bit vague. Wonder if they will allow walk ups. Or i guess we could rent a car for the day and venture out and about. Anyone tried a walk up at CVS? Walgreens says drive thru only. 

 

My experience has been that walk ups are not allowed, you'll likely be denied if you walk up.

 

We easily used an Uber, we just explained to them it was for travel and that we were not symptomatic/close contacts etc.

[*Miss G*]

51 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

Smart! Thanks. I was able to take a look at the booking site. Looks like they only post only about a week out.The ones I'm seeing in San Juan are drive  thru  although CVS says:

 "Drive-thru test (vehicle recommended)".

Recommended seems a bit vague. Wonder if they will allow walk ups. Or i guess we could rent a car for the day and venture out and about. Anyone tried a walk up at CVS? Walgreens says drive thru only. 

 

The CVS we went to had both a drive-thru lane and a drive-up lane.  When making our appointment there was a distinction between which option we were requesting.  The drive-thru required a car.  We did the drive-up where we pulled into a space, they called to see if we had arrived for our appointment, then told us to exit the car and come into the outdoor kiosk.  There would be no need for a car, in this instance, but how else would you get there?  If you plan to walk over then I would call ahead to confirm. 

[intr3pid]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

The CVS we went to had both a drive-thru lane and a drive-up lane.  When making our appointment there was a distinction between which option we were requesting.  The drive-thru required a car.  We did the drive-up where we pulled into a space, they called to see if we had arrived for our appointment, then told us to exit the car and come into the outdoor kiosk.  There would be no need for a car, in this instance, but how else would you get there?  If you plan to walk over then I would call ahead to confirm. 

CVS doesn't have ID NOW tests - only PCR or antigen.  Certain cruise lines use CVS to get this testing done and include the costs in the cruise fare.  Which test did you do and what was the turnaround time?

[*Miss G*]

10 hours ago, intr3pid said:

CVS doesn't have ID NOW tests - only PCR or antigen.  Certain cruise lines use CVS to get this testing done and include the costs in the cruise fare.  Which test did you do and what was the turnaround time?

 

It was the rapid antigen (to board a cruise) and took about 10-15 minutes for the results.  Certain CVS’ have rapid PCR, but not all.  The site will have the specifics.

[1kaper]

I wonder what jurisdiction a hearing would be held in if you decide to fight the fine. 

Personally, I would be taking it to court.  I suspect that it would not be upheld since the test was technically taken in the US. 

I am planning on travelling in March.  I am still buying these.  I am flying though so it may not even be as much of an issue.  Last time it was the airline that looked at my test and border services didn't even look. 

[CTP]

On 1/16/2022 at 12:48 PM, LouTheGlue said:

Ok, guess I may as well give up. What a Cluster...

I purchase the box of 2 Antigen tests from Switch Health thinking I would be able to use them to enter the US and board Anthem of the Seas in March. I also purchased 2 RT-LAMP tests to get back home. Now it seems all these tests are not valid. These Antigen Tests are not FDA approved, and now it sounds like I may not get back by using the RT-LAMP tests.

 

I bought them early for two reasons, not sure about supply/demand in March. Plus for the RT-LAMP test I was thinking I could use them not only for the return to Canada after our cruise (now that seems to be questionable). But also because we cannot get PCR tests in Ontario, I thought if we happened to catch covid in the next few weeks, I could use them to get official documentation that we actually had Covid.

Ive been trying to determine if the switch tests were FDA approved I was hopi g to take them down with us to use to get on the ship in Galveston …. This feels so complicated I might just cancel our Spring Break cruise.
 

Thought things might be simpler cruising Alaska out of Vancouver  however more I try to get testing answers there is also proving to be a waiting game as apparently Canada gov hasn’t yet decided on how that will look 

[loupana]

4 minutes ago, CTP said:

Ive been trying to determine if the switch tests were FDA approved I was hopi g to take them down with us to use to get on the ship in Galveston …. This feels so complicated I might just cancel our Spring Break cruise.
 

Thought things might be simpler cruising Alaska out of Vancouver  however more I try to get testing answers there is also proving to be a waiting game as apparently Canada gov hasn’t yet decided on how that will look 

 

FYI @edrussell had no issues using the Switch Health Proctored test to get on Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas, out of Baltimore earlier this month.

 

 

 

[Fouremco]

6 minutes ago, CTP said:

Ive been trying to determine if the switch tests were FDA approved I was hopi g to take them down with us to use to get on the ship in Galveston …. This feels so complicated I might just cancel our Spring Break cruise.
 

Thought things might be simpler cruising Alaska out of Vancouver  however more I try to get testing answers there is also proving to be a waiting game as apparently Canada gov hasn’t yet decided on how that will look 

The antigen test is not FDA approved but the LAMP test is. While all cruise lines require that self testing  be proctored, not all specify that the test must also be FDA approved.