Red Sea (Egypt) closed (covid-19 confined)

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That sucks. I personally know people who arrived through Hurghada without a test and were allowed to take it in the airport on arrival. For Cairo you do need a test taken less than 72 hours before you arrive.
 
Oh no.... very sorry to hear that.

Did United introduced this " No Test - No Flight" policy short term and did not give notice?
It is very anoying that in these times boarding often depends of the view of more less well trained or up to date grund staff. I agree that rules are constantly changing, however it is the job of their manager to keep pace and brief/train the staff accordingly.

You still do not need any PCR Test to fly to Germany when you stay in transit to an onward destination.
And coming from Frankfurt, both IATA and Egypt Air (as equal to a governmental source) states that it is 96 h before flight departure if you arrive in Cairo. There is also the possibility to take test on arrival in HRG, SSH, RMS.

I am also very surprised that there are no possibilities get a test whith a shorter turn around in Cleveland. 7 Days is simply not acceptable. What are you suppose to do during these 7 days? stay at home in case your are positive?
 
Ugh!. I feel so bad for you... I have been telling everyone to fly egyptair from Washington or NY to minimize the ‘changing rules’ in international transit. You would still need a negative test to fly though 72 hours before departure. Where you booked on a boat?

I am still booked on the Tillis leaving Friday, although the operator will let me defer if I cannot make it into Egypt. The test time is the real issue. The Egyptian consulate told me "a negative PCR test result 96 hours before traveling is required to enter Egypt from individuals traveling from the United States." The boat operator also said 72 hours. Either way, it is unlikely I can do it with a 24 hour flight.
 
Oh no.... very sorry to hear that.

Did United introduced this " No Test - No Flight" policy short term and did not give notice?
It is very anoying that in these times boarding often depends of the view of more less well trained or up to date grund staff. I agree that rules are constantly changing, however it is the job of their manager to keep pace and brief/train the staff accordingly.

You still do not need any PCR Test to fly to Germany when you stay in transit to an onward destination.
And coming from Frankfurt, both IATA and Egypt Air (as equal to a governmental source) states that it is 96 h before flight departure if you arrive in Cairo. There is also the possibility to take test on arrival in HRG, SSH, RMS.

I am also very surprised that there are no possibilities get a test whith a shorter turn around in Cleveland. 7 Days is simply not acceptable. What are you suppose to do during these 7 days? stay at home in case your are positive?


Unless I grow wings, I still do need a PCR Test to fly to Germany if United won't let me board the aircraft - regardless of what the German government says. Similarly, the test on arrival option in Hurghada is out unless I can actually get to Hurghada to test.

This is completely ridiculous for people who are actually sick, I've known some people whose test results took over 7 days. Meanwhile Germany can take a highly accurate test in under 6 hours and Egyptians can get the test much faster than Americans. It is no wonder our cases and deaths are so much higher than other countries.
 
That sucks. I personally know people who arrived through Hurghada without a test and were allowed to take it in the airport on arrival. For Cairo you do need a test taken less than 72 hours before you arrive.

I think you will find it’s less than 72 hours before you board your flight, not arrive. If you are in transit it’s 72 hours before you boarded your first flight as long as you have not left the airport in transit.
 
Unless I grow wings, I still do need a PCR Test to fly to Germany if United won't let me board the aircraft - regardless of what the German government says. Similarly, the test on arrival option in Hurghada is out unless I can actually get to Hurghada to test.

This is completely ridiculous for people who are actually sick, I've known some people whose test results took over 7 days. Meanwhile Germany can take a highly accurate test in under 6 hours and Egyptians can get the test much faster than Americans. It is no wonder our cases and deaths are so much higher than other countries.

Where are you located? I’m in NJ and had a PCR test last week - it took less than 48 hours to get a result.
 
Yes, sure, their plane, their rules. But United should have told you early enough of this requirement.

What makes me mad is not that they didn't proactively tell me about the requirement, but that I proactively called them the day of my flight, spent an hour with them on the phone and was told this would not be a problem. Then the United agents at the airport interpreted the rules differently.
 
Where are you located? I’m in NJ and had a PCR test last week - it took less than 48 hours to get a result.

It is a matter of winning the PCR lottery. My girlfriend went through similar for a trip recently (not to Egypt) and hers only took 3 hours, although it might not have been a PCR. The company administering my test's website advertised 1-3 days but the pharmacist administering my test told me 2-7 days. I personally know people who waited over a week for results, as well as people who told "48 hours" that took longer. What is needed for air travel is a "guaranteed in 48 hours" test, which does not exist in Cleveland.
 
It is very confusing these days with changing rules. Some online forms need to be completed to get a travel certificate to a country and in some cases, the form may be in a language other than English. Plus there are requirements for CV-19 medical insurance as many countries do not want to carry the burden of a sick foreign visitor. The answer is yes, you can travel to some destinations but the caveat is, there are some challenging terms and conditions. I am having an issue with a booking to the Maldives that is called a Split Stay and requires the government document to be completed by the resort and liveaboard...but the Split Stay form has not yet been issued for the resort-liveaboard combination...

Sorry to hear how your trip to the Red Sea has been impacted.
 

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