Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report How we navigated Spain trip from USA including transfers (1 in another country)

We just returned from 10 day trip to the Andalusian coast (Costa de la Luz and Costa Del Sol). It was a mini road trip, hoping to spend much of the time outdoors. I booked this trip using frequent flyer miles, soon after Spain opened for US tourists back in June. I figured with reward travel I could easily cancel and get my miles back, so the risk was minimal. I followed their Covid stats for months. They had an iffy moment with Delta in July, but seemed to get a handle on it. They seem to be very compliant with mask and distancing mandates. They also have been doing an amazing job with their vaccine rollout. All this gave me the confidence to go through with this trip, despite some of my family and friends thinking I'm insane. My husband and I have been fully vaccinated for months. We weathered the storm in NYC, when it was at its worse, and we were not yet vaccinated, and didn't get sick. Yet the day before we were to leave, I start panicking. The day of the trip I calmed down.

I purchased N95 masks for the airports and planes, face shields just in case, and had a PCR test 2 days before, even though it wasn't required. We filled out our SpTH forms, and printed the QR code to have it handy.. We also printed out the PCR test results just in case someone asked (as the rules seem to change daily in the EU) and we had our Vaccine cards with us. AT JFK check in, all they did was take a look at the SpTH form, nothing else Covid related, just the usual docs. JFK was pretty busy, which I wasn't thrilled about, but things moved along. We flew into Madrid and had a transfer for flight to Jerez. Madrid was also busy. We went through passport control and they scanned our SpTH QR. No one asked for vaccine card or Covid test. Both our flights were pretty full. This part was booked with AA miles, codeshare with Iberia. In Jerez, no documentation was checked to exit.

We brought along eMed/Navica BinaxNow Antigen tests for travel, to use for our return (- test necessary to return to US). Our return flight was with United rewards, codeshare with TAP Portugal. I called both United and TAP to confirm what the rules are and the documentation we may need, since there were 2 countries involved. We were flying from Malaga to Lisbon to Newark. Portugal has different rules than Spain, so I wanted to confirm it was all good.

I brought 2 eMed tests for each of us plus 2 at home, drugstore version without the eMed. I also watched a video of someone demonstrating the same test just to be completely comfortable when we actually had to do them. We did them about a day and a half before our departure. The allowed time frame is within 48 hours for an antigen test. You just go to the eMed website and click on start testing. From there a 'health expert' supervises the process via video. You open the box as they watch. They check your ID, and scan QRs on the test kits. The entire process took about 30 minutes. They email you a PDF with the results. It can also be accessed via the Navica code, which provides a QR code for that. We printed the results in any case because I had read that not all airlines are familiar with the app.

The day we left, we decided to go to the airport a bit earlier than we had to,. We were anxious, and didn't know if there would be crowds. We got there so early, no one was yet at the desk to check us in, and we were first in line. At check in we handed the agent our documents. She also asked for a Covid vaccine card (1st time anyone asked for that).. She looked at our test printouts and said they expired. She kept repeating they had to be within 48 hours (which they were with hours to spare). after a bit of back and forth, it turned out she misread the date. It was in American format (m/d/y), and she was looking at it as if it were EU format (d/m/y), and saw the 9 (for September), thinking it was on the 9th, We also needed a Portugal locator card for Lisbon (where we had a transfer), which we had filled out and printed (at the hotel). Upon arrival at Lisbon, we went through passport control, and at the gate they once again checked all docs and had you fill out and sign 1 more form about Covid. If the locator card wasn't filled out in advance, they handed them out on the plane.

We flew into EWR. They did not check any Covid related docs. As it turned out, our baggage did not arrive at EWR, but that's another story,

All in all it went well. The trip was great. The eMed test is a very convenient option. It's worthwhile to print everything, especially the test results which could be hard to read on a phone screen. Even on paper, the agent misread mine!

I believe Spain's requirements for US travelers changed on 9/6, vaccine proof is now required. Spain updates their Covid related entry requirements weekly, so what the rule is today, may not be the same rule next week..