American Airlines to Offer At-Home COVID Testing for V.I. Flights

Dec. 8—American Airlines announced a partnership with the U.S. Virgin Islands and the government of Chile to offer an at-home kit for travelers to get a COVID-19 test prior to flying.

In a released statement, the company said that customers will be granted access to VeriFLY, a new mobile app designed to help them understand COVID-19 documentation requirements and enable them to securely store and display their test results digitally.

American is the first to provide customers traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands and South America with a convenient at-home testing option through LetsGetChecked, according to the statement.

Customers traveling to Chile will have access to preflight COVID-19 testing on flights beginning today. Testing must be completed within 72 hours of departure.

Customers traveling from the U.S. mainland to the U.S. Virgin Islands will have access, beginning Wednesday, to the testing program for flights to St. Thomas from American's hubs in Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia, as well as flights to St. Croix from Charlotte and Miami. Testing must be completed within five days of departure.

"The U.S. Virgin Islands is pleased to announce its participation in the preflight COVID-19 testing program offered by American Airlines through LetsGetChecked. Through this initiative, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to keeping our residents and visitors safe and healthy during the coronavirus pandemic," V.I. Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte said in the statement. "This easy-to-use, at-home solution adds another layer of protection and confidence for those traveling to the territory, allowing them to focus on their unique reasons for choosing the USVI."

American, when it initially announced its partnership with the new mobile wellness wallet solution — VeriFLY — from the identity assurance leader Daon, said it would help travelers easily understand COVID-19 requirements for their destination and streamline airport check-in through digital verification to ensure customers have completed those requirements. The app was initially available for customers traveling to Jamaica.

Beginning today, customers traveling between Miami International Airport and Santiago, Chile, will have the opportunity to test the new solution at no cost by creating a secure profile and confirming details for their trip. The app can be utilized on both ends of the travel journey for seamless verification.

"It is incredibly valuable that airlines are innovating with new technology to adapt to the demands of a new way of doing tourism, helping encourage the reactivation of international travel, especially at a time when Chile is opening its borders," Andrea Wolleter, national director of Chile's National Tourism Service, said in the statement. "Today we are promoting responsible and safe tourism through the adoption of protocols which now provide a better travel experience, helping simplify procedures while respecting health security measures."

Since American announced its preflight COVID-19 testing program in October, the airline has continued to expand customer access to its at-home testing partner, LetsGetChecked, now available for all of the carrier's flights to Belize, Grenada, St. Lucia and the Hawaiian islands, according to the statement.

Juan Carlos Liscano, vice president of American's Operations for Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America, said more destinations will be added as American is "committed to helping restart travel and tourism in the countries we serve."

"As we continue to reopen travel throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, we have been looking for ways to simplify our customers' travel experience. Our preflight testing program and our recently launched mobile app trial are essential tools that will help our customers return to the skies," he said.

The airlines is also expanding its partnership with LetsGetChecked to give more customers access to at-home PCR testing with observation by a medical professional via virtual visit, the release stated.

For more information on the VeriFLY app, visit aa.com/covid19testing.

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