Air Canada is helping Canadians overcome one of the last hurdles to restarting travel.
In partnership with Switch Health, it’s making portable COVID-19 self-test kits available to travellers to take with them on their trips.
In an exclusive video interview with Open Jaw’s Nina Slawek, Mark Nasr, Senior Vice President, Products, Marketing and eCommerce at Air Canada, explains how it works - and how this is a gamechanger for getting Canadians to return to travel.
The Switch Health RT-LAMP Test Kits offer both molecular and antigen tests. They can be used for U.S. travel and around the world - and crucially, meet the requirements to have a negative molecular test taken no more than 72 hours prior to re-entering Canada.
This allows Canadians to avoid finding and taking up valuable vacation time using a travel testing clinic abroad.
Tests are conducted under the remote supervision of a Telehealth professional from Switch Health, and include a digital report suitable for travel.
The airline says that the Switch Health process also seamlessly integrates into Air Canada’s digital tool, allowing customers to securely submit their COVID-19 test results and records of vaccination, simplifying their travel experience.
Limited quantities are initially available for Aeroplan Members, and as the program rolls out, Aeroplan Members get preferred pricing and earn points on all Switch Health testing products.
Aeroplan preferred pricing for the portable antigen test kit starts at CAD $79 (one kit includes two tests), and the portable RT-LAMP test kit starts at $149. Members also earn 1,000 Aeroplan points on RT-PCR tests and 500 Aeroplan points on RT-LAMP test kits and antigen tests. Members can also redeem their Aeroplan points through the Aeroplan eStore to cover the cost of the test kits.
Visit aircanada.com/switchhealth for more details; customers can order a test kit at switchhealth.ca/aeroplan or redeem at aircanada.com/estore.
