International travelers catch a break as FDA extends expiration date for at-home COVID-19 test
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
Featured image by Summer Hull/The Points Guy
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has increased the shelf life for one of the most popular at-home COVID-19 test kits. The agency announced that Abbott’s BinaxNow COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test is now approved for a 15-month expiration window. This follows a request by the company to provide a longer shelf life for its test, after it reported stability studies that showed the tests remained accurate and consistent over the longer time period. Here’s the letter from the FDA to Abbott granting the extended expiration window.
This news should come as quite a relief for travelers overseas looking to get back to the United States. Depending on the original expiration date on the test, this change can add up to six months to the shelf life.
The news was first reported by Kyle Potter at Thrifty Traveler.
For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
The BinaxNow Home Test is very popular with international travelers. In fact, the Abbot test, the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test and Qured’s video-supervised rapid antigen test are the only three at-home tests currently approved by the CDC to be used by inbound passengers to the U.S. The CDC guidelines require all travelers, regardless of vaccination status, to show a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a plane to the U.S.
(TPG reported last summer that the wait times for BinaxNow supervised exams through Zoom were quite long due to high demand, but wait times have improved.)
What was not so convenient about the tests is that many people ordered them and discovered that they expired too quickly to be used. Many tests were being shipped to customers with expiration dates that were only six to nine months out from their initial production date. That doesn’t do much good for travelers with trips planned several months down the road.
The FDA’s extension now provides a 15-month window from the production date of the tests. The expiration date was previously 12 months. You can find the expiration date on the front of your BinaxNow home test.
We’ve written before about inaccurate expiration dates and other issues with these at-home tests, but the bottom line is they are incredibly helpful if you’re planning to travel overseas. They make the process of obtaining the required negative COVID test result much less of a hassle. Now, you also have more time to use the test.
Related: Your guide to at-home COVID-19 tests for international travel
Featured image by Summer Hull/The Points Guy
Sign-up Successful!
Welcome to The Points Guy!
WELCOME OFFER: 80,000 Points
TPG'S BONUS VALUATION*: $1,600
CARD HIGHLIGHTS: 3X points on dining and 2x points on travel, points transferrable to over a dozen travel partners
*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. View our latest valuations here.
- Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Enjoy benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases, plus more.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel.
- With Pay Yourself Back℠, your points are worth 25% more during the current offer when you redeem them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.