Wallet? Check.

Plane Tickets? Check.

Passport? Check?

Proof of negative COVID-19 test? Um…

​​​​​​This past Tuesday, when new regulations took effect requiring all incoming travelers to the U.S. show proof of a negative Covid-19 test or evidence that they have recovered from a recent case of the virus, questions on how regulations will be enforced arose. The answer, according to most airlines, lies in the digital health passport. 

What is a digital health passport?

A digital health passport is an app downloaded to smartphones that provide consistent, verifiable medical evidence of the given passenger’s eligibility to fly, touting trusted, secure mobile and biometric authentication for navigating international travel during the pandemic and beyond.

Why do I need one?

The main goal of the digital health passports is to make traveling easier and faster. While manual document reviews are still accepted by most airline carriers, the verification process can be clunky and delayed. Digital Health Passports provide verified certainty that your airline will let you board without any issues.

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Currently, American has partnered with Verifly to offer digital health passports to its passengers and United allows their flyers to upload medical documents online. 

But as the pandemic carries on, prepare to see a surge of new health passports in the coming weeks. Emirates and Etihad have both announced they would trial the IATA Travel Pass and JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic joined the CommonTrust Network, a nonprofit aimed at giving people digital access to health information, including vaccination records and lab results. An existing partnership with biometric security company Clear suggests United and Delta may soon be releasing a version of a digital health passport as well.