Although the CDC strongly discouraged travel during the Thanksgiving holiday, many Americans didn’t listen. Airlines saw an uptick in travel, and now COVID-19 cases are up too.

With the Christmas holiday approaching, it only makes sense to assume that many Americans will ignore recommendations and choose to travel over the holidays as if it’s an ordinary year. 

In order to make travel a little bit safer for everyone, American Airlines has announced that they will be giving passengers access to an at-home COVID-19 test kit so that they can test themselves for the novel coronavirus before their flight departs. This makes American Airlines the first airline to offer an at-home test kit for domestic travel.

American Airlines is partnering with LetsGetChecked to make the tests available to passengers. Each test costs $129. The tests will be available for passengers to purchase starting on December 9th for travel that is scheduled as early as December 12th. Watch the video below for more details.

American Airlines already offers at-home COVID-19 test kits for passengers flying to international destinations like Chile and Belize. These destinations require travelers to have negative COVID-19 test results before they arrive.

Now, some states have restrictions when it comes to travel, and American Airlines hopes that the at-home test kits will make it easier for passengers to safely travel while cutting down on quarantine time. For example, if you were to fly to Connecticut, you would be required to quarantine unless you had a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours. Meanwhile, in New York, even with a negative COVID-19 test result, you would be required to quarantine for 3 days and get another negative COVID-19 test in order to end the quarantine period early.

In a press release, American Airlines Chief Customer Officer Alison Taylor explained, “We’ve made great strides to help open international travel with our testing partners, and we recognize the need for similar domestic travel solutions. As travel requirements continue to quickly evolve, we’re simplifying the research and COVID-19 testing fulfillment process for an overall more seamless travel experience.”

Did you travel over the Thanksgiving holiday? Do you have travel plans over Christmas? Would you be more likely to travel if you had access to an at-home COVID-19 test kit like American Airlines is offering passengers?