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EU opening up to Vaccinated US citizen!

Planning to resume the trip I organize, for artists and artists-want-to-bes, to Vittorio Veneto, the beginning of September, We missed last year, after 5 straight years.
 
As just reported by the Washington Post:
Delta Air Lines announced Friday that it will offer flights to Italy to all U.S. travelers regardless of vaccination or eligibility status, beginning Sunday. Travelers must undergo coronavirus tests before and after taking the designated flights.
We've been looking to book a trip to Italy on American Airlines miles later this year. AA had a news release in April saying that their flights between New York and Rome or Milan would require testing and be quarantine-free (while downplaying that Americans traveling on leisure weren't eligible to go to Italy). If we start to book the flight, stopping just short of completing it, the AA site doesn't say anything about it being a quarantine-free flight or rules for Americans. We can hope for clarity in the days ahead.
 
We're being cautiously optimistic and booked flights to Rome in mid-September, although we did spring for refundable tickets, as things are so uncertain. We remain ever-hopeful....
 
After guessing wrong x3 on possible dates of reopening to non-essential travel (booking and rebooking x3 an award travel ticket to Rome via JFK on presumptive American Airlines version of a COVID-free flight which leaves JFK at 4:45pm three flights/week), I finally just re-banked those miles and booked a (changeable) ticket on a COVID-free flight mid-June with Delta in hopes that these reports (WashPost, AFAR, etc.) of Italy’s imminent reopening to US tourists are valid. Fares ain’t cheap and multiple testing required. Seems almost too good to be true, so fingers still crossed.
 
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Btw, Andrew, I heard American Airlines will be announcing something similar very soon - though I think I’ll stick with Delta for this trip.
 
No posts here yet? On the big news that fits the title of this thread, that the EU is recommending opening to vaccinated travelers from outside, although the individual countries will set the rules.

On the COVID -tested flights to Italy, The Points Guy has this first-hand account on taking Delta's flight: I was one of the first American tourists to fly to Italy on a COVID-tested flight: Here’s what it was like

We are holding a reservation on American's flight later on, with no direct message to us that it's a COVID-tested flight. The Rome Airports site indicate these will be the rules at least through October; Delta says flights are marked as COVID-tested through June. The indications are that, while Delta requires the first test be a PCR, American asks for the antigen test, more easily available with fast results. So the question comes up for trips months ahead: if being vaccinated is enough to enter Italy, will these flights still require everyone to be COVID-tested? And will the U.S. rule still be in place that everyone entering by air, including returning U.S. citizens, will need to show a negative test?
 
Andrew, we are booked on a clearly designated Delta covid tested flight from Chicago, MDW to Rome, FCO via Atlanta on June 15. We booked flights that left excessive connecting time in Atlanta airport for completion of a required rapid antigen test there just to be extra safe. The PCR test Delta requires 72 hrs in advance was definitely more of a hassle for us to arrange since we received contradictory information as to whether that PCR test had to be taken within 72 hrs of the connecting flight as well (Delta’s website clearly indicates the timing is tied to the first flight, but other sources confused the information for us and, again, we didn’t want to take chances). We originally scheduled the flight to leave on Monday, June 14 but ran into a good deal of uncertainty from clinics not being able to guarantee timely results without paying lots of money to expedite them, since many places don’t take samples on Saturday and all the test sites we contacted were clear in not processing results on Sunday. We were able to finally locate a conveniently local testing facility that guarantees results by midnight of the same weekday at no extra cost ($120); so we changed our departure to Tuesday, so as to take the test (by appointment) on Monday. Fortuitously (wish I could take some credit), that lowered the fare by $318/ticket!
We have registered at the Digital Health Pass site for a time slot at the rapid antigen test station upon arrival at FCO and filled out available forms in advance, but given the usual scrum that goes with deplaning and shuttling to the FCO terminal and the chaos that seems to always ensue when creating a que is called for there, we are mentally prepared for a very, very long day
 
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Great news for travelers not on the West Coast. We will learn from those who will go before us. Slightly frustrating for those of us on the West Coast who don't fly Delta, and really when I leave SFO, I want a non-stop to Europe (I also need to use my United travel certificate). Hoping to travel in September. Fingers crossed that if Germany allows vaccinated/Covid tested passengers not to quarantine, I could go to Bologna via Frankfurt. Luckily all hotels I have reservations at do have liberal cancellation policies. Difficult to make a plane reservation not knowing who will let us in by September.
 
American has now posted more instructions on taking COVID-tested flights here, including that they'll be offered on Dallas/Ft. Worth-Rome flights. I don't see them say directly that the test before departure from the U.S. can be a rapid antigen test, as said on the Rome Airports site.
 
American has now posted more instructions on taking COVID-tested flights here, including that they'll be offered on Dallas/Ft. Worth-Rome flights. I don't see them say directly that the test before departure from the U.S. can be a rapid antigen test, as said on the Rome Airports site.
Thanks for the link - they really don't make it easy to find the specific COVID tested lights, do they? It appears that AA is doing one out of DFW, but the JFK one is flown by Alitalia. It seems that we might be better off to book a separate flight to the COVID test flight city - but then I'd be so paranoid I'd have to come a day early and spend the night at the airport hotel!
 
It appears that AA is doing one out of DFW, but the JFK one is flown by Alitalia.
??? American, Delta, and Alitalia all operate COVID-tested JFK-FCO flights.

Out of Boston for September, we were booked to Rome via JFK. Last weekend the JFK-FCO flight was removed from the schedule for that date, and we were rebooked a day later via Philadelphia. When I queried AA about it, they said the PHL flight is not currently listed as a tested flight. It's also the new date of resumption of service on that route, which has been postponed several times, so there's speculation that it's unlikely to resume after peak vacation season. I also think it's unlikely to operate as a flight requiring quarantine: either it won't operate, it will be a tested flight, or by then a vaccination will be enough to arrive freely in Italy. We could try to go back to going via New York, still a day later than planned and now requiring a LaGuardia/JFK transfer, but that flight doesn't have availability in Premium Economy as we booked.
 
??? American, Delta, and Alitalia all operate COVID-tested JFK-FCO flights.

Out of Boston for September, we were booked to Rome via JFK. Last weekend the JFK-FCO flight was removed from the schedule for that date, and we were rebooked a day later via Philadelphia. When I queried AA about it, they said the PHL flight is not currently listed as a tested flight. It's also the new date of resumption of service on that route, which has been postponed several times, so there's speculation that it's unlikely to resume after peak vacation season. I also think it's unlikely to operate as a flight requiring quarantine: either it won't operate, it will be a tested flight, or by then a vaccination will be enough to arrive freely in Italy. We could try to go back to going via New York, still a day later than planned and now requiring a LaGuardia/JFK transfer, but that flight doesn't have availability in Premium Economy as we booked.
They're certainly not making it easy! Yesterday I called AA and was offered a call-back - at least 4 hours later. It never came, so I'm trying again this morning. I see on Alitalia's site the Covid test flight is clearly marked, but I'm not finding anything on the AA site. Thanks for letting me know that AA out of JFK is still an option - but who knows what the situation will be in September. For now I have to plan as if we'll still need the Covid-tested flight in order to avoid a quarantine, even though those requirements might change before then.
 
Just finished making it through the covid testing experiences on a Chicago-Atlanta-Rome quarantine free flight on Delta, and it was a bit of an ordeal, perhaps due to some bad luck.. We got a PCR test the day before our first flight from MDW, though the clerk at check in did not want to see that documentation at all and indicated they would check it in Atlanta. Flight MDW - ATL was fine but upon landing there was a good deal of confusion about where to go for the necessary rapid antigen test. After getting a few different answers from different staff, it turned out that the airline sets up a kind of pop-up testing site at one of their gates at about 2 1/2 hrs before flight to Rome. A crowd had gathered around a sign that appeared about 3 hrs before the flight to Rome explaining how to register for the test (required scanning a QR code off the sign which linked to an application). The ever growing group organized themselves into something resembling a line, and a helpful staff person manning the nearby Amsterdam connection desk came over to relay helpful information about exactly where the testing would occur (not quite where the QR code link stated). Despite the initial lack of clarity, everyone eventually got a free test and the results. Once the Delta test registration clerk showed up, it took about 35 - 40” to complete the entire proceeds. Btw, the clerk who checked your registration for this rapid test was the one who asked to see the pre-flight PCR test result to verify it was negative and performed within 72 hrs of the connecting flight to Rome. The unlucky part for us was that we landed in Rome just after a couple of other planes so, although we were well to the front of our plane’s deboarding passengers, there must have been 200 people ahead in a slow moving line to get tested. Better organized, but very crowded, it took about 1 1/2 hrs bereeen landing and customs.
But - after picking up our rental car and checking in for one night at the almost empty airport Hilton, we are off to dinner in Rome and we’ll drive up to Umbria tomorrow.
 
Now when I call up my flight on the AA site, it says "Your flight changed. Please check back soon to see what changed," so we'll see what that means. On the AA app, there's a link above our reservation for Health and travel restrictions for Italy including "For passengers on Covid-tested flights," but not saying that our flight is COVID-Tested. The link that I have in post 14 here hasn't changed from saying "Now you can skip quarantine on flights from New York (JFK) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Milan (MXP) and Rome (FCO)," with no indication of how long that will be the rule, which probably isn't known.

I'd advise using Twitter direct messaging for questions to the airline; if you don't have a Twitter account, it might be worth setting one up for that purpose.
 

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