COVID-19 Protocols for Travel to Europe
Updated: 1/25/2023
All Covid-19 restrictions on travel between the USA and Europe have now been lifted.
1. Testing & Vaccination Status:
Travellers are no longer required to present proof of vaccination or to fill out any forms prior to arrival in Europe or on return to the USA, such as a justification for travel or a sworn statement
Travellers are no longer required to show proof of a negative PCR or antigen test upon arrival in Europe
2. Masking Requirements
Mask-wearing is no longer a requirement, but see our recommendations below.
3. Testing For Your Return Flight to the USA
As of June 12, 2022, the CDC no longer requires air passengers traveling from Europe to the United States to show a negative COVID-19 viral test or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before they board their flight.
Please note:
A word of warning - we have had a couple of trips recently where people have come down with Covid on the tour. Most governments, and a lot of people, are acting as though the pandemic is over. lt is not.
What has changed is that the effects of the infection are much less harmful than they used to be, thanks, in large part, to mass vaccination programs. So travel restrictions have been lifted - and with good reason. You wouldn’t let the idea that you may catch the flu while overseas stop you from travelling and Covid is a very similar risk factor.
While on the tour, your tour guide will provide masks and hand sanitizer as required. We do still recommend wearing masks in enclosed, crowded, public spaces - for example, airports, planes, elevators, etc. As your group will, effectively, be its own “bubble,” we do not require mask-wearing on your private tour bus.
However, ... the State Department and the CDC both still require you to isolate and NOT to travel if you have tested positive. This makes it essential for you to have good travel insurance that will cover the costs involved in having to stay on for a few extra days and to rebook your flight home.
Rest assured, we are there with you every step of the way. If you start to show any symptoms while on the tour, your tour guide will assist you with taking a test and Discover Europe will help with any extra arrangements that need to be made, from rebooking flights and hotels to contacting people back in the US. And we’ll make sure before you leave, that you have access to the insurance that you need.
See below for details on Discover Europe’s Payment Protection Plan.
Booking with Confidence
At Discover Europe, we totally understand people's reluctance to sign up for a European tour during this period of economic and social turmoil. It is a large investment to make in an uncertain future. So here is our plan to take the stress out of the situation. We believe that we have found a way for you to sign up for a tour in the future with absolutely no risk involved should you need to cancel.
Trip insurance is obviously a good thing but, as a lot of our clients have undoubtedly found out, it comes with the dreaded "fine print." Many people whose travel plans were tragically interrupted in the last couple of years had purchased trip cancellation insurance only to discover that it did not cover pandemic outbreaks. Even those who purchased the "cancel for any reason" option found out that it didn't actually mean "any" reason - and then, even if the claim was successful, it didn't cover 100% of the trip cost.
With the exception of one small group at the end of February 2020, who cancelled so last-minute that we could not recover all of their prepaid hotel and other costs, Discover Europe is delighted to be able to announce that none of our passengers who had signed up for tours in 2020 or 2021 have lost any money. Some (thank you) elected to roll deposits over for future travel and others have received full refunds, but we want to ensure that this can continue in the future, so we have a plan.
We call it the Payment Protection Plan and full details will be found in our brochure outlining the plan. In a nutshell, the highlights are these:
1. You have to purchase travel insurance covering the full cost of your tour. This could be with our regular provider, Allianz, or another company of your choice. Even apart from the pandemic, this is still necessary to cover emergency medical and other issues that may arise on your trip.
2. You then pay a flat fee of $400 (the equivalent of what you would pay to upgrade a policy to "cancel for any reason") to enroll in Discover Europe's Payment Protection Plan.
3. If you have to cancel and your insurance company denies your claim, then Discover Europe will refund all trip payments made by you, whatever the reason for your cancellation.
4. And here's the best bit - if you do not use it, then the fee for the Payment Protection Plan, can be rolled over to your next Discover Europe trip.
This way you are absolutely guaranteed a full refund and the plan only costs you if you use it. I don't know how we could make it safer!
A special thanks to our booking software, Tour Writer, for their help during the pandemic!
