Travel Week in Review – October 1st, 2021

As demand for Covid testing outstrips supply in the U.S., advisors are keeping a close eye on test kit shortages, lab delays, and the potential impact on the travel sector. Jean Newman Glock, managing director of communications and public affairs for Signature Travel Network, called the current Covid testing situation “one of the biggest pain points for travel.” “I have heard from many of our members that their clients don’t get test results back in time as promised and have to delay flights.” Read More…

In the wee hours of Friday morning, the CDC released its official guidelines for who should receive a COVID-19 booster shot. The release put an end to a period of uncertainty and debate over who should be first in line for the doses. For now, the only government-approved booster shots are from Pfizer-BioNTech. The new recommendations only apply to people who have received the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Read More…

“Early November.” That’s as specific as the White House was last week when it announced plans to broadly reopen U.S. borders to vaccinated international visitors. It’s been a week since then and no date has been specified. With November only a month away, travelers in Europe, the United Kingdom, and other places the travel ban covers are desperately seeking a specific date so they can make or adjust travel plans. Read More…

For Americans, the rules surrounding travel to Europe have no doubt been confusing. Over the summer, amid rising vaccination rates, a number of European countries reopened their borders to U.S. travelers once again. But recently, as the Delta variant has ripped through America, the European Union decided to remove the United States from its safe travel list. That means that E.U. officials have advised countries that are members of the bloc to restrict non-essential travel from the United States. Read More…

September saw the U.S. State Department issue dozens of updated travel advisories for destinations all around the globe. The vast majority of advice was related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and encouraged Americans to reconsider travel or to postpone their plans altogether as the department’s advisories continue to reflect guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which warns of a high or very high level of COVID-19 in most places around the world. Read More…