Jumping through Hoops for a 3-Country Europe Trip in the Time of COVID 

Today’s guest post is by one of our blog readers, Chris Moore. Traveling to different countries during the pandemic can be very challenging with all of the new entry requirements. Chris just returned from a 2-week trip to Europe and explains his family’s experience with the extra testing and paperwork. Enjoy!

My fully-vaccinated family and I just completed a 3-generation, 7-person trip to Europe using miles and points. My wife’s parents wanted to visit Rome, Florence and Paris. I booked us through Madrid to take advantage of the cheap miles cost between there and Chicago on Iberia. This story details the regulations and realities of what we faced while traveling through Spain, Italy and France. This was just our experience, but hopefully anyone traveling there soon will find the information useful.

Because we were traveling with my wife’s parents, I built plenty of rest stops into the itinerary. Our first leg was AUS-ORD. We stayed the night in the Airport Hilton before going on to Europe. Our roundtrip transatlantic itinerary was ORD-MAD on Iberia. We took intra-Europe flights from Madrid to Rome, Florence to Paris and Paris back to Madrid for the return flight to Chicago then on to Austin.

Step One—COVID Testing for entry to Italy (Chicago)

Both the US Consulate and Italian tourism websites state that a negative COVID test (PCR or antigen) result is required within 72 hours of entry to the country. We decided to take advantage of the convenience of testing at O’Hare airport, where rapid antigen tests cost $120/pp. Since we planned to stay one night in Madrid before continuing on to Rome, testing in Chicago easily put us within the 72 hour requirement and allowed us to react if anyone tested positive.

The testing site was conveniently located across from the Hilton. Since we had booked our appointments in advance, it was very efficient. We received our negative results within 15 minutes via email. We were good to go.

Step Two—Entry to Spain

This was by far the most straightforward and efficient of the requirements we faced. We filled out the contact tracing form for entry to Spain on the website (no COVID testing requirement for entry to Spain) and immediately received QR codes via email. Upon landing in Madrid and going through immigration, we presented the QR codes on our phones at a checkpoint just before baggage claim. They were scanned quickly, and we continued on to the shuttle to our hotel. Our CDC card worked perfectly at the restaurant that night, as expected.

Step Three—Entry to Italy and Train Travel

We had previously filled out the Italian contact tracing form on the website. Armed with that and our negative testing results from Chicago, we felt ready to continue on from Madrid to Rome. After a great tapas dinner and good rest the night before, we arrived from our hotel to Terminal 1 at Madrid for our Alitalia flight to Rome.

The check-in agent never asked for our COVID test results or Italian tracing form (just our passports and CDC vaccine cards). But, they DID give us a paper form to fill out “just for the airline” that requested much of the information we had entered on the tracing form application. Interestingly, two of our party that were traveling with us but checked in earlier did not fill out this form. That was unexpected, but we assumed the form and ($120) test result would be checked upon landing.

We were wrong. Upon landing at FCO, No. One. Checked. Anything. Of course, flights from the EU are not subject to passport control, but no checkpoint like the one Madrid existed to verify the stated requirements for US citizens.

A note on train travel and restaurants: Our CDC cards worked perfectly for all attractions, restaurants and our train from Rome to Florence. Interestingly (at least to me), no one was checked for vaccine status until at least 90 minutes into our train journey. In short, the form and QR code we received from the Italian website were not needed.

Step Four—Paris, the Pass Sanitaire and more Testing

France requires a Health Declaration Form basically stating that you have been vaccinated and aren’t aware of having COVID. After printing, filling out and signing these forms, they were never requested by anyone at the Air France counter at FLR or upon landing at CDG. Again, just as at FCO, we just walked to baggage claim and into a taxi.

Supposedly, France also requires the (in)famous Pass Sanitaire health pass for hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. We applied for the pass 4 weeks before arriving. But, aside from acknowledging the application, we received nothing. We hoped for the best.

Long story short, every restaurant, attraction, metro station and our hotel was fine with just our CDC cards. Like other travelers, we received notices after returning home that our applications had been rejected, since it was past the time we were scheduled to be in France 😊.

We decided to have our US-required re-entry COVID testing done in Paris, so as to be quarantined there, rather than Madrid if any of us tested positive 😊. Testing there is incredibly convenient. There are testing sites in tents, as well as pharmacies all over the city. We found one 200 yards from our hotel. We got rapid antigen tests for 30 Euros each (cash) and received the results quickly. An email from the government followed with a QR code and certification of the results. After re-applying for the Spanish entry form and getting our codes, we were ready to return to Madrid, then onto Chicago a day later.

Step Five—A Final Surprise

After flying from Paris to Madrid on Iberia, we had another great night in the city. For the first time, however, we were not able to check in online for our return to Chicago. I didn’t anticipate any problem…… until we tried to enter the terminal only to find a security guard not allowing entry to anyone without a boarding pass. After watching others with reservations be turned away, one of us came up with the solution of showing our Iberia Boarding passes from our flight the day before. Worked like a charm. He just wanted to see an Iberia boarding pass 😊. Everything else was as expected and we returned home as planned.

Overall Thoughts

Despite all the bureaucracy and inconsistent enforcement of the regulations, the trip was actually great and definitely worth it. My wife’s parents, especially her Dad, have somewhat limited mobility. I’m glad we were able to go before they were past the point where they could enjoy it. They had never been in Business Class before, so it was great seeing their reactions to it.

Note from Nancy: Thank you, Chris, for sharing your experience traveling to Europe during the current environment. I’m happy to see that things went smoothly. My family is traveling to Europe next summer, and I’m sure we will have to jump through similar hoops.