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Bloomberg Article on European Travel - what if the dam breaks?
Saw this article discussed on Rick Steves forum. Makes me glad we have trips scheduled for late summer/fall and that we had Tauck air reserve flights for us. If the dam breaks and Europe starts allowing American tourists in, getting a flight could be a food fight. One thing the Tauck agent told me when I booked ours was that if we saw better connections they could change ours if prior to final payment.
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Claudia - The comment you received from the Tauck agent about changing for better connections. Are there any limitations to that? I thought Tauck contracted with specific airlines for specific routes. Are you free to suggest that Tauck book a different airline?
Yes Sam, they will book anything you want.
Sam, I haven't tried so not sure how far it could be pushed. If we get to Jun and the odds of late summer travel look good I may do some looking. Right now we're entering Europe thru Schiphol and coming home from CDG. Waiting to see what rules might be for transiting those airports.
Per the article below in my morning paper, not the best news for near term European travel.
Yep, I saw similar news this morning. Unless vaccine rollout seriously improves in the next couple of months I give our Sep France tour about a 10% chance of happening and Switzerland maybe 50%.
This is not brand news news, it’s been like this for several weeks, that’s why I remain so negative. Who would have thunk that Europe would be behind us for vaccines. And stop giving Astra Zeneca vaccine in many countriesincluding Iceland Sam!
Yes, I'd been having doubts about France for awhile. My only hope with Switzerland is in its not being part of the EU. They are getting more Moderna and Pfizer vaccines than expected this month, deliveries are rising there and they think they'll have vaccines for everyone who wants by summer. Whether they'll open to Americans and whether we can arrange flight connections is in question.
I have been following ourworldindata.org
The site has many interactive charts where you can see how many vaccines has been done around the world. I keep watching to see the progress of Portugal, Spain and Morocco (my next trip). It very slow progress. 😩
Nancy, thanx for the info. It's more current than others I've looked at.
I'm surprised japan is at the bottom of the list.
Japan has only just started vaccinations. The Prime minister was filmed getting the vaccine. Japanese have always historically been hesitant about any vaccines
Cathy, if you go to the site she listed you can customize the charts to include whatever countries you're interested in.
Why can I not see Cathy’s posts? I keep seeing answers to things she’s obviously posted, but nothing from her. Did I hit a button setting or something?
Ah. O.K. Thanks. I thought I was going nuts.
Yes, the dam has broken.
72 days and counting. Today I was preparing for our final payments due on our May-June Tauck bookings for my family of 7. Last night I received an email from Tauck updating my families tour & airline reservations. This afternoon I got the call from Tauck cancelling our reservations due to host country travel restrictions in place and extended.
While all these discussions are about places on other continents, we only need to look next door in Canada to see a very slow rollout. We spoke with our family in Ontario yesterday. Ontario first began to roll out to people 90+ with appointments around the clock. Imagine getting an appointment for 3:30 AM on a cold snowy day! They are now down to 80+. Our 70+ relatives are still waiting to be able to get the vaccine. The PM has told them not to expect the border with the US to open any time soon.
On the positive side, someone on Rick Steves forum posted an article from Iceland saying they have decided to allow vaccinated tourists in. A lot of details about the vaccine certificate and what info must be on it so that would have to be worked out since things like your passport number aren't on the current cards people are being given. My only concern - and I don't want to get political - but there are some already complaining about Vaccine Passports though its tied up more with concerns like employers, retail businesses, etc. I hope the issue doesn't get muddied so that those of us who just want to be able to travel can have something that airlines, other countries, etc will accept as proof.
Claudia—you can update the charts daily!! I’ve been checking certain countries on a weekly basis - hoping against hope for more significant movements. Nancy
I’m thinking all early summer vacations to Europe must be in jeopardy. And Ontario in Canada is having another surge.
Just read, like Claudia stated, that Iceland is opening up its borders to fully vaccinated people. I'm increasing the odds of my Iceland tour at the end of June happening from 5-10%, to 20-25%.
https://msn.com/en-au/lifestyle/wellbeing/iceland-opens-borders-for-vaccinated-visitors-to-boost-tourism/ar-BB1eG7XG