Updated RS Covid Policy

We are also scheduled on a tour in May. I really hope all guides enforce this policy. As has been mentioned on this forum before, pre Covid we were on a tour where one member had a bad cold and many of us ended up getting sick. Masking on the bus might possibly have prevented that.

I also hope that if it’s early on the tour, and someone gets sick enough to test for Covid and tests positive, that they would choose to leave the tour rather than possibly infect everyone else. Covid is a lot more contagious and could be a lot more dangerous for some than a cold.
Overall I think I’m happy with the new policy.

There will be those rejoicing and those disappointed. Thus proving the adage that one really can’t please all the people all the time.

The possible stress that one might have to leave the tour is over. For some there will be the new stress that they could be in regular close contact with a person who is ill on tour.

However this policy impacts you, either as a positive or a negative, I wish you the very best in your travels.

I just received the email for my May trip and am still digesting the contents. Can someone check my understanding of the following scenario and its implications?

Scenario: Someone gets sick during the tour, decides to self-test, and is positive for COVID…

…they can continue on the tour as long as they wear a simple surgical mask on the bus and during group activities.

…will they have to skip eating at group meals? That’s one group activity where you can’t stay masked the whole time.

I’m seeking only to clarify the implications of the new policy, not to start a debate about the pros and cons of the new policy or of testing, masking, isolating, etc

And here is the exact wording from the RS email:
“If you're exhibiting symptoms commonly associated with a contagious illness (such as a cold, flu, covid, etc.) while on tour, you will be required to wear a mask on the bus and in other settings when with your group. Please be prepared by packing along your own masks (N95, KN95 or surgical masks).”

Thank you.

Accidental Southerner, I hope the Webmaster can answer your question and reply here since the rest of us would just be interpreting our own version of their new policy. I would expect more questions in a similar manner will be addressed with an update.

I have my concerns with this new policy as there are, no doubt, people who will not want to avoid group meals even if they test positive. Maybe their symptoms are mild but the person next to them may get the full blown knock you off your feet version. The truth is, though, that the previous policy was not working well. Our guide in London made it clear she wasn’t messing with Covid stuff… told us we were adults and we should handle it on our own. There were a couple people coughing all week. Maybe they tested, maybe not, but they sure weren’t wearing masks. This new policy would at least provide some protection. Hopefully guides will enforce this policy. Cold, flu, Covid… it would be nice to try to keep us all healthy for the duration of the trip.

I really appreciate this new policy. It takes out some of the stress related to the potential of contracting COVID, but also requires sick people to take precautions. We were on a tour with another company when some got a contagious disease, refused to do anything to mitigate it and half the tour got sick.

This policy seems a reasonable compromise since Covid is still with us, world-wide, and is clearly not going away anytime soon. Thank you, Rick!
I have posted several times previously about the effectiveness of masks (good N95s). I remained Covid-free after a week long (not RS) tour through stringent masking from the time I left home and avoiding group dinners, etc. last summer. By the end of that week there was plenty of loud coughing and sneezing and one woman was ill enough on the charter plane for our departure city that she was laying across two seats (with her surgical mask dangling down). Covid testing wasn't required so who knows what they had...there's plenty of very nasty respiratory diseases out there I don't want, either, especially when far from home. That's why this revised policy seems like a viable way forward.
I am now looking forward to a My Way tour next summer because, after going on 4 years, I know the only person I need to trust is myself. There won't be group meals, I have a solo room, I won't eat breakfast in the eating area and I know I am protected from others on the bus by my trusty masks. You can "do you", maskless. (But I won't come sit next to you :)
Personally I hope more My Way tours are being planned. It's a balance that really appeals to me.

I just re-read the RS covid policy and don’t see a change??? Can someone point me where on this website the new/changed policy is?

We got the news via an email this evening. That’s possibly because we are signed up for tours in 2024. It may not have made it to the website yet.

Thank you Patty. You may be right and the website has not been updated yet. The reason we didn’t do an RS tour this year was because of the Covid policy. Did not want to risk being booted off a tour again, especially with a 3% positive test rate that they are still reporting.

I would not risk taking a RS tour now due to this new policy. COVID cases are popping up around the area where we live and we try hard to avoid large groups as it is.

Accidental Southener,

...seeking only to clarify...

The only way to get a definitive answer is to email the company and ask for clarification. Please let us know what their response is.

I am also wondering when the effective date of the policy change is. I can’t imagine they would institute a change like this after a final payment was due. That might be why it is not on the website yet.

In response to Carol Now Retired, the effective date for this policy change is 2024 -- whenever the first RS tour begins. Here is the language from the email sent:

"Our goal for our 2024 tours is to ensure the health and safety of our groups — and provide a successful tour for you and each group member. By working together, we hope to lead your group through Europe while minimizing disruptions due to illness.

Over the past couple of years, we adopted policies to keep our tour members safe, mitigate the spread of covid within the group, and abide by various country-by-country guidelines, resulting in requirements for vaccinations, testing, mask wearing, and leaving the tour after a positive covid test. The good news is thanks to increased immunity, we've been able to update our policies with one simple requirement to help prevent the spread of illness within your group:

If you're exhibiting symptoms commonly associated with a contagious illness (such as a cold, flu, covid, etc.) while on tour, you will be required to wear a mask on the bus and in other settings when with your group. Please be prepared by packing along your own masks (N95, KN95 or surgical masks).

While we will not ask any tour member showing symptoms to test for covid, if you're sick and decide to leave your tour, you may be entitled to a refund or credit for missed tour days, but you cannot rejoin the tour. RSE will provide a $200 per day refund for you (and your travel partner) if you provide a positive covid test or obtain a doctor's note.

Before you depart for your tour, please review the following:
RSE Health and Safety Pledge
Rick's Tips for Healthy, Happy Travels
And please note as with everything in life, this policy is subject to change. If we need to make updates, we'll do our best to notify you prior to your tour start date.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

We're excited to be traveling with you soon!"

I emailed my questions to the office, and here are the answers I got back.

(As a reminder, the scenario I posed was that someone gets sick during the tour, decides to self-test, and is positive for COVID.)

My Question: Can they continue on the tour as long as they wear a simple surgical mask on the bus and during group activities?
RS Answer: "Yes, in that situation they can carry on with the tour if they abide by the mask wearing policy."

My Question: Will they have to skip eating at group meals? That’s one group activity where you can’t stay masked the whole time.
RS Answer: "In regards to meals, due to the uniqueness of each restaurant and the array of symptoms a tour member might experience, your guide has the discretion to decide what will be best for the tour family."

I was on 3 Rick Steves tours this year under the current Covid policy. One person tested positive on my first tour, Southern England in April. She and her mother left the tour, in April. No one else became ill on that tour. The My Way Alpine tour I took in September and the 7 Days Best of Paris tour in December both remained Covid free as far as I know. I think it’s possible someone could have been symptom-free but had Covid.

Having a cold or the flu usually comes with obvious symptoms but Covid does not.

For this reason, I welcome Rick’s new policy because of the stress of being required to leave a tour. However, I agree group dining on tours is of concern. My personal policy is to not get in the way of someone’s breathing when we are conversing. So far, knock on wood, I’ve managed to stay healthy on all 3 tours this year.

I’m booked on a tour in May 2024 and hope I continue to remain healthy. It’s always a risk when we travel and I’m willing to take the risk.

Accidental Southerner,

Thanks for posting the clarification you got from the RS office.

I’m pleased with the changes. We have done 3 RS tours post Covid and have not gotten sick. Didn’t excessively wear masks, ate in groups, enjoyed it. We’re all adults and capable of making decisions about our health. If you find group travel too risky, I’d say don’t join a group. Wear your mask if you choose, that doesn’t bother me in the least.

If I test positive for Covid, I’ll do the right thing and leave the tour. I’m sure others won’t.

If I test positive for Covid or have any other respiratory illness, I will do the right thing. I will mask on the bus, dine at separate table and minimize my interactions with others. But I will not leave the tour. Very happy with the 2024 policy.

I think this new policy is a big step in the appropriate direction for providing some safety on a tour situation in the present reality of Covid. Maybe enough to get me back on a tour.

The problem I have with this new policy is that it allows simple surgical masks to meet the masking requirement. Surgical masks were made to filter relatively large droplets (think blood spraying during surgical procedures, sneezes, etc.). They were never designed to filter the much, much finer aerosols which are the main means of Covid transmission. Surgical masks have proved to to be far less effective than N95 and KN95 masks in this situation. In contrast, N95 and KN95 masks do a good job (if properly fitted and worn) of filtering aerosols and offer good protection from Covid.

That said, if another tour member on a tour in 2024 has a respiratory infection and is wearing a surgical mask, there is nothing that prevents me from taking the cue and wearing my N95 mask which provides the protection which I think is necessary.

-Ben

Ben, I had the same thought, and I agree that KN95s would be better than surgical masks. But I realize surgical masks fit a wider variety of faces and are easier to find. I'll also plan to put on my own KN95 whenever I feel like it.

FYI, Viking, OAT and Odyssey have adopted policies similar to RS for 2024 which is basically no vaccine, no testing, no quarantine, no removal from tour and masks only if sick. Viking does not even require masking. The trend is clear that health management decisions have been returned to each individual.

This change in policy is a HUGE relief to me as I am scheduled for a Tour this April. My husband is asthmatic and has a persistant cough. I was DREADING the stink eyes we would receive and being asked to constantly test on this tour! I even got his doctor to give us a note about his severe asthma to help mitigate the issue.

Robin, I understand that, and this change will definitely help you two, and many others no doubt. May I suggest you share that information at the initial group gathering of your tour? Totally up to you of course, but otherwise he may still get the stink eye. I recall a previous tour I was on, where a person had a horrible, productive cough and despite the RS rules requiring a mask on the bus, he only wore his mask when reminded. He kept saying it was nothing, but that was not at all reassuring.

I welcome this change, the old policy wasn’t working and Covid is here to stay now.

I have been on 2 RS tours in the last 2 years (2022, 2023) on both tours people left due to positive tests. But the old policy wasn’t working anyway and just forced people to either hide they were sick or strike fear that you would get sick and have to leave the tour. There were two main issues in practice of why the old policy didn’t work.
First, before those who eventually tested positive left they had infected others, and the pattern continued until half of us were left never knowing who was the next to go and if it would be you. (This is understandable because sometimes it takes a while to test positive until the virus is full blown).
Secondly, some people were resistant to test so some might have evaded getting tested for fear of them leaving and whomever was also in thier party leaving too. They also most likely spread something to others.

In short, this policy didn’t stop people from getting sick because it didn’t catch it soon enough or not at all and people were hesitant to test for fear of being kicked off the tour.

The updated Covid policy for 2024 tours has now been posted on the RS website under Tour FAQ. It is consistent with the email sent out last month and discussed on this post. Looking forward to “traveling like a local” again without fear of being booted from the tour.

Of note, the type of masks now listed in the tour policy FAQs are N95 or KN95 type (not simple surgical masks).

Not seeking to debate the pros and cons of various masks but simply to alert 2024 tour members to this small difference from the heads-up email we received last month, so that we can pack the right ones.

I am extremely thankful for the 10 1/2 tours over the last 11 years with the Rick Steves group. We made some good friends and learned how to travel in Europe. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that contracting Covid while traveling with a tour group is a pretty crummy experience especially at our age. With their updated policy, RS may have taken away the stress of being booted from the tour but replaced it with the stress of knowing that someone with Covid can (and most probably will) remain on tour and possibly infect others. So be it. Again, I am thankful for what we’ve learned while traveling with RS which has made it possible to feel comfortable with independent travel.

Great to see no posts on this issue for over 3 months. That tells me that the new relaxed health policies have been accepted by RS travelers. Looking forward to stress free tours in the future.

I wonder on group meals, if those guys will have to sit or even somewhere else? It seems fair because the whole table can get it.