Booking additional accomadations in case of positive test?

It's not fair to the proprietor of the lodging to book something you are probably going to cancel. Your booking might prevent someone else from booking instead, so that would cost them money.

I have read where some are booking hotels where you can cancel at 24 hrs. Believe me, you are not the only one considering this Plan B.

Yeah, I'd feel shabby about doing that and taking advantage of a free cancellation policy (which would probably have to be cancelled before your test date anyway). I am however, scoping out some potential places and bookmarking them. Just put the booking.com app on your phone so you'll be prepared just in case. Think positive, uh rather think negative, lol.

It’s a hard call.

Basically what I decided was to just keep an eye on potential lodging. Because I have purchased insurance that will cover the cost of a place in case of a positive test, I don’t have to worry about finding somewhere cheap. I have several trips coming up but I won’t ever be finishing up in a city that has extremely limited options as far as availability. So while my choice might not be as inexpensive as I would choose without Covid preferences, I could still expect to have the ability to find a place even last minute. Insurance is what gives me the peace of mind to do this.

As for self-testing, I usually take a couple of tests in case I feel sick. But if I have no symptoms, I am ok with waiting till the day before my return flight and the official test, which I always do in the morning. That gives me time to cancel my flight and find a new place if necessary. No panic - you just have to change your plan.

So you don’t want to take a test before the end of your trip in case you test positive and you would have to isolate, but you are happy to proceed with your trip untested and maybe spreading Covid to whoever you come into contact with, as ignorance is bliss? I test myself regularly on trips and not just at the end. Luckily I have always been negative.

I was far happier flying when the U.K. insisted on testing before flying, as it gave a degree of comfort that others on the flight had had to be tested, whereas when this requirement was dropped, the chance of catching Covid on the journey home rocketed.

I haven’t actually booked additional accommodation, as it’s not fair to cancel at the last minute, but I have kept an eye on availability online. These days, accommodation can be booked quickly, so there’s no need to book it in advance. Accommodation owners have suffered enough in the past 2 years, without having lots of last minute cancellations so rooms go unoccupied.

No, we did not consider booking a fully refundable room. Instead, we upgraded our room in our last hotel (within 24 hours of departure). If we do test positive, I don’t want to feel like a "caged animal." The room we booked is slightly larger, with a seating area, and a window that opens, and is conveniently located to lots of eating places, in case we have to isolate ourselves in our room. Hopefully we can order out.
We don't return until the end of September, so maybe by then testing won't be a requirement. In the meantime, we have an upgraded room for 3 nights.

We’re going to Paris. We talked about booking a room as a back up plan but decided not to. I’d be interested in knowing the percent of folks returning to US that test negative.

I wouldn’t be holding a “just in case” room, but I did look up apartment & hotel options in both Rome & Perugia - my last & next to last locations to see what is currently available if it was needed a couple of days ago and also if it was needed closer to my flying back date.

I looked for a couple of criteria that would be important to me for a longer stay of two weeks.

There's a chance you could be delayed longer than a week -

Deborah Haines, 47, a chiropractor from Seattle, was forced to extend her vacation in the Netherlands by 22 days last month because she kept testing positive even after her coronavirus symptoms had subsided. The stress of determining the appropriate documentation for re-entry, and having to cancel work appointments back home, made her feel sicker than the coronavirus itself, she said.
“When I thought about the possibility of getting stuck with Covid in Amsterdam, I thought it would mean a few extra days and then I could get a negative test and go home,” she said. “Boy, was that a miscalculation. I kept testing positive and it was so hard to get any clear guidance for what I should do.”
....
Ms. Haines kept testing positive for the virus, even after her 10-day isolation period. After 17 days, with help from her husband back home, she managed to get a certificate of recovery through a U.S. telemedicine service that she found online. She waited a few more days to fly home because she had to purchase a new flight and went for the cheapest option.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/03/travel/covid-test-positive-traveling-overseas.html

That story about the woman having to extend 22 days drives me nuts. If she’s right that she was better after 10 days, all she needed to do was get the recovery letter and be on her way at day 11. Some people say they have luck with a recovery letter at 5 days. I’m not sure about that, but 10 seems clear. So 11-12 of the 22 days were because she was poorly informed and thought she had to test negative to return. This is specifically why they permit the recovery letter - some people test positive for months. Rare but can happen. So her lack of research is not evidence of anything other than that we all need to be fully informed before going anywhere.

Now, it’s possible that one could get more severely sick and not qualify for a recovery letter at 10 days because you’re still sick. That’s a different problem. Not common for the vaccinated and boosted to be sick for 10 days, but could happen.

unless you're spending the three weeks in one place, how can you know where you'll be when you fall ill?

“There's a chance you could be delayed longer than a week”

I’m so thankful I found this forum. Appreciate all the info and help from other travelers! I’ve learned so much here that’s kept me from making mistakes like this.

It looks like a little over 1 percent of the RS tour groups are testing positive. That is with everyone required to mask the whole time.

So long as you book your just-in-case room at a property that can more than handle that kind of booking, I'd have zero qualms whatsoever about doing so. I'll recycle what I posted in another thread asking this same thing:

I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with booking a room
because you're honestly intending to use it if the situation arises
where you must. There's nothing underhanded about that, and in fact
hotels often have it built in to their pricing structure some folks
are less committed and less certain to actually stay than others.

Mind you, if it's a small B&B or a little boutique hotel with very
limited rooms that's one thing. But if you're booking your backup room
at a large chain (especially something like, say, a Residence Inn or
other such place with a kitchenette and longer stays in mind) their
rates all interact with one another. People with flexible bookings are
on the hook for a higher rate if and when they show up; folks who've
committed with a prepaid reservation lose out on flexibility but make
up for that with savings; some large hotel chains will even adjust the
inventory that is shown with all this in mind (only a certain number
of a particular room type can be booked on a flexible rate, while
reserving the rest for prepaid; no package deals or significant
discounts on a particular room type because they never have a problem
charging full flexible rates for it; flexible rates take in to account
a certain percentage of those guests will cancel, but they more than
make up for it with the inflated prices the other flexible reservation
guests pay, on top of the money already in hand from prepaid
reservations).

You as the consumer gamble, as does the hotel - if you end up having
to stay and pay a flexible rate to do so, the hotel is probably going
to make tons more off you than they would many of their other guests;
if you don't need the room and have to cancel, and demand is so high
and inventory is so low your booking put them so close to being full,
the last minute rate they can slap on your newly available room would
be pure gravy for them if someone booked it. If your booking put them
so close to being full that it really did push other potential guests
out, they're probably doing just fine. In fact, many hotels don't even
shoot for 100% occupancy - if your hotel is full all the time, it
means your rates are too low. Occupancy of around 80% if often
preferred, because it means they're charging so much they can't sell
every room but all the people who are staying there are paying high
enough rates for the hotel to profit the most.

If you truly have every intention of staying at that hotel if and when
the need to do so arises - even if it's not certain it ever will -
yours is just one among the many flexible reservation bookings they'll
have at any given moment and deal with all the time.

Now if you're finding some super discounted flexible rate through some
third party booking engine, maybe that would put the hotel out if you
canceled. Or if you're worried about how much more a flexible rate is,
that's valid. If you really want a clear conscience, book the higher
flexible rate at a hotel, while also booking yourself some trip delay
insurance. That way, if you are stuck having to pay those higher
flexible rates (and the hotel won out on selling a room at inflated
prices to someone), at least you can pass the bill on to your
insurance company - who has it built in to the premiums all their
customers paid a tiny percentage will file a claim, while the rest are
pure profit.