Early June travel to Italy?

My trip was to start on June 8th also. Air Canada has redirected my flights and cancelled some segments altogether in the last couple of days. The first leg, Philly to Toronto, was cancelled so how do I make my connection to Rome which now has to be via Frankfurt because AC can't fly directly into Rome. Depending on your ticket, and the airlines, full refunds on plane tickets seem to be "iffy". Currently residents in Italy are restricted for their own travel to family, to groceries. In Venice people have to have a written and approved itinerary every day to leave their homes - for a maximum of 200 meters! All of the hotels I had booked, as well as apartments, have told me that they are not accepting reservations. Honestly, are the Italians going to be ready to entertain us in June? Are we a help or are we just in the way? Over the years I've become 'friends' not 'visitors' with many in the hospitality industry. Right now I'm keeping those relationships nurtured via email. I look forward to celebrating the end of this terrible pandemic with them in person, over a bottle of local wine, and hopefully with big, strong hugs of relief.

Check the headlines just about anywhere. Here's a report in Forbes magazineenter link description here which says the European Union is banning travel until (at least) June 15.

We are supposed to be leaving out of SFO to Rome on June 8th also. There is no way that is happening. At this time, I am waiting for the airlines to cancel reservation and hopefully get a refund. I do not believe Italy will be welcoming visitors in June, especially from the US. Sigh....hopefully next year!

Airline? Route?

Delta and United loaded their June schedule reductions into their reservation systems yesterday. American loaded its schedule reductions last weekend. In April, I received a notice that my May flight had been cancelled by Delta 3 days after "schedule change Saturday." Look up your reservation on the airline website. If it looks "weird" or has disabled functions (like inability to change seats), it probably has been cancelled.

Significant changes in your itinerary should make you eligible for a refund, too. For example, going from a non-stop flight to a connecting flight or significant changes in arrival/departure times (90 minutes on Delta).

So just got of the phone with Lufthansa to request a refund for LAX/Rome & MXP/LAX scheduled June 15th.

I was told no refund for me as, get this, Italy may open their borders on June 1st!! However, I can rebook before August 30th and travel must be completed before December 31st of 2020.

That completely sucks. Seems like I'm in no mans land.

You are exactly where the airlines want you to be: "Lost" They want you to feel defeated so you'll just give up. And worst thing is these are the scumbags you and I just bailed out (again) with our tax money.

Just what do you expect to change in the next four weeks that will allow travel? Nothing. Lets be very realistic about the current situation. We can all hope and wish that this virus will suddenly go away. Only our president believes that.

As of today, Italians in, say, Piedmont, can’t even enter into Lombardy, the next region over, unless they have a funeral to attend, a family member with an emergency, or a compelling work reason.

My (Italian) husband and I can’t even come from France next door into Italy to see his family without having to quarantine for two weeks and alerting local health authorities of our arrival.

I really don’t think the country is going to allow non-Europeans in in the next four weeks, no matter what anybody says on the other end of an airline company phone line.

Our airline has not cancelled our reservation and so we are holding out for them to cancel for a full refund. If we cancel, we get a voucher instead.

What airline is it? Knowing which airline you are using, there may be someone here in a similar situation and has worked out a solution/resolution to the issue. Or at least offer insight as to what dealing with that airline is like

Short of direct Divine intervention, I doubt trans Atlantic tourist flights will be operating in 3-4 weeks.

I have an independent trip scheduled for three weeks in September, and I’ve giving it just a 5-10 percent chance of happening.

Delta is offering free rebooking for ticket reservations for dates through the end of September. I purchased their cheapest tickets, so currently, I’m not even eligible for that offer.

I would cancel any refundable hotels and sit tight on the airline reservations for now.

Hoping 2021 is a much better year for travel!

Fingers crossed a vaccine might be available by December or early 2021. No guarantees, of course. Quiet desperation is the English way. Stiff upper lip. No quivering.

Jean--
I am sort of in the same boat. Have flights on British Airways from Seatac through Heathrow to Barcelona on 9/6, and same route (in reverse) on 10/6. Interestingly, when I made the reservations they only required me to put down a small deposit to the cost of the flights; the balance is not due for a while yet.

We had been planning to rent a car, drive up in slow stages to the Dordogne, over to the Basque area, and then back via Zaragoza to Barcelona. I have the whole thing plotted out, and all the room reservations made. Did all of it right before it became clear that Covid would be a thing.

The area of France we are traveling through is one of the areas of that country least affected by Covid, and--with the exception of two nights in Bordeaux--we are staying in small towns only. So that's promising.

However, for the Spanish leg of the trip, the opposite is true. We are staying in large towns, and the places we are visiting have been seriously affected by Covid. So, it's the Spanish leg I am most worried about.

If Southwest France were open, and Spain is not, we could make some changes to the itinerary to allow us to go, and just spend the entire trip in Southwest France.

However, I have to say its my belief that both countries will have opened up enough by mid summer to assure our trip can happen. Both countries have a great need to restart the tourist trade; too many people are dependent on it.

Also, it's beginning to appear that, where it is being tried, the lifting of lockdowns is not causing rates of infection to climb back upwards (fingers crossed).

There may be mask requirements, and restrictions on seating at restaurants, etc, of course. We could live with that (especially if, in exchange, there are fewer tourists around, which seems likely).

I think the situation will have greatly clarified--one way or the other--in about another month, which is still well before our respective dates of departure.

All visitors to Italy must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival and have a good reason to enter. (Tourism is not one of them.) They plan to start opening restaurants and hotels by June 1 if the virus numbers keep going down. Those are for locals and possibly other Europeans.

Unless you have a business in italy or a residence, a trip in a month is not going to happen.

jengrones, sorry. Maybe, just maybe, June 8, 2021, but a month from now, no way. I just cancelled my lodging in Scotland and Denmark for this July, and going to Italy this June is, unfortunately, not workable. I hope your refunds and future travels all work out!

If the recent predictions that 130,000 + deaths in the US by some date in August prove to be correct, why would Europe want American tourists anytime this summer or fall? If they allow travel from the US, I would expect a quarantine.

Please remember that the 14-days quarantine for any travellers entering in Italy from abroad is still valid and we don't know when will be eased. When a traveler (a tourist, but even an Italian who was living abroad) arrives, has to declare where he will spend the quarantine. He is authorized to take a train/cab/car to reach the abode anywhere it's located. During that period he cannot leave the house/flat/room, so he will receive assistance for food and medicine purchases.
After the 14-days of quarantine the person is free to move respecting all other laws and limits.
At the moment you can leave your dwelling only for a reason: could be your job (if authorized), food/medicine purchasing, visit a relative, doing outdoor activity (footing, jogging). When outdoor you must keep 1m of distance with any other people; in every indoor place you have to wear the protection mask. Bars and restaurants are opened this week but only as take away (so the most are still closed). Tourism at the moment isn't a valid reason to move. People is authorized to move within the Region where he dwells: to leave the Region you need a real reason. You must ever bring with you the self-compiled official authorization form.
These rules are valid until the 18th of May. From next week probably something will be eased, but almost for sure at Regional level. This means that is almost sure that some things will be allowed only somewhere in Italy.
At the moment we don't have any clue about when the 14-days quarantine will be removed. Could be June, but could be even later. Is even possible will be removed only for certain countries. US is a country where the infection rate dangerousness is still very high, so I'm afraid will take some months before tourism will be authorized.

I'm supposed to get married in October, even that seems to be a stretch. June is for sure not happening unfortunately.

Thanks for all of your wonderful sharing of facts and opinions. I am sad to say....leaving for Italy in June, is most certainly not happening. I am so grateful for you all connecting with me about this and sharing your traveling woes. Such a blessing for all of us who have the opportunities to see the world and learn about other people on the planet!

We were to fly on AerLingus and so far, they are only offering vouchers and not refunds. They have not cancelled the flight and even when we check on flights to Rome on June 8, there are flights to purchase. We know this is only a way for the airlines to not Have to refund the money, but instead hope for us to cancel. We will wait this out for sure and as it gets closer we assume they will have to cancel the flight.

Best to you all!

My three sisters and I are also scheduled for June 8th departure with American Airlines. Has anyone been able to get a refund with them? We booked basic tickets, and I think all they are offering currently is free rescheduling as long as travel occurs before the end of this year. I have too much of a workload to go anytime after July 10th, so I’m really hoping American coughs up.

With respect to American, is your flight cancelled? Check their aa.com webpage for flight status. If it is cancelled, you need to call them. My flights to Rome and from Venice in October turned out to be cancelled, and American did not notify me. When I called they quickly credited the miles to my frequent flyer bank and the fees to my credit card.

Regarding airlines and requesting refunds -- just sit tight...I had clients scheduled in August2020 to Venice on AA. American cancelled one leg (Chicago to Venice). The entire ticket became refundable. On my planned May trip to Spain, there was a schedule change (this was on Delta). The schedule change caused an illegal connection time in Amsterdam. They refunded the entire ticket. Sit tight. Watch your itinerary for changes (in case they don't notify you) and when there is a schedule change or cancellation, call them. Advise them the schedule change will not be convenient (if it is under a certain amount of minutes this will not work, but if it is longer or they add a stop, or too short connection time, etc. it will qualify). They will likely offer you future travel voucher...maybe they will not mention refund option. Advise them you would like to get a refund. I've gotten a refund every time. Some smaller and/or international carriers may make it a bit more difficult. For example, I had scheduled some inter-country travel on Vueling/Spain. They cancelled the flight and offered future travel credit. However, in the small print I could request a refund online. I did that and then about a week later, I get an email confirming that they turned the request automatically into future travel credit. Again...in the small print, I could request a refund, but I needed to call (and it is not a toll-free number). I am still working that one. Similar with LATAM of Latin America--more hoops to jump through, but you can get a refund.

Jen, I suggest you go online at aa.com, look up your flight by showing the desire to change seats, and, if the flight does not show up, it has been cancelled. In that case, call American Airlines, and, based on my experience, they will refund you the fare by crediting to your credit card account. The main annoyance with American is that they do not notify you of the cancellation.

Considering that the pandemic hit Italy very badly i am afraid that you wont get much for your money. On the other hand you are traveling around rome. The central, southern parts of Italy were less impacted than the north...

A little update about travels in Italy.
At the moment some steps for easing of travelling have been defined.
- From 18th of May is possible move within the Region where you are living without the need of a reason. Meeting and parties are still forbidden, but you can walk, go at a restaurant, visit a museum, meet friends... There are still a lot of public places closed, because for a lot of restaurants and museums and monuments there are too many safety rules to be followed.
- From the 3rd of June (2nd of June is the Republic Day, so is holiday) the travel ban between regions should be removed, so there is the freedom to travel anywhere in Italy.
- Very probably from the same day will be removed even the travel ban between countries of the Schengen area (European Union, Switzerland...). So people can move between different countries without the need of the quarantine.
For travellers from outside Schengen area the 14 days quarantine after the arrive is still valid and we don't know when will be eased.

An update for anyone reading through this thread:

As of June 3, Italy will allow other Europeans (that is, other European citizens or legal residents of European countries) to enter without quarantining upon arrival.

Not great news, old news. Italy has recently announced new restrictions on about half of European countries including the UK.