TravelinSperry

I'll be there tomorrow, so I'll update with my experiences.

TravelinSperry

Ok, so here is a little update so far (Amalfi Coast/Sorrento region).

I converted my CDC Card to the Pass Sanitaire in France. It cost me 36 Euro to do it. In France, no one cared. The hotels and restaurants never asked to see it. Not once. In fairness, the use of it ends tomorrow so they likely ended asking early (I was there earlier in the week). Anyway, fast forward to a few days ago and I arrive Italy.

Airline (in France) before boarding asks if I have a vaccine card. I said yes, and started to pull it out. She said, that's fine, I don't need to see it as long as you have it.

At hotel check in, FD lady asks if I have anything with a QR code on it. I said, I have a paper CDC card. She says, don't you have anything else? Anything at all? I remembered then my French Pass Sanitaire and showed it to her. She scanned it and said "it works" you're all set. I asked what would've happened if I didn't have the Pass Sanitaire? She said, we would've had to accept your CDC card, but we prefer not to (whatever that means).

Anyway, continuing on. Out of 4 restaurants, only one asked for the vaccine card. I showed the QR code and she scanned it and I was in. One of the other restaurants made me fill out a contact tracing paper form, but I could've written Joe Kringle on it for all he cared. It asked for a phone number and I gave none although I did write the proper hotel I was staying at (but could've written anything). The other 2 restaurants asked me nothing.

Trains asked nothing. Most places and trains are enforcing mask wearing indoors. But that's about all. Some people still don't wear em - but it seems like 85%+ do. Outdoors only about 20% of people wear them. In the South of France, almost no one wears em anymore.

Based on my experience, all those with CDC cards, come visit. Even if the 4th restaurant asks for your card, 3 others won't. And likely that 4th restaurant would've accepted the CDC card (although I never tried).

allset2travel

@TravelinSperry,

Thanks for the update.

Can you share your experience of getting covid test before returning to USA? Where and when (one day before flight?)?

TIA.

ckendall

Not TS but I have done this twice from Italy in recent months (and once from the UK); I did an online proctored test (BINAX NOW EMED) from my hotel room the day before and that was that. I buy the tests online (6 tests for $150) and they do the trick.

TravelinSperry

I've taken the test numerous different countries before returning to the US (Portugal, Spain, & Czech Republic for example). I will not be heading to the US from Italy, so can't speak to a specific place to get one (and likely where one does is irrelevant unless you just happen to be in the exact same city as me. The overall answer is - testing is abundant abroad, although less so on Sunday. So I'd advise not flying on Monday (so you're not forced to get a test on Sunday). Otherwise, a simple google search in your final departure city generally suffices and the tests are quick. Once you have it in hand, the difficult part is not getting into the US with it, it's getting the documents checked at the airport before you board the plane. Madrid was abysmal in this regard, resulting in me almost missing my flight. Literally last one to board. So go to the airport early (at least one extra hour) just in case. Likely won't need it but I won't chance it again.

dhuey

In fairness to the airline and airport employees in foreign nations who are tasked to check passengers' Covid tests before flights to the U.S., they've had a challenging situation. They often have limited English proficiency, and yet they have to check any number of different certifications of a negative Covid test, which may or may not have been taken in the required time window before departure. And all of that is in addition to their normal job responsibilities.

TravelinSperry

The desk at Madrid spoke English and this was a flight to the USA so the line was filled with people showing paper CDC cards. The issue was not language or knowledge. The issue was the way they had one single line for ALL International flights. People leaving in 3 hours were on the same line as people leaving in 45 minutes. Further they had a priority line for business class but it was not staffed and they told us to go wait in the single line. It was obvious this hadn't been thought through and was not staffed properly.

dhuey

Greetings from Rome. So far I’ve had two requests to see my CDC card in Italy. First at my hotel for check-in, and second for entry to the expo for the Rome Marathon. Both times the person checking it barely looked at it and said it was fine.

TravelinSperry

Somewhat different experience here. Been in Milan, Florence, Rome and Amalfi Coast over the past few weeks. Initially (in Amalfi) people were more or less doing what you said and simply didn't care. However, I just left Florence and they were much more strict. One restaurant argued at length with my gf over her negative test saying she was over 48 hours by 1 hour. Eventually, they let us eat. We were turned away at one sight (the Jewish Synagogue) due to the negative test not being within 48 hours (even though it is a PCR test and we believed it was supposed to be 72 hours). Apparently even for PCR for museums they are enforcing 48 hours not 72 (which differs from entry requirements which are 72).

Milan was less rigid than Florence for sure, but slightly more rigid than Amalfi Coast.

It appears Italy is removing many restrictions Apr 1 - so likely this won't matter to most reading this. But for future reference, it appears to me regions act very differently here - some being very lax, and others being quite tight. So if restrictions rear their head again, I'd get advice from someone specifically from the region you're heading to.

One other note, Italy (in all regions) was super strict on enforcing the fact that vaccinations are not valid without the booster if they are older than 6 months.

dhuey

We visited three churches today in Rome. One required a Super Green Pass, and the security guard looked closely at our CDC cards. The other two didn’t care a bit about visitors’ vaccination status. The randomness of rules enforcement seems very Italian to me.

dhuey

Super Green Pass checks in the last couple of days at the Pantheon and on regional trains. I strongly recommend that Americans carry their CDC card and passport with them at all times until the expiration of the requirement. Enforcement is spotty, but you might miss out on something great if you don’t have your proof of vaccination plus booster.

ckendall

Two restaurants in Milan, one took a closer look at my CDC card (which I explained showed my three doses) and another just took a glance. I keep my CDC card along with my passport with me and have had no problems.

dhuey

At my hotel in Genoa, the front desk agent looked like he had never seen a CDC card. He asked us for the QR code, and I told him all we had was the cards. (We actually have QR codes from the California Department of Health Services, but I figured there’s no way that would help in this situation.).After talking with his manager, he took a photocopy of our cards, and we checked in.

So, best I can recall, CDC cards have always worked for Americans posting in this forum, but they often perplex the Italians checking them.

ckendall

A few more restaurants in Milan and no more showing my vaccine card. There were some 4/1 changes which apparently loosen the rules a bit, but the pizza place I was at tonight basically said we trust you and served us pizza with no pass requests (either for me or my Italian friend).

lmk

Thanks for these "on the ground" reports from Italy. DH and I arrive later this week and will each be carrying two vax cards: our CDC card with our first two Pfizer doses from Mar-Apr 2021, and our South African vaccination card with our two booster Pfizer doses from Oct 2021 and Feb 2022. We are hoping this will be sufficient. If anyone has successfully converted their vax card(s) to a Super Green Pass at a pharmacy or elsewhere once in Italy, that would be helpful to know.