“Quarantine-free” doesn’t mean “allowed to enter.”
A friend messaged me to say she was celebrating being fully vaccinated by booking a flight to Italy next month. When I texted back, “Italy still closed?!” she responded, “All cool. I got a quarantine-free flight.”
Uh oh.
A few more texts back-and-forth confirmed unless travel rules to Europe change in the next month (unlikely), my friend wouldn’t have been allowed on her flight. Fortunately, I was able to help her get a refund.
I blame airlines (and media outlets) more than my friend for the mistake. The way “quarantine-free” flights are currently being advertised is deceptive less than helpful.
Take Italy, for example; my friend’s getaway of choice and a country that has been in the news a lot recently as a “quarantine-free” destination.
Italy is part of the European Union, most of which is currently closed to most foreigners. Those who are allowed to enter Italy—essential travelers, European Union residents, and a select group of other travelers—must be tested before departure and upon arrival; if they are not, they must quarantine for a certain number of days after arrival.
In other words, Americans who don’t fit into an exempt category aren’t allowed to enter Italy, just as they aren’t allowed to enter most of the European Union.
So what’s with all the ads touting “quarantine-free” flights from the US to Rome and Milan?
A flight that is “quarantine-free” means only that the airline is conducting and/or verifying testing before and after the flight. It doesn’t speak to who can—and cannot—be a passenger on the flight. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to figure this out from the airlines’ marketing.
For example, American Airlines recently put out a press release about how the carrier is offering “quarantine-free” travel to Italy. Specifically:
Customers traveling on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) and from JFK to Rome (FCO) will enjoy quarantine-free travel when service returns in the coming days and weeks. Prior to travel, customers will need to provide proof of the required negative COVID-19 test. Based on current Italian rules, upon arrival in Milan or Rome and after taking a second test at the airport producing a negative result, travelers will be able to forgo the local post-travel quarantine requirements, enabling customers to maximize their time while in Italy.
Someone could reasonably interpret this to mean by following the testing rules, she’d be allowed to take this flight and enter Italy. Alas, not true.
Delta’s press release isn’t much better. You have to get eight paragraphs in before mention is made the “quarantine-free” flights are available only to those who are allowed to enter Italy.
As often happens, media outlets regurgitated these press releases without mentioning this restriction. Check out this Fox News article:
Soon, passengers who test negative for the virus will be able to travel from flights marketed and operated by American Airlines from New York City’s John F. Kennedy airport to Milan and Rome without having to quarantine, the airline announced Thursday.
Prior to travel, customers will still need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Upon arriving in Italy, passengers will have to test negative again. The double testing will effectively allow those to “forgo the local post-travel quarantine requirements, enabling customers to maximize their time while in Italy,” the carrier said.
Of course travelers are responsible for verifying entry requirements of the place they’re traveling to, but given the current ever-changing and confusing state of international travel, this can be tough to do.
I like to think airlines are not intentionally leaving out or obscuring the fact most Americans aren’t eligible for their “quarantine-free” flights. But the former plaintiff’s trial lawyer in me isn’t so sure.
Twist’s Take: When it comes to flights from the US to the EU, “quarantine-free” doesn’t mean “allowed to enter.”
