It’s June and the Italian summer travel season is in full swing. It seems that everyone who has been not-so-patiently waiting to vacation in Italy for the past two years has arrived this month, a pattern that will likely continue throughout the summer. Expect crowds. Recent travelers include my daughter and two oldest grandkids who arrived this month for a long awaited trip to visit me in Italy. I flew back to the US with them just a few days ago and so thought this would be a good time to share the realities of the current travel situation.

Let’s start with the COVID related rules - a subject that has dominated travel discussions for the last two years and confused us all with frequent revisions. The good news is that things are less complicated now. As of June 1 all of the COVID restrictions for entering Italy have been eliminated. The Italian Green Pass, which documented both the results of testing and the completion of vaccines is no longer in use. That means that no proof of vaccines is required (though it is still highly recommended that one be fully vaccinated before any travel) and no pre-flight COVID test is needed. This includes for entry into Italian restaurants, museums, theaters, etc.

Mask mandates are not required in most places but they are still mandatory (through at least September) on public transportation. This includes Italian airline flights, trains, ships, buses. They are also required in health care facilities. And not just any mask will do. An FFP2 (or KN95) is required. Italians are for the most part compliant about this. I have seen staff require passengers to change to an appropriate mask or put one on if they are maskless, especially on planes and trains. It was not enforced on the private ferry services we recently took in Liguria.

The bad news is that the effect of relaxing the rules is an increasing number of COVID infections. From a personal perspective, COVID has spread more among people I know in the last few months then at any time since the beginning of the pandemic. Several have been quite sick and remained positive, and isolated, for several weeks. This has been a significant enough increase that many in Lucca’s English speaking community have returned to limiting group sizes, avoiding indoor groups, masking in any crowd, more frequent testing, and self-quarantine at the first sign of a sniffle. The relaxation of rules plus the influx of tourists is a concern and many worry that the rules have been cut back too much, too quickly. It remains to be seen if there will be a return to some of the previous rules so it is best to check right before travel. The best site I’ve found is the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (www.esteri.it) with information in both Italian and English.

What about the return to the United States? As of June 12 there is no requirement for COVID testing prior to entering the US (a big change). US citizens do not need to provide proof of immunization. Non-US citizens are required to have completed a primary series of immunizations at least two weeks prior to entry to the US, no booster required. Masks are no longer required on US airlines but still highly recommended. Few people were wearing masks on my recent flight from Frankfurt to Denver, despite a packed flight and those rising European COVID rates. I had mine firmly in place, as did my family. Vaccinations and masks may not be required but they remain the best defensive strategy. And it should go without saying that anyone with signs of illness should not board a plane!

Now, for the harsh reality of air travel this summer. Combine a huge increase in travelers to Europe with shortages of pilots, airport staff, and baggage handlers and you get a perfect recipe for chaos. Throw in an uptick in strikes by airline workers and air traffic controllers in Europe and England and, mamma mia - che casino (what a mess)! Travelers need a double dose of patience, determination, the ability to handle last minute changes, flexibility, and a lot of pre-trip preparation.

Take my daughter’s trip as an example of what can happen. She arrived in Frankfurt to find her connection to Pisa canceled. She was rebooked automatically but with a two day delay in Frankfurt and one of her children on a different flight (definitely not ok!). In order to get her to Italy with only a one night stay in Germany, and both kids on the same flights, she had to fly to Rome instead of Pisa and then take a train to Florence and another to Lucca. With two teenagers in tow. She received no (zip, zero) help from the airlines with finding a hotel for her overnight delay. She arrived in Rome a day later, but two out of three suitcases did not. They were missing in action for almost the whole trip. That meant buying new wardrobes for my daughter and one of the grandkids. When did the bags arrive? The last 2 days of the trip! The tales of travelers arriving days late, missing cruises or big events, ruined trips, tears, and lost luggage are all too frequent right now. So, what’s a traveler to do?

First, keep an eye on flight schedules as they are likely to change. Choose flights with as few legs as possible. It might save some money to have more stops but it also increases the chance for delays and cancelations. Whenever possible fly directly into Italy rather than transiting through another European country. Bags are more likely to be misplaced when multiple flights into multiple countries with more than 1 carrier are involved. Recent photos of piles of delayed luggage at Heathrow have convinced me that there really is a place where suitcases go to die.

If arriving before a cruise, cooking week, wedding, or other important event, plan to come a couple of days early. Travel insurance can help cover the costs of a delay, but not the heartbreak of missing a big event!

Pack light and do only carry on if at all possible. If it is necessary to check a bag, then a carry-on bag with essentials (as always - medications, jewelry, makeup etc) should come along and carry a change or two of clothing and perhaps an extra pair of shoes. Leave non-essentials at home. The space a couple of books take in a carry-on is better used for clothing! Keep a record of what is in each bag and be able to provide a complete description of a bag that goes missing. Also hang on to boarding passes as they can be needed if claiming compensation for lost or delayed baggage.

Be sure to sign up for notifications from the airlines and use wifi on board the flight (even if it costs) to follow the next legs of travel. Much better to know as far in advance as possible if the next flight is delayed or canceled. When my daughter’s flight from Frankfurt to Pisa was canceled she was in the air and without wifi. I saw the cancelation because I was tracking her flights (with the Flight View app) from my home in Italy. I was able to book her a hotel in Frankfurt and rearrange her flights even before she landed. Meanwhile, I could not reach her to let her know about the changes, or ask for her preferences, and no announcements were made during her flight. Not until she landed and checked the departure board did she see the cancelation. By that time the lines at the service counters were long and chaotic. Luckily, she got my text once she had access to airport wifi. She could skip those long lines to rebook and the search for a hotel as I had been able to arrange them before she even knew there was a problem. But not every traveler has a mamma in Italy, so best to be able to check for one’s self throughout the journey.

If cancelation or lost luggage is your fate, start collecting the documentation needed to file claims right away. This includes: proof of the cancelation (a screen shot of the itinerary showing the cancelation or even of the departure board), receipts for hotel stays and meals, receipts for the purchase of personal items and clothing required due to lost or delayed bags. Keep everything! Losses may be covered by the airlines (not guaranteed depending on circumstances), trip insurance, or credit card benefits.

My return flights to the US last week went a bit more smoothly. But check-in took longer than normal in Florence, leaving no time for a coffee stop much less a bite to eat, between check in and boarding (not ideal with a 6:20 am flight, pack snacks). We were delayed an hour out of Frankfurt. That flight was packed. Arrival in Denver was a madhouse, with a need to go back through a very long security line and then a mad dash to our final connection just in time to board. Not even time for a bathroom break !

Please remember to be kind to flight attendants and airport staff. They are the ones working hard, despite all the challenges, and aren’t personally to blame for current issues. Truthfully, I was embarrassed by some of the rude passengers on my flights. A simple please and thank you goes a long way!

The good news is that between the crazy arrival flights and the stressful return flights, Italy provided a wonderful vacation. My daughter and two oldest grandkids, ages 13 and 16, are great travelers. They weathered the chaos of travel without missing a beat and arrived determined to not let delays and missing baggage ruin their enjoyment of Italy (and two of them now have new Italian wardrobes). Attitude really is the key to surviving this year’s challenging travel situation. They loved Lucca, Rapallo and the Portofino Peninsula, a day trip to Genoa, and 4 days in the Cinque Terre. Lots of blog posts to come about these wonderful places to visit!