COVID-19 Travel Guidelines

Your health and the well-being of your tour group is our top priority. To help you prepare to travel with confidence, it’s important that you review the following information pertaining to travel as it relates to current and future strains of COVID-19.

Please reach out to our Traveler Support team if you have any questions either now or in the future about your ability to comply with any COVID-19 travel requirement.

COVID-19 Vaccination and Pre-Tour Testing

Neither vaccination against COVID-19 nor pre-tour COVID-19 testing is required to participate on an EF Go Ahead Tours program unless required by any destination on your itinerary or by a tour-related supplier or activity provider.

For a traveler’s health and safety and to help avoid an interruption of their tour experience, EF Go Ahead Tours does, however, highly recommend that travelers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (including being up to date on all eligible booster doses) and take a COVID-19 test prior to departure.

EF Go Ahead Tours will take all reasonable efforts to notify travelers and their groups in the event any COVID-19 vaccination or testing requirement becomes applicable to their tour program. Travelers are, however, ultimately responsible for verifying, monitoring, and complying with any such requirement based on their tour itinerary (including countries visited solely in transit).

Please note that international travel requirements pertaining to COVID-19 vaccinations and testing requirements, including destination entry and supplier requirements and local isolation and quarantine guidelines, can be implemented and changed at any time and with little or no notice.

Some destinations require that travelers either show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative, lab-based COVID-19 test taken shortly before arrival. Please note that due to the group travel model of educational tour programs, EF Go Ahead Tours cannot facilitate on tour testing for unvaccinated travelers in order to meet any COVID-19 travel requirement, including entry requirements applicable to countries on a multi-country itinerary visited subsequent to the commencement of the tour program. The group travel model also makes it impracticable for travelers to independently schedule COVID-19 testing while on tour. As a result, travelers will need to fulfill the strictest destination’s vaccination requirements, if vaccination is required on their tour program, prior to their departure from the United States. Travelers may only present documentation of required testing in lieu of vaccination if they are able to satisfy these requirements, inclusive of the required timeframe of the test, prior to their departure on the tour program.

Travelers unable or unwilling to satisfy any COVID-19 vaccination and/or testing requirement applicable to their tour program will be subject to EF Go Ahead Tours’ Standard Cancellation Policy.

Pre-Departure COVID-19 Positive Test Result

If a traveler tests positive for COVID-19 prior to departure, they must be fever free (without fever medication) for at least 24 hours prior to their departure. These travelers should take added precautions when around others on their tour program until the fifth day from the date of their COVID positive test or the onset of their symptoms.

If a traveler tests positive for COVID-19 and has a fever within 24 hours of their departure to tour, they should contact our Traveler Support team to discuss their eligibility for travel.

On-Tour Mask Wearing, Testing, or Other COVID-19 Health Requirements

Although not a requirement for all tour programs, EF Go Ahead Tours strongly recommends that travelers wear a high-quality face mask in crowded indoor spaces or other areas of potentially high transmission. Travelers must also comply with any applicable country, local, supplier, or other activity or venue requirements and any instructions of their Tour Director or EF Go Ahead Tours staff while on the tour program related to mask wearing, testing, or other COVID-19 requirements.

On-Tour COVID-19 Diagnosis

Travelers must inform their Tour Director if they develop COVID-19 related symptoms on tour and may not rejoin the tour group until permission is granted by their Tour Director or EF Go Ahead Tours.

Travelers who test positive for COVID-19 while on tour must isolate in accordance with local regulations or CDC guidelines (in the absence of destination requirements) and may not rejoin the tour program until these requirements are met. The CDC currently requires an individual who tests positive for COVID-19 to isolate and monitor for symptoms and end isolation only when they are both (i) fever-free and (ii) their symptoms are improved over a 24-hour period. Regardless of when isolation ends, CDC guidance currently states that individuals should take added precautions to prevent the spread of illness, including maintaining physical distance from others and wearing a high-quality, well-fitted mask through Day 5.

EF will support travelers who test positive for COVID-19 while on tour by facilitating their isolation in accordance with local regulations or CDC guidelines (in the absence of destination requirements). This includes arranging lodging at the destination and, whenever possible, pre-paid room service. If pre-paid room service is not possible, travelers may reimburse up to $50 per day per traveler for food delivery. In addition, once they’re cleared to end isolation, EF Go Ahead Tours will reimburse up to $50 per person for transportation from the traveler’s hotel to either reunite with their tour group and continue travel or go to the international airport to return home, and EF Go Ahead Tours will arrange and pay for their return flight based on the traveler’s existing itinerary.