Will I be insured if I go?

The FCDO does not advise against non-essential travel to the US, so your insurance should be valid. Always check with your supplier before travelling.

Do I need to take a test before travelling to the US?

All passengers travelling to the US from the UK are currently required to test negative (via a viral test) typically no more than 72 hours before departure. This time limit can vary depending on vaccination status, so do consult official advice (cdc.gov) before booking a trip, and travelling. 

However, the White House has announced that the pre-travel testing window will be reduced to ‘within one day of departure,’ from December 6. 

To help simplify the process and make pricing more transparent, the UK Government has launched an official Covid test comparison website. The gov.uk website provides travellers with information on the cheapest, quickest and most efficient Covid test companies in their region.

Do I need to fill out any forms?

All adult passengers will be required to fill in an official ‘attestation form’ at check-in that confirms their full vaccination status, and it will be a crime to lie about it on the form. 

Do I need to self-isolate on arrival?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) requires (with notable exceptions) all unvaccinated arrivals by air into the US to quarantine for at least seven days, and to take a Covid-19 test (PCR or antigen) three to five days after arrival. Passengers fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO-approved vaccine do not have to quarantine. Under-18s who are not fully vaccinated (see the US definition of ‘fully vaccinated’) need to take a viral test within 3 to 5 days of arrival – local testing facilities can be found here.

If you are travelling domestically within the US, individual states and territories have their own quarantine requirements. 

Do I need to wear a mask?

There is no nationwide mask mandate, but there are some state and local requirements that dictate mask requirements in indoor public places. 

In addition, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to strongly advise mask use, regardless of vaccination status, in hospitals and long-term care facilities, while face coverings are required on all public transport, notably at airports and stations. Those with additional state-wide orders include:

California

Required for unvaccinated individuals in indoor public settings and businesses, while the vaccinated must still mask up on public transport. The full mask mandate returned for the most populous county, Los Angeles County, home to the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu, in July, with masks recommended for everyone. Further details here.

Colorado

Highly populated Boulder County (north-west Denver) mandates masking for those aged two and up in public places indoors unless the owner or operator of a business or facility requires proof of vaccination for all entrants. Further details here.

Connecticut 

Required for unvaccinated people aged two and over in indoor public places, and recommended for crowded outdoor spaces and at large events. Businesses have the option to require masks for patrons, while the cities of New Haven and Hartford have mandated masks for all indoors. Further details here.

District of Columbia

The home of the nation’s capital has decided to go back to mask-wearing for everyone while indoors, irrespective of vaccination status. Further details here.

Florida

While Sunshine State governor Ron DeSantis has banned individual cities and counties from implementing new mask-wearing and other counter-virus measures, Orange, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties – among the most-visited areas of the state – have issued strongly-worded advisories for everyone to wear masks again, while making it mandatory for all public employees. Walt Disney World has also reverted to an indoor mask-wearing requirement, whether people are vaccinated or not. Other theme parks have made masks “recommended” at indoor locations. Further details here.

Georgia

In the latest statement from governor Brian Kemp, all residents are “strongly encouraged to wear face coverings” outside the home, and he has reversed his 2020 order to allow local governments to impose limited mask mandates, as major cities like Atlanta have reverted to making masks obligatory in public. Further details here.

Hawaii

The state’s recent mask directive still requires those aged five and up to wear a face-covering in most indoor public settings, and requires businesses to refuse admission or service to maskless patrons in most circumstances. Further details here.

Illinois 

Another state that has reverted to recommending masks in indoor public places again, regardless of vaccination status, while all schools also require masks once more. Further details here.

Indiana

A mask “advisory” is now back in place, while they are required in all government buildings. Further details here.

Louisiana

Having become one of America’s leading states for the current virus spike, the governor has issued a new temporary order requiring masks be worn in all indoor public areas. Further details here.

Massachusetts

Those who remain unvaccinated are advised to continue wearing face coverings. Boston has re-imposed a citywide mandate covering everyone age three or older in indoor public places, except when eating or drinking. Third-largest city Springfield also requires face-covering in indoor public settings and at outdoor gatherings where social distancing cannot be maintained. Further details here.

Missouri

The city and county of St Louis reimposed a local mask mandate on July 27 covering all people aged five and over, regardless of vaccination status, in indoor public places and on public transportation, as cases have reached a six-month high. Further details here.

Nevada

Another high-volume tourist state, the home of Las Vegas now has a state-wide mandate in place that requires indoor masking for everyone aged nine and older, regardless of vaccination status. Further details here.

New Mexico

Governor Lujan Grisham reinstated a statewide mask mandate for everyone, regardless whether they are vaccinated or not, on August 20. Further details here.

New York

Masks are required for unvaccinated people when in public places and for everyone on public transport and in health care and long-term care facilities. Businesses may require proof of vaccination to meet mask or social distancing directives. Further details here.

North Carolina

The city of Raleigh and the counties that are home to the cities of Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Asheville have all instituted indoor mask mandates covering vaccinated as well as unvaccinated people. Further details here.

Ohio

Masks are required in indoor public places in the state capital and largest city Columbus. Further details here.

Oregon

Since August 27, masks have been required in most public outdoor settings, including large outdoor events, where physical distancing is not possible, and regardless of vaccination status. The Oregon Health Authority also strongly recommends masking for outdoor gatherings at private residences “when individuals from different households do not consistently maintain physical distance”. Further details here.

Rhode Island

The governor’s full executive order for everyone to wear masks was cancelled on July 6, but the state’s Department of Health continues to strongly recommend face-covering for people who are not fully vaccinated when indoors with people from outside their household and outdoors in crowded settings.

South Carolina

Columbia, the state’s capital and second-largest city, and surrounding Richland County have adopted new mandates requiring masking in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status. Columbia’s order also covers outdoor settings where social distancing is “impractical or impossible”. Since September 13, the order also applies to outdoor events attended by 500 or more people. Further details here.

Washington 

Another state that has recently reverted to a full mask mandate for everyone in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status. Further details here.

Wyoming

Although the governor refuses to impose a state-wide order, the state health department strongly recommends mask use in public places “when common-sense physical distancing cannot be maintained”. Further details here. 

What are the rules on beaches?

You would never know there was anything amiss to judge America purely by its beaches. From the California surf to the coral reefs of the Florida Keys, everywhere is open for business and working at a pre-pandemic level of normal.

Back in March, the Miami Beach mayor had to declare a curfew when spring break crowds threatened to overwhelm local law enforcement with their boisterous numbers, but that level of rowdy revelling has given way to a more regular picture of widespread beach usage.

Many municipal businesses and beachfront hotels and bars still ask employees to mask up when serving or interacting with the public, but visitors are left to decide for themselves if face covering is the order of the day outdoors.

What are the rules in bars?

Like nationwide mask mandates, these tend to vary according to state, but, as with the growing number of the double-jabbed, those who are fully vaccinated are increasingly allowed to determine their own level of risk and go mask-free.

Nearly everywhere is now permitted to open to full capacity after months of being limited to 50 or even 25 per cent of the usual customer base. Even cautious California, which has had some of the strictest legislation about indoor drinking, rolled out its “grand reopening” in June with Governor Gavin Newsome insisting: “The state is not just poised to recover, it’s poised to come roaring back.”

What are the rules for restaurants?

Just a few months ago, most restaurants were still limited to either a severely reduced indoor capacity or dining al fresco. Makeshift pavement dining and hurried by-laws allowing alcohol takeaways and consumption outside were all the rage, but that has now given way almost completely to a normal lunch and dinner-time scene at restaurants from New England to New Mexico.

Individual establishments are still free to dictate their own mask policies, but the days of having to manage a quick bite or two in between pulling your mask aside are long gone.

What are the rules for shopping?

This sees possibly the biggest variety across the nation, as some states – and even some counties within states – allow shops to continue to insist on face masks for all customers.

Until recently, the fully vaccinated population had been increasingly entitled to browse the shelves without any kind of face covering, but the current rise of the Delta variant has forced several states to reinstate mask mandates in public indoor places.

What are the rules in hotels?

Understandably, given their greater vulnerability to spreading the virus, hotels have been slow to embrace the country’s increasingly laissez-faire attitude towards pandemic precautions. Plexiglass screens, scrupulous deep-cleaning and, yes, the requirement for face masks in public areas have still been the order of the day in some of the big-name hotel chains, but the fully vaccinated can now catch a break here, too.

With the CDC’s big May pronouncement about the vaccinated population being able to ditch their face coverings in many instances, hotels have gradually relaxed this requirement, albeit guests should always check this specific in advance.

What are the rules on public transport?

If there is one area that remains unconvinced by the rest of the country’s eagerness to free itself of masks, it is the realm of planes, trains and buses, particularly for airports and airlines. The CDC has made it clear that federal guidelines for being masked at all times, unless eating or drinking, remain the regulation du jour, and this policy is still being rigidly enforced.

While theme parks, restaurants and cinemas all allow a vaccination honour system, taking a flight or train journey is a national matter, and travellers must mask up, whether they have been double-jabbed or not.

Shall I take cash or pay for everything on a card?

Virtually everywhere that takes customers’ money has invested in some kind of cashless – and touchless – payment system in order to reduce as many points of contact as possible.

Using your phone to pre-order and pay for food and other items in restaurants is now one of the biggest trends in US retail, and it is almost certainly here to stay, virus or no virus.

Do I need to take a test before travelling back to England?

Since October 4, fully vaccinated travellers (and under 18s from the UK or those resident in a country with an approved vaccination programme) do not need to take a pre-departure test 72 hours before returning to England. However, unvaccinated travellers do need to take a test and bring evidence before flying home.

Due to concerns over the omicron variant, all travellers (regardless of vaccination status) must now take a Day 2 PCR test on arrival in the UK – to be taken by the end of the second full day after arrival – and isolate until a negative result is received. Anyone who tests positive must isolate for 10 days. Unvaccinated travellers must also take a PCR test on or after day 8 and isolate until day 10 unless opting into Test to Release. You can find the Government’s rules on testing before departure, here.