As spring approaches and vaccinations continue to be rolled out nationwide, some states have begun to remove or loosen their travel restrictions. Even if some states have no restrictions on allowing leisure travel, all their official websites have important COVID-19 safety information. For instance, most states have mandates on face masks in public settings. Click "Read More" below for a comprehensive list of state-specific travel restrictions and safety mandates currently in place across the US as assembled by CNN.

American Airlines has announced that AAdvantage members can now redeem miles to order an at-home COVID-19 testing kit through LetsGetChecked, one of American’s testing partners. The pre-flight testing program covers nine countries and any US city, state or territory that has COVID-19 travel restrictions. To request a testing kit, members can contact AAdvantage Customer Service and redeem 12,000 miles. In order to receive results in time for travel, kits must be requested at least 10 business days before departure. AAdvantage members can also redeem their miles for other options, including access to the Admirals Club, upgrades to First and Business class, car rentals, hotel reservations and American Airlines Vacations packages.

Gloria Guevara, CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said that “this will be a strong summer for travel to Europe – including inbound travel,” reports Travel Pulse. Speaking at a webinar organized by the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), she called on governments to move in a coordinated way to enable “mobility” through consistent testing and documentation requirements. One method, she said, would be to focus on “individual risk assessment” rather than institute bans based on national risk assessment – “painting entire countries with the same brush.” The goal of WTTC’s plan, said Guevara, is to have a “V-shaped” rapid recovery as happened after the financial crisis of 2008-9 rather than the slower “U-shaped” recovery after 9-11, which took several years. She said what is necessary for that to happen are:

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has built a mobile app to serve as a single point of entry for travelers to access CBP mobile apps and services, reports Travel Weekly. By asking users questions, the app, called the CBP One Mobile App, guides travelers to appropriate services, such as reporting their arrival, completing documents or making appointments, based on their specific needs. The app also allows travelers to streamline their travel into the US by providing information before or upon arrival or departure. Rollout has begun for app features including allowing travelers to apply for an I-94, view an existing I-94 or their previous travel history for the past five years and check land border wait times from their mobile devices. Additional features planned for future releases include pleasure boat reporting, the ability to apply for and update a cruising license, view the status of a Trusted Traveler Program application and schedule CBP services for commercial vessel arrivals and non-perishable cargo exams. The CBP One Mobile App is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

European Union (EU) officials confirmed that they’re working on a European ‘digital green pass’ and the European Commission is expected to publish a draft of the legislation by March 17, reports Travel Pulse. While still controversial, vaccine passports would enable those who’ve been fully vaccinated to move more freely between countries within the bloc. The scheme would allow fully vaccinated travelers to bypass member states’ current restrictions, such as 10-day quarantine and mandatory testing measures. Vaccine passports would potentially link to not only official vaccination certificates, but recent COVID-19 test results and/or documented evidence of previous recovery from COVID-19. The timeline for actually launching this digital vaccine passport should become clearer once the official proposal has been released, but several countries are hoping that it will arrive in time to facilitate summer travel.