travel to las vegas without vaccine

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Ask a Travel Nerd: Can I Travel Without a COVID Vaccine?

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Domestic travel for unvaccinated travelers

International travel for unvaccinated travelers, final thoughts on traveling without a covid vaccine.

Between constantly changing entry requirements, mandated quarantines, testing rules and vaccine provisions, traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t easy. If you’re not vaccinated, it's even harder. Some countries flat-out don’t admit unvaccinated travelers, while others require a mandatory quarantine and extra tests.

If you plan on traveling and aren't vaccinated, here’s what you need to know.

As recently as Jan. 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend delaying travel until you’re fully vaccinated.

Requirements are up to each city and state. For example, while Illinois doesn’t have statewide restrictions, its recommendations differ based on the daily COVID-19 case rates of the state the traveler is arriving from. Unvaccinated travelers arriving from states with higher case rates are encouraged to secure a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of travel to Illinois. At the city level, unvaccinated travelers going to Chicago are asked to get tested for COVID-19 before and after arrival and to quarantine upon arrival.

Meanwhile, all travelers 16 and older who enter California via Los Angeles International Airport, Van Nuys Airport or Los Angeles Union Station are required to fill out a City of Los Angeles Traveler Form, agreeing to follow CDC travel guidance — or face up to a $500 fine.

Other states may be more flexible and have no recommendations or requirements related to vaccination, quarantine, forms or testing for visitors.

Tips for traveling domestically without a vaccine

If the required time frame for getting a COVID-19 test ahead of travel is less than 24 hours, check if an urgent care center near you offers a rapid results option. In addition, check if a PCR and/or antigen test will be accepted. Generally, results from an antigen test can be provided faster. If you have insurance, the test may be covered.

Before heading to your intended destination, check the city and state requirements and recommendations, because they may differ (like Chicago and Illinois). Find out if your destination has any special requirements based on the state you’re arriving from.

Some businesses require proof of vaccination for entry. Be prepared to be turned away from restaurants, bars, stores and other establishments if this is the case.

Check if there are any ongoing testing requirements. For example, unvaccinated travelers staying in Puerto Rico longer than a week must submit weekly COVID-19 test results.

» Learn more: The majority of Americans plan to travel this year, according to recent NerdWallet study

Traveling internationally may present a greater number of obstacles, especially due to different systems and a potential language barrier. Some countries don't allow unvaccinated travelers to enter, period . For example, travel to the majority of European countries is possible only to those who are vaccinated. If you’re not vaccinated, make sure the country you want to visit will allow you entry.

In addition, before returning to the U.S., you’re required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within one day of the flight's departure. While abroad, you’ll need to go to a COVID-19 testing center. Unlike getting tested in the U.S., COVID-19 tests abroad aren't covered by insurance, so you'll need to budget for the out-of-pocket cost .

Furthermore, you should book your accommodations wisely. Does the hotel you want to stay at allow unvaccinated guests? Will you be able to dine at the hotel restaurant? Can you use the spa or gym facilities? These are important questions you’ll need to consider before booking an international hotel stay.

Scrutinize your access to activities and other places you’d like to visit during your trip, too, like restaurants and museums. On my recent trip to Germany, I had to show my proof of vaccination and identification in every bar, restaurant, shop and hotel I entered.

If you’re unvaccinated, you may be refused entry to all these places, which can ruin your trip.

Tips for traveling internationally without a vaccine

Get travel insurance with Cancel For Any Reason coverage since entry requirements are changing constantly. What happens if you book a nonrefundable flight and hotel, and a week before your departure, your destination stops allowing in unvaccinated travelers? If you have travel insurance with CFAR, you’ll be able to cancel your trip and get your nonrefundable deposits back so long as changes aren’t made at the last minute. For example, with CFAR coverage from Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, "you may only be eligible if you purchase CFAR at the time of your base policy purchase, insure your full trip cost, and cancel more than 48 hours prior to departure," according to the company's website.

Confirm entry eligibility for your must-have experiences, like restaurants, museums, shopping malls or bars and clubs. Double-check that your hotel will allow you entry as well.

Research COVID-19 testing sites in the area before departure. Will you need to travel far to get your test? Consider travel time when making a test appointment.

Check if there's an app that your destination country uses that will accept your pre-departure negative COVID-19 test result. This step could make it easier to visit any bars, hotels, shops, restaurants and museums you’d like to check out.

Traveling domestically and internationally may pose a new set of challenges for those who are unvaccinated. Be sure to keep up to date with the latest requirements to make sure that your trip goes smoothly. International travel may result in many more difficulties, so if you’re not prepared to deal with all the uncertainties of being abroad, consider travel to a location within the U.S.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2023 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee:   Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

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Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

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2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

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What you need to know about COVID rules when you visit Las Vegas

A brief rundown of current restrictions in the city and Clark County for those visiting for the holidays.

Walk into a restaurant in Los Angeles or New York, and there’s a high likelihood you’ll be asked to provide some kind of proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

In Las Vegas and Clark County, though, that’s unlikely.

While businesses are able to impose such requirements on their clientele, few if any dining spots currently require proof of either full or partial COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to dine.

Here’s a brief rundown of current restrictions in the city for those visiting for the holidays.

Mask mandate

All but three counties in Nevada — Esmeralda, Storey and White Pine — are currently under a state face mask mandate, which is tied to COVID-19 metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means everyone, vaccinated or not, is required to mask up when at a crowded indoor place, including in casinos, restaurants, entertainment venues and at Harry Reid International Airport.

For a county to exit the mask mandate, it must record a seven-day average test positivity rate of under 8 percent and a case rate of less than 50 per 100,000 population in back-to-back weeks. Clark County has been required to mask up since the policy went into effect in late July.

Vaccination status

Some entertainment venues have taken advantage of an option added to the mandate in August by Gov. Steve Sisolak allowing them to bypass the requirement by denying entry to anyone who doesn’t provide proof of vaccination.

All attendees at Las Vegas Raiders games are required to be either fully or partially vaccinated: Fully vaccinated fans don’t have to wear a mask, while partially vaccinated fans — those who have received only one dose of a two-dose regimen — are instructed to wear a mask at all times. Unvaccinated fans are not allowed to attend.

UNLV basketball imposed an identical requirement for its season.

The Vegas Golden Knights do not require proof of vaccination for admittance but require all fans to wear masks inside T-Mobile Arena.

Other events, including live entertainment venues, music festivals and trade shows, have required those attending to provide proof of vaccination or the results of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of admittance.

Visitors planning to attend a show or concert in Las Vegas or on The Strip are advised to check with the venue.

Contact Jonah Dylan at [email protected]. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.

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At Vegas.com, we’re excited to welcome you back to Las Vegas and we want to do everything we can to assist you in having a great vacation. Here’s what we’re doing to help make it as stress-free as possible so you can book your Vegas vacation with confidence.

Keeping You in the Know: Our customer support team is working to provide the best service and support to each and every customer. While this is an evolving situation, please know the Vegas.com team is committed to adapting quickly and accordingly to changing plans as they unfold. For more information on reopening dates and enhanced safety measures, visit our Travel Guidelines page.

Cancellation Policy: Need a little more time before hitting the slots? We’ve got you covered. Our customers can cancel hotel bookings up to 48 hours before their reservation start date. Our customer support team can help cancel or rebook for a later date over phone or email. We make rebooking a breeze.

If you need to change your reservation, please email [email protected] with your request and be as detailed as possible, including your full name, reservation number, dates of travel and what the reservation is for.

Store Credit: If you need to rebook your visit and want to travel at a later date, you can take advantage of an accelerated rebooking process by receiving instant store credit, redeemable for any of our travel products (not just what your original reservation was for). Your store credit never expires and we can help you rebook when you are ready to do so.

Travel Insurance: For extra travel protection, we offer Allianz Travel Insurance for Air+Hotel package reservations. Covered trip cancellations, lost baggage and last-minute emergencies are protected, plus there is 24-hour live assistance and the convenient TravelSmart™ app to help you keep track of your travel plans and information. Please read Allianz Global Assistance's COVID-19 Coverage Alert for important information about insurance coverage and exclusions for losses resulting from COVID-19.

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When will Las Vegas tourism rebound from COVID? First, we need access to vaccines, international travel

LAS VEGAS – Not long ago, Nevada's tourism industry had no ceiling.

More people traveled here every year. Hotel-casinos transformed to give the people what they wanted, what they never knew they wanted – and a reason to return.

At the center of this philosophy? Giving vacationers experiences they value. But in the age of COVID-19, what they value has changed in a deep and profound way.

It's no longer about finding a place where you can let your hair down , leave the tie in the hotel room and be who you always wanted to be for a weekend . It's about finding a place that's clean and secluded and far from the perils of the pandemic .

As Nevada enters the new year, the dilemma that pressed pause on the state's economic engine appears to be one that no tourism slogan can solve.

What will it take for hotel-casinos to rebound and get people traveling again? We asked several industry insiders to find out.

No magic switch to flip tourism on

Howard Stutz has been around the Nevada gaming industry for three decades. The executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports, he spent years as a local newspaper reporter in Las Vegas, where he covered the Great Recession.

The catastrophic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are far worse, he said.

"The switch is not going to be flipped right away," Stutz told the USA TODAY Network. "Even though the vaccine looks like it's coming, it's still going to take some time."

On top of a widely available vaccine , several pieces must fall into place for Las Vegas and Nevada tourism to attract people again.

"You need to have international travel," Stutz said. "That's why Palazzo closed . They didn't have international business. It's a ghost town there. I think others are going to do the midweek closure for a while. The business just isn't there."

Without international travel and with devastated domestic travel , Las Vegas has become a regional gambling hub for drive-in business from California and Arizona.

Visitation is now down to levels the state hasn't seen since 1993 . With concerts and conventions canceled and hotel towers closed , Nevada will remain in financial trouble, with thousands of jobless residents stuck in a jammed unemployment system until COVID-19 restrictions are rolled back and travelers regain their confidence.

"It's still going to be a very slow process," Stutz said.

How long will it take?

Some tourism experts say next Christmas. Others say two years from now .

"Everybody's all over the place," Stutz said. "If the vaccine works, if this pandemic starts going away and other parts of the economy start rebounding, then we're going to start seeing more visitation maybe by summer."

But even with a bump in visitation, Nevada will have to play catch-up.

In 2019, Nevada generated $12 billion in gambling revenue. It was the first time in 12 years that the state reached that mark – and only the third time ever.

Gaming revenue is now down 36%. It stands to further dwindle by year's end.

"November is going to be a terrible month," Stutz said. "December is going to be even worse, because there's no rodeo and all the New Year's Eve stuff has been canceled. It's going to be a while before we get back."

Vaccine is only answer for slumping confidence

Even if Las Vegas opened every hotel tower, brought back every live show and Nevada allowed large conventions to return, a big problem remains: Getting people to feel confident enough to travel again.

"How do you get the certainty back?" Macquarie research analyst Chad Beynon said. "How can you announce one of these big concerts or events being open to the public if you don't know that you're going to be able to fill it?"

The solution, he said, is the vaccine, the first of which was approved by the FDA for U.S. distribution on Friday.

"That'll be the big thing," Beynon said. "We have three companies that are pretty far along in the process with the vaccine. If it's fully distributed and kids are back at school at the end of the first quarter, I think that's when people will start to get more comfortable – when their lives are a little more normal."

But the vaccine timeline could be a tricky one. An exclusive USA TODAY Network survey of health officials in all 50 states revealed a patchwork of preparations and different distribution plans that may mean wide variations in what the rollout looks like as it expands across the nation.

Asked how much of her staff's time is being taken up with getting ready for COVID-19 vaccinations, Nevada Immunization Program Manager Shannon Bennett answered simply, " all of it ."

Vegas can't slogan its way out of this one

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, travelers stopped flying. Plummeting casino revenue and visitor numbers forced tourism officials here to find a new way to draw people.

Part of the solution was a slogan: "What happens here, stays here." The R&R Partners advertising campaign launched in 2002 aimed to make people feel comfortable again.

And it worked. When travelers began to plot their getaways, they looked to the glittering Las Vegas Strip – a place where you could forget your problems and responsibilities.

“It is reflective of Las Vegas as a place where I can come and escape my doldrums and escape the treadmill that’s my life," R&R Partners CEO Billy Vassiliadis told the Las Vegas Sun in 2014.

But for most of the U.S. in 2020, COVID-19 made the classic Las Vegas vacation an impossibility, and no catch-phrase would bring it back.

'A pent-up need to celebrate something'

When the pandemic collapsed the visitor stream to Nevada, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and R&R Partners launched a new 30-second television spot that aimed to reflect a post-pandemic landscape.

The new campaign – called “Reimagined” – offered a toned-down glimpse of Las Vegas tourism, focusing on outdoor recreation and intimate settings. One shot showed a man and woman in a warm bar conversation, a glass of wine separating them.

But as December ticks away, air travel to Las Vegas remains down by 50 percent.

"The long-term solution is the vaccine," Vassiliadis told the USA TODAY Network Wednesday. "As the vaccine goes beyond just health care workers and first responders and the public starts to get vaccinated, I think we'll see an easing of the tension – an incremental growth in confidence and a sense of comfort."

The Las Vegas pitchman is optimistic about what will happen in Nevada's tourism markets when people start traveling again.

"Assuming the general public starts to get vaccinated in April," Vassiliadis said, "there won't be a recovery. There will be a boom in Vegas. In my regular life, I've either said it or heard it a hundred times: 'Honey, we'll celebrate my birthday next year when it's OK,' or 'Honey, we'll do our anniversary next year' or 'We'll save up all the events we missed and have one big party.'"

Las Vegas is where they'll go, he said.

"Vegas is a place where people come and celebrate special things," Vassiliadis said. "Bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, anniversaries, the first time we met, whatever it may be. There's a pent up need to celebrate something, and I think seeing the end of the pandemic will create cause and reason for recapturing the missed moments."

Ed Komenda writes about Las Vegas for the Reno Gazette Journal and USA Today Network. Do you care about democracy? Then support local journalism by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal .

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Las Vegas: When will Nevada tourism rebound from COVID-19 impact?

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Covid-19 vaccine.

Where to get the COVID-19 vaccine and answers to common questions.

All Nevadans aged 5 and older are eligible to be vaccinated.

Find a vaccination site here .

If you have questions about the vaccine, please visit  https://www.immunizenevada.org/nv-covid-fighter for statewide information and  https://covid.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/vaccine/ .

The information provided on this page is from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Immunize Nevada and the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD).  

Get more information about vaccines in children

Vaccine 101

How does it work?

From the CDC:

COVID-19 vaccines help our bodies develop immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 without us having to get the illness. Different types of vaccines work in different ways to offer protection, but with all types of vaccines, the body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes as well as B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that virus in the future.

It typically takes a few weeks for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes after vaccination. Therefore, it is possible that a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection.

Sometimes after vaccination, the process of building immunity can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building immunity.

Are any of the vaccines FDA approved?

On Aug. 23, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Pfizer vaccine.

Does it  give you the virus?

From Immunize Nevada:

No. None of the authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 vaccines currently in development in the United States contain the live virus that causes COVID-19. This means that a COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19.

There are several different types of vaccines in development. All of them teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Sometimes this process can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19.

Does it prevent you from getting the virus?

Based on what we know about how vaccines work, experts believe that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.

If I had coronavirus, should I still get the vaccine or do I have immunity?

Due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, vaccine should be offered to you regardless of whether you already had COVID-19 infection.

At this time, experts do not know how long someone is protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19. The immunity someone gains from having an infection, called natural immunity, varies from person to person. Some early evidence suggests natural immunity may not last very long.

We won’t know how long immunity produced by vaccination lasts until we have more data on how well the vaccines work.

Both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity are important aspects of COVID-19 that experts are trying to learn more about, and CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.

Why are we being ask to continue to wear a mask and social distance after receiving the vaccine?

Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools available. Vaccines work with your immune system so your body will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed. Other steps, like covering your mouth and nose with a mask and physical distancing, help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others. Together, COVID-19 vaccination and following CDC’s recommendations  to protect yourself and others  will offer the best protection from COVID-19.

Wearing a mask is still recommended during the pandemic. We do know that the vaccine has been shown to protect the people who receive it; however, we do not have enough information to know if it protects those who haven’t been vaccinated. It is important to continue to  wear a mask  that covers your nose and mouth when in contact with others outside your household, when you are in a health care facility, and when receiving any vaccine, including a COVID-19 vaccine. For more information, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has more information at  Considerations for Wearing Masks .

How long will the vaccine last/ be effective?

We won’t know how long immunity lasts after vaccination until we have more data on how well COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions.

Experts are working to learn more about both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.

Experts also do not know what percentage of people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 at this time. Herd immunity (community immunity) is a term used to describe when enough people have protection—either from previous infection or vaccination—that it is unlikely a virus or bacteria can spread and cause disease. As a result, everyone within the community is protected even if some people don’t have any protection themselves. The percentage of people who need to have protection in order to achieve community immunity varies by disease.

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