Covid restrictions abroad: updates & observations

[TravelDream]

I find this hard to believe. Everyone I've seen post about what tests they are using seem to be using antigen/lateral flow tests because they are cheaper and results come back quicker.

It's totally unbelievable.
I imagine well over 90% of pre-departure tests in Spain are lateral flow. Go on the Tripadvisor forums and you'll see people asking for recommendations. The answers are universally lateral flow places. Many people buy them before leaving the UK to take with them. They will all be lateral flow tests. Some people will leave it late and do it at the airport. Guess what? All lateral flow.

 

[kristiang85]

Yep for my upcoming trip, I've looked up the airport tests and indeed there are rapid antigen LFTs for around £30 - I'm not shelling out for a damn PCR twice.

 

[nw1]

It was actually Metropolitan France (but not Réunion) in the SI, amazingly.

Hopefully the price increase on the Red List raises the profile of this as a serious human rights issue. It seems to be that the U.K. wants to encourage people waiting out their quarantine to do so in another country, a bit like New Zealand did with India. It’s quite selfish to want to fob off problems on the rest of the world like that.

What I don't understand is why the UK government force people to pay a huge amount of their own money to stay in hotels. £1500 was bad enough, now it's £2285?

Do they honestly believe people can afford this kind of money, particularly as they seem to put places on the 'red' list with little or no warning? This is beyond the sort of money that most people can afford.

Greece, by contrast, will put you in a hotel if you test positive on arrival for free. And you're telling me that a country with well-documented financial problems can afford to do this, and the UK cannot?

More likely, I suspect, is that the Government is seeking to exploit a captive market. Nothing would surprise me about Bozo, Patel and the rest. I have never known a more corrupt government in my life - and I've seen a few bad ones.

 

[Bikeman78]

What I don't understand is why the UK government force people to pay a huge amount of their own money to stay in hotels. £1500 was bad enough, now it's £2285?

Do they honestly believe people can afford this kind of money, particularly as they seem to put places on the 'red' list with little or no warning? This is beyond the sort of money that most people can afford.

Greece, by contrast, will put you in a hotel if you test positive on arrival for free. And you're telling me that a country with well-documented financial problems can afford to do this, and the UK cannot?

More likely, I suspect, is that the Government is seeking to exploit a captive market. Nothing would surprise me about Bozo, Patel and the rest. I have never known a more corrupt government in my life - and I've seen a few bad ones.

I don't see the point of it at all. We have Covid here, they have it in Spain, France, Germany etc. So what's the point? I can understand it for places like New Zealand but not for countries where it is endemic.

Also what is the end game? What will have changed one year from now?

 

[johncrossley]

Because the red lists (or equivalent) are not internationally agreed, it is probably cheaper to go somewhere else on the green or amber list before arriving in the UK where you can quarantine in any hotel for 10 days, and then fly to the UK afterwards.

As an aside, I arranged to meet someone at a central London hotel recently, but wasn't sure which one it was. I went to what I thought was the right one but after staying in the lobby area for 10 minutes I realised it wasn't. As I was leaving, staff kept coming up to me to ask if I had checked in. I said I was just meeting someone but it was the wrong hotel, but they kept persisting. I was getting a bit scared so I started to run, but they ran after me and caught me in the street. Luckily a police car was just passing so I shouted for help. I had my passport on me so I could prove to the police and hotel that I wasn't checked in. I thought they thought I was trying to avoid paying a hotel bill but it turned out it was a Covid hotel and there would have been a big fine for 'escaping' from there.

 

[WestRiding]

I didn't think it justified a seperate thread, so. I am thinking of going to Hamburg shortley. Day 1 fly out. 3 full days. Fly back. I cannot for the life of me figure out or understand how I go about getting a test while in Hamburg that gives me authorisation to fly apparently 72 hours before coming home? Can anyone shed any light on what is to me, a very confusing set up.

And hypothetical, but how would the test requirements be fulfilled if I was there 48 hours for example, less than the 72 required?

I have scanned gov website but its all specific to when I get back into this country. Also find it strange that a test of similar is not required here to go out to Germany.

I consider myself an experienced traveller, but with all this I now find myself anxious and not actually knowing how to get abroad.

Thanks.

 

[johncrossley]

I didn't think it justified a seperate thread, so. I am thinking of going to Hamburg shortley. Day 1 fly out. 3 full days. Fly back. I cannot for the life of me figure out or understand how I go about getting a test while in Hamburg that gives me authorisation to fly apparently 72 hours before coming home? Can anyone shed any light on what is to me, a very confusing set up.

And hypothetical, but how would the test requirements be fulfilled if I was there 48 hours for example, less than the 72 required?

I have scanned gov website but its all specific to when I get back into this country. Also find it strange that a test of similar is not required here to go out to Germany.

I consider myself an experienced traveller, but with all this I now find myself anxious and not actually knowing how to get abroad.

Thanks.

For a trip less than 3 days you can even take your lateral flow test in the UK, before you leave

Travel to England from another country – COVID-19 rules

Check if there are any COVID-19 rules in place for travel to England from abroad.

www.gov.uk

If you are returning to the UK within 3 days, you can use the result of a COVID-19 test that you take in the UK before you travel. You must use a private test provider for the test and not an NHS test.

The service on which you will arrive back in the UK must set off for the UK within 3 days of when you took the test.

Most airports offer lateral flow tests, it would be surprising if Hamburg didn't offer one. You can buy a test in the UK that you take with you on your trip, which can be verified either by video call or by uploading a picture of your test.

Yes, most countries seem to be happy with evidence of vaccination and don't require tests if you have such evidence.

 

[WestRiding]

For a trip less than 3 days you can even take your lateral flow test in the UK, before you leave

Travel to England from another country – COVID-19 rules

Check if there are any COVID-19 rules in place for travel to England from abroad.

www.gov.uk

Most airports offer lateral flow tests, it would be surprising if Hamburg didn't offer one. You can buy a test in the UK that you take with you on your trip, which can be verified either by video call or by uploading a picture of your test.

Yes, most countries seem to be happy with evidence of vaccination and don't require tests if you have such evidence.

Thank you, very helpful.

 

[johnnychips]

Why do you have to buy a Lateral Flow Test when the NHS provide them for free? Is it that the ones you buy are ‘supervised’ by someone so you can’t fiddle it?

 

[WestRiding]

Why do you have to buy a Lateral Flow Test when the NHS provide them for free? Is it that the ones you buy are ‘supervised’ by someone so you can’t fiddle it?

Keeping privateers in a job

 

[nw1]

I don't see the point of it at all. We have Covid here, they have it in Spain, France, Germany etc. So what's the point? I can understand it for places like New Zealand but not for countries where it is endemic.

Also what is the end game? What will have changed one year from now?

Good question. The only thing that does make sense is having a test before you get on the plane (or train, or boat) as they are crowded environments.

What does not make sense, even for amber countries, is the UK government then insisting on further tests when you get back. If you're clean on the plane, where exactly are you going to get Covid other than border security giving it to you?

Managed to get out of the country for a while over the winter, leaving before the lockdown. Was happy to quarantine as I could work remotely - but - didn't particularly appreciate spending £400 for further tests after I'd already had a test before boarding the plane.

 

[WestRiding]

Its an absolute joke when it becomes harder to get back into your own country than it is Germany for a holiday, for example.

 

[Cdd89]

Its an absolute joke when it becomes harder to get back into your own country than it is Germany for a holiday, for example.

It’ll be killing tourism too. If I were indifferent about my destination, I wouldn’t choose the place that needs a £30 pre-departure test and a £50 PCR test. The latter is particularly onerous for a visitor due to needing to get a kit without an address, and the greater risks of a positive result.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Its an absolute joke when it becomes harder to get back into your own country than it is Germany for a holiday, for example.

I think it's a way of damping down demand for international travel, without actually banning it.
The other point of the PCR test on arrival from abroad is to enable the genome-sequencing of cases in order to track "variants of interest".
It didn't work with the Delta variant.

 

[Yew]

For a trip less than 3 days you can even take your lateral flow test in the UK, before you leave


.

That statement truly highlights the pointlessness of this all.

 

[nw1]

I think it's a way of damping down demand for international travel, without actually banning it.
The other point of the PCR test on arrival from abroad is to enable the genome-sequencing of cases in order to track "variants of interest".
It didn't work with the Delta variant.

The issue there is, do we want to 'dampen down demand for international travel' long-term, with the possibly severe economic consequences that might bring, particularly for countries which rely on tourism a great deal (the southern European countries like Greece for example, which always seem to get shafted). Not to mention people that might need to travel between countries regularly, e.g. they are a national of a country other than their current country of residence. From what I gather, the 'Delta' mutation is in much of continental Europe now, and the 'British' mutation similarly spread to the Continent over the winter, despite the lockdown.

Ironically (from the Government's attitude), spending the winter in another country might have saved me from catching Covid, as the case levels were much lower in the small town where I was staying, than my home city in the UK.

So can we carry on like this forever? I think 'tests before boarding aircraft' is a sensible middle-of-the-road policy for now.

 

[WestRiding]

That statement truly highlights the pointlessness of this all.

Yes, absolutely bonkers. Yet nobody seems to question or challenge it. Test at home, then catch it on day one in Germany, but the test you did says its fine.

 

[Bikeman78]

Good question. The only thing that does make sense is having a test before you get on the plane (or train, or boat) as they are crowded environments.

What does not make sense, even for amber countries, is the UK government then insisting on further tests when you get back. If you're clean on the plane, where exactly are you going to get Covid other than border security giving it to you?

Managed to get out of the country for a while over the winter, leaving before the lockdown. Was happy to quarantine as I could work remotely - but - didn't particularly appreciate spending £400 for further tests after I'd already had a test before boarding the plane.

I could buy an all line rover and spend a week travelling around the UK on 100 different trains. Difficult to see how a bashing trip in Germany would be any different.

 

[nw1]

I could buy an all line rover and spend a week travelling around the UK on 100 different trains. Difficult to see how a bashing trip in Germany would be any different.

Exactly. I suspect some UK cities have more Covid risk than most of continental Europe, yet there is no mandatory quarantine and double test if you return from said UK cities.

Why do you have to buy a Lateral Flow Test when the NHS provide them for free? Is it that the ones you buy are ‘supervised’ by someone so you can’t fiddle it?

Lateral Flow is the 'Rapid' test I presume, the one that you can get from pharmacies?
I'd guess that the government doesn't want to use public money to fund people's holidays. (I am not agreeing with the policy, just stating the likely reason for it)

 

[Yew]

I'd guess that the government doesn't want to use public money to fund people's holidays. (I am not agreeing with the policy, just stating the likely reason for it)

By any chance to Tory donors own a large number of rental properties in Cornwall?

 

[island]

Why do you have to buy a Lateral Flow Test when the NHS provide them for free? Is it that the ones you buy are ‘supervised’ by someone so you can’t fiddle it?

It’s not appropriate for NHS resources to be used to fund discretionary travel.

Tests to go home do not need to be supervised but a certificate of negative result must be produced by the testing company; most that I have seen require you to complete the test over a video call showing your passport to the camera at the start, and then submit a photo of the clear test result after half an hour.

 

[Yew]

It’s not appropriate for NHS resources to be used to fund discretionary travel.

Why not? Many common travel vaccines are provided for free by the NHS, as well as treatment if someone comes beck with a tropical disease.

 

[Cdd89]

It’s not appropriate for NHS resources to be used to fund discretionary travel.

That's certainly one opinion, but plenty of other countries are offering free testing for this purpose. Gibraltar and the Netherlands are two countries where I have recently availed of free testing services for travel (in the former case for the post arrival test to meet their requirement, in the latter case for a pre-departure test with certificate). France offers highly subsidised travel testing with certificate, with a €20 credit for French residents, as I discovered when browsing the Disney Village testing site.

But taking the argument directly: I suspect people would feel rather differently if there were an attempt to impose this requirement to domestic discretionary travel, or domestic discretionary activities. "You must buy a PCR test after visiting a nightclub" would be electoral suicide. People would say that if the government sets the requirement, they should foot the bill. I don't really see the distinction between this and int'l travel?

 

[island]

That's certainly one opinion, but plenty of other countries are offering free testing for this purpose. Gibraltar and the Netherlands are two countries where I have recently availed of free testing services for travel (in the former case for the post arrival test to meet their requirement, in the latter case for a pre-departure test with certificate). France offers highly subsidised travel testing with certificate, with a €20 credit for French residents, as I discovered when browsing the Disney Village testing site.

It’s better than that, in fact, French residents get their tests for free on their equivalent of the NHS. Disney Village charges a €20 handling fee but most pharmacies are free.

This, however, is being phased out in October.

 

[Butts]

Why not? Many common travel vaccines are provided for free by the NHS, as well as treatment if someone comes beck with a tropical disease.

Or use the APD money to pay for them ?

 

[island]

Or use the APD money to pay for them ?

Not all travellers pay APD.

 

[Butts]

Not all travellers pay APD.

But it would certainly make a useful contribution to the costs involved for those where it is applicable.

 

[nw1]

But taking the argument directly: I suspect people would feel rather differently if there were an attempt to impose this requirement to domestic discretionary travel, or domestic discretionary activities. "You must buy a PCR test after visiting a nightclub" would be electoral suicide. People would say that if the government sets the requirement, they should foot the bill. I don't really see the distinction between this and int'l travel?

Good point, particularly as large parts of the UK are probably less safe w.r.t Covid than large parts of continental Europe.

Cynically I wonder whether there's a desire to enforce staying in the UK because the economy is in such a dire state (as a combination of lockdown and other off-topic recent events) and people will spend money in the UK?

Not averse to people spending more money in the UK to help the economy, but governments should not be doing it by force - and if people want to holiday abroad, it's their own choice. We are a free country still - I think.

Other countries are definitely less restrictive. Greece for instance only requires EITHER a vaccination OR a 'rapid' test. Probably because they value international visitors, and we, apparently, do not.

 

[Mintona]

All this testing is so complicated. I have a week off work in October and would love to go somewhere but I’m just not clever enough to work out how to. Probably end up in Yorkshire or something.

 

[VauxhallandI]

All this testing is so complicated. I have a week off work in October and would love to go somewhere but I’m just not clever enough to work out how to. Probably end up in Yorkshire or something.

Yep, I couldn't be bothered to work it all out. I could afford it but I resent it so I won't spend the money. It just feels like its almost there to trip you up.

I'm also not going to pay over the odds to sit in a dreary wet English town.