Covid restrictions abroad: updates & observations

[berneyarms]

So I am not a British or Irish citizen here. Can I legally take a flight from the UK to Dublin using my driving licence only?

No. You need your passport. As posted above, the provisions of the Common Travel Area only apply to Irish or UK citizens.

Depending on your nationality, you may also need a visa to enter Ireland.

Check out the Irish National Immigration Service website at https://www.irishimmigration.ie/ for more information.

Full list of Visa/Non-visa required countries is here: https://www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-...very-Visa-and-Non-Visa-Required-Countries.pdf

 

[Cdd89]

By the way, does anybody recommend a cheap but reputable Day 2 return testing company to book with for my return from Romania?

I’d argue that it doesn’t need to be reputable as you’re not bound by the speed of the results; it just needs to be on the government’s list. Expert Medicals are very cheap (and get appalling reviews) at £35.

 

[kristiang85]

I’d argue that it doesn’t need to be reputable as you’re not bound by the speed of the results; it just needs to be on the government’s list. Expert Medicals are very cheap (and get appalling reviews) at £35.

Ah good point, I'll look at them. I guess all the government needs to see on return is just a proof of booking?

 

[johncrossley]

Ah good point, I'll look at them. I guess all the government needs to see on return is just a proof of booking?

That's it. From what I've read, in practice it seems it is the airline who checks that all your paperwork is in order before you board the plane home. I wonder if the government ever checks to see if you've actually taken the Day 2 test. The test you take in Romania is arguably more critical - have you got a plan for that?

 

[kristiang85]

That's it. From what I've read, in practice it seems it is the airline who checks that all your paperwork is in order before you board the plane home. I wonder if the government ever checks to see if you've actually taken the Day 2 test. The test you take in Romania is arguably more critical - have you got a plan for that?

They do rapid testing at Bucharest airport, so that's fine. It is just an antigen test that's required, isn't it?

 

[johncrossley]

They do rapid testing at Bucharest airport, so that's fine. It is just an antigen test that's required, isn't it?

Yes, that's good enough for the test you need before arriving in the UK.

 

[Cdd89]

A few months ago they checked each document incredibly carefully at the border, but now the e-gates are back in use and those gates have been modified to check that there’s a passenger locator form associated with the passport number; and even that gets turned off when it’s busy. I self-landed at Heathrow a couple of weeks ago and expected to be referred and to have to explain, but I was let through without a form.

 

[Jamiescott1]

A few months ago they checked each document incredibly carefully at the border, but now the e-gates are back in use and those gates have been modified to check that there’s a passenger locator form associated with the passport number; and even that gets turned off when it’s busy. I self-landed at Heathrow a couple of weeks ago and expected to be referred and to have to explain, but I was let through without a form.

I was rejected by e passport Gates at Stansted on 19th July coming back from an amber country (double jabbed)
I then went to a staffed booth and the person scanned my passport, said "I see you've got your day 2 test booked" then off I went.

 

[Watershed]

I was rejected by e passport Gates at Stansted on 19th July coming back from an amber country (double jabbed)
I then went to a staffed booth and the person scanned my passport, said "I see you've got your day 2 test booked" then off I went.

Yep, I've heard that happen to someone just yesterday. 90 minute queue for a booth to boot!

 

[Butts]

Yep, I've heard that happen to someone just yesterday. 90 minute queue for a booth to boot!

Lead balloon time or what !!

 

[westv]

I self-landed at Heathrow a couple of weeks ago and expected to be referred and to have to explain, but I was let through without a form.

You have a private jet you fly?!

 

[Cdd89]

You have a private jet you fly?!

Oops! Self-landing is the Heathrow term for when a passenger in the international departures area returns to the arrivals area to (re-)enter the UK. In my case my origin was domestic, so no need for a PLF.

 

[kingston_toon]

I'm avoiding Heathrow, Stansted and Luton at the moment as I just can't be sure I won't stand in a queue for passport control for hours. Came into Gatwick at 23:30 on Sunday night and it was deserted - straight through the e-gates and out. City was the same a couple of weeks earlier, albeit through a manned booth. Picking my arrival dates and times *very* carefully at the moment

 

[brad465]

Travel list changes just announced with plenty of significant moves, including 7 new green list countries and France leaving the silly amber-plus category to go amber:

Covid travel: France moves to amber list and green list expands

Up to 6,000 Britons are currently in Mexico, which is moving to the red list, Grant Shapps says.

www.bbc.co.uk

The changes​

Moving from amber to green: Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway
Moving from red to amber: India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE
Moving from amber to red: Georgia, Mexico, La Reunion and Mayotte
Moving from amber-plus to amber: France

 

[kristiang85]

Weirdly, given I'm off to Romania on Saturday, I'm actually now more nervous! The reason being that the moment their neighbour Bulgaria was on our green list, they banned all leisure travel from UK citizens so they didn't get overwhelmed.

Hopefully as Romania tends to get less tourists from here it won't be an issue, but I've learned not to look forward to any kind of travel now until I'm actually in the air!

 

[Yew]

How can Reunion be on a different level to France, legally, Reunion is a part of France...

 

[johncrossley]

How can Reunion be on a different level to France, legally, Reunion is a part of France...

The government hasn't had a problem putting different parts of Spain at different levels.

 

[kristiang85]

How can Reunion be on a different level to France, legally, Reunion is a part of France...

Well it's less ridiculous than the whole of France being on Amber plus because of an outbreak in Réunion.

 

[Bantamzen]

How can Reunion be on a different level to France, legally, Reunion is a part of France...

Maybe because its a little distance away, and there's no road links so access to the mainland can be controlled....

 

[LAX54]

I see those on holiday in Mexico, are now about to start to worry/panic, as they need to be back by Sunday 0400, otherwise £2285 pp for a Hotel !

Well it's less ridiculous than the whole of France being on Amber plus because of an outbreak in Réunion.

Is the EU not getting more confusing by the day ? Can go to Germany, could not go to France but now you can, and The Netherlands, between the two is a no-go area for those from the UK ,as is Belgium.....now of course if you live in the USA, where it seems things are worse than the UK, then the whole of the EU is open to you !

 

[Bantamzen]

I see those on holiday in Mexico, are now about to start to worry/panic, as they need to be back by Sunday 0400, otherwise £2285 pp for a Hotel !


Is the EU not getting more confusing by the day ? Can go to Germany, could not go to France but now you can, and The Netherlands, between the two is a no-go area for those from the UK ,as is Belgium.....now of course if you live in the USA, where it seems things are worse than the UK, then the whole of the EU is open to you !

I think the time has come for the government to dial back on these differences, especially for the EU & US as supposedly we are treating them the same & expecting them to do likewise. And perhaps its also time to give leeway to any countries they tip back into the red, instead of this ridiculous situation of people getting left high and dry & facing either 2 weeks worth of extra hotel bills or inflated flights to get back before the deadline.

 

[duncanp]

Maybe because its a little distance away, and there's no road links so access to the mainland can be controlled....

The government really have lost the plot this time.

France has just been moved from the Amber Plus list to the Amber list, but Grant Shapps is quoted this morning as saying

People will be able to go on holiday "without looking over their shoulders the whole time", Grant Shapps has said, as he promised that the next set of travel changes will not come "for another three weeks".

but also that

the next travel update is in three weeks and can't rule out France and Spain going on the Red list

Three weeks time will be the August Bank Holiday, when lots of people will want to go to France and Spain for the last week before the schools go back (in England and Wales).

It would take a special brand of sadism to announce in three weeks time, with only a few days notice, that France and Spain are going on the Red list, so that there is a mad scramble to get back to the UK before the deadline.

But nothing surprises me any more, after all nothing matters except "keeping people safe" from the big bad killer virus.

 

[Cdd89]

Well it's less ridiculous than the whole of France being on Amber plus because of an outbreak in Réunion.

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.

 

[kristiang85]

I see those on holiday in Mexico, are now about to start to worry/panic, as they need to be back by Sunday 0400, otherwise £2285 pp for a Hotel !

I hadn't realised the prices had been raised! So that's around £200 a night for a room in a cruddy Holiday Inn, with meals consisting of food even Pret would throw out, and security who seem to care more about harassing female inmates, sorry - guests, then any epidemiological reasoning.

Three weeks time will be the August Bank Holiday, when lots of people will want to go to France and Spain for the last week before the schools go back (in England and Wales).

It would take a special brand of sadism to announce in three weeks time, with only a few days notice, that France and Spain are going on the Red list, so that there is a mad scramble to get back to the UK before the deadline.

But nothing surprises me any more, after all nothing matters except "keeping people safe" from the big bad killer virus.

Whilst I wouldn't put the sadism past this government, they simply don't have the space in hotels to quarantine all those people. There is next to no chance of it happening.

 

[Cdd89]

Whilst I wouldn't put the sadism past this government, they simply don't have the space in hotels to quarantine all those people. There is next to no chance of it happening.

On the other hand, I could see the Red rules being tweaked at some point to become like Amber-plus. Remember that this is the highest level of travel quarantine imposed by most EU countries!

 

[Bantamzen]

The government really have lost the plot this time.

France has just been moved from the Amber Plus list to the Amber list, but Grant Shapps is quoted this morning as saying



but also that



Three weeks time will be the August Bank Holiday, when lots of people will want to go to France and Spain for the last week before the schools go back (in England and Wales).

It would take a special brand of sadism to announce in three weeks time, with only a few days notice, that France and Spain are going on the Red list, so that there is a mad scramble to get back to the UK before the deadline.

But nothing surprises me any more, after all nothing matters except "keeping people safe" from the big bad killer virus.

Yeah, I'm going to be one of them, due to fly to Malaga on the 30th! But the media have been wetting themselves about Spain for weeks, its great clickbait....

 

[johncrossley]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58100523

Asked about the advice on PCR tests for arrivals from Spain, Mr Shapps insisted the government was "not changing the rules", as in Spain's case, "virtually everyone is taking a PCR" to meet the government's performance standards for the pre-departure test.

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.

 

[Bantamzen]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58100523


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.

Indeed people I know who have been out there have been doing antigen tests.

 

[kristiang85]

From the BBC:

The president of the UK's upcoming climate change conference is under fire for reportedly travelling to more than 30 countries in seven months.
The Daily Mail said seven of the places visited by Alok Sharma were also on the Covid red list - but he used an exemption available to ministers to not have to quarantine on his return.

I do love how a virus knows who politicians are and not to infect them...

Again it just shows what a sham this whole quarantine system is, and the contempt at which the public are held.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58100523


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.

For example, when I returned to the UK from Spain back at the very end of June this year, I used an antigen/lateral flow test as my pre-departure test.

And it only costed about 35 euros too! Quite cheap!

A few months ago they checked each document incredibly carefully at the border, but now the e-gates are back in use and those gates have been modified to check that there’s a passenger locator form associated with the passport number; and even that gets turned off when it’s busy. I self-landed at Heathrow a couple of weeks ago and expected to be referred and to have to explain, but I was let through without a form.

When I flew to Gatwick back at the end of June this year, coming from Malaga in Spain, I was not even asked for a passenger locator form nor proof of negative covid test by any UK Border force officials. Indeed, the ePassport gates were open and I was able to use them!

However, I did get asked for my PLF and negative test when checking in at Malaga Airport.