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Never seen the tunnel so quiet. Now in a hotel in Troyes for the night
Yep was super quiet all way down A26. Bit busier on A31/A6.
Definitely less GBs on the autoroute.
In Macon area and on to Massif Central then to Provence. It's a busy French weekend too.
Well, we’ve arrived in Mayrhofen. Seamless through the Swiss border near Evian (Saint Gingolf) and again into Austria at Meiningen. In fact the Swiss-Austrian border was entirely unmanned.
According to our hotelier we’re the first Brits in this year.
First Zillertal beer has sunk without trace. I’m knackered. It’s beyond a long way. Kids will be hopeless tomorrow.
Swiss motorways were full of Dutch and Germans in both directions. Between Bern and Zurich it was 80kph most of the way.
What do we make of a family taking the "head in the sand" approach, ignoring Test and Trace following a confirmed case of a contact, then not isolating, travelling to France and being dishonest on the "Sworn Declaration" that they haven't been in contact with any known cases in the previous 14 days.
I reckon that is laws broken in 2 countries, as well as Rule 1.
shop them. Idiots
Just back from France. First point,
Flexiplus is great that it gets you through check in, but is then useless when you are sent to the front of the only open border control kiosk and have to fight your way in, cue a load of agro.
French customs didn't want to see anything, not even passports.
UK customs did seem to check their on line stuff, but didn't want to see pre departure reports or those foe the day2, but assume when you upload to Eurotunnel that's all they need.
I screwed up my daughter's pre departure and both son and daughters day 2 (ended up doing both last second, see earlier post) so these wouldn't have shown, so not entirely sure how to robust this system is.
Got "free" grub in the lounge..
Recently came back by Eurostar. Papers checked at least 3 times including by an aggressive UK Borders person - haven't encountered such unpleasantness since ... oh ... the last time I went to the US.
Paradoxically MrsJ, who is one of those forriners we don't want none of (limited HGV driving abilities, no interest in fruit picking) had no hassle.
Anyone know the best way to get antigen tests while in Spain (near Bilbao)? Can I just buy them from a pharmacy?
Plan is to then drive up to Tunnel in France to get back to UK.
We decided not to go to France, but also decided not to go to Peaks either
weeksy
Full Member
We decided not to go to France, but also decided not to go to Peaks eithe
Despite the £400 extra needed for testing and the faff, I'm still glad I did the France trip. It was one of firsts for my family being in the Alps and doing something more adventurous, they've even said they don't want to go back to water parks, and can't wait to go back.. hopefully next year all this will be a thing of the past..
Also got a gov email today saying they are going to carry out a review of the "cowboy" private testing companies due to dodgy pricing!
It was the risk of our lad throwing up a + on Sunday evening that stopped us.
We're at Silverstone on Thursday this week, then at Pembrey on Fri and Sat and arguably will be in a social indoor environment a few times over the 3 nights, so if ever there's a time he may chuck in a +, this would be it.
Whilst I'm not worried from a health context for him, I assume it'd mean you can't travel and that's £1500 down the pan.
So we'll do stuff from home instead this year and have booked Adrenaline alley, 417 and bpw.
39.5 degrees at 5.30 this afternoon when we went to swim in the river. Too hot to think man!
Had a bit of that my end the last few days 40+ isn’t really bike riding weather 🙂
Would appreciate a couple of pointers as we are heading off to France this Friday.
We are two double vaccinated adults, plus an 8 and 5 year old. Driving via Eurotunnel to a house on Ile de Re.
I can't decide if it is too risky to leave the 72 h pre-UK entry test down to a pharmacy in France or try and book another. Will be returning to UK 5th September. Kids don't need this under 10 it seems.
I also need to book the 2 day post return tests (kids need this one as well). As the whole system is at breaking point it seems I might as well book the cheapest I can find as you just get told to get an NHS test if yours fails to arrive?
I travelled by Eurotunnel a couple of weeks ago.
I booked self administered lateral flow tests via Prenetics (the provider that Eurotunnel direct you to) for the 72h pre-UK entry tests, think they were £28 each. Their website is horrible though and finding the right thing was hard (and it's a dynamic site so I can't even link to what we picked).
I went for that approach for a few reasons - the people at Eurotunnel probably see a lot of Prenetics certificates so they'll be familiar with them, just doing the test wherever you're staying is easy and less hassle than booking and going to a pharmacy, but getting a test from a pharmacy was still a fallback option if Prenetics screwed up (didn't send tests, didn't send certificate after we'd uploaded results etc). In the end nobody looked at them, but I did have to upload the certificates to Eurotunnel so maybe they already had the info when we checked in and passed border control.
For the post arriving back in the UK tests I used Testing For All self administered tests as they seemed good value compared to most and could actually be bought, unlike any of the really super cheap PCR test listed.
Would appreciate a couple of pointers as we are heading off to France this Friday.
We are two double vaccinated adults, plus an 8 and 5 year old. Driving via Eurotunnel to a house on Ile de Re.
I can’t decide if it is too risky to leave the 72 h pre-UK entry test down to a pharmacy in France or try and book another. Will be returning to UK 5th September. Kids don’t need this under 10 it seems.
I also need to book the 2 day post return tests (kids need this one as well). As the whole system is at breaking point it seems I might as well book the cheapest I can find as you just get told to get an NHS test if yours fails to arrive?
Returned Saturday from a week in Morzine with my family.
A few tips from me.
Getting an Anti-Gen test in France to return home is pretty easy, most Pharmacies seem to offer a drop-in Service, it's a shame you have to pay for it now. They also have a map/list of providers so worst case, you can stop in Calais on the way home. That said there was a bit of a queue to get it, this was probably because France started to use it's Vaccine passport on the 8th meaning everyone who had been double jabbed needs to be tested every 15 days to access restaurants / bars etc, those people will likely be after another test around the weekend of the 21st and again the 4th of Sept, but you've got a 72 hour window (I think).
Getting into France on the tunnel was pretty hard going, the English side is a bit of a mess as everyone has to go through the same channel, everyone from the likes of us who had all the paperwork in place and uploaded to the Eurotunnel portal to the ones who just rocked up with a passport and a 'story', lots of people being turned away and told to complete paperwork with no real way of getting them out of the queue. It took 90 mins to clear the borders.
Returning was pretty easy, apart from one problem, you can't upload your documentation to the Eurotunnel portal from the phone app, or mobile site, annoyingly I had my laptop with me, but I forgot to do it until it was packed deep in the car. On the French side you're made to go into the Terminal, show all your paperwork to a bank of very polite Eurotunnel staff and then go through, Border 'Force' were lovely (complete opposite of what happened in June) because Eurotunnel did all the leg work, they did the usual passport stuff and we cleared in minutes and there was no queue. Lots of shouty Brits crying "I'll never visit France ever again!" like it's their fault that a) The UK has imposed complex rules and arguably pointless rules and b) they thought they could ignore them. Getting into the UK requires more paperwork and hassle than leaving.
Day 2 tests, yeah just find the cheapest you can find from the government approved list. I used Randox despite the bad press, I think they were £42 each. Best of luck trying to swab a 5 year old that doesn't want to do it...
Also, download the France Covid app, you can use it to scan in your UK vaccine certs, which is especially helpful if like me you live in Wales, because we don't have the vaccine app, but it meant I could use the French app at the border too! Without the App you won't be allowed in any Restaurants, bars, cafes, pools or the like and they WILL ask.
Also, I don't want to worry you, the REAL risk you have to assume is either of you catching Covid whilst you're away, even if you're jabbed. If that happens, which admittedly is a long shot, you'll be effectively stuck in France and you'll need to sort somewhere to stay at very short notice.
Thanks both, a lot of helpful info to digest!
I'll echo Pjay, (btw anyone who returned on the Saturday just gone, did you have a car full of Whyte bikes??)
However, randox would t let me select the cheaper test, they wanted 99 like the c19 people. Opted for boots in the end at 75quid each..
France started to use it’s Vaccine passport on the 8th meaning everyone who had been double jabbed needs to be tested every 15 days to access restaurants / bars etc, those people will likely be after another test around the weekend of the 21st and again the 4th of Sept, but you’ve got a 72 hour window (I think).
I don't think this is right, is it? Double jabbed people don't have to be tested. Non-jabbed people can use a test up to 48 hours old.
Anyway ...
before we left I was fretting that the tests adminstered at pharmacies would not be accepted at the UK border, so I spent a lot of time Google'ing for sensitivities of the various different tests, Turned out that the border people didn't look once at the test details.
Getting into France on the tunnel was pretty hard going, the English side is a bit of a mess as everyone has to go through the same channel, everyone from the likes of us who had all the paperwork in place and uploaded to the Eurotunnel portal to the ones who just rocked up with a passport and a ‘story’, lots of people being turned away and told to complete paperwork with no real way of getting them out of the queue. It took 90 mins to clear the borders.
For balance we had the easiest drive through I'd ever had.
It seems to me it's mostly smoothed out now.
Just show the papers at the Border and straight through.
You're right DrJ, once double vaccinated you don't need to test again here. To leave france/EU it's the third country's rules you have to respect.
Once in Morzine do I have to get a new test for my unvaccinated 13 year old every couple of days so she can join us in restaurants? What about outside seating?
Austria is a conundrum. On paper they appear to be rigid and inflexible sticklers for anti-COVID measures, in practice we’ve found them to not give a stuff. Nobody has scanned our vaccine certs, masks are gone (except in MPries, oddly), the GreenCheck app is not used anywhere we’ve been so far and aside from the odd bit of worn sticky tape on the ground, you’d never think COVID had existed.
Went to Portugal last week with the family.
Antigen test at Gatwick pre flight - 2 adults (not the kids)
20 people on Easyjet flight to Faro in August - bonkers
Lovely and hot on the Algarve (more mask wearing than the UK)
Antigen test 24 hrs before we left at local phamarcy in Algarve (35e) (2 adults not the kids)
Filled in all the forms pre departure from Faro
Easyjet staff checked all this
On arrival at Gatwick Border force just checked passports (nothing covid related)
Had pre-ordered Randox day 2 kits for the 4 of us. £50 each
Did these last night and dropped in Guilford at our nearest box.
Frankly all very easy - await the PCR results from Randox.
I wonder if anyone at Border force etc following up on the testing ????
@ElVino nobody has asked for anything for our 13 year old while we have been here. They do scan the app for adults though.
I don’t think this is right, is it? Double jabbed people don’t have to be tested. Non-jabbed people can use a test up to 48 hours old.
Anyway …
before we left I was fretting that the tests adminstered at pharmacies would not be accepted at the UK border, so I spent a lot of time Google’ing for sensitivities of the various different tests, Turned out that the border people didn’t look once at the test details.
Sorry, what I was trying to explain was:
France's requires a 'Health Pass' to access Bars, Restaurants etc, that's all people, not just tourists.
If you're double jabbed, you just scan your vaccine cert into the AntiCovid app and then show the QR code to get into places.
Only about 50% of French residents are fully vaccinated, which means the rest of them have to be tested every 15 days to keep their 'Health Pass' up to date, so when the rules came in on the 8th of August there was a huge demand from French residents to get tested that weekend, most of those people will need to test again about 2 weeks later (this weekend) to renew their pass so there will likely be about big spike in demand this weekend, and then again two weeks later, the weekend @Timmys is heading home.
Everyone entering the UK needs to be tested within 72 hours of arrival. So if I was Timmys I'd look to get my pre-travel test as close to the start of the 72 hour window as possible, in case demand out-strips supply, as it did in Morzine last weekend, and the pharmacy stops giving tests after a few hours because the queue is too long, to give a chance to try again the next day, just in case. When I went for the same test, in the same pharmacy in June, we were able to just stroll in.
As for all the "it's got to be 98% accurate stuff" yep, Border Force and Eurotunnel looked over it, but really as long as it's got a QR code they don't care. In fact, the SMS/E-Mail version, which you're supposed to have never arrived for us, but they took the paper version happily.
Just set my 14yr old daughter off on her trip to Russia this morning. 1st leg is the long rail trip to Euston.
I must admit that its been a huge stress for us (On top of worrying about her on the trip). The Visa (2 x trips to Edinburgh). The PCR tests (Boots cancelled their test 12hrs before it was due so we had to book elsewhere). The lateral flow tests. The paperwork (How many forms do i have to fill in declaring no political agendas and military experience). The cost (Visa £175. PCR Test £100).
This was for 1 person. No way would i be getting any benefit from a holiday for the whole family.
@pj - sorry to nitpick, but the rules are here:
https://www.gouvernement.fr/info-coronavirus/pass-sanitaire
Tests need to be under 72 hours old. Luckily they sorted the NHS QR codes so we don’t need to worry about that any more!
more and more pics populating the socials of folks by their hotel pools making me very jealous!
then a quick read through this thread makes me think its still not worth the hassle...?
more and more pics populating the socials of folks by their hotel pools making me very jealous!
then a quick read through this thread makes me think its still not worth the hassle…?
It's certainly a risk - it's a bit cheaper now if double jabbed and all the paperwork is in order, but if you do test positive before your return, you could be looking at weeks stuck in another country, which could be very expensive for a family for accomodation and additional testing, and with people with jobs to go back to etc. could also cause problems.
An Italian friend went back to see her parents in Lombardy - the first time in over a year - but now can't wait to get back to blighty as it's too hot.
I was tempted to do a last minute trip to Croatia but I think I will wait until next Spring now. Too much hassle - on top of a normal holiday, which is always hassle.
I know this is lame, but can someone tell me how the in-pharmacy process actually works in France. Do they watch you swab and then you come back 30 min later to get the results or do you hang around while the LF does its thing? Presumably they then issue you a document with the certified result? Basically my French is piss-poor, so the more I know what the process is ahead of time, the smoother it might be!
Also, does anyone know if there is somewhere I can look up current data of cases by location in France? ie. French equivalent of this.
I would say the whole process is very easy - dont let it put you off going abroad. I'm back to whiteroom bike holiday in a few weeks
@timmys In Portugal it wasn't even a pharmacy. Just a couple of blokes in an empty office block doing lateral flow tests..confirmed we were negative as I sat there. 2 minutes later a letter stating this. the whole thing is a sham frankly!
I know this is lame, but can someone tell me how the in-pharmacy process actually works in France. Do they watch you swab and then you come back 30 min later to get the results or do you hang around while the LF does its thing? Presumably they then issue you a document with the certified result? Basically my French is piss-poor, so the more I know what the process is ahead of time, the smoother it might be!
I think it varies between pharmacies. In Morzine you need to leave the pharmacy straight away (there's a lot of bodies about) but you can wait outside if you like, they send results via SMS, in June this came through within 20 mins, if you want a physical copy you can return in about an hour.
@pj – sorry to nitpick, but the rules are here:
https://www.gouvernement.fr/info-coronavirus/pass-sanitaire
Tests need to be under 72 hours old. Luckily they sorted the NHS QR codes so we don’t need to worry about that any more!
No wonder they were all so pissy about it, I'd read 15 days...
There were a few teething problems with the app on the first day, some of the cafes didn't recognise the NHS vaccine QRs, some did, the App, which for me was in English advised them to delete and re-install their app to force updates, but they all refused to accept the issue was their end, so very French, even when I switched my App into French so they could read it for themselves, they still told me it was my vaccine cert. Not that they turned us away. It was working perfectly by Day 2.
It's a nice solution, wouldn't work here, we've still got Thugs on the street protesting about lockdowns which have ended, they've be tearing the place apart crying about "two tier society".
Not them I'm completely embedded with French news / culture, but I get the impression they've got a pretty pragmatic approach to Covid now, they've accepted that being fully vaccinated is about as good as it's going to get for the time being. If you're fully jabbed, then life is pretty much normal, you don't need tests to travel, you can pretty much do as you please, yeah masks in shops, but with a much higher level of compliance then I've seen in the UK, if you're not, then take a free test every few days (I know now), it's done wonders for vaccine uptake.
I know this is lame, but can someone tell me how the in-pharmacy process actually works in France.
In Paris, at least, you give some info to the person in the pharmacy (name, address, dob, phone number) and then someone swabs you in the pharmacy or in a tent outside. Then you hang around outside to give them time. After about 15 min you get an SMS with a link to download your certificate but to get the test info you need the paper one which the pharmacy gives you. They write in the test details by hand.
That’s my experience anyway - may be different elsewhere.
P.s. the bit about the test details is probably just me being paranoid and obsessive. I suspect that the EU have the same requirements as UK in terms of sensitivity and wotnot but I can’t actually find a document that says that explicitly.
.
Ran into our first issue today. We went up the Hintertux Gletscher and tried to buy a hot chocolate at the top of Gketcherbahn1: no entry without 3G certificate! (vaccination, recovery from infection or recent PCR test). Austrian app won’t accept our certs. Fine here’s my NHS cert on their app, NEIN! Ok, here it is in the french app, NEIN! Ok here’s my printed out NHS cert (scans QR code), NEIN! Ok, please read the words: my name, moderna, vaccine 2, date.
“Ok it’s gut, willkommen.”
10 days in and get back in a fortnight absolutely no regrets about heading off to Spain and France. The worse thing so far was the sea crossing from Portsmouth to Santander which was super choppy and semi-isolating the kids before we headed.
It’s been around 40C in Ainsa for the past week and combined with me straining my MCL means I’ve been limited to the greens and easy blues with the kids and I’m not riding anything by myself which I usually would. The wife is heading off road riding at 7am and loving it. With the heat we’ve spent more time in rivers than we have riding been kayaking and canyoning (wouldn’t recommend with a knackered knee).
Got two more days here then head to France on Friday.
The testing is a bit of a pain but holidays like this are logistical nightmare anyhow so it’s just another thing to deal with. We’ve had to deal with much tricker situations on the last two hols.
We’ve got our details into the French app today and going getting lat flows for the older kids tomorrow. We will have spent about £600 on testing by the time we get home so about 10% of the total cost of the holiday which seems an OK premium to avoid spending three weeks in the rain in the UK.
Has anyone used this service for the pre-return testing ?
https://travel.livingcare.co.uk/product/virtual-lateral-flow-test/
Seems like you order the kit in advance, do the test yourself (I.e. unsupervised) and then send a picture to the testing company who then issue a certificate. As mentioned above, just seems like a sham...
Here's a handy link for travelers in France looking for a test centre nearby.
https://www.sante.fr/cf/centres-depistage-covid.html
We just got back from France. If you’re driving to a ferry I reckon it’s easy enough to get an antigen test as long as you’re prepared to get in in on route to the port. We’ve got a motorh9me so this was relatively easy. We got ours done in Caen the day before we came back. We used the french doctolib app which is used to book health appts and selected the antigen test and Caen area and it came up with a medical centre that we could book appts at on the Sunday. When we went t there we walked straight in at our time although we could have not booked and queued. Tests were done and results in 10 mins whilst you wait. We got a paper certificate signed and stamped which looked home made but did the job at the port. They didn’t charge us either which was nice.
We got our day 2 tests from assured screening they were £61 each and came yesterday afternoon.
We went out before the rules changed and gambled on them changing as we were there. The Ernest of our family live in Wales and came back the day before the quarantine rules changed. My m7m just finished her quarantine yesterday and 3 negative pcr tests. She said her mate went on holiday to Cornwall in a hotel and no testing, no masks, no quarantine despite rates isn uk being higher than in France!
The touscovid app in France works well. You need two phones to scan your nhs app qr into it. Most places are pretty keen asking for it but it worked every time and at the port.
The passenger locator form was fine. Like some we never got the follow up text or email from our test despite the guy inputting the data being sat in the room and reassuring us it would come in an hr! It didn’t matter though as it wasn’t asked for at the port as we had a physical copy.
My mum nearly didn’t ge5 home as her pcp test results didn’t come through until 3 mins before her plane departed despite everyone else in the groups coming through way before and the pm being done at the same time. I ended up asking the helpful lady at the airport who was on the ph9ne to the lab to get her to text a photo of the docs through and that worked as there was some email logjam at the lab. That was a bit of a pain but worked out ok.
Y cousins who came back at the same time as my mum got a call from nhs Wales on day 3 and said that as long as their day 2 test were negative the could end quarantine. My mum got a call from nhs Wales on day 4 and asked if she could end as my cousin was told that they could end ear
Y due to rule changes and they said no despite the same holiday, flights, tests etc. Seems crazy.
All in all it was worth going and we felt safer in France than back home tbh. On the way h9me from the port we stopped for food and a crammed fast food restaurant with doors shut and no masks on anyone in there was the polar opposite than in France with COVID app check and masks in public spaces.
Just a quick note for those thinking of coming out. Currently in the alps, headed out last minute. No hassles so far, much like any summer in the alps, a little quieter than normal. Definitely no hassle so far.
Thanks for the doctolib info. Appointments booked in the local pharmacy for 3rd Sept - glad I did as first available ones were from 31st Aug. Though possibly that's yer standard French "close for whole of August" thing rather them being booked to the hilt.
Another stupid question; the "Statement of Honour" for entering France - is that just to be completed by the adults? I think it is but can't see a crystal clear answer.
This is a handy guide
It's the French Consulate and gives up-to-date info for travellers from the UK heading to France.
predictably, the speculation about next weeks travel review seems to be restarting in the press.
Rumours of spain going back on the red list (or maybe amber watch list again) - I cant see it myself, as the numbers (case rates, variants etc) in spain are way better now than they were at the time of the last travel review 3 weeks ago, and it didnt go red then. But since when has logic prevailed with this government?
I personally don't see any list moment for the usual holiday places, barring perhaps the US. There's an argument for making some places green that are current amber, but why bother making it easier for people who haven't been jabbed to go on Hols, if your goal is for everyone to get their jabs?
Most places are reaching, or have reached the same sort of 'new normal' that we have.
I would personally like to see the end of testing for fully vaccinated people traveling to countries with good testing procedures in place, given how few tests are being sequenced for new variants, it seems very unlikely we'll discover a new variant coming out of another developed country before they do, but who knows which MPs have been offered a board seat with Randox when they leave Politics.
@Paul0 we are doing the same via the coop tonight to get into France from Spain for the two eldest. I’ll let you know how we get on. They are ridiculous as you can just extract the swab without doing the test to get the control line and send the photo to get the certificate.
They are ridiculous as you can just extract the swab without doing the test to get the control line and send the photo to get the certificate.
I had wondered, If you simply put the saline? fluid in the test would it give a result???
Transiting through Munich airport, self transfer. Going Scotland to Switzerland.
We've got the Swiss and French things in hand.
Do you need any German entry requirements or is it all "airside"?
They are ridiculous as you can just extract the swab without doing the test to get the control line and send the photo to get the certificate.
I had wondered, If you simply put the saline? fluid in the test would it give a result???
Probably, fairly easy to do a test-run to check...
I'm not condoning this by the way, seems ridiculous that the system is so open to abuse. Its a fair bet plenty of people will be though.... which is probably worth considering if you're concerned about covid and going to be sitting next to them on the plane...
Has anyone done the forms for travelling to France with unvaccinated kids between 12-18 years old? Travelling on the Eurotunnel on Friday night for a last minute trip to Morzine...
I'm double jabbed and have the evidence (and the French covid app), so I don't think I need anything else.
For the kids, they don't have to quarantine as they're travelling with me but they do need to have a negative PCR test less than 24 hours old (these are booked for tomorrow morning with a 3 hour turn-around). I believe *they* also need to complete a declaration of honour of not having been in contact with anyone with COVID for 14 days..
This *seems* to be the relevant form, BUT it seems to be geared around unvaccinated people who would have to isolate and have a test on arrival. Do I just get each child to complete this but NOT tick any of the final 3 boxes..?
@dc2.0 yes Kids need a statement of honour and the test can be left or PCR. We went LFT purely on cost. French boarder patrol asked to see test result but no statement. We had to upload that to the Eurotunnel website pre departure.
Also weather is suppose to get warmer again in Morzine this weekend but the Spartan Race is on so a few roads will be closed.
@dc2.0 I was confused by the form also, I thought about ticking the box to say they would take an Antigen test on arrival in France. Then just bringing one of the NHS LFT we have at home and getting my daughter to take it when we get to Morzine.
We are there from Saturday for a week.
We’ll, we made it to Morzine. Probably a bit late in the season to help anyone else but for the unvaccinated kids (12-18) I used the form I linked above but left the three final tick boxes blank. No problems getting here. No checking of pass in shops (including supermarket) but bars want to see the COVID app. All good. Anyone else out here this week apart from me and elvino?
We are here for another week and it was noticeably quieter today on the hill. Next to no queues for lift and on mountain restaurants where quiet too.
We are here for another week and it was noticeably quieter today on the hill. Next to no queues for lift and on mountain restaurants where quiet too.
Changeover day. Same here in Austria.
We’re off to Speyer in Germany today. It’s been brilliant so far: well worth the apparent hassle, which, apart from the stress of pre-departure testing hasn’t been in evidence.
Last full day in verbier, heading back tomorrow, definitely getting quieter. Lift network starts to shut down next week. And the main lift will be off soon so a replacement can be finished. The testing is a pointless hassle, but it has been worth it to get away.
A new question - has anyone been to Greece and filled out their stupid PLF form for the household?
It only gives space for the "main" person to provide their vaccination information. Any idea what to do about the others?
ooh, trying to remember this now, we're just back the other week, and altho we're both vaccinated im sure id seen a question about what to do if both you and your wife have a different vaccination status.
you havent said that thats the case, but anyway i believe theyre only interested in the extensive details of main traveller, and other members of your group would just show their documents (PCR, vaccination proof etc) at check-in.
Thanks - we're both vaccinated, and in fact on the same days! I guess we will just take all our documents. We followed the instructions so I'm not sure what else I can do!
I do hate the "email at midnight" thing - what if there's a problem? There's no time to sort it!! An extra stress for travel 🙁
I do hate the “email at midnight” thing – what if there’s a problem? There’s no time to sort it!! An extra stress for travel 🙁
i dont think thats 'a thing' now, we got ours almost immediately after sending it off a week or two prior, and i read reports on tripadvisor that this seemed to be the case for most people.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g503710-i9517-k13630563-Plf-Hersonissos_Crete.html
am i single-handedly slowly removing all of your holiday stress doc? do you feel more relaxed now? 😀
So... Next year, does anyone think it is going to be different to travel abroad to this year. Same paperwork?
Any Day 2 PCRs cheaper than £40? At this stage I no longer care if they turn up. I just need the reference number for paperwork.
https://nwp-online.co.uk/home/p/covid-19-day-2-pcr-testing-package-for-fully-vaccinated-travellers
am i single-handedly slowly removing all of your holiday stress doc? do you feel more relaxed now? 😀
Haha yes, like a nice back rub 🙂
Germany is being ever so slightly German. In a marked contrast to everywhere else we’ve been so far, the Germans are being downright awkward and obtuse. You have to use a mask, except they would really like you to use a FFP2. Thankfully we have these with us as they’re just nicer than surgical ones. You have to check in everywhere with a QR code, except because they’re federal in outlook, not everywhere is using the central CoronaWarn app for this. So, depending on the venue you might have to use some random app that you don’t have. We’re meant to be going to the Technical Museum in Speyer tomorrow, but we’ve just received an email from them:
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
You will receive this information mail because you have reserved a museum visit to the Technik Museum Speyer for one of the coming days at the mail address andy.duff@zebin.co.uk.
We would like to inform you that according to the latest Corona regulation of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, the so-called 3G rule for visiting the museum will apply from Monday, August 23, 2021, because the incidence in Speyer is over 35. Then we need one of the following documents from all museum visitors:
Proof of a negative Covid-19 test (maximum 24 hours old), no self-test
Proof of a Covid-19 vaccination (14 days after the last vaccination)
Proof of Covid-19 recovery, not older than six monthsExcluded from this and regarded as a tested person (asymptomatic person):
Children who have not yet reached the age of six or have not yet started school
Pupils from a primary school, a special needs education, a school based on the primary school or a vocational school. If we need to confirm the status pupil/student we will check the student ID.
In addition to the Technik Museum Speyer, the 3G regulation also applies to the IMAX Dome cinema and indoor catering (for outdoor catering you need an entrance ticket for the Technik Museum Speyer). Please bring the relevant proof documents with you and keep them to hand in the entrance area of the museum to ensure quick processing at the museum ticket office.We look forward to your visit to the museum,
Your museum team
So we’re trying to discombobulate what it means for our kids who are 3, 6 & 7. At best we’ll have to prove they’re at school, at worst I think they’ll have to be lat flowed tomorrow by some bod. We thought it might be a bad translation, but my wife’s read through the German version and it’s equally unclear.
For @drj and anyone else planning a trip to Greece:
I’m just back from a 2 week trip to Paros and the coast near Athens. It’s been great, Greek people are very conscientious about masks, etc. Living a generally outdoor life helps. Greek authorities were thorough and sympathetic to deal with, though as we flew back, we were asked by our check in, for a receipt with price paid for our 2 day tests in the UK. (on top of the 72 hour test, vaccination certs, and proof of booked 2 day tests) I can’t see how the cost of tests is of any relevance to boating a flight home, but might be something to consider.
Looking at the gov website for day 2 PCR tests - I'm confused, it doesn't seem to specify if the day 2 test needs to be PCR or lateral flow any more..
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england#amber-list-rules
Any thoughts?
I reckon it's only school kids in school groups who don't need a test, Hot Fiat, but other kids six and over do. I'd be interested to read the German version to see if it's clearer.
So… Next year, does anyone think it is going to be different to travel abroad to this year. Same paperwork?
Who knows really, Covid really is the gift that keeps on giving... when we postponed our 2020 Holiday until 2021, we never imagined at home that we'd need vaccine passports, tests, forms etc 14 months later. It's almost ironic, but if we just travelled in August 2020, despite advice not too, it would have been easier and cheaper than this year.
My personally opinion is that travel to developed countries with robust vaccine programmes like ours will be easier, the rest of the world, quite sensibly IMHO seems to have accepted that whilst there are no binary Safe/Unsafe way of doing things, being fully vaccinated is really as good as it's going to get for the moment, so unless half the cabinet have shares / lucrative board seats at Randox to look after, most, if not all the testing requirements will soon be dropped, because, what's the point? They're not sequencing the test (by and large) looking for new strains, and as New Zealand are sadly learning at the moment, unless you're not willing to let a single soul on your Island nation, not just tourists, but anyone, you can't keep out new strains forever.
I suspect, within months, travel between the UK and the EU will be largely hassle free, as long as you've had your jabs. We might still have to have our teens tested, but I think even that will cease. The Airlines and Ferry operators will put in place systems to make that easy, if they don't have them already, Eurotunnel at least have a pretty slick system and if they could share those details with the border agencies it'll go back to pretty much drive-on, drive-off again, Brexit will be the bigger barrier.
The US and other non-EU countries will probably be the same soon enough, other more exotic / less developed places will need lots of paperwork etc, but they do anyway.
The biggest hassle I can see for summer 2022 will be booster jabs. The US and EU I think will insist on them, effectively making everyone's current vaccines useless for travel, at the moment England are saying they're only going to offer boosters for the over-50s and vulnerable, the Tories will want to make a quid (or million) from it for their mates so I can see people in England needing to buy their boosters (meaning millions wont). I'm not sure if Wales have said it publicly, but the Wife's side-hustle working in the Vaccine Centre in Cardiff ended at the weekend as they've effectively completed it now, but they're starting again in 3-4 weeks on Boosters, and it will follow the same roll-out plan as before and they'll be offering boosters to everyone, it'll be roughly 6-8 months from the date of your second jab.
I reckon it’s only school kids in school groups who don’t need a test, Hot Fiat, but other kids six and over do. I’d be interested to read the German version to see if it’s clearer.
That’s what we thought too, but the gate staff were only interested in my and my wife’s certs then waived us straight through to the cash desk. Seems they’ve changed the rules today, again. What the email and website said last night:
Davon ausgenommen und als getestete Person angesehen sind (asymptomatische Person):
Kinder die das sechste Lebensjahr noch nicht vollendet haben oder noch nicht eingeschult sind
Schüler*innen einer Grundschule, eines sonderpädagogischen Bildungs- und Beratungszentrums, einer auf der Grundschule aufbauenden Schule oder einer beruflichen Schule, wobei die Glaubhaftmachung in der Regel durch ein entsprechendes Ausweisdokument (z.B. den Schülerausweis) zu erfolgen hat.
And what it now says:
Ausgenommen hiervon sind:
Kinder bis einschließlich 14 Jahren
Schülerinnen und Schüler
Checkins are definitely haphazard here and really, really rare. Scanned a QR code tonight that made both our phones Corona-Warn apps die.
In German the difference between school kids and kids is clearer, but happily they now accept any kids up to 14 without a pass.
Here in France if you're going to a place that requires the pass sanitaire it will be checked IME, no exceptions so far. Such is the demand for security staff that some places are now employing strips of wind just out of school to do the checking.
We use paper copies of the QR codes.
New Zealand are sadly learning at the moment, unless you’re not willing to let a single soul on your Island nation, not just tourists, but anyone, you can’t keep out new strains forever
Just wanted to add that "stay isolated forever" is very much not the plan here in NZ, and the government wants the opportunity to vaccinate everyone in the population before gradually opening up the border in 2022:
2022 was our "6 monnths in Europe" trip we've been planning with our kids using my long-service leave. We can't leave Australia at the moment and as to when we can? Who knows. Heaps of Aussies abroad that can't get home or stuck in places around the world. I don't wanna be "that guy" who's stuck abroad with no income and no clear plan, sat in a hotel in quarantine.
I've just checked and everywhere is "do not travel" from Australia. Both me and the misso have had 2x jabs I'm just waiting for the "kids need a jab" health advice.
We've gone from camper-vanning round Europe to a month or so in Air BNB's around Europe, to...well maybe nothing. Don't really know how to feel about it all.
Either way it's pretty crap.
Well I made it back to the U.K., border farce up to expectations. Delays, surliness, etc.
Still struggling to find Antigen tests here in the Basque Country. Local pharmacies do them but you don’t get an official confirmation of the results. In other parts of Spain you do. Option one seems to be Bilbao airport (about 45mins away) and a test centre there. About €40 each.
Arrived in the Netherlands, where they’ve clearly given up. Receptionist at our hotel said tersely said: “For your information, you don’t need a mask here anymore!”
Beer, pizza and arrangement of day 2 tests tonight <sigh> a cursory glance at the gov website suggest it’s still as full of the £20 testing shysters as it was before the recent cull. Efteling tomorrow, beach the day after then home on the ferry to Hull on Thursday night. It’s been an epic trip so far.
Anyone want to come to Austria I am an official guide (city waking, history, bike, whatever). I am also an official tester so any antigen tests you need will be done by me for free. Here´s my website
I am doing a lot of work on the Danube region in Austria
So, every single provider of day2 tests appears to be absolute scum worthy of catapulting into the sun along with all their offspring just be sure you eradicate the gene pool. None appear to allow you to add multiple bookings to one cart and the common thread among them all is that the tests might be £20 to £50 - if you drive to Kent last week, before you set off, while wearing a gimp suit to pick them up, but then shipping both ways is £25 PER TEST!
yeah a day2 might cost you nearly £50, but shouldnt be as difficult as you are finding
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/how-to-find-the-cheapest-private-coronavirus-tests-for-travel/#rapid
not a bad place to start