Portugal

[trumpisaflump]

OK so I know the answer but I'm clutching at straws now. Due to fly to our friend's villa in Portugal a week on Tuesday but Portugal isn't one of the travel corridor countries. We're not going are we? Our flight is still going so think we'll lose the flight money of £800. We can't quarantine on return as I work in a hospital and will be needed back at work.
I wondered if anyone might know more and if Portugal might be added to the list of countries in the travel corridor anytime soon.

What day are you due back? If it's a Saturday could you not get a covid test organised and then you will know very quickly if you are negative and can go to work thereby only needing a couple of extra days annual leave?

@BBCONEANDTWO oh is that a way round quarantine? Hmm. Hadn't thought of that. Yes we are only supposed to be going for 4 nights and fly back on Sat 14th July.
We also have Tenerife booked to fly out on 29th July (both booked last year pre covid) so I'm wondering if we won't be allowed on the Tenerife flight as we have been in Portugal in the previous 14 days

I don’t think there is a way round the quarantine and they haven’t released any more detail as to what countries may be allowed next. As you work in a hospital you really should do the quarantine properly and not put people and staff at risk. Enjoy your trip to Tenerife though, no quarantine needed for that!

@Racoonworld - if you work at a hospital and have any symptoms or been in touch with someone who has tested positive you would get a test straight away.

@trumpisaflump - could you ask your manager about my suggestion. I'm sure there will be lots of people in the same boat.

@BBCONEANDTWO yeah I think I would be able to get a test no problem but would my DH and DS? Plus would it jeopardise our Tenerife trip? I don't think I can access advice in this case (I've looked online but can't seem to find a phone no for advice) and would probably just need to cancel my Portugal flights and lose the money.

Shapps was quoted as saying more countries may be added to the list in coming days. But who knows what might happen. We're due to go in 2 weeks, to be honest, we'd be happy with it just being added to the allowed list as we could quarantine, but without FCO advice changing our travel insurance is useless. I don't think there are any ways around the quarantine though.

Testing does not get you out of quarantine. You have to isolate for the full 14 days (which is based on the incubation period.

If you are symptomatic, and test negative, then you are released from symptomatic isolation (because the cause is not Covid) ditto your household

The best outcome for us would be if our flights were cancelled and we could get a refund. Unfortunately the flights are still going so we'll have to cancel ourselves and lose £800. It's been a shitty year (for everyone) so this just makes it even worse.

The best outcome for us would be if our flights were cancelled and we could get a refund. Unfortunately the flights are still going so we'll have to cancel ourselves and lose £800. It's been a shitty year (for everyone) so this just makes it even worse.

Can you change the dates of your flights to later in the year. It might cost more but its better than losing it all.

@DartmoorChef we are going to stay at a friend's villa and it's only available for the next 4 weeks. We can maybe see if we can reschedule for next year....

Oh just checked with DH and he's already looked into changing flights and it costs almost as much as the original flights to change. Ryanair fuckers.

No, under the quarantine rules you are still supposed to isolate for 14 days, regardless whether you get a negative result or not. (This came up in the Farage saga yesterday too)

Whereabouts in Portugal. You can fly in and out of Spain, drive to your destination, and avoid quarantine. I even heard a Govt person admitting this the other day - although Spain had closed the border at one stage so you would need to check.

Even though I'm one of those people taking this fairly seriously, I don't see Portugal as any more of a risk that Spain to be honest (the opposite if anything). We'll never know what deals were done and with who to make sure it was excluded in the first round.

@ritatherockfairy I've thought of this but again to change our flights from Portugal to Spain will costs a few hundred more and it's not worth it for 4 nights. Plus I think if we hire a car in Spain we can't drive to Portugal in it.