Travelling abroad for a holiday

[kleew1]

Has anyone done it?

Was the holiday different as a result of covid? How was airport etc and where did you go?

We are going to canaries in September so curious to know.

No they don’t

I did mine and just uploaded a photo

I could have taken the test for the entire family - this is how tui do there’s.

Others do via video call

Mostly you attend clnic and do test yourself

@Watapalava

Richard

Most people I know who’ve travelled took nhs tests with them in hope that if they tested positive then they just wouldn’t do the official ones properly - eg not let it touch nose or mouth

Well in that case I'll skip going abroad this year. I can do a decent job of mitigating the risk getting covid while I'm holiday - stay outdoors as much as possible, avoid enclose indoor spaces, wear a mask etc, but there's sod all I can do if the person sitting next to me on the plane has boarded knowing they have covid. Do they do the day 2 test after they get back properly and get their fellow passengers notified of a positive test?

Not sure

My dh did his day 2 test and posted it off and 3 weeks later we still ah won’t had the results

The tests are a pure money making scam

If it’s any consolation @RichardMarxisinnocent, I don’t know anyone who has done this (we had a nerve wracking wait for our test results when we did ours at a clinic in Spain!), so maybe @Watapalava just keeps dodgy company!

Haven’t had

We did our tests at private clinics too and I thought you needed a fit to fly certificate . That’s what we got.

@Tal45

Yes. Organising all the tests and filling out the PLF's was a bit of a hassle but it was totally worth it. What's the alternative, an overpriced week of questionable weather, horrendous traffic, and hordes of people in Cornwall.

...and now Newquay has the highest cases of COVID in the UK

You do need fit to fly

With tui you register your test, perform it yourself on ur hotel, upload photo and they email you a fit to fly cert instantly

Anyone could take your test in theory

Same with video conference tests

We're just back from a week visiting family in a Scandinavian country. Once we got through Heathrow and arrival border control it was like going back to 2019. No masks anywhere, a few discreet signs here and there about washing hands or whatever, and a few perspex screens, but as one family member put it "Covid is over". Went to restaurants, people's homes, bars, shopping (over an hour in one shop without a mask was heaven!), etc. We stayed in a hotel for two nights and breakfast buffet was open, although they were trying to stagger arrivals so it wasn't too much of a pile on.

However, returning back to the UK the checkin line was massive and the flight return was delayed almost an hour. There weren't enough agents and half the queue was headed to various US points so the agents had to check everyone's details and make sure they had the right tests and timings. But upon arrival at Heathrow we were out of our seat and to our front door in about an hour - egates open.

Once you do one of the tests and find a provider you like then its a pretty easy process, if a little nervewracking to trust in the testing and making sure you have checked all the paperwork and didn't miss a detail. So glad we went, it may not have been a beach holiday but it was wonderful in its own way and it was so refreshing not having covid blasted in your face 24/7 or as an excuse for whatever reason.

We've had a few holidays and it's been lovely. I honestly felt it was so much safer than squishing into Cornwall with everyone else.

I think

Yes, you do need a fit to fly to come home but you don’t have to go to a clinic. We have also brought the tests with us and we upload a photo of the test and we are then sent the fit to fly. As other people have pointed out, anyone could do the test.

Groan groan but we now have to live with covid AND the travel industry needs to pick back up again. Hopefully this purely money making testing / wanting to be seen as putting people off travel won’t last much longer.

Been twice
Majorca in July
Crete in August

TOTALLY worth it!!
Gatwick was a breeze - out and back both trips, much quicker than usual
Heraklion a bit shit but like that a lot of the time
Palma v slick

Greece in particular so grateful for tourists

Wonderful to have June like busy ness in August in resort so always able to get a table etc but sad for shop owners etc so ended up buying loads!!!

Wouldn't have missed the trips has made summer bearable

BunsyGirl

May I ask where you got your tests from? Do you mean that you didn't have to go to a clinic in Mallorca? Sorry was that where you went, I've lost track!

@igelkott2021 I went to France this summer and the ferries were empty, it was lovely. The "covid pass" for restaurants and cafe is just a QR code, just like the NHS app you have to scan when you get in a cafe in the UK. The tests cost us £110 for 2.

Issues returning. DD had had COVID recently so couldn't be tested as this may show a false positive. ( all following guidelines)

Leaving Greece and arriving back in the UK, demands made for proof of her negative test. We went round and round in circles trying to explain that she couldn't take a test as it might be positive and then she wouldn't be allowed to fly/in - and officials telling us she wasn't allowed to fly/enter the country.
Very Stressful ...computer says no type situation.

@MelbourneTerrace did your DD do a test at all? Both my DC had Covid recently but it's not that common to test positive even on a PCR after 3 weeks, according to our GP.

It's possible to test positive for up to 90 days, but not common.....

I'm loving all the scaremongering, please stay locked in doors at home with your masks and foil hats on.
Empty flights and quiet beaches are pure bliss for those of us that are getting on with life

Went to Croatia.
Tested the day before, then on return did tests at both airports. Pointless box ticking exercise as tests were 3 hours apart, but very straightforward and easy. Those saying it’s not worth the hassle to go overseas must have the shittest holidays ever, as a quick one minute test, with no queuing, 3 times, is totally worth it!!!!

@Clearlyunhinged

Collinson, but there are other providers out there who do the same. I’m in Malta. You can take the tests with you wherever you go as they are for returning to the U.K.

@MelbourneTerrace The rules are that you require a test to return to the U.K. whether you’ve had Covid or not recently. I know a few people who have had Covid show up on a PCR despite having Covid 4-6 weeks previously. However, it didn’t show up in a lateral flow which is why lateral flow tests should be used in those circumstances.

Returned from Croatia yesterday. It was more hassle driving to an overcrowded tourist spot in the U.K. for a few days -of rain--
Pre flight antigen done at home, same again in hotel room before coming back and day two PCR. Simple. £120 for four.
Masks at the airport and the main hotel building but apart from that no difference to a normal trip. And through passport control at Manchester in about five minutes.
I feel 100% better for getting away. And all has Covid anyway, not worried about that, I'm more at risk going to work everyday.

Most of these holidays are a couple of weeks on a European beach though, I can't spend too long in the sun and wanted to go to countries a bit further afield and for three or four weeks, I think they will be a long time coming. For example 3 weeks in Canada in camper van type of holiday, I feel these travels have gone forever, though we might go to Iceland for a week or two later in the year. To me it is very far from normal and at the moment are just stuck to going around the UK in our caravan which we would do anyway and I enjoy it but missing the trip abroad.

@User1234123 Canada is planing to reopen its border on 7 September for those that are fully vaccinated.