Iceland - to go or no?

[Newgirls]

We have flights and self catering accom booked in Iceland at the end of the summer. When you get there you need to pay for a covid test and I guess wait and then go to your accom. Home or quarantine if ill I guess. So this puts me off going. Our flights will prob go and our accom says she is ok with it so we won’t get money back on either flights or accom. What would you do?

[Wheytaminute]

Oh that's pants.
Sorry to hear that

[bruffin]

I was supposed to go yesterday. Have lost £600 on easyjet flights as we paid extra for flexifares instead of normal and have got less flexibility.

[Wheytaminute]

Bumping this thread up

So seeing as the quarantine rules are still in place my trip is uncertain.

Does anyone else have a break to Iceland planned ?

[Fishyfinger]

No. You may as well stay at home.

Disappointing though.

[bruffin]

Due to fly 6th September , return 14th. It was a Road trip and holiday company have just held deposit until we are ready to go again . Just not with going atm if half of it spent in quarantine.

[Fishyfinger]

When are you due to fly bruffin ?

I don't know how ticket cancellations work with Easyjet - I've only changed a flight once and just ended up paying twice..

I can understand why Iceland is doing this but it's crappy for us tourists who are going to waste some/all of their trip confined to a hotel room. There is a thread running on Trip Advisor about the new rules.

[bruffin]

I think we are going to have a problem with Easyjet. We rang them and they said they didnt have an policy yet on Iceland and not to do anything yet , wait until nearer the time and we can change the day before (we have Flexi tickets)
So decided to go on to see about changing tickets and we cant because it is less than 14 days and flexi tickets only allow you to move your ticket by 1 day which is useless. Looks like we have lost about £600 on tickets. We would be happy to move to next spring or this time next year but not really able to talk to anyone at easyjet now until we have less than 48 hours to travel

[bruffin]

Our travel company are happy to put holiday on hold,vthink may have more problems with easyjet, as they don't have policy on Iceland atm

[Fishyfinger]

As from this week all travellers have to rest upon arrival and quarantine for 5 days until a second test.

That rules out all mini breaks to the island.

[therhubarbbrothers]

Check the situation with the volcanoes before you go, Hekla has been showing high levels of magma activity and there has been a recent (last month) increase in earthquake swarms there and off the Reykjanes penisular to the south west of the island. The earthquake swarms might not be suggesting an imminent eruption but some scientists think one is due, who knows - this is 2020 after all.

[bruffin]

We havent paid full yet and we can use the deposit for another trip

[goatley]

I saw that last night.

Our trip will be a waste of time and money as we're only there for 3 nights.

I do so hate all the uncertainty around this. We booked last year -well in advance of any Covid worries.

Feeling like I want to cancel but probably wouldn't get refunded.

[bruffin]

I think they have just changed entry requirements again.
From 19th you have to have 2 tests 4 days apart then and go into quarantine between them. If that is the case then we cant go

[Curlybrunette]

We're booked to go in November, only there 2 nights so I'm a little concerned that we ar emeant to quaratine until the test results are back which could be 24 hours. DH and I are in the vaccine trial so we both have to swab every week anyway so I am (almost 100%) sure we would be negative.

We land at 10:30am so am hoping the test is back the same day.

Although who knows what will be happening by November!

If anyone has been before, please give us any tips for must sees, we were planning to explore Reykjavik on the first day, trip out to the golden circle on the 2nd day, then 3rd day (we don't fly until 8pm) Reykjavik again, I'd like to go to one of the open air pools.

Thanks

[goatley]

Yes I saw that Think. We're only there for three days so the second testing won't affect us. Does seem like they are getting more cases though so is defo worth watching.

I just hate the uncertainty. Most of this year has been written off so I'd love this trip to go ahead but only if its going to be a fun experience.

[bruffin]

We are booked for early september, dont think we will be affected too much as its only 8 day fly drive

[ThinkAboutIceland]

Sorry to turn this into an Iceland news thread but new rules announced from 31st July that impact tourists planning on staying longer than 10 days (unless you're from one of 6 'safe' countries). Plus re-tightening of in country rules and the start of mask wearing


www.ruv.is/frett/2020/07/30/harsher-covid-rules-in-iceland-further-details

At least they react quickly...

[goatley]

Yes, who knows what can happen on the next few weeks.

We paid the balance of our trip so it will etogee go ahead and be easy and fun, or will be completely cancelled with full refund.

Everything else had been cancelled this summer so am looking forward to some kind of a break.

[ThinkAboutIceland]

I think things are changing so fast it's impossible to know what the requirements are going to be next month, never mind past that.

In the 2 weeks we were there they a) introduced a small quarantine plus 2nd test for returning residents, b) expanded the countries exempt from border testing, c) stopped the notification of negative tests and changed to the 24 hour rule.

And since we got back there have been 14 in country infections - some from a temporary worker not being identified as requiring the quarantine/2nd test and infecting several co-workers.
And (which may be most relevant to visitors) also a tourist infecting a tour guide who then infected several others.

So both of those might get them to change the requirements again....

[goatley]

I'm due to visit In October for a long weekend. A little concerned re the 24 hour wait to assume testing is negative?



I'm glad you had a nice visit.

[ThinkAboutIceland]

I typed a long reply the day after I got to Iceland but it can't have posted!

But it all went really smoothly - swabs taken from throat and nose at the airport (never knew my nose went back that far!). Picked up hire car and went to our hotel (about 11pm by now as we were the last flight of the day) and missed breakfast to isolate from others. Still no results at check out time so we went for a drive. Results showed up on the track and trace app at about 1pm. Negative so we could go into a bakery to get lunch (starving by now).

Generally Iceland is back to normal. Signs re social distancing & hand washing everywhere and hand sanitiser but no masks at all. Everything is open and the majority of 'tourists' in the countryside were Iceland residents having a staycation. In 2 weeks I heard one other UK accent and met 3 Americans who had a dispensation to enter the country as they were working with the Coastguard. Plane out was between a third and half full. Coming back was even quieter.

Central Reykjavik in particular seemed quiet. Every other time I've practically had to queue at the Sun Voyager (sculpture) to take photos. This time we were there for 15 minutes on our own...

And while we were there Iceland had 8 infections diagnosed at the border and 2 in country - whatever they're doing seems to be working.

[Newgirls]

Shame they can’t test us all before we get on the planes but that would mean hours in an airport or lots of fake tests I guess.

[Newgirls]

Exactly pootle - I don’t think we have it as all at home and getting deliveries but it only takes one on the plane. Rightly so but also who wants to go on holiday to that? If I was visiting loved ones it would be worth it so very different

[Pootle40]

I suspect it would be something similar in Iceland. Apparently close contact on the plane is being within 6ft of someone! Bearing in mind the easyJet flight in this story only had 72 passengers so was half full and 15 of them forced into a 14 day quarantine!

[Pootle40]

This sounds very like the approach in Jersey. On the first day that borders were opened 15 people on the easyJet flight were put into self isolation as sitting near an asymptomatic person who tested positive. I have no issue being swabbed myself but I'm worried about the chances of sitting next to an infected person and having no control over the holiday being ruined completely

jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2020/07/06/passenger-on-easyjet-gatwick-flight-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/