Hey all,
So this might be helpful for some although the rules are changing constantly so do check.
We booked last minute flights and hotel with free cancellation (up to 24 hrs before check in) The airline had an option to add insurance that covered issues that might occur COVID-19. It was super cheap and a peace of mind.
We flew to Majorca and after it had been added to the list it wasn’t clear for the first few days whether they accept antigen tests or PCR only. We paid for next day PCR test. This was quite a bit more expensive but honestly such a peace of mind that we weren’t going to be questioned and also more accurate than an antigen test.
Do your Health Form before you go to the airport. Sooo many people were doing them at the bag drop off 🙄 you got 48 hours to do it before the arrival and it took me about 10 minutes.
Flights was 2/3 full, but some people are very relaxed about facemasks, wearing them on their chin or not covering their mouth. Not much you can do about it but I was very surprised that the crew wasn’t more strict about it.
Arrival: expect queues. Passport control is a lot longer because of brexit + after the normal passport check there is another check point for the health form check. Seriously do expect to queue for hours. I actually got an EU passport so wasn’t an issue for me ( I got through the whole thing in 15-20mins) but if you only have a British one just mentally prepare yourself 😂
Getting test on the island was super easy. We got an antigen test as it was definitely accepted for returning to the UK. We paid 30€, used a local place. Do not book UK ones/ British ones or take self kits - these are a rip off. We got our fit to fly cert within 20 minutes.
Do your passenger locator form the night before. Again so many at the airport didn’t have this ready 🙄 like literally the first thing they are going to ask you for plus the passport.
Day 2 testing. We had one delivered to us from Radnor. It’s a self test kit. We were more relaxed about this one as our holiday isn’t depending on this one. Paid £40ish tested straight as we got home and sent it off. I also did a lateral flow test just to be safe.
We’ve only had our first vaccine so sorry not sure what you need to do if you are double vaccinated but our holiday was sooo cheap, so even if you need testing it’s worth it. Spend a bit more money on tests, read reviews on providers and I promise once you add it up, it will still be cheaper than a holiday in a ‘normal case’ .
I don’t know about day 2/5/8 tests. I think the requirements are different in each country. Gov website is definitely the place to check, although I got totally lost on it a few times and read loads of irrelevant stuff 😂 I found that Boots staff were very knowledgeable (if they were doing testing at their store) I didn’t get my test done with them but they were very helpful.
Sorry I can’t be more help with this, but as a bottom line, it’s totally worth going. It was brilliant and I know that the testing is a bit annoying but we had a great time and I generally felt very safe throughout.