omg when is America going to open to brits?

[NutellaEllaElla]

No holiday haters please. I understand not everyone is comfortable travelling right now but that's personal preference and individual country prefs.

I have been waiting to go to New York for bloody ages! They're allowed to come here no restrictions but we're still not allowed over there. So unfair.

@GiantKitten That's what worries me! The rules changing and us getting stuck somewhere. It's nerve-wracking.

They aren't letting Canadians in either. Italians aren't allowed in either despite what a previous poster said unless it's essential travel or they hold a us passport

We are booked for Florida in October as well. I was feeling quite positive up until a few weeks ago but it really isn’t that far away now and it’s hard to see much changing before then.

I know lots of people don’t understand the appeal of Disney holidays but it is literally the best thing in our lives and it has been torture not going last year and probably not this year either (or next year looking at the prices )

Totally realise it’s not the same as being separated from family and we are lucky in so many ways after the past 18 months but to be honest, I just won’t feel right until I’m walking down Main Street!

We’re booked to go to NYC next Easter but I’m not even feeling optimistic about that at the moment. I don’t really understand the logic of why the borders are completely closed to some nationalities with highly vaccinated populations - like Canada and yet Mexico is ok?! Is it because there is an issue with the US recognising the AZ vaccine?

For those who are worried about missing Disney a family member who goes a few times a year went recently and said it was not the same at all and she won’t be going back until they bring back fastpasses.

I know of one or two Brits who have managed to visit family in the US by way of running down the 14 day clock in Mexico first (one acquaintance is there currently). Heck of a way to do it but needs must..

I thought the fourteen day rule also applied to travel (for those without the US citizen and other similar exemptions) from the Schengen area - I must admit I hadn’t heard there were extra restrictions on those from Italy.

@KaptainKaveman

I do thanks *@allfurcoat* but he lives in the US and has homes in NYC as well as that ghastly Mar-Y-Largo in Florida or whatever it's called. The very presence of him is polluting isn't it? It'd put me off anyway.

Thats hilarious.

Have you heard of Boris Johnson?

Me too, flight booked to New Orleans in October, fingers crossed

The USA love this sort of thing. Let us in and then we will THINK about whether we will you you even if you are double vaccinated. It’s very frustrating. We are meant to be going mid August and Virgin haven’t cancelled the flight.

@NutellaEllaElla

I'd prepare yourself for disappointment i'm afraid *@FrangipaniBlue*. I had plans for October too but am not feeling at all optimistic about it.

I think I'll stay in denial until about 1 October 😂😂😂😂😂😂

We are meant to be going mid August and Virgin haven’t cancelled the flight.

Apologies if I’m pointing out something you are aware of already but Virgin, like other long haul airlines such as BA, have throughout the pandemic continued to run a very very limited schedule across the “pond”.

That’s done cater for the small number of people who can enter the US without restriction, so there’s a chance the flight you’ve booked on may not be cancelled…

Hope you get the result you need.

I feel your pain! I go to the USA most years and I am craving Florida big time.

Doesn't our high level of vaccination make us a higher risk to everyone else. More likely to still be contagious with mild or no symptoms and carrying on as usual infecting everyone else?

Yes, agree with pp, the big airlines will still be flying....they're not that likely to cancel as there will be US citizens travelling home...they will expect you to make changes and be aware of restrictions. Hopefully you can change it for later in the year. The border with Canada will not open before 21 Aug so it's almost certain that the UK / EU restrictions will remain until at least then....

Flights are still going on a restricted basis, citizens, green card holders, student visas an holders of national interest exemptions can all travel to the US and back. If a flight hasn’t been cancelled now it’s unlikely to be cancelled, I would think. Going via 14 days in Mexico is complicated by the fact that the British foreign office is recommending essential travel only so travel insurance is hard to come by. The US revises the presidential proclamation rules on the first of every month, so if things don’t change on the 1st of August the restrictions will stay the same until at least the 1st of September.

@MakeCrisps

Doesn't our high level of vaccination make us a higher risk to everyone else. More likely to still be contagious with mild or no symptoms and carrying on as usual infecting everyone else?

Not if you've had a Fit to Fly PCR test, surely?

My flight to the US was cancelled one month before hand so airlines may be looking at demand and making decisions one month ahead.
I was just moved to a later flight the same day which is not ideal but will be manageable. I am a fully Pfizered US citizen so don’t have issues with travelling to the US as long as my test is negative.

I read its something to do with the fact they haven't approved the Oxford vaccine.

But I've had Pfizer which is approved ao why can't they allow those who have had approved vaccines to fly

@Dreamstate

I read its something to do with the fact they haven't approved the Oxford vaccine.

But I've had Pfizer which is approved ao why can't they allow those who have had approved vaccines to fly

Me, Dh and teen Dd have all had Pfizer too.

Like a PP I'm trying not stay in denial until October comes around. Until then I can pretend!!

We're in the same boat - flights booked to visit my brother in the US at Easter next year, postponed from Easter 2020. Really really hope they'll let us in by then, it's so frustrating!

My flight to the US was cancelled one month before hand so airlines may be looking at demand and making decisions one month ahead.

…or even (much) closer in to scheduled departure than that, though some compensation rules may encourage airlines to cancel early rather than waiting to the last minute.

@Franklin12

The USA love this sort of thing. Let us in and then we will THINK about whether we will you you even if you are double vaccinated. It’s very frustrating. We are meant to be going mid August and Virgin haven’t cancelled the flight.

Change US for UK and substitute UK for everywhere else, and that’s how it feels have have family in Britain right now!

Amber lists when cases are a fraction of the uk, refusal to recognise vaccine passports when everyone else can manage the nhs app…

"I read its something to do with the fact they haven't approved the Oxford vaccine".

Not so, its all to do now with delta variant concerns. That is the stumbling block here. The United States government is not planning to remove the current entry ban for travellers from the 26 Schengen Area Member States, Ireland, the UK, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil, at least for now.

Sources within the White House have confirmed for Reuters that “at this point”, the US authorities do not intend to lift any of the entry restrictions for arrivals from the abovementioned due to the concerns raised from the spread of the Delta variant in these countries.

Sadly my guess is that not much change will occur until late this year or even early next year.

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is not yet approved in the United States because the FDA has asked AstraZeneca to show results from a large-scale trial. The FDA asked the company to conduct a larger trial in order to get clearer data than they gathered in their first rounds of testing. In the first trials in the U.K., some participants unexpectedly received half-doses of the first shot in the vaccine, and the early trials did not include enough people older than 65, reports the Washington Post.

I don't see the US opening up more widely any time soon. The bottom line is that they don't NEED to open up to us and they don't want to because of Delta and the crazy way the govt here has handled the pandemic. Whether Brits like it or not, we're seen as a plague island in much of the rest of the world. We've had three massive waves of COVID-19, with one of the highest death rates in the world, and this year in the US domestic tourism has taken the place of foreign. Airlines, national parks, theme parks and attractions are all really busy with Americans, so unlike Spain and Portugal and Greece, who are prepared to take the risk with letting us in, the US is coping just fine without us.

My bet is that they'll only reopen when case numbers reduce here and stay low and as long as no new variants of concern appear. Joe Biden is way more cautious than Trump and he only has to worry about popularity at home - letting Brits in when Delta is raging here is hardly going to be a vote winner.

We have been going to FL 2-3 times a year for almost 30 years (we are not Disney fans and go nowhere near the parks) So have really missed it.

We should have been flying out for 3 weeks on 26th August but I don't think there is a hope in hell of that happening, so we switched to Antigua where we went last Sept.

We have re-booked for June next year having had to cancel 3 times already.

Personally I can't see them letting us in until at the very least Thanksgiving or Christmas.