Is my child’s passport valid for our holiday to Greece?

Simon Calder answers your questions on EU travel with kids, arriving from Jamaica, and PCR tests

The old harbour at Chania, Crete (iStock)

Q I read your article in July regarding the amount of time children are required to have left of their passport to travel to European Union countries. Do you know if the airlines/passport control are using the same information you published, or are they using the blanket passport validity checker?

We are travelling to Greece and my son has five months left on his passport. Despite us believing that your advice is correct, we have been given different information from a number of sources and are still concerned. Is it wise to obtain confirmation from the Greek embassy or do you think we’ll be OK?

Ben L

A The article to which you refer was about the UK government’s online passport checking service giving misleading results about the validity of children’s passports in the EU. Transport providers, of course, do not want to take people to countries for which they are not properly documented – if they do so, they will be fined.

But whether children or adults, the post-Brexit rules on passport validity when travelling to the EU are clear. Each passport must pass two tests:

* Will the document be valid for at least three months following the intended date of returning from the European Union

* Was the passport issued in the past 10 years?

For adults, it is not quite black and white: some travel firms are conflating the two conditions and saying that a passport must not have been issued more than nine years and nine months earlier. That is a grey area, but in your case it is irrelevant because children are not entitled to 10-year passports.

Assuming your trip is just for a week or two, clearly your son’s passport meets the conditions. I can see no risk that he would be turned away on arrival – as the Greek embassy would no doubt confirm.

Much nonsense is talked about needing six months’ validity. The airlines know, and I have reminded them, what the rules actually are. If the check-in staff take a different view, invite them to check the official EU source – for which I have created a short link, bit.ly/EUpassport. And remind them that denying boarding to a properly documented traveller will render the airline liable for sorting out a new flight and paying hundreds of pounds in compensation.

Enjoy your family holiday.

Under lockdown: Montego Bay, Jamaica

Q I’m currently in Jamaica on holiday and watching local Covid numbers rise dramatically. There’s now total lockdown for three days where no tourist can leave the hotel/resort. I am now worried about Jamaica joining the UK red list. My flight home on Saturday may land just hours too late to avoid a quarantine hotel. Would Virgin Atlantic bring that flight forward by a few hours to make the curfew?

Name supplied

A On Wednesday the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is expected to announce the latest round of changes to the “traffic light” system that governs travellers returning to the UK. At present Jamaica is amber, meaning fully vaccinated arrivals do not need to self-isolate.

I think it extremely unlikely that Jamaica will go red at the next change, requiring everyone arriving to the UK from the island to go into 11 nights of hotel quarantine. While infection rates on the island have risen six-fold in the past month, they remain well below half of those in the UK. Variants of concern do not appear to be a significant issue.

But let us assume the worst. First, there is no telling which date might be chosen for the implementation of the changes. It has mostly been 4am on the following Monday. Last time that was changed to 4am on Sunday – which would mean your arrival missed the deadline. But airlines would do all they can to avoid passengers having to go into hotel isolation.

Your flight is due to depart from Montego Bay at 7.55pm on Saturday, arriving at London Heathrow at 11am on Sunday morning. When British Airways was faced with the same problem, bringing people back from Cancun in Mexico before the 4am deadline on 8 August, the carrier simply brought departure times forward to allow for a 3am arrival. But that was to Gatwick. Heathrow has much more stringent noise rules.

There is zero chance of Virgin Atlantic being granted special permission for a 3am arrival at Heathrow. Moving the departure time early enough to allow for a pre-curfew 10.30pm arrival on Saturday would require a 6.25am departure from Montego Bay, which I imagine would not be popular. Instead, I envisage a 12 noon departure from Jamaica’s main holiday airport to Manchester – touching down shortly before 3am, which the airport’s rules permit. All arrivals would be processed by UK border force, within the 4am deadline, while the flight crew have a cup of tea. Then, at around 5am, the plane would take off again for Heathrow, arriving at 6am. Not ideal, but better than the alternative.

Will the government rethink its onerous testing regime for travel? (PA)

Q I am travelling to a country from which I will need a “day two” PCR test on my return. Three questions, please. Presumably you are meant to quarantine until the day two test is done and clear? What is the chance of the government dropping day two PCR tests anytime soon? And can you advise where to buy the cheapest PCR?

Tony

A The ill-named “day two” PCR test is required if you are arriving from a green-list country or are fully vaccinated and arriving from an amber country. It can be taken on the day of arrival or either of the two following days.

The UK government stipulates complex, onerous and expensive testing rules for international travel. This post-arrival test is in addition to a “test to fly” that must be carried out before departing to the UK from every foreign country (except Ireland, from which there are no testing requirements). Partly because it is a second test, there is no need to self-isolate and wait for the test result.

There are growing calls for the PCR tests for fully vaccinated arrivals from low-risk countries to be scrapped because it is of dubious medical benefit. I think a government decision could be informed by derision at the huge waste of travellers’ cash and medical resources. The requirement will probably be dropped first for fully vaccinated arrivals from green-list countries.

Meanwhile, I am not going to suggest where to get the cheapest PCR as I am not convinced of the quality of providers who are at the bottom of the testing market.

Can I persuade you to spend about £70 on an at-airport test when you return? It will be professionally conducted and generate a result within about 24 hours, making it far more of a genuine public health benefit than the postal options – and also provide minimal hassle for you, because it will be just one more link in the gruelling arrivals chain.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder