Is my son covered if his festival in Malta is cancelled?

Simon Calder answers your questions on ‘Covid cover’ and how to navigate pre-travel testing

Dawn over Birgu and the Grand Harbour in southeast Malta (Getty/iStock)

Q My son has booked a festival in Malta with accommodation and has Covid insurance. His flights have been booked separately with Jet2, bought with Covid cover. If the festival gets cancelled due to Covid, where does he stand in regard to his flight?

Dawn C

A Let me start by outlining the fairly standard Covid cover offered by good travel insurers. Cancellation before travel is normally covered if the traveller tests positive for Covid shortly before departure (whether a few days ahead or when testing for travel). Some policies also cover missed departure while waiting for a test result, so long as the test was booked at the airport, ferry port or international railway station with sufficient time allowed. (Policies may mention cover for cancellation if a close relative dies after testing positive for Covid-19, though in practice cover already exists when someone close dies for any reason.)

While abroad, travellers are normally covered for medical treatment and additional expenses triggered by being unable to get home. But the Covid scenario your son is concerned about – roughly, “cancellation of event that was the reason for the trip” – is not covered.

Unless your son has bought Jet2 travel insurance, the only “Covid cover” I am aware of is the fairly standard arrangement that is described by the airline thus: “If you’ve got a flight booked but have to self-isolate due to NHS Test and Trace, you can amend admin fee-free to a later date.” Again, the motive for your son’s trip is not covered.

Unfortunately, the only rock-solid way to ensure the right to a refund if a festival is cancelled is to buy a festival-specific package that includes flights and a ticket for the event (usually with accommodation as well). Such a product will be covered by the Package Travel Regulations 2018, which effectively state that if the holiday firm cannot provide the trip as sold then it must provide a full refund.

Since your son has chosen different arrangements, all he, you and I can do is hope that the festival goes ahead.

Simon Calder will be travelling to the UK on the Eurostar on 11 February (Simon Calder)

Q We are due to land back into the UK on 11 February at 5.15am. From my understanding, we are exempt from testing. My concern is the testing part on the passenger locator form: how do we fill it in if they ask for a testing reference number? I’m so worried we will be stuck filling it in while we are away.

Andy P

A My cap is doffed to you for your excellent timing. For fully vaccinated travellers (which does not, by the way, involve having had a booster), the requirement for a post-arrival test for the UK ends at 4am on Friday 11 February. You will be in the very first wave of people to arrive in the UK after this obligation lifts. This will save both cost and hassle – with no need to take a test that the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, says “has outlived its usefulness”.

Now, recent history tells us that significant changes in the rules for entering the UK can trigger problems as transport operators get accustomed to the new regime. When pre-departure tests for travellers to the UK were dropped earlier this month, a planeload of British passengers were nearly denied boarding at Malaga airport because the message had not got through.

I do not expect any issues for you. The government has given itself 18 days to update the passenger locator form, so everything should be in place. I am also travelling to the UK on 11 February (though not arriving as early as you); I intend to complete the required form on my way to the Eurostar station in Paris, in the expectation that it will be updated and simplified by then, as Mr Shapps has promised.

All the staff will want to see is the emailed confirmation of successful completion of the passenger locator form, and it is simply not feasible that the form will still demand a code number for a test booking. Were that the case, all international departures to the UK would start to unravel because no one would be able to complete it without making an unnecessary booking.

If it turns out I am wrong, it may be that the staff doing the checking will accept proof of vaccination. But I hope you are able, like me, to relax in the expectation that all will be well.

Britain and France demand a negative lateral flow test taken within 24 hours from UK travellers (AFP/Getty)

Q Do both France and Italy accept home-administered tests from British travellers? More optimistically, do you think pre-departure tests to France and Italy could be scrapped any time soon?

Becky L

A My response applies solely for fully vaccinated travellers – which, for the purposes of entry to either country, requires being either double-jabbed with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax or receiving a single Janssen dose. No booster required.

In terms of testing: both nations demand a negative antigen (lateral flow) test taken within 24 hours from travellers from the UK. The timing for France is 24 hours ahead of departure; for Italy the test must be taken no more than 24 hours before arrival.

My strong sense is that requirements for pre-departure tests will be eased soon, as part of what I forecast will be a competitive reopening race between leading tourist nations. Despite continuing high levels of new Covid-19 cases, there is growing acceptance that tourism needs to return. My next trip to France is on 8 February and I believe there is a fair chance I won’t need to take one.

But I am prepared to do so if need be. Regular readers of the daily travel question will know that I always recommend a properly medically administered test rather than a DIY one.

There are plenty of firms that will sell you a self-administered test for a lot less than a professional test. These are likely to be valid: the one stipulation I can see on this subject, from France, merely says that NHS-issued tests are not acceptable. This is a universal rule for international travel.

But DIY tests are nothing like as accurate as those that are carried out professionally.

From a public health point of view, the best policy is always to get a medically trained person to subject you to the full, uncomfortable swab experience. You should also get a result and certificate within minutes. But in the hope that the rules will ease, always book any test as late as possible.

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