Can you travel to Mexico without any Covid tests?
Simon Calder answers your questions on PCRs, summer trips to Europe and flying direct to New Orleans
Q We have just booked to go to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico on 17 February. Am I right in thinking we don’t need tests in any direction?
“Paul 22”, via the latest Ask Me Anything at independent.co.uk
A This week a newspaper ran a story headlined: “UK becomes first major country to scrap self-isolation for unvaccinated travellers.”
That surprised me, because Mexico (population 130 million) has been open to all throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It has never demanded negative test results, nor evidence of vaccination.
This wonderful Latin American nation was placed on the UK’s red list in August 2021; you might remember a mad rush back from the beaches and cities to avoid hotel quarantine. What amounted to a travel ban ended after a few months, and since then Mexico has been back on the agenda. Mid-February is a fabulous time to be on the Pacific coast, and Puerto Vallarta is well placed for exploring further afield up and down the shore.
As with many other nations, you must complete a passenger locator form: it is known as Mexico Vuela Seguro, which can be completed only in the 12 hours before departure. It is a simple matter, and generates a QR code upon arrival at the airport.
There is a chance that the Sanidad Internacional (“international health”) staff at the airport may check your temperature and ask about other symptoms.
At the end of your holiday you will need to complete a UK passenger locator form. This complex and confusing online questionnaire may or may not have been simplified by then; the prime minister promised it would be in August 2020, and we are still waiting.
Anyone who is not double jabbed will need to present a pre-departure test before boarding a flight to the UK, and book a post-arrival PCR to come home. But all tests for fully vaccinated travellers to the UK will be scrapped on 11 February, even before you leave.
Q We want to combine France, Germany and the Netherlands this summer – crossing back and forth over the Rhine. But how easy do you think it will be to travel around various European countries in one holiday during the summer?
B Innes
A Your trip sounds a lovely way to spend some of the summer. Right now, I am urging caution on multinational travel: with every country in Europe still having its own set of rules and restrictions, and changes happening from day to day, any journey more complex than a “there-and-back” can multiply problems.
I hope, though, that by summer the adventure you propose will be perfectly manageable. The European Union is working towards uniformity faster than any other region of the world. If a one-size-fits-all system can be agreed, then – rather like the Schengen Area – travellers should be able to cross borders without triggering a new set of regulations. Once you’re in, you’re in. Such a deal could include semi-detached neighbours of the EU, such as Switzerland.
In my view, the Swiss city of Basel is the ideal place to begin a trip such as yours: a beautiful, cultured city where the Rhine really gets into its stride. Heading downstream, I suggest your criss-crossing takes in the beautiful and historic towns of Breisach (Germany) and Colmar (France); Strasbourg, a handsome and intensely European city that symbolises unity; and the little international ferries that shuttle across the Rhine north of here, for example between Drusenheim and Greffern.
Once fully in Germany, the Rhine steers a dreamy course through lovely landscapes, through fine cities including Mainz, Bonn, Cologne and Dusseldorf. Which, personally, is where I would end my trip; once in the Netherlands, I find the Rhine loses its character.
Q Does BA still operate a direct flight to New Orleans?
Name supplied
A British Airways restored London-New Orleans flights in 2016. The link to Louisiana’s largest city is very much a secondary destination: predominantly leisure-focused, rather than the business-heavy routes to New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles with lots of connecting traffic at Heathrow.
Accordingly, it was no surprise when the Heathrow-New Orleans route was suspended completed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, while longer-established links continued (though at much lower frequencies). Other routes, including Nashville and Baltimore, were also grounded on the same basis.
As has happened repeatedly during the Covid crisis with many airlines, British Airways has put flights on sale, which it has later retracted. I don’t blame BA for a moment: testing demand and then cancelling is a long-established principle. A spokesperson for the airline told me: “We apologise to customers whose travel plans are disrupted. Where a customer’s flight is cancelled, we always contact them to offer options including a full refund.”
Of course, any of the transatlantic airlines offer connections to New Orleans via hubs such as New York JFK (BA/American Airlines or jetBlue), Atlanta (Delta/Virgin Atlantic) and Newark or Houston (United). But I recognise the appeal of a nonstop departure, particularly westbound. Given the uncertainty of how long it will take to get through US immigration, the two options will either need to allow an annoyingly long amount of time to transfer or to go for an hour or two and risk getting stressed and missing the flight. Going through security in the US for the domestic flight is also less than a pleasure.
So I certainly pay a premium for a nonstop flight. I am glad to say that British Airways is planning to restart the link by May (as well as those Baltimore and Nashville flights). And a completely new route to a secondary city, Portland in Oregon, is also scheduled for the summer. Finally, the other secondary cities that I think deserve a nonstop link are Jacksonville in Florida; Memphis, Tennessee; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Q I’m interested in if you think we should travel still to Dubai given the recent missile attacks?
Sally P
A As The Independent has reported this month a series of missiles have been aimed at Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The latest attack, in which two incoming missiles were destroyed by the UAE military, came a week after a similar strike on Abu Dhabi in which three people were killed. Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they carried out the attack.
This is not, then, an altogether peaceful corner of the world. The US State Department, which provides travel advice for American citizens, says: “Recent missile and drone attacks targeted populated areas and civilian infrastructure.” Prospective visitors are urged to “reconsider travel”.
The Foreign Office warns that “further attacks are likely”. However, unlike the US government the UK FCDO does not advise against travel – though it did for a while last year when the UAE was seen as a Covid-19 risk.
Flights are continuing as normal, and indeed Dubai is the top long-haul destination from the UK in terms of passenger numbers. The risk to British travellers is assessed as small. Personally I would be happy to travel to Dubai tomorrow – whether simply changing planes on Emirates or spending time in the city.
My main concern in Dubai – as in many other locations – is road safety. The Foreign Office says: “The World Health Organisation has reported that UAE road users are almost seven times more likely to be killed than their UK counterparts and that the UAE has one of the highest rates of road deaths.”
Almost anywhere in the Arab world, I try to stick to public transport as much as possible rather than taking taxis or driving myself.
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