What are the 48-hour testing rules for UK arrivals?
Simon Calder answers your questions on the latest travel rules and what you need to do once you reach your destination
Q I am concerned about the new pre-departure test for travellers to the UK. What are the rules if the test within 48 hours lapses as a result of flight cancellation for poor weather? Would you then need a second test or would the first be OK as it’s within 48 hours of the original scheduled departure? I am asking because I am travelling from St John’s in Newfoundland with a major winter storm forecast – plus the necessity for a long backtrack through Montreal or Toronto as the non-stop to London Heathrow is suspended.
Tom C
A First, there is no “48 hours” rule for a pre-departure test for the UK. This was a pure invention of ministers last weekend, subsequently reinforced by a misleading press release and regrettably (though understandably) repeated widely by the media since then. To be absolutely clear, the pre-departure test must be taken on the day scheduled for travel, or either of the two previous days. Were you to take the 2.05pm flight from St John’s to Toronto (which connects to Heathrow at 6.30pm) on a Saturday, you could take the test at 8am on Thursday – nearly 60 hours before your transatlantic flight, and perfectly legal.
Fortunately, the law is clear that the timing is relative to “the service’s scheduled time of departure”. If the plane (or ferry, or train) is late you can travel whenever it finally leaves without a second test. If it is cancelled, then my interpretation is that you can travel on the next available service without needing to test again.
Finally, to tidy up the issue of connecting flights: if you take two (or more) separate flights within the same country in order to get back to the UK, then the rules indicate the final departure is the one that counts. For you, and pretty much everyone else flying from somewhere in North America to the UK, this is immaterial, since connecting flights are (almost) always on the same day. But where you change planes in a third country, then it is the initial international flight that determines the timing. So if you leave New Zealand for Singapore on a Monday with the connecting flight to the UK on a Tuesday, the test could be taken as early as Saturday.
Q My son is due to travel to Denmark for the last five days of the year with his father. This trip was scheduled for the summer of 2020 and has been rescheduled several times. The hotel has now said that they will not reschedule further, so this is their last chance to travel or lose out on a lot of money. But here in northeast Scotland I cannot see any way to get a rapid “day two” PCR Covid test in Aberdeen or anywhere nearby to enable my son to escape the required self-isolation as soon as possible. Indeed, I am struggling to find any way to meet the legal deadline of midnight on the second day after arrival.
What do you suggest? A trip to Edinburgh or Glasgow seems counter to the idea of minimising travel, as well as expensive and time-consuming.
Name withheld
A The emotional and economic damage caused by the UK government’s recent responses to the omicron variant will only intensify as Christmas and new year approaches. As of right now, I can see no easy solution to your problem. As you say, it would be ludicrous to travel hundreds of miles to the central belt and back, but currently that is the only option: Aberdeen airport’s testing centre does not offer PCR testing.
Yet I am confident that a solution will present itself before the end of the year. I think there is a reasonable chance that the heavy-handed and disproportionate response by the government will be reduced in the review of the current measures due on 20 December.
If I am wrong, then I have another prediction: that the testing centre at Aberdeen airport will recognise the immense amount of cash to be made from desperate travellers, and start offering PCR tests to be taken immediately on arrival or on one of the two following days.
The centre closes at 2pm on 31 December, presumably too late for their arrival back from Denmark, so they would need to stay overnight, which would be legal, at an airport hotel – happy Hogmanay – and go in for a test when it reopens at 8am on New Year’s Day.
So all you can do is wait – and lobby your MP and/or MSP to work towards a more reasonable regime for people who live in less populated parts of the country.
Q I’m going to the French Alps south of Lake Geneva next week. Can you please explain what has changed and what I need to do?
Name supplied
A Going out, the change introduced this week is that fully vaccinated travellers to France must provide a negative test result (in paper or digital format, lateral flow or PCR) carried out less than 48 hours before leaving for France. The French embassy in London warns: “Tests whose results are not certified by a laboratory (such as the self-administered tests provided free of charge by the NHS) are not considered valid for travel.” Your local pharmacy may well be able to offer a quick, cheap lateral flow test.
You will also need a completed “sworn statement” (declaration sur l’honneur) form confirming you are not feeling ill or infectious.
If you are taking your car on a ferry via Dover or Eurotunnel from Folkestone, you will benefit from “juxtaposed passport controls” – French officials checking your paperwork before leaving the UK. If there is any aspect of the rules that you have overlooked, you will be able to correct it swiftly.
For your great drive south, I recommend you give a wide berth to Switzerland. Even though the fastest route passes through Swiss territory, it would trigger additional rules and restrictions.
Coming back: hold off booking any tests yet because the rules returning to the UK are prone to swift and expensive changes.
The changes that took effect this month mean you need a test before you are allowed to board a ferry or Eurotunnel shuttle to the UK. You must also complete a passenger locator form, which you can only do if you have booked a PCR test for the day you arrive, or one of the two following days.
I suggest you delay booking the necessary tests and complete the form only the day before you leave. On Wednesday the health secretary, Sajid Javid, said all UK travel restrictions could be lifted “very soon”, so you might not need to take any tests for your homeward journey.
Q We’re planning a family trip to Philadelphia then on to Florida for four days over Christmas. We’re stressing so much it’s spoiling the anticipation of a great holiday.
We have organised pre-departure tests for the UK to US flight, but what about the other tests? Do we also need tests for their internal flight from Philadelphia to Orlando? We come back on 27 December. Being so close to Christmas, could this be a problem?
Bernard K
A Let me talk you through all the tests.
1 UK to US. Can I check you have booked a privately obtained, professionally administered and properly certified lateral flow test taken on the day of departure to the US or on the day before? The rules make it clear that the only alternative is a self-administered test supervised on video by an authorised US provider. While I know some people have successfully checked in and flown the Atlantic with a UK DIY test, these do not comply with the rules.
2 Pennsylvania to Florida. No tests are currently needed for the onward flight. While in theory such a requirement could be introduced, because each state can impose its own rules, I think it most unlikely to happen just before Christmas.
3 Were you staying for five days, the children would need additional tests – but you just escape this requirement.
4 US to UK pre-departure test. I recommend the Orlando airport testing centre for ease (it’s almost in the middle of the central atrium). When I checked last month, a rapid antigen test with AdventHealth cost $65 (£47) – above comparable prices at UK airports, but wholly reliable.
5 UK post-arrival test: book the “day two” test (ideally taken immediately on arrival) as late as possible, in case the UK government decides to do away with (or downgrade) the requirement. The Christmas break will not be a barrier to the testing companies making handsome profits by selling these services, so I do not foresee any problem with availability.
Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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