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So me and my family just spent two weeks in the UK with my parents. Here’s what we found in terms of travel requirements, UK test and trace, post-Brexit passport stamping and dystopian empty airports. Mega thread…
First up, please spare me the outrage for having taken the trip. We’re all grown-ups, we know the risks, and we opted to travel anyway. We followed all of the rules and had to have four PCR tests over the space of the trip, - plus my folks had their first dose of AZ a while ago
So, before we left me and the missus needed a clean coronavirus test to present at the UK border. Unlike in Spain, this can be an antigen test, which have the advantage of being cheaper - 45€ – and the results come back very fast, meaning you have more of a margin for time
One side note – make sure you get your passport or ID number completely correct before you take one of these tests. As we were signing in to get ours I left my wife alone for ONE MINUTE while I went to the bathroom and she managed to give a number on her passport...
... to the receptionist that wasn’t her passport number but actually her DNI… A lot of frantic calls were required to sort out that snafu afterwards.
So, off to Barajas. A surprising amount of people in the airport considering all the restrictions. And quite a few people not being allowed to check in to our AirEuropa flight due to not having the right documentation
Before you can fly to the UK you need to complete a passenger locator form for the UK government and you need to book your home testing: a kit will be dispatched so you can do a test on day 2 and day 8 of your 10-day quarantine.
Arrival at Gatwick was slightly surreal, given the lack of travellers but also due to a huge number of armed police all over the place. Also, very surprising to see that the UK border officers do not wear masks – they’re just sat behind a plastic screen, which is pretty useless
And also of particular note is that the border officers are responsible for everything: checking your passports, checking your PCR result, and checking your passenger locator forms. Quite a tall order for the few staff that were there
We didn’t have to wait at all but there have been horror stories recently of up to seven-hour delays at the border in Heathrow due to all the requirements (people arriving in the UK from red-list countries, for ex., currently have to isolate in a hotel.
Once in England you can quarantine with family, and they are free to come and go as they like. You cannot leave the house of course, and have to stay put until 10 days have passed and you got your day 8 result back clean.
As for the tests, the UK gov. has a series of suppliers for this, we opted for DNA Workplace. You have to record a video of yourself taking the test. For these home tests my six-year-old also had to do them.
I really hope that the staff at DNA Workplace enjoyed the video of him firing snot out of his nose as I attempted to get the swab in there. Despite the difficulty of doing a PCR test on a small child, fortunately they were all valid tests and they all came back clean.
DNA Workplace were particularly brilliant given the Easter holiday and actually sent a courier to our house on Good Friday to collect the samples to avoid delays with the postal system, and thus get us out of quarantine on day 10.
So on day 12 we had to go get our PCR tests for our return, again for me, my wife and my 6-yr-old. At this point it’s probably time to talk about the cost. This was a hugely expensive trip, with all of the testing coming in at about 1,400€ all in all.
If things stay like this for now, travel is going to be the preserve of only those who can afford it. My 6-yr-old had to do all tests apart from the one before we flew to England. My 3-yr-old was exempt, as are all under-6s, but if he wasn’t the cost would have been 1,800€ for 4
Gatwick was very weird on our return journey. Almost completely deserted, and strict checks on your documents again before you can check in. The one that seemed to catch most people out was another UK government one.
It’s currently against the law to fly out of the UK apart from a series of exceptions (ours was “Ending a temporary visit (Non-UK resident)”). Everything was checked before we could check in and there were even armed police at the entrance to security...
...checking again that you were eligible to travel and had filled out the necessary form. Once through security, it was eery in Gatwick – everything shut and just a handful of travellers. My wife said it was dystopian and it really was...
...just another of these weird scenes that have become normal sights during the pandemic. On our return to Madrid they tried to stamp my passport again, even though I’d presented my passport and Spanish TIE residency card.
The officer said that they will be stamping them in the future as it is obligatory, so not sure what the deal is there. Will opt for the Irish passport for future travel perhaps.
And when we were through, in Barajas they have a completely separate line for the health checks.
And when we were through, in Barajas they have a completely separate line for the health checks.
They scan the QR code you get when you complete Spain’s passenger locator form, and then a separate team of healthcare staff had a very long hard look at our PCR test results, and made sure that all the details tallied up with our passports, etc.
Shout out to the moronic woman in Gatwick in the check-in queue who refused to put her mask on when I asked her to, and her even dumber son who actually took his off given their outrage at my request that they follow the rules.
As luck would have it he was sat right behind me on the plane, still with his mask off, and pretended he couldn’t hear me when I demanded he put it on. Eventually a member of the cabin crew had to come over and sort him out.
At this stage of the pandemic I really can’t understand why people can’t just be civil and follow the rules on masks…
So, the tl:dr version: went to the UK, it was very expensive, probably won’t make it back again until everything changes…
Ah! And what the actual fuck is happening to the weather in England?! One day i was barbecuing in the sun and the next it’s snowing!!
Well done if you made it this far! Here's a quick poll. Should this load of info have been:
oh! and a few holiday snaps: Deserted Gatwick
Also, some useful links: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-quarantine-when-you-arrive-in-england
https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-test-to-release-for-international-travel https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-declaration-form-for-international-travel#permitted-reasons-for-international-travel
https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-test-to-release-for-international-travel https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-declaration-form-for-international-travel#permitted-reasons-for-international-travel
