August 2021 - will I be going ?

[Plague]

then what's the point in the costs of trying to get everybody to do 2 tests a week ?

I haven't worked that out yet.
They were originally offered to school children (which is when that 1/1,000 bit back) and I think it's mainly a reassurance for those who feel at risk.
I doubt anything near 'everybody' will bother anyway.

No way can we pay that X5 for our family holiday .

Which may be part of the plan. If they could get away with it they would probably say "No foreign holidays for the rest of 2021". But that won't fly (sorry) so they will make it difficult and thus limit the numbers.

It's not game over yet - eg. Israel has just published data suggesting the SA variant can get past the Pfizer vaccine some of the time. We only need a SA++ variant to enter the UK and come October we are in lockdown 3 (or 4? ... I've lost count I think).

 

[Ruttangel]

Government always said they will make announcement about travelling on 12th April. The bank holiday statement was about hairdressers, shops etc. to give the go ahead for them to reopen from the 12th

It was leaked before 5th but Boris decided not to mention it even though he said he would.
The actual guidance was posted on 9th
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...amework-to-safely-reopen-international-travel

 

[bex7583]

I just wish we had some better updates!

I don't want to get too close to departure and loose my free cancellation options. I think it would be really unfair of them to "ok" holidays and then leave everybody in the awkward position of travel agents up and running as normal and lots of people then finding they can't easily refund/ switch as they are " choosing not to travel " if they can't afford/ not willing to fork out £300-400 p.p for tests !!

Even if I was willing to pay it , I just think the stress and anxiety of doing/ the results would ruin any enjoyment of the trip. 5 people doing multiple tests scares me what if one of them comes bk positive then what do you do ? Somebody stay behind and the rest of the family fly ?

I just want to book last minute , with little thought and no planning and excitedly countdown

I have booked some UK holidays as back ups as I wanted to do this incase prices went crazy. Really think at this point I might just cancel all my abroad bookings. It just no longer feels like a holiday. I do think travel will be possible for those willing to go. I just can't be bothered with the admin/ paperwork and one legged jumping through hoops to get there

Watching vlogs and insta in Disney they last few months have felt so strange though, like apart from the masks life looked so normal compared to what we have been living in the UK !

 

[JordanClark9]

Even if I was willing to pay it , I just think the stress and anxiety of doing/ the results would ruin any enjoyment of the trip. 5 people doing multiple tests scares me what if one of them comes bk positive then what do you do ? Somebody stay behind and the rest of the family fly ?

I hear ya. My plan is to work from home the week before going just to make sure nothing can make that test positive.

 

[Plague]

Good points I think.

I don't want to get too close to departure and loose my free cancellation options.

As I said months ago - Holidays are like the stock markets at present so don't commit more than you can afford to lose.

I do think travel will be possible for those willing to go.

It will be much like last year - risky. Plan on the rug being pulled out at any point.

5 people doing multiple tests scares me what if one of them comes bk positive then what do you do ? Somebody stay behind and the rest of the family fly ?

Unless things have changed it will be nobody goes anywhere. Close contacts of the testee (?) will have to self-isolate for n days. (I think n is usually 10 at present.)

 

[Kate_45]

With the rapid flow false positives are pretty uncommon. False negatives on the other hand are relatively high - leading you to ask "what's the point?" Well the point is to catch some and stop wide scale outbreaks. Even if just a fifth of asymptomatic people get spotted and taken out of circulation along with the associated contacts it helps. Key thing is it works best when people are at their most infectious - a day or two before symptoms start.

I've been testing regularly since Christmas. I didn't have enough faith in it to see my unvaccinated dad (in our bubble) during the height of the wave, but it makes me happy enough to go work with strangers as eventually with regular testing one LFT would throw up a positive between me and my colleagues if we were infectious.

The PCR is the gold standard, the pricey one. You couldn't mass test just in case at £150 per pop, but at £3.50 it's worth a shunt compared with the economic loss of pre-emptive isolation as an alternative.

 

[bex7583]

I hear ya. My plan is to work from home the week before going just to make sure nothing can make that test positive.

Yes I work at home too, so i would feel confident about my result. Our accomodation is booked late July so I have teenagers who will be in school right up until a few days before we leave. So risk of loosing a school bubble and one of them having to isolate from a contact can't imagine school authorising any time off so I could isolate them at home for a bit prior to leaving.

It's just so rubbish . I would love to get there this summer as I think if we postponed it to next year my eldest probably won't want to come ( older awkward teen that thinks holiday with his mates will be more fun)

 

[MichelinMan]

Getting back to the original question, I reckon by August it will be possible to get to Florida. However, the hoops you will have to go through, and the experience when you get there, just won't make the holiday as enjoyable.

We were due to travel in July. I think by July it might be possible to go. But we just made the decision this week to postpone until next year now. Just starting to price up dates for next year now, but hotel availability is much reduced - can't find many off-site hotels that are allowing to book for July next year, for example. Disney prices are more expensive, so we will probably end up downgrading from our current Coronado Springs booking to Pop Century instead.

Finally, both PCR and lateral flow tests give false positives, and both roughly at the same frequency. But the PCR test is slightly better than the lateral flow tests at picking up asymptomatic people if the test is conducted by a trained person. But the if done by individuals, the lateral flow tests become much less reliable. However, there are indications that the lateral flow tests may pick up the infection earlier than the PCR tests, but not conclusive yet. And for symptomatic people, the lateral flow tests are highly reliable (98% from trials). I get access to a lot of testing data through my job, from thousands of offshore workers getting tested before going offshore to work every day. There are pros and cons for each test. But at the end of the day, they are only one barrier, which isn't fully reliable, like any barrier when it comes to heath and safety. The most effective measure is still that people should be self-isolating when they have symptoms, and there is lots of evidence that people aren't doing that. That is the one measure where we need to improve - only just over 50% of people are abiding by that rule.

 

[Ruttangel]

Just some thoughts as another week ticks over.
The lack of positivity from U.K. gov is quite telling.
They are even saying the vaccinations are having a limited impact and it’s the lockdown that has eased NHS pressure.
There are looking over at Chile where vaccination take up is very high but they are near intensive care capacity due to surge which is partly linked to that Brazil variant. They do use a different vaccine to us but our Gov are looking at this and are worried.

Does the US have an appetite to expose their country to international visitors any time in next 3-6 months?
if we assume 1st July start for travel then I think it will be in stages and as no test is 100% accurate then that only leaves quarantine as the best way to stop variants infiltrating and I think that could last the rest of the year.

Feeling pessimistic today, can you tell ! I‘m still hoping for a miracle!

 

[MartinoHeat]

I think the implication is it was the lockdown in the main that has caused the dramatic drop in cases and deaths. Much like it was in Lockdown 1 where we had no vaccines. Which makes sense because of how dramatic it was. It was a pretty stupid comment to make from Bojo.

 

[Kate_45]

Chile isn't just the strain or vaccine type. It got social too early with a false sense of security from a partially vaccinated population.
Our vague "lockdowns" and current national mindset makes it a real possibility for us. Shame the gov are just saying it's inevitable though. They're the people who could have changed this.

 

[Karebear]

Does the US have an appetite to expose their country to international visitors any time in next 3-6 months?
if we assume 1st July start for travel then I think it will be in stages and as no test is 100% accurate then that only leaves quarantine as the best way to stop variants infiltrating and I think that could last the rest of the year.
Feeling pessimistic today, can you tell ! I‘m still hoping for a miracle!

Following as we (live in California) are schedule to go to London and France in July. President Macron was on US television yesterday talking about vaccine passports for travel this summer beginning in May. I am hopeful that means we can go, although he is just speaking about France at this point. He was saying the passport would include vaccinated people as well as those that test negative.

 

[gavvy]

Nope thank god what a waste yeah my parents had to take ID definitely and they got letters. The group 6 people (me and my sister both fell in here) didn't have to show any ID and were at a different location.

I think it depends on the health board and the centre. I had a call for my Jab and went the same day, I was asked for my name on arrival and ID, but thereafter after only name which I thought odd as I would have thought they would check ID again before the jab went in but they didn't.

I know one centre where they have security in the car park checking letters and telling you where to park, seems a bit of an overkill

 

[gavvy]

I think it's too early to know what the testing will be for travel in Aug, everything is subject to change at the moment, there was walk that a flow test id ok if you are fully vaccinated then it has to be PCR test etc.

The cost are coming down a PCR is £60 now, but that is till too much for a family.

 

[bex7583]

I think it's too early to know what the testing will be for travel in Aug, everything is subject to change at the moment, there was walk that a flow test id ok if you are fully vaccinated then it has to be PCR test etc.

The cost are coming down a PCR is £60 now, but that is till too much for a family.

It's going in the right direction. I could cope and would be willing to budget for £60 p.p . Hopefully they also cut it down to only 2 tests per person required too one to depart and one to arrive.

We have accomodation booked for late July which feels like it's creeping up fast. I might change to mid August and possibly keep you he kids off school that first week sept (yey school fines too)

We haven't actually booked flights but I keep checking prices / availability and seems there are options out there. We usually go indirect but I'm actually considered paying extra for direct as I believe you may need an extra test for your connecting country ?

 

[JordanClark9]

We haven't actually booked flights but I keep checking prices / availability and seems there are options out there. We usually go indirect but I'm actually considered paying extra for direct as I believe you may need an extra test for your connecting country ?

At the moment the requirements for testing to enter USA is that you must have a test within the 3 days before your departure, and connecting flights don't need an additional test in between. So hopefully that rule sticks. Certainly something to keep an eye on that I've never even thought about though.

Right now my flights are booked connecting at Dublin, but have the option to change to direct from Manchester if I need to.

 

[bex7583]

At the moment the requirements for testing to enter USA is that you must have a test within the 3 days before your departure, and connecting flights don't need an additional test in between. So hopefully that rule sticks. Certainly something to keep an eye on that I've never even thought about though.

Right now my flights are booked connecting at Dublin, but have the option to change to direct from Manchester if I need to.

Ooh I saw some good prices with a connection in Dublin then the others cheaper options were via Paris . I have never done the Dublin connection but heard it's good as you can clear your immigration.

Have you done that route before ?

I usually like to pick the cheapest longest connection and turn it in to a mini break but think at the moment that is just over complicating the situation.

 

[JordanClark9]

Ooh I saw some good prices with a connection in Dublin then the others cheaper options were via Paris . I have never done the Dublin connection but heard it's good as you can clear your immigration.

Have you done that route before ?

I usually like to pick the cheapest longest connection and turn it in to a mini break but think at the moment that is just over complicating the situation.

I've never went through Dublin before, but found that they have US pre-clearance in Dublin airport which will save a lot of hassle when you arrive in Orlando.

 

[katytrott]

I found a headline through my newsfeed but as I don’t have a subscription to this paper I can’t access it to read it. It was from the Times and the headline reads:

“Little hope of summer holiday to America as UK is placed on US “do not travel” COVID list”

The sub headline reads “The addition of Britain to the list could kill hopes for a US-UK air bridge in time for summer “

This is a list written up by the CDC, so nothing actually to do with the US borders and what the US government decide to do. Still, it doesn’t look good.

It’s dawned on me that the UK media has focused more on whether we’re allowed out of the country but not really much on how the rest of the world feels about us entering them - and in particular how the US feels about us!!

We’ve got an August trip booked like many on here and swing daily from we are going to we’re not going on a daily basis - today is a we’re not going sort of day!!

 

[BadPinkTink]

It’s dawned on me that the UK media has focused more on whether we’re allowed out of the country but not really much on how the rest of the world feels about us entering them - and in particular how the US feels about us!!

I think this has been very much overlooked.

This is the page which I check on a regualr basis
Travelers Prohibited from Entry to the United States

It was last updated February 19.

With specific exceptions, several Presidential proclamations suspend and limit entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of noncitizens who were physically present within the following countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. For a full list of exceptions, please refer to the relevant proclamations in the links below.

• China
• Iran
• European Schengen area (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City)
• United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
• Republic of Ireland
• Brazil
• South Africa

I also check this page Official White House Website - The Presidential Executive Order Banning Travel From UK, Ireland, Europe and Other Countries

This was last updated on January 25 2021. Until UK, Ireland and other countries are removed from this Presidential Executive Order, we can not enter USA.