Contact Us
Travelling to an Amber list country
STOP THE PRESS: I made it out of the UK... And back again
Back in Christmas 2019, I booked a holiday for summer 2020 to the USA to see my family, we had all experienced a tough year so far, but everything suggested that we’d be okay to return to visiting family and doing the things we all love towards the end of the year. As the year progressed, more lock downs came into play and stopped me, and the rest of the country, from travelling. I rebooked my trip five times across the year before finally booking a new destination to Cancun, Mexico to enjoy some early summer 2021 sunshine.
This blog shares some of the crazy stuff I encountered during my travels, that are now here to stay. Perhaps by reading this you may feel more prepared, and it might make your trip a little bit more enjoyable.
Preparing to go on holiday
With the rollout of vaccinations well underway, the UK is still preparing for the travel restrictions
to be lifted. This is where the first of my challenges became clear. Unlike those travelling to the EU where there is stronger guidance on what is required, I was off to Mexico where the information was insufficient at best.
Mexico is an Amber listed country, according to the UK’s Traffic Light System with each country being categorised into Red, Amber and Green depending on what the isolation rules are. Green countries result in no quarantining, Amber countries require a day 2 and day 8 Covid-19 tests to be completed during a 10-day isolation period and Red list countries, result in travelling passengers having to stay in an expensive government approved hotel for a cost of £1750/$2500/€2000 for their quarantine per person. With the new announcement of another 4-week delay before any more restrictions lifts, the below will be relevant until at least 19th July.
With few countries making the green list, it’s been difficult for Brits to book vacations for the second year in a row. Portugal was added to the green list for all of 3 weeks before being removed again as the Indian ‘Delta’ variant cases rise throughout the globe.
Here’s my take on travelling in 2021.
Mexico was the easiest, sunniest, and warmest destination for me and my parents, given the UK restrictions and the USA borders being closed between the countries.
Experience travelling OUT of the UK to an Amber list country
Leaving the UK for the first time since early 2020 felt like a surreal experience, I felt lucky to be one of the few managing to get away, have a break and catch some sun. After all, I was travelling to Cancun to visit my parents (who live in the USA, and I haven’t seen since 2019).
Mexico has some of the loosest restrictions in the world and does not currently impose any air travel restrictions from any country. Tourists from anywhere in the world can visit Mexico without going into mandatory quarantine or having to take any COVID diagnostic test. However, the land border crossing with the US remains closed until 21st July.”
What the UK government states about travel is not clear for places like Mexico.
If you research what is needed to fly out of the UK, you will find that you are advised and required to take a PCR “Fit To Fly” test to fly anywhere in the world. These tests cost around £80 and have to be booked online prior to your flight, within 72hrs of boarding. Yet, once you dive a bit further into whether or not it’s needed, it becomes a little more unclear.
Mexico features on the Amber list but I couldn’t find anything defining that you wouldn’t be allowed on the plane without a PCR “Fit to Fly” test. I wasn’t going to risk it so paid my £80 and got the certified negative test. Did I really need one?
The answer is no.
I wasn’t asked to show my PCR certificate once, but that’s not to say I would risk it.
The day finally arrived…
I arrived at Gatwick long stay parking at 5:30am, to find it was closed, not a great start. I started to worry that I’d missed some changes to my trip and the airport had closed. This of course, was a complete overreaction. In fact, due to the airport being so quiet, they had closed long stay parking and moved everyone to short stay, which was a result.
Once I’d parked up, I made my way through an eerily empty airport to check-in. Unbelievably check-in was the busiest part of the airport with a few families and passengers in the whole area. But the flight wasn’t so empty, BA2203 definitely
wasn’t quiet and was flying at nearly full capacity.
Surrounded by passengers, the sensation of flying was strange. So many people in such a small space without the ability to distance. This said we’d all been tested and in theory we were all protected by the HEPA filters on board. People wore masks and took them off to eat and drink but we’re all pretty used to masks now, aren’t we?
Arriving in Cancun, I didn’t need to show any proof of a negative test to land or a vaccination card, but I was required to fill out
a health declaration form and scan the QR code it generates on arrival. And that was it, the long-awaited holiday began.
Returning home
Traveling back into the UK is way harder than leaving. The extra rules are tough. It doesn’t matter where you are returning from, green, amber and red countries all require a negative PCR “Fit to Fly” test.
So, how do you get a PCR ‘Fit to Fly’ test from within a foreign country when you don’t speak Spanish and have no clue what is available? All within 72 hours of departure…
Fortunately, my hotel had figured this out and put in place an option to get the test done through the hotel. It cost around $120 for the test and was performed by an unempathetic nurse who came to the hotel. No question about it, the worst part of the trip and definitely, the most horrendous and forceful Covid-19 test I’d undertaken. If it hurts it's too far, right? There was a Coronavirus help desk in the lobby area of the hotel where all things Covid could be booked and discussed. Very useful and organised, the negative report came back by email prior of me leaving.
Flying back
The airport was very busy as it coincided with the US Labor Day holiday, there were a huge number of flights back to America so lots of travellers heading north. It felt just like a busy airport pre-Covid, anywhere in the world. Americans have their advantage by flying to Mexico, they only need a “results in 30 minutes” antigen test to go back and forth.
You end up mixing with a lot of people who, unlike the inbound, you had no real clue if they were carrying the virus or not.
Checking into my flight home was a lot more complicated than leaving. Again, online check-in was not available so before getting to the desk, you had to have the following all booked and ready;
- Your negative PCR Fit to Fly test certificate
- Completed passenger locator form – to show where you would be isolating on
arrival back to the UK
- Your UK passenger locator form (which cannot be completed until you have your reference number from booking your Covid-19 Day 2 and Day 8 tests or Day 5
'test to release' if you have opted to pay extra for this).
Once I had checked in, I then needed to complete a 3rd online form in the airport before queuing for security to confirm you do not have any symptoms. Each passenger has to fill this out but only took 2-3 mins via a QR code.
Masks are required at all times throughout the airport and whilst on the plane unless eating or drinking.
Arriving home
Luckily on arrival back to Gatwick, it felt like we were the only flight arriving at that time. The airport was empty, from the gate to immigration to baggage reclaim. I breezed through the electronic passport scanning machines and was off to get my luggage.
Ready to live in isolation, again
Driving home I knew I had 10 days of quarantine from the day after I arrived. I’d stocked up before I left and had booked a grocery delivery to my home for essentials. What I wasn’t expecting, was the DAILY phone call from the NHS checking to see I was home, isolating for the full duration and that I was doing the Day 2 and Day 8 tests as legally required.
Looking back, what changed
Below are a few noticeable changes from normal travel pre-covid
- Check in online wasn’t available, I can only assume this is so they can check that you have the required documents to board the plane
- You have to receive a PCR Fit to Fly negative result within 72 hours of flying
- You need to complete a passenger locator form, immigration documents, confirmation of day 2 and 8 booking (or test to release if opted for
this).
- When landing into London, British Airways staff walk through the plane spraying the cabins with a non-toxic insecticide on arrivals into UK
It’s worth checking your local government websites for the latest travel news
UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
USA: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/international-travel-during-covid19.html
Canada: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid
But I’m glad I went and can’t wait to get away again sometime soon.
Travel safe and enjoy your holidays when you can.
Anna x
