Are we there yet? Your second Travel Megathread (threadbans in OP}

Feria40 · 08-05-2021 12:12AM

Micky 32 wrote: »

Hopefully it’s been ignored :

“”Asked if the easing of inter-county travel rules applied to Northern Ireland, a Government spokesperson here said that from Monday inter-county travel is permitted "anywhere on the island".”

Now that is a start, if NI follows the same travel system as the rest of the UK we may ultimately be forced to open up after all

gozunda · 08-05-2021 12:29AM

Nutkins wrote: »

Does anyone see a problem with travelling to a UK airport for a foreign holiday ?
I have family in Cork desperate to get away.

Except you can go bugger all anywhere from the UK as things stand. The only close EU country is Portugal and they're not allowing non-essential travel from the UK atm. How does the Falklands sound?

Thing is I'm sure most people would love to get away for a bit but ftm its out ...

Corholio · 08-05-2021 12:31AM

Will be interesting to see when the other countries in the UK announce their travel plans. Was hoping they'd all be on board at the same time when travel opens there on the 17th, but it seems it's just England at the moment even though they have all agreed the red/amber/red lists.

Micky 32 · 08-05-2021 12:32AM

gozunda wrote: »

Except you can go bugger all anywhere from the UK as things stand. The only close EU country is Portugal and there not allowing non essential travel from the UK atm. How does the Falklands sound?

Thing is I'm sure most people would love to get away for a bit but ftm its out ...

Wales is a nice place to visit. I regularly ( before covid)hop on the ferry for a Sunday drive around Wales. Gorgeous country. That would keep me going until things open up more. As soon as I’m vaccinated that’s my first port of call.

gozunda · 08-05-2021 12:35AM

Micky 32 wrote: »

Wales is a nice place to visit. I regularly ( before covid)hop on the ferry for a Sunday drive around Wales. Gorgeous country. That would keep me going until things open up more. As soon as I’m vaccinated that’s my first port of call.

Don't mean to be pedantic but Wales is in the UK :pac:

Atm you need a PCR test on return afaik

Corholio · 08-05-2021 12:40AM

gozunda wrote: »

Except you can go bugger all anywhere from the UK as things stand. The only close EU country is Portugal and they're not allowing non-essential travel from the UK atm. How does the Falklands sound?

Thing is I'm sure most people would love to get away for a bit but ftm its out ...

I think for people who may not returning to the UK on the way back or staying an extended period with family, friends etc there will be options as amber countries will now be only non advisory rather than illegal. Not straightforward of course but you can definitely go places.

Micky 32 · 08-05-2021 12:40AM

gozunda wrote: »

Don't mean to be pedantic but Wales is in the UK :pac:

Atm you need a PCR test on return afaik

Yes i know it’s in the UK but thanks for your geography lesson. I’m sure later on in the summer that will be waived as we get more vaccinated. Varadkar himself has said UK travel will be his priority in July.

T55PLUS · 08-05-2021 06:35AM

Micky 32 wrote: »

Hopefully it’s been ignored :

“”Asked if the easing of inter-county travel rules applied to Northern Ireland, a Government spokesperson here said that from Monday inter-county travel is permitted "anywhere on the island".”

Where is the quote from? Can you post a link please.

08-05-2021 07:06AM

T55PLUS wrote: »

Where is the quote from? Can you post a link please.

I was up in Antrim hiking for 3 days last weekend, stayed in Airbnb. Absolutely no problem travelling , no police, no checkpoints, total freedom. And that was BEFORE inter county travel in Republic. :rolleyes:

Van.Bosch · 08-05-2021 08:06AM

Micky 32 wrote: »

Wales is a nice place to visit. I regularly ( before covid)hop on the ferry for a Sunday drive around Wales. Gorgeous country. That would keep me going until things open up more. As soon as I’m vaccinated that’s my first port of call.

A day trip? Sounds cool

Micky 32 · 08-05-2021 08:46AM

Van.Bosch wrote: »

A day trip? Sounds cool

You can but i usually do it over a weekend. I actually prefer road trips than sun holidays. I never had any interest in them. Last year before the pandemic hit took the ferry to France. ( usually do that once a year), drove down to a gorgeous town on the borders of Italy. Stopped off in Paris on the way. Boot full of wine on the way back:D

Micky 32 · 08-05-2021 08:52AM

T55PLUS wrote: »

Where is the quote from? Can you post a link please.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.rte.ie/amp/1217646/

Amazingly it’s now back on the main headline again, they obviously didn’t want to leave the encouraging hospital stats headline there too long.

yer man! · 08-05-2021 09:13AM

I'm really eager to book flights back to Ireland for the August bank holiday from The Netherlands, haven't seen my family in over a year and a half! Really hoping the home quarantine thing is abolished and replaced with just the testing, my understanding is that the EU Covid cert should accommodate this.

ilovesmybrick · 08-05-2021 09:39AM

yer man! wrote: »

I'm really eager to book flights back to Ireland for the August bank holiday from The Netherlands, haven't seen my family in over a year and a half! Really hoping the home quarantine thing is abolished and replaced with just the testing, my understanding is that the EU Covid cert should accommodate this.

Same position (but coming from Austria, so on the red list) but I got my appointment dates yesterday and will be fully vaccinated by the end of July. I don't have much hope for August to be honest, but by September I think we should definitely be back home. I'm mad to see the sea again, my fault for living in a landlocked country!

RebelButtMunch · 08-05-2021 09:46AM

It's alright lads. We're in the UK now.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-which-countries-can-you-go-to-without-quarantining-government-publishes-green-covid-travel-list-12299553

dalyboy · 08-05-2021 10:04AM

UKs green list demonstrates their commitment to reinstate Uk citizens (and by the back door ours too) right to hassle free int travel

Having Portugal and Malta being viable travel options from 17th May is comforting.

From what I’ve read Spain , France and Greece will also be added to the UKs green list by mid to late June. It makes the Irish governments waffle about staycation only holidays for summer 2021 complete irrelevant

Lmkrnr · 08-05-2021 11:14AM

I will feel very smug on a Portuguese beach knowing i wasn't held by the Irish Governments ****e policies.

Cheers to all the sun seekers, you and you're kid's deserves it.

corkonion · 08-05-2021 11:45AM

dalyboy wrote: »

UKs green list demonstrates their commitment to reinstate Uk citizens (and by the back door ours too) right to hassle free int travel

Having Portugal and Malta being viable travel options from 17th May is comforting.

From what I’ve read Spain , France and Greece will also be added to the UKs green list by mid to late June. It makes the Irish governments waffle about staycation only holidays for summer 2021 complete irrelevant

Boris Johnson thrives as a populist, I am in no doubt that excluding countries with horrendous infection rates, that he will open up almost all travel in a few short weeks as an encore to his adoring fans, which will also put pressure on our government to follow suit reasonably soon after.

Dr. Em · 08-05-2021 11:45AM

dalyboy wrote: »

UKs green list demonstrates their commitment to reinstate Uk citizens (and by the back door ours too) right to hassle free int travel

Having Portugal and Malta being viable travel options from 17th May is comforting.

From what I’ve read Spain , France and Greece will also be added to the UKs green list by mid to late June. It makes the Irish governments waffle about staycation only holidays for summer 2021 complete irrelevant

Malta isn't on the Green list and it isn't certain when Portugal will allow non-essential travel from/via the UK.

Dr. Em · 08-05-2021 11:47AM

Lmkrnr wrote: »

I will feel very smug on a Portuguese beach knowing i wasn't held by the Irish Governments ****e policies.

Cheers to all the sun seekers, you and you're kid's deserves it.

When will Portugal let in non-essential travellers coming via the UK?

Lmkrnr · 08-05-2021 11:51AM

Dr. Em wrote: »

When will Portugal let in non-essential travellers coming via the UK?

I would say most Green List's will be reciprocal. Portugal would love to have the UK travellers over as they will all be vaccinated and are good spenders. Only a matter of time.

CruelSummer · 08-05-2021 11:54AM

Few questions:
- What date is the EU Green Cert due to be implemented or is that still not decided upon as yet.
- Will each country have discretion re how they implement the cert?
- Are the government here making any moves to cap the cost of PCR tests or will they purposely keep them expensive?

VG31 · 08-05-2021 12:42PM

dalyboy wrote: »

From what I’ve read Spain , France and Greece will also be added to the UKs green list by mid to late June. It makes the Irish governments waffle about staycation only holidays for summer 2021 complete irrelevant

I would imagine that most EU countries will be added around the same time. There are a few exceptions but most EU countries are vaccinating at the same rate.

Presumably Spain, France and Greece have been mentioned as they are popular holiday destintations. But there should be no reason why Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary and so on should not be added around the same time.

Valhallapt · 08-05-2021 01:09PM

Dr. Em wrote: »

When will Portugal let in non-essential travellers coming via the UK?

There was a Portuguese minister on sky saying they’d welcome everyone from the uk, if it’s not official yet it’s only a matter of days.

Del Griffith · 08-05-2021 01:12PM

Dr. Em wrote: »

Malta isn't on the Green list and it isn't certain when Portugal will allow non-essential travel from/via the UK.

It's crazy Malta wasn't on it - there was 12 cases yesterday, 9 the day before. They're vaccinating the 20s next week. It's over basically and pretty everything is opening by or on 7th June.

It'll be on updated list for the UK in 3 weeks I'm fairly certain.

08-05-2021 01:12PM

CruelSummer wrote: »

Few questions:
- What date is the EU Green Cert due to be implemented or is that still not decided upon as yet.
- Will each country have discretion re how they implement the cert?
- Are the government here making any moves to cap the cost of PCR tests or will they purposely keep them expensive?

have a look through the thread, all answered in the last 5 pages

Dr. Em · 08-05-2021 01:16PM

CruelSummer wrote: »

Few questions:
- What date is the EU Green Cert due to be implemented or is that still not decided upon as yet.
- Will each country have discretion re how they implement the cert?
- Are the government here making any moves to cap the cost of PCR tests or will they purposely keep them expensive?

In short, as I understand, everything is in flux.

Originally, they seemed to be saying that the EU Green Cert should be operational 'before summer'. In the most recent article I saw, it mentioned July, not June. Getting a digital cert up and running across so many different health services, many of which do not have digital records, is a major undertaking and it would be surprising if they get it right the first try and deliver it on-time. As long as the infection rates remain high in many countries across the EU, there will be some countries hoping to delay the digital cert. All in all, I would guess that it will be operational by the second half of August (I know, I'm a pessimist). If the epidemiological situation improves drastically though, I would expect a lot of obstacles to the digital cert to suddenly evaporate. The EU/EEA weekly Covid rates page is what I would watch.

Each country will have some discretion on how they implement the cert, but restrictions will have to be applied equally to all member states. When they say 'EU' they really seem to mean 'Schengen', and Ireland might end up with different rules.

This is a personal guess only, but I can't see it being a priority for the government to cap PCR test costs. The companies could also reasonably argue that they have high staff costs to process the tests (those taking the samples + lab costs). At the moment with few flights, they are probably paying for more staff at peak times who might not be needed at other times. The costs could go down naturally if there are more flights spread out through the day.

Valhallapt · 08-05-2021 01:25PM

Reality is souther European countries depend heavily on tourism, the Algarve, cost deal sol etc make all their income in the 3 summer months. Their governments will facilitate as much inbound travel as possible

Marcusm · 08-05-2021 01:30PM

gozunda wrote: »

Except you can go bugger all anywhere from the UK as things stand. The only close EU country is Portugal and they're not allowing non-essential travel from the UK atm. How does the Falklands sound?

Thing is I'm sure most people would love to get away for a bit but ftm its out ...

Ireland is one of the few countries on Portugal’s good list. Entry from Ireland requires only a PCR test and there are 6 or so flights a week from Dublin to Lisbon. Woukdn’t see the point in routing via U.K.

BringBackMick · 08-05-2021 01:30PM

I thought it was a high probability that non-essential EU travel will be underway again for those vaccinated with 1 shot from 15 July?

Are we there yet? Your second Travel Megathread (threadbans in OP}

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