Coronavirus: If I am vaccinated will I still need a PCR test to travel?

Q Does a person who has had a Covid vaccination in the UK prior to travel still need proof of a negative PCR test in the previous 72 hours for countries which require it as a condition of entry?

Anonymous, via Twitter

A Yes, unfortunately. The lack of international cohesion on journeys in the age of coronavirus is lamentable, and will cause unnecessary stress, upset and expense at a time when prospective travellers should be looking forward to spreading their wings.

At present, anyone hoping to go abroad faces a tangle of different restrictions from one country to the next – and even, on occasion, within a nation. For example, Dubai allows UK holidaymakers to take a PCR test on arrival; but to fly to another part of the UAE, such as the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi, you will need to take a test in the 96 hours before departure.

It seems reasonable that vaccination should be a viable alternative to testing for travellers, so long as the health authorities are satisfied that the jabs will greatly diminish the risk of importing coronavirus. The people getting vaccinated in the UK at the moment are at-risk groups and the professionals who look after them. Some of them may soon want to travel and will find themselves in a ridiculous situation whereby they (hopefully) present no risk but are still obliged to pay for and undergo a test.

Even what’s been called a “JoT” (Jab or Test) approach depends on the destination country being satisfied with vaccine certification. As far as I know the many thousands of people who are being vaccinated each day in the UK have no negotiable proof of their (hopefully) impending immunity to coronavirus. They could even, in time, find themselves obliged to be vaccinated a second time ahead of a journey – which would be both wasteful and expensive.

Let us hope that an internationally agreed system analogous to the current Yellow Fever certification scheme is set up soon. The International Air Transport Association is working on a “Travel Pass” that stores encrypted data, including a verified vaccination certificate, on a mobile phone. Data protection issues will need to be addressed. But by the time my turn finally comes around, I hope I get more than immunity and a sore arm: an internationally recognised certificate would be appreciated too.

Q Where are you most looking forward to travelling in 2021?

Gary M

A In January, February and March: frankly, anywhere that will have me, with ideally no quarantine at either end of the journey. From Easter onwards, when I predict that international travel will be significantly less restricted, I want to resurrect all the trips I had planned for 2020 that were annoyingly scuppered by coronavirus.

April: my first visit to Armenia – though I fear my planned air fare combo of £50 on British Airways and Ryanair via the fine Italian city of Bergamo will not be available.

I have missed my annual exploration of Scotland’s islands, and in May I hope to reach Jura and perhaps one or two more.

In June, I will be heading east once again: to Lviv in western Ukraine, the capital Kyiv and the wonderful Black Sea city of Odessa. From there, the adventurous way back is across the self-styled breakaway republic of Transnistria to the Moldovan capital, Chisinau.

July and August will, I hope, be spent in Japan for the, er, 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Past form indicates that flights and accommodation for the Games will be available in abundance at low prices, providing I keep my nerve and book only a couple of weeks ahead.

September is undoubtedly the best month of the year to visit Greece, and I will explore the two unsung Cyclades isles inexplicably put on the UK government’s no-go list: two small Serifos and Tinos.

The annual convention of Abta, the travel association, was due to be held in Marrakech in October 2020, and I very much hope it will take place there in the same month in 2021. I will revive my itinerary from Tangier south on the new high-speed railway line via Rabat to Casablanca.

For the last two months of the year it will be all be new. November will find me standing by in the port of Ushuaia on the southern tip of Argentina, trying to get a cut-price passage on an expedition ship heading south to the Antarctic total eclipse of the sun. Then I shall see if there’s any way to access Vinson, the highest mountain in Antarctica, for a Christmas treat.

Q I hope to fly to Mallorca in late January to visit friends. But am I correct in thinking that I have to pay for a private Covid test before I fly, and then pay for another test five days after returning to the UK to be allowed out of quarantine?

Name supplied

A As thing stand two weeks before the new year: yes, you are correct. Those two tests are currently priced at upwards of £250 and, as you appreciate, NHS tests must not be used for the purposes of facilitating travel (or early release from self-isolation). While I’m on the bad news, your European Health Insurance Card will no longer be valid due to the UK’s decision to leave the EU and not negotiate a replacement reciprocal healthcare scheme. Add to that the Foreign Office deciding that the Balearics (and mainland Spain) are “unacceptably high risk” for British visitors, and you are faced with the need to buy an expensive insurance policy that covers travel against FCDO advice.

But with another five weeks remaining before you intend to travel, I am fairly confident there will be yet another U-turn and that not all of these requirements will be in place. Since blanket quarantine was imposed in June, there have been about six different variants in the policy – as well as a constantly fluctuating list of travel corridors from which self-isolation is not required.

My best guesses are: in terms of the outbound test, much cheaper and swifter options will become available. Spain already allows quick, low-cost TMA tests instead of the PCR version; the problem is that UK providers are not yet set up to handle this requirement. But by late January I bet you will be able to take a test at the airport on the way out, at least if you are using a hub such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Manchester.

On your return from Mallorca, you will have to undergo the “test to release” scheme to reduce 10 days of self-isolation to five. It had a dreadful introduction, but since day one it is settling down. By the time you come back, I predict faster, cheaper options for this test as well.

Many other variations could intervene, too, from a relaxation of testing and/or quarantine rules to an all-out ban on travel between the UK and Spain. So don’t even think of booking yet.

Q My wife’s birthday is on 5 January. I fancy taking her to Lake Garda in early September. How wise would it be to book now?

Paul W

A For those of us with midwinter birthdays, the promise of a warm and exciting trip makes a splendid gift. Lake Garda is a joy year-round; I like northern Italy best in May and June when the flowers are fresh and the air is clear, but it also delightful in September. To make the most of the region, I suggest you venture beyond the lake. Nearby Vicenza and Padua are well worth exploring, and you might want to keep open the option of flying in to Verona, east of Garda, but out of Bergamo, to the west; this would add another beautiful city to the tally. If you can stretch your stay even further, I recommend a day or two in Venice – which is likely to have significantly fewer visitors than usual throughout 2021.

By all means make a formal promise to your wife for the trip. But I believe that actually booking anything now could be a mistake.

Before committing to anything 10 months ahead; please consider what the previous 10 months have been like in terms of predictability. You are not planning to be there in peak season, which in 2021 is likely to be the usual July and August stretch. So I see no price advantage in booking now.

In terms of getting there: air fares for a September trip to the nearest airport, Verona, are unlikely to be any lower in December or January than they are in July or August. By booking later you avoid all the many things that could go wrong with your trip, such as the airline deciding to reschedule or cancel your booking. Carriers are chopping and changing their schedules in response to demand – or, all too often, the lack of it.

The only concern about accommodation I can foresee would be if you plan to arrive over the weekend of 3-5 September: the Verona Opera Festival ends, hopefully triumphantly, on 4 September with Aida in the city’s magnificent arena.

If opera is not part of your plan, simply arrive a little later. I speculate that booking rooms (or Airbnbs) will be a buyer’s market in Italy – and pretty much anywhere else – in September 2021.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder