Portugal removed and Austria, Croatia and Trinidad & Tobago added to UK quarantine list

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• Andy says:

  21 Aug21 August 09:32

  I’m in Vilamoura at the moment. The place is heaving. Everything is open. We’re in an apartment and by law they supply a box with essential food items in it if you have to go into isolation. Open it an it will cost you €40

• Cat says:

  21 Aug21 August 09:49

  Looks like I’m going to have to cancel my October half term plans in Croatia then, as I don’t see the numbers dropping with the country being open to US tourists.
  Boo.

  • mr_jetlag says:

    21 Aug21 August 09:58

    damn, same here. Was really looking forward to Dubrovnik in early Autumn. Keep those plague ridden Americans at bay…

  • meta says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:36

    Country is not open to US tourists per se. They need a negative test within 48 hours of entering plus authorisation to enter. It is hard to obtain such test in US in such short notice given that there are no longer direct flights from US to Croatia, so you’re looking at 10-12 hours minimum of travel time. News outlets and bloggers were reporting incorrectly.

    The main problem is that there is a strong resistance to social distancing and masks among younger population. I guess that is is true anywhere in Europe, but when tourists come and see locals not doing it they start behaving in the same way.

• Optimus Prime says:

  21 Aug21 August 10:11

  “As I wrote last week, it would arguably have been more sensible to impose quarantine from 4am on Sunday morning, allowing those whose holidays end on Saturday to return on their scheduled flights, trains and ferries.”

  I agree with you.

  Some people say that quarantine should apply immediately, reason being if you consider Spain/France/Croatia unsafe why are you letting people off the hook for coming back today instead of Saturday?

  They have a point but that would definitely be the nail in the coffin for the travel industry.

  • Rhys says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:13

    The nail in the coffin for the travel industry is these restrictions being turned on and off anyway! Not sure an extra few days will move the needle much 🙂

    • Darren says:

      21 Aug21 August 16:06

      I mentioned yesterday that I’ve booked a ten day break to Portugal, flies out on a Saturday, but today I’ve added a return on the following Friday in case new restrictions are imposed, hopefully won’t need it. I’d rather be safe in the knowledge that I have all cases covered.

    • Lady London says:

      21 Aug21 August 19:22

      @Rhys the only way I see for the travel industry to get bookings now is if they waive change fees. Otherwise most people cant take the risk of booking.

      By now I think its fair enough for a travel provider to refuse actual cash refund if it wasnt the travel provider that cancelled or closed (if its in thr ts and cs).

      As said I’d have booked 4-8 Eurostar tickets yesterday if Eurostar would suspend their outrageous 40 euro/£30 change fee until the end of the year. Most of them I would be unlikely to change but simply wont book with governments opening and closing all the time (which is out of my control) with the huge change fees loaded on as well as any fare difference.

• Freddy says:

  21 Aug21 August 10:43

  Any crystal ball readers like to predict whether canary islands quarantine will be lifted before October half term?

  • Andrew says:

    21 Aug21 August 10:49

    Lifted how many times?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    21 Aug21 August 11:24

    A reimposed by then probably.

• Vinz says:

  21 Aug21 August 11:44

  Exactly what I needed with boss travelling to Austria this morning and his child starting boarding school on 2nd…. It’s been a 12-hour of travel arrangement madness!

• J says:

  21 Aug21 August 11:49

  Makes about as much sense as the UK’s blanket ban on entire countries – ignoring enormous regional differences.

• Stoneman says:

  21 Aug21 August 12:20

  Anyone know how Germany is looking in terms of cases per 100,000 if this is the case? Supposed to be going on 1 September. Not bothered about quarantine on the return, just need to ensure the flight is not cancelled or anything like that. Are BA cancelling flights to destinations being stuck on quarantine?

  • Mark says:

    21 Aug21 August 13:36

    Generally, no. There’s plenty of flights still operating to Spain for example. It’s possible they may decide to rationalise services due to reduced demand, though.

  • GeorgeJ says:

    21 Aug21 August 17:43

    German rate is generally just below the UK, get the latest on the RKI website (daily in English).

    • Lady London says:

      21 Aug21 August 19:24

      Germany faring better economically though

• Andy says:

  21 Aug21 August 13:03

  The Scottish Parliament has done no such thing – any more than the U.K. Parliament has. The Scottish Government has taken the action, as has the U.K. Government. In Scotland, because it was by made affirmative procedure, the Scottish Parliament will have to vote on it in due course to prevent the regs from falling, but has not done so as yet.

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