On your own head be it (Amber list country trip)

stoneman

This is our tale of deciding to go ahead with a trip to Portugal AFTER they were put on the Amber list.

So, Portugal are on the green list, we book 12 nights in Vilamoura and because our cruise was canceled we decide to splash out. 2 bedroom apartment with a stunning rooftop terrace, right behind the marina. Cost £2,200.00 via Air B&B. Flights with Ryanair £420

2 Days before we go Portugal are put on the Amber list. Too late to cancel, our insurance wouldn't cover it anyway and too much money invested so off we go. We'll deal with the isolation when we get home, OH works from home and I'm self-employed and semi retired so no big deal. We'll do the 5 day test to release anyway.

Portugal require a PCR to enter the country and you have to fill out a passenger locator form. PCR saliva test from HALO, £79 each. We take the LFT test we require to get back into the UK with us from Qured, £33 each.

While on the phone to HALO about something I'm informed that as we are flying on the Monday, the earliest date we can do the test samples is Friday, they don't collect on a Saturday or Sunday so I need to hand the samples in in person to get the results before we fly. So it's a train down to London from Nottingham on Friday after getting up early to do our samples, £69. Drop off and am back on the train within the hour. Test results arrive 7pm that same day, superb!

OH wait, A light goes off in my head, my hands start to sweat, what if as I am a US citizen I'm not allowed into Portugal. Google everything I can and the answer comes back, "U.S. citizens are forbidden to enter Portugal unless it's for essential business".
Oh ****!!!
Research some more and a sigh of relief "except for spouses of an EU or UK passport holder" 

Holiday is great but it's always in the back of your head that you have to do the LFT test 3 days before you fly back and what if it's positive, this thought is kinda ruining the holiday for us. Anyway we do the test via video link with Qured, you find out within 15 minutes (it's like the NHS test) they have to watch you do it so there is no cheating.

 Negative, phew, now we can enjoy the last 3 days of our trip.

We arrive back at East Midlands airport, ours is the only flight in, only about 30 people or so on the flight. There are 3 armed police,  and proper border force people checking your locator form, passport and test certificate. All this takes about 45 minutes to get out.

AND THAT WAS ALL THE EASY PART!

Now the fun begins. We need to do a day 2 test, so we do this and send it off as soon as we arrive back home. Another £79 each. We arrange and pay for the day 5 tests to be sent to us so we have them ready. Another £79 each. We purchase 2x day 8 tests from another company that we found to be cheaper, £55 each.

First full day back home, we both receive 3 phone calls and texts from Test and Trace (T&T from now on) making sure we are isolating and reciting lots of scripted information. Don't be tempted to ditch their calls, I found this out later when I got fed up and starting ignoring them. 

Day 2, another 3 calls, by this time I'm starting to ignore all but one of them, OH answers hers. 

Day 3, more calls before lunch time. I have to go and feed our chickens and am told on government website I'm allowed to tend to livestock. OH rings me.
T&T ARE AT THE DOOR! The guy wants to make sure I'm at home because I haven't been taking their calls. OH recognises him, he's the delivery driver that brought our Morrisons groceries the day before lol. He seems quite annoyed that I'm not there and says he'll come back, he doesn't.

Day 4. Knock at the door at about 10am T&T again, different person. Checks us off his list. At 4pm we both receive a text and email. We have been identified as people that were in contact with a person that has tested positive for COVID and we must isolate for the full 10 days and are not allowed to do 5 day test to release. 

I ring 119 to find out more, they can tell by my reference number that someone on the flight has tested positive after taking the day 2 test as the testing companies are legally obliged to inform T&T if there is a positive test. I am told that flights are a hotbed for this. We still have to take the day 8 test and hopefully will be free on the 23rd of June. 
Good job because OH is going on a cruise with her mum on the 24th!!

Would I book another holiday until this thing blows over?

NOT ON YOUR LIFE

 

totallybored

I have just had a very similar experience. Booked a week long trip to Portugal just over 3 weeks ago as it was the only place on the green list to go. Only booked as the government had previously said there would be no repeat of last summer where countries would be changed at short notice. I booked a lovely apartment on Airbnb that was non-refundable the weekend before travel. 2 days before travelling Portugal turned amber. Decided to still go as one of us works from home and the other had an understanding boss about quarantine.

We booked covid tests at Express test to leave the country at a cost of £80 each. These were done at their clinic on the Wednesday evening and results came back at just before 10pm Thursday evening. The flight was Saturday morning. We booked day 2 tests (at the time Portugal was green) at the cost of £60 each from Citydoc. On the Thursday before flying we contacted them to ask where the tests were and were reassured they’d be here by the time we needed them on day 2. We stupidly paid another £60 each to add day 8 tests. They did however email us the codes for the PLF form to get into the UK.

Flight to Faro had about 30 people on it - most had cancelled. We booked antigen tests in Albufeira for only €20 each to be allowed back into the UK. We were staying about half hour drive but it was the cheapest we could find and results came back within 2 hours.

We had a lovely holiday even if the sea in Portugal is so cold!!!! It felt like it was worth it for the hassle of the tests going out.

The problems started when we returned. Our day 2 tests didn’t arrive. We contacted the company on day 3 and are now trying to get a refund. Track and trace told us to get NHS tests from 119 which we did. 

I paid £160 for a test to release day 5 test (OH works from home so didn’t bother). Apparently you need your day 2 results to be allowed to take this test.

We both missed our track and trace call on day 1. We were in the house and just missed them.

On day 2 I didn’t let her speak, said I was busy, told her to call later and hung up on her. It’s now day 8 and I haven’t had another call. OH has had a call every day and speaks to them (they don’t call after 6.30pm one told him) and he had a visit to our home on day 4. The first couple of calls seemed to be from the UK. Now they can barely speak English on the recent calls.

Unfortunately on day 4 we both got texts, emails and then calls to tell us we had been in contact with a positive case and had to isolate for the full 10 days and couldn’t do the test to release. The person I spoke to refused to say where the contact was due to GDPR!! He said they weren’t allowed to tell us. The call OH had said he had been a contact on the flight. One positive case apparently and the whole flight has to isolate. So we’ve both had both jabs, loads of negative tests and sat nowhere near the positive case but still have to isolate.

Doctap were great and refunded the £160 no problem for the day 5 test to release that I had booked.

I’m now on day 8 and the day 8 tests didn’t arrive. No doubt we will have a battle for a refund on these. 

Would I do this again - probably not for just a week in Portugal. However, I have 6 weeks off work in summer so I can have 10 days of quarantine in the final two weeks. I’m contemplating a month long holiday. If I do I’ll be staying in hotels where I can pay on arrival, not prepaying airport car parks or car hire and probably going on my own to cut down testing costs!

maman

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Sadly I can't say I'm surprised. Bear in mind that many people travel to Amber list countries because they need to travel urgently, for example, because of sick relatives or because their June 2019 holidays to Portugal were rolled over. They will, more than likely, have the same experience. Like most things during the Pandemic, with the single exception of NHS and the vaccine, it's been a total c*ck up IMO. Whelk stalls don't come close. ☹️

twopenny

In a way I feel for you - and thanks for putting it so well. It even gave me a little chuckle it's so like daily life.

When Portugal went on the 'Green list the cases were already rising at a quick rate and the writing was on the wall. Add a bunch of foreigners and the hospitality staff all getting together it was an accident waiting to happen. The chances then of someone on the plane having Covid were increased.

Hope your chickens well fed now Stoneman.

And the complexity of getting the tests timing right when a whole flood of people are going seemed a bit nervous making too

I can't see anything in the scenario at the moment that strikes me as 'having a good relaxing time'

Anyhoose glad your all back safe and haven't got the virus. I had it before it was famous so believe me that is not a happy place to be for 6 weeks.

Sandtree

We went away for a few months last year before Lockdown 2... our destination country required all visitors not from a Red country (their scale) to take and record their temperature twice a day for two weeks. They stated they'd be contacting you to get the readings but not once during the whole time never contacted once. 

Coming back there were no testing requirements etc just a locator form to be filled in and be ready for inspection but never asked to show it.

Mrs had to go away for work to a not red country and subsequently categorised amber country but decided to stay on later. Going out she had to fill in the declaration form to say why she was going but again not a single person asked to see it.

Coming back she's had to go through a similar process to you, though queues at LHR were much worse than 45 minutes. Have to say it was somewhat reassuring that on the return that they were actually checking up unlike all the other cases. She did answer the calls she received fairly promptly and never had anyone at the door. She can work from home and most her work isnt on the phone hence its easy for her to ensure she answers.

One of the few benefits of Covid has been that you can get onto almost any flight with airmiles and other than them being cheap the other benefit is that they are fully flexible. So we do have plans for more travel, and will be to Amber countries. Most will be work + some extra time. The savings on flights pays for the tests several times over and will have work laptop with us so can work from overseas if we have to stay longer or such.