Mum is travelling back to UK on Monday - now Nigeria is on Red List

BigBearCuddles

Hey Guys,

Need some help and advice.

As the title says... my mom is travelling back to London and arrives on Monday 6th at 8am. To our horror, the Govt has included Nigeria to the Red List from Monday 4am.

Her flight details are as follows:

She leaves Nigeria on Sunday 5th Dec at 8.50pm
Arrive in Frankfurt on Monday 6th Dec at 5am
Connecting flight to London at 7am arrives at 7.45am

Did her passenger locator form at 10am this morning (thankfully) and it states Non-Red List Status.

My question is would she need to go to the government Quarantine facilities?

Thanks in advance guys.

CKhalvashi

Due to the time of arrival she will be required to quarantine, however keep checking gov.uk as the info wasn't updated when I checked (after the announcement) and normally is at the same time.

What the form states will be irrelevant.

Edit: The link is here.

BigBearCuddles

ahhh balls....

CKhalvashi

BigBearCuddles said:

ahhh balls....

I understand your frustration.

As an aside, it may be worth contacting Lufthansa to explore whether they can bring her back a day early.

It may also be worth exploring the German requirements from Nigeria to explore whether it's cheaper to spend 10 days there and return on a separate ticket in the knowledge that there is a risk Germany may end up on the red list.

Apologies if I don't seem sympathetic, I feel for her. At the same time I prefer to work on facts on the forum so apologise if initial reply came across as blunt.

BigBearCuddles

Thanks mate....

BigBearCuddles

Govt have updated the website.... 

Nigeria

Will be added to red list at 4am Monday 6 December. If you arrive in England after then, you must follow red list rules. !!!!!! !!!!!!

CKhalvashi

The list has now been updated.

Lufthansa would be my first port of call to see if a reschedule is possible and exploring the cost options of this, followed by exploring whether remaining in Germany for 11 days would be cheaper than the mandatory hotel quarantine, subject to Germany's own entry requirements. Don't tell Lufthansa if you are planning to do this as they may re-calculate the fare and don't do this with checked baggage.

I note that BA have a flight tonight from Lagos with tickets from £661 if this is an option financially. It departs in 90 minutes so you will need to make the call very quickly and ensure she is at the airport with all paperwork in 30 minutes if possible.

Lufthansa have a flight in approximately 2 hours that will get her to London tomorrow morning in addition starting at £846.

Edit: Virgin have a flight from Lagos at 09:30 tomorrow which isn't showing a price for me.

Edit: BA have a flight from Abuja at 09:00 local tomorrow. This is unfortunately £2655.

BigBearCuddles

cheers mate... Issue is she is in Port Harcourt. To get to Lagos or Abuja requires a flight or a 12 hour drive.

CKhalvashi

BigBearCuddles said:

cheers mate... Issue is she is in Port Harcourt. To get to Lagos or Abuja requires a flight or a 12 hour drive.

I'm sorry to hear this. Solely using Google here as I don't know much about Nigeria's geographic layout but unfortunately I don't think there's going to be much that can be done about this situation at a reasonable price.

In this case, the original flight will likely be the best option but there will be a hotel quarantine on entry.

It may be worth exploring whether home isolating (a personal recommendation not necessarily legislation) in Europe is a viable and cheaper option on a separate booking from the commercial options available.

The link (including how to apply for financial support in paying for a hotel quarantine if required) is here.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/booking-and-staying-in-a-quarantine-hotel-when-you-arrive-in-england

onashoestring

Unfortunately there is another hurdle -you also need to check that there is quarantine hotel accommodation available on Monday, not trying to scaremonger but news reports from passengers stranded in South Africa is that they were struggling to book quarantine hotels for their arrival dates and without a quarantine hotel booked they  couldn’t  board their flights home. 

You can check the availability here : https://quarantinehotel.ctmportal.co.uk/

BigBearCuddles

Thanks pal.