On a recent trip to Abroadland a friend reported that he had to do the following due to his unvaccinated status:
1. Pay for a Lateral Flow test (£20) before going. An identical test to the ones we can get from the chemist free of charge. This was to get a piece of paper to allow him onto the flight out.
2. Pre-pay for DAY 2 and DAY 8 tests, and enter the registration number to book his flight tickets (£80 was aparently a 'bargain').
3. Pay for a supervised (taken by approved staff) Lateral flow test within 3 days of flying home (10 Euro)...this cert was also needed to enter many shops and supermarkets in Abroadland, so more than one test needed for his stay.
Now started his problem:
He needed to fill out a Passenger Location Form within 2 days of his return, and he noted that he could do that on his smarty-pants mobile phone - great, except that the first time he tried (48 hours before flying) the gov.uk site wouldn't let him in to enter his details. It kept saying 'you are not authorised to visit this page' after he pressed the correct 'continue' button. No worries, 47 hours to go. After several further unsuccessful attempts he resigned to having to queue up and fill out a paper form at either the departing airport or at Heathrow.
At the airport yet another couple of abortive attempts to do online PLF (still 'unauthorised') he resorted to asking the BA check-in staff for help...no paper forms here in Abroadland, it's a British Gov't requirement, said the staff...."but we won't issue you a boarding pass unless you have a completed PLF". So now he was stuck in abroadland, with 2 hours to go until the flight would leave without him.
Luckily a fellow passenger in the queue offered to try for him, as their PLF application worked fine. So friend had to enter sensitive personal information into a stranger's mobile phone. When it asked for his DAY 2 / DAY 8 reference number (and wouldn't continue without it) he was snookered, not realising he didn't have it with him (it was in the baggage they'd kindly let him check-in!).
Luckily the office of the test supplier was still open; it could so easily have been closed (like the PLF 'help-line', 9-5 Monday to Friday only) as it was a Sunday evening flight, so he was able to phone and retrieve his reference number....then back to the rather patient stranger to finish the PLF. Boarding pass issued, crisis averted, stranger paid with a beer at airport prices
.
But what a recipe for ******ing up the lives and wallets of legitimate travellers. I don't want to get into the argument of vaccine apartheid, because in this case anyone could have fallen foul of the PLF debacle, missed their flight, and had their week seriously damaged.
The lesson is clear: avoid flying, set off early, plan for others to let you down, carry ALL sorts of seemingly irrelevant paperwork on your person, and have lots of extra payment options to avoid being trapped in Abroadland; or you may end up getting home with 40 others paddling a lilo across the Channel!
1. Pay for a Lateral Flow test (£20) before going. An identical test to the ones we can get from the chemist free of charge. This was to get a piece of paper to allow him onto the flight out.
2. Pre-pay for DAY 2 and DAY 8 tests, and enter the registration number to book his flight tickets (£80 was aparently a 'bargain').
3. Pay for a supervised (taken by approved staff) Lateral flow test within 3 days of flying home (10 Euro)...this cert was also needed to enter many shops and supermarkets in Abroadland, so more than one test needed for his stay.
Now started his problem:
He needed to fill out a Passenger Location Form within 2 days of his return, and he noted that he could do that on his smarty-pants mobile phone - great, except that the first time he tried (48 hours before flying) the gov.uk site wouldn't let him in to enter his details. It kept saying 'you are not authorised to visit this page' after he pressed the correct 'continue' button. No worries, 47 hours to go. After several further unsuccessful attempts he resigned to having to queue up and fill out a paper form at either the departing airport or at Heathrow.
At the airport yet another couple of abortive attempts to do online PLF (still 'unauthorised') he resorted to asking the BA check-in staff for help...no paper forms here in Abroadland, it's a British Gov't requirement, said the staff...."but we won't issue you a boarding pass unless you have a completed PLF". So now he was stuck in abroadland, with 2 hours to go until the flight would leave without him.
Luckily a fellow passenger in the queue offered to try for him, as their PLF application worked fine. So friend had to enter sensitive personal information into a stranger's mobile phone. When it asked for his DAY 2 / DAY 8 reference number (and wouldn't continue without it) he was snookered, not realising he didn't have it with him (it was in the baggage they'd kindly let him check-in!).
Luckily the office of the test supplier was still open; it could so easily have been closed (like the PLF 'help-line', 9-5 Monday to Friday only) as it was a Sunday evening flight, so he was able to phone and retrieve his reference number....then back to the rather patient stranger to finish the PLF. Boarding pass issued, crisis averted, stranger paid with a beer at airport prices
.But what a recipe for ******ing up the lives and wallets of legitimate travellers. I don't want to get into the argument of vaccine apartheid, because in this case anyone could have fallen foul of the PLF debacle, missed their flight, and had their week seriously damaged.
The lesson is clear: avoid flying, set off early, plan for others to let you down, carry ALL sorts of seemingly irrelevant paperwork on your person, and have lots of extra payment options to avoid being trapped in Abroadland; or you may end up getting home with 40 others paddling a lilo across the Channel!
