Your travel to-do list changes once again this month, following the UK government’s January announcement that it would be easing some travel restrictions from 11 February.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps called the shake-up in travel rules “a landmark moment for international travel”, saying: “After nearly two years of necessary but complex travel arrangements these changes will make it cheaper and easier for families to travel, taking advantage of the UK’s high levels of vaccination, and keeping us all safe.”
However, the rules are different for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers, with tests scrapped altogether for the former, but several measures remaining in place for the latter.
So what do unvaccinated people need to do when preparing to enter the UK?
Here’s everything you need to know for travel from 11 February onwards.
Do vaccinated travellers need a Covid test to leave and enter the UK?
From 4am on 11 February, there’s one fewer test for unvaccinated or partly vaccinated travellers entering the UK. (Those who have had just one dose of a two-dose Covid vaccine are treated as “unvaccinated” for the purposes of travel.)
Previously, unvaccinated people had to take a lateral flow or PCR test within the two days prior to travel to the UK and take two PCR tests upon arrival to the UK, one within the first two days after landing, and one on day eight.
While the first two of these tests (the “day two”) remains, from 11 February the day eight test is being scrapped.
Your day two test must still be a PCR test.
If you test positive on either your pre-departure test or day two test, you must self-isolate in the country you are in, following the local guidelines.
As for testing before your holiday, that is specific to your destination. Many places, such as Cyprus, Dubai and Egypt, require unvaccinated arrivals to present a negative result from a PCR test taken in the two or three days before travel.
Others, such as Croatia, Turkey and Greece, will accept a lateral flow test instead of a PCR test for vaccinated travellers, but give a shorter time frame for taking it (usually 24 or 48 hours).
Meanwhile, countries including Spain and France have barred unvaccinated travellers outright.
Your best bet is to check the individual country-by-country rules and entry advice on the Gov.uk Foreign Office website right up until your departure date - rules can change at short notice.
Do unvaccinated travellers need to quarantine?
No; they previously had to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival (although in England this could be shortened to five days if a traveller opted to pay for an extra PCR test under the Test to Release scheme). From 11 February, unvaccinated travellers no longer need to quarantine.
Do unvaccinated travellers need a Passenger Locator Form?
Yes. All travellers into the UK need to fill in a PLF within the 48 hours before travel.
You’ll need your flight details, passport details, arrival time, destination address and details of any transit destinations or places you’ve visited in the 10 days before your return, as well as an order reference number for your “day two” test, which you must order before you travel back to the UK.
The PLF has been somewhat simplified in time for the rules change, but only for fully vaccinated travellers - unvaccinated visitors still have to go through the whole rigmarole.
Are the rules likely to change again for unvaccinated people?
Testing rules had previously been simplified last autumn, following the Delta variant of Covid-19 spiking cases in the UK, but were tightened again in response to the arrival of the Omicron variant, with more restrictions added for travellers.
This shows that rules can change at short notice. However, ministers have mentioned “learning to live with Covid-19” amid the current relaxation of rules, including the end of the “Plan B” guidance given during winter.
There is a chance that more stringent testing and quarantine could be reintroduced for unvaccinated people if a concerning new variant is detected in the UK or elsewhere, with some experts pointing to the importance of genomic sequencing using PCR tests. More likely is that countries abroad may be added to the red list - currently empty, but kept on standby in case of new variants.
Ministers have indicated that they are hoping to replace hotel quarantine with at-home isolation in the case of countries being re-added to the red list; mandatory 10-day self isolation for unjabbed travellers could be reintroduced if there is another surge in UK Covid cases.
The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder, says: “Recent history tells us that rules are subject to sudden change in ways that do not necessarily correlate with circumstances. For example, in mid-March 2020, the UK suddenly lifted all restrictions on international arrivals. Then in June – as infection rates were falling and other countries were opening up – ministers imposed blanket quarantine for all arrivals.
“In addition, we have previously had assurances about opening up from the transport secretary – most notably last October – only to be followed a month later with the return of PCRs and pre-departure tests, plus mandatory quarantine.
“This time, though, things might be different. The positive change, of course, would be to remove the Passenger Locator Form. But bureaucracy has had a good crisis, and history also tells us that governments are quick to impose red tape but slow to take it away.”
