Before you book your holiday it’s really important to get advice about travelling abroad, including the latest information on coronavirus, safety and security, entry requirements and travel warnings. This Government website is an excellent resource. You can select your destination and register to receive email updates once a day, week or as they occur. I recommend the later to ensure you’re always up-to-date.
If you have already booked a holiday, perhaps it’s been rebooked, and rebooked again and you’ve got a question or concern please get in touch for our free holiday advice service.
Covid Destination Requirements:
It’s also important that you find your destination’s dedicated travel advice website, as this is where the updates usually appear first. In general we’re seeing a general relaxing of covid-related destination entry requirements, but it’s still important to check right up until you travel.
It’s essential that you do your own research but we wanted to share with you the main challenges we’re seeing!
- Clients are finding themselves with an ‘unvaccinated status’ when they have had two covid vaccinations, as some destinations and cruise lines are now enforcing a 9 month or 270 day rule from the date of your second vaccination.
- Covid-related entry requirements for children vary wildly. Many destinations don’t enforce any requirements for under 18’s whilst others have made it mandatory for 12 year olds and overs to be fully vaccinated.
- Many countries no longer require you to take a covid test before you travel which is great news! However, many hotels and resort may require you to test at check-in, and if you test positive you will have to quarantine, so taking a pre-travel test can still be a great idea!
Whilst meeting Covid destination requirements is important, please visit the TravelHealthPro website to ensure you meet all the health requirements for your trip.
Passport Validity:
More so than ever we’re being contacted by people that are due to go on holiday and they’ve just found out that their passport is out of date, or doesn’t comply with the post-Brexit passport rules for travel to the EU. You can read more about this here.
Go and check your passport now! Currently, average wait times to get your passport renewed are up to ten weeks!
Visas Requirements:
With so much focus on covid-related destination requirements people are forgetting that they may also need a Visa, so it’s essential that you double-check, as if you cannot get a Visa within time (or it’s declined) it’s unlikely you’ll receive a refund for your holiday or that your travel insurance will provide you with cover.
Again, our Government website is an excellent resource. It will also refer you to the official Visa application website for your destination. This is essential as the internet is rife with online visa scams which are extremely easy to fall for.
Advice, recommendations and tips are made in good faith at the time of writing, however, things are constantly changing therefore it’s essential that you remain up-to-date with any requirements that may impact your holiday.