Possible Green list for safe travel from 17 May 2021

[PinkDalek]

O/T re India variant so starting a new topic.

By the way, reports today are that there will only be 8 countries on the UK "green" list from May 17th:

US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Iceland, Gibraltar and Malta.

I've seen 8 potential countries mentioned but Ireland for Canada. Can you point to where you saw the latter?

Only eight countries would make green list for safe travel from May 17, industry modelling suggests [available via a well known search engine if the direct link requires a subscription (there are well known ways around that though]
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/04/17/eight-countries-would-make-green-list-safe-travel-may-17-industry/

Extract only:

The research, by Robert Boyle, former strategy chief at BA and its owner IAG, confirms government indications that only a handful of “green” countries are likely to be approved for quarantine-free holidays

I haven't seen the research itself.

Elsewhere, there are suggestions Greece and Spain may move from amber to green when reviewed in June.

[Lootman]

O/T re India variant so starting a new topic.

By the way, reports today are that there will only be 8 countries on the UK "green" list from May 17th:

US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Iceland, Gibraltar and Malta.

I've seen 8 potential countries mentioned but Ireland for Canada. Can you point to where you saw the latter?

Ireland is within the UK common travel area (CTA) and so is effectively "green" already, along with the Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc.

I read the "8 countries" here:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/just ... 30299.html

But I now notice that Iceland is listed twice so perhaps one of them should be Ireland? I had assumed Canada instead. Not that it matters as Canada isn't currently letting anyone in, not even Americans.

Which begs the question of whether the "green" arrangement will be reciprocal by agreement with those other countries, or whether one-sided arrangements will remain.

[Dod101]

Lootman has raised the point that I was about to; that it takes two to tango and at least Australia and Canada have closed their Borders anyway so it us rather theoretical for at least those countries. Gibraltar and Malta sound hopeful though, not that either have ever been top destinations for most Brits I would have thought.

Dod

[Arborbridge]

My Rhine cruise is on a knife-edge to be postponed for the third year running! Self isolating at home is OK, but I wouldn't want a seven day cruise followed by isolation in a hotel for even longer

Since the company has over £4000 of mine and wants payment in full in the next month, a dodgy situation is emerging.

Arb.

[Lootman]

Lootman has raised the point that I was about to; that it takes two to tango and at least Australia and Canada have closed their Borders anyway so it us rather theoretical for at least those countries. Gibraltar and Malta sound hopeful though, not that either have ever been top destinations for most Brits I would have thought.

Yes, it is theoretical for Australia, and also for New Zealand and the US, as things stand at the moment. I think I might have been premature about Canada being on the green list.

I've always wanted to visit Gibraltar although, being such a tiny place, I wonder is more than a long week-end might be a bit limiting.

Where it will still make a difference, however, is for inbound tourism. As I understand it, people from those 8 nations will be able to enter the UK from May 17th and not have to self-quarantine. It will also help for people who are in one of the groups who can still travel from the UK to the US, Australia etc e.g. dual citizens.

[Dod101]

Lootman has raised the point that I was about to; that it takes two to tango and at least Australia and Canada have closed their Borders anyway so it us rather theoretical for at least those countries. Gibraltar and Malta sound hopeful though, not that either have ever been top destinations for most Brits I would have thought.

Yes, it is theoretical for Australia, and also for New Zealand and the US, as things stand at the moment. I think I might have been premature about Canada being on the green list.

I've always wanted to visit Gibraltar although, being such a tiny place, I wonder is more than a long week-end might be a bit limiting.

Where it will still make a difference, however, is for inbound tourism. As I understand it, people from those 8 nations will be able to enter the UK from May 17th and not have to self-quarantine. It will also help for people who are in one of the groups who can still travel from the UK to the US, Australia etc e.g. dual citizens.

IN that scene, things are beginning to look up a bit. My relatives in Ontario tell me that things are still pretty dire there so I doubt that even were we allowed to it would be very sensible to visit. Frankly I am in no great rush to do anything. Gibralter for a long weekend might be on though but I have no idea about flights.

Dod

[Dod101]

My Rhine cruise is on a knife-edge to be postponed for the third year running! Self isolating at home is OK, but I wouldn't want a seven day cruise followed by isolation in a hotel for even longer

Since the company has over £4000 of mine and wants payment in full in the next month, a dodgy situation is emerging.

Arb.

That is a lot of money. Isolation in some hotel after such a trip would be quite a letdown and actually I would find it difficult to enjoy the trip with that as a prospect afterwards. I think you ought to extract yourself soonest.

Dod

[tjh290633]

My Rhine cruise is on a knife-edge to be postponed for the third year running! Self isolating at home is OK, but I wouldn't want a seven day cruise followed by isolation in a hotel for even longer

Since the company has over £4000 of mine and wants payment in full in the next month, a dodgy situation is emerging.

Arb.

I'm glad that I opted for a refund, rather than a rescheduling. I had paid the full amount already. Ours was to be down the Seine, but they couldn't raise a quorum in September 2020. If they had, I would have gone.

TJH

[Arborbridge]

My Rhine cruise is on a knife-edge to be postponed for the third year running! Self isolating at home is OK, but I wouldn't want a seven day cruise followed by isolation in a hotel for even longer

Since the company has over £4000 of mine and wants payment in full in the next month, a dodgy situation is emerging.

Arb.

That is a lot of money. Isolation in some hotel after such a trip would be quite a letdown and actually I would find it difficult to enjoy the trip with that as a prospect afterwards. I think you ought to extract yourself soonest.

Dod

I will start making some noises about it. What I've paid ought to be safe as it is ATOL bonded. However, I am not clear what the position is if I unilaterally decided I just don't wnt to go due to the self-isolation risk, rather than the trip being cancelled outtright. I am happy to go or postpone, but I just do not know how companies like this can even survive much longer.

Arb.

[Arborbridge]

My Rhine cruise is on a knife-edge to be postponed for the third year running! Self isolating at home is OK, but I wouldn't want a seven day cruise followed by isolation in a hotel for even longer

Since the company has over £4000 of mine and wants payment in full in the next month, a dodgy situation is emerging.

Arb.

I'm glad that I opted for a refund, rather than a rescheduling. I had paid the full amount already. Ours was to be down the Seine, but they couldn't raise a quorum in September 2020. If they had, I would have gone.

TJH

My trip was scheduled in October 2020, but I postponed owing to my prostate op. As it happened, I could easily have gone as I was fit enough ten days after being under the knife - which surprised my GP and even my surgeon. Then the next date (April 21) was cancelled, naturally.


Arb.

[PinkDalek]

I've always wanted to visit Gibraltar although, being such a tiny place, I wonder is more than a long week-end might be a bit limiting.

Well worth a visit, I've been twice (once for an excursion from a cruise way back in 1964, when a kid, the other across the border in the 1980s). Based on the most recent visit, I'm not sure much more than a short weekend would be worthwhile, although we were tempted to stay overnight to experience the nightlife in the Old Town and to visit further sites of interest the next day but skiing in Sierra Nevada (the one above Granada) was more alluring so we moved on. I'm regretting we didn't stay overnight now I look back.

There have been more recent attempts to encourage tourism (in normal times) and I read the Wiki page to see what they had to say:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Gibraltar

The view of The Rock of Gibraltar is obviously outstanding, depending on where you are.

I had intended to put this split out topic in the Airport Lounge but no matter now.

[Lootman]

Some speculation on other countries that may be added to the green zone:

"These are our guesses for which countries may appear on the lowest-risk green list. And as such, this isn’t an exhaustive list. We’ve taken into account destinations that have a lower case rate than the United Kingdom — 26 per 100,000 people in the past seven, according to Reuters — or ones with a slightly higher rate that have been undergoing strong vaccination programmes."

The list includes Morocco, Egypt, Barbados, Thailand, Portugal and Spain. Elsewhere I have seen talk that Croatia may also be green.

https://thepointsguy.co.uk/guide/green-list-countries/

[murraypaul]

Meanwhile, the US view:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56813852

The US state department said its decision to update its travel advisories was to bring it more in line with those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and "does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country".

However, it said the move would "result in a significant increase in the number of countries at Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80% of countries worldwide".

Only three places at the world are assessed at the lowest of the state department's four risk levels - "Exercise normal precautions". They are Macau, Taiwan and New Zealand.

Even Antarctica is at level two - "Exercise increased caution" - while the UK is at level three - "Reconsider travel"