US eases UK travel advisory
It had been rumoured that last Friday the US would announce it would reopen to us at the same time as the UK gave it green country status. Obviously, this did not happen and the rumour is now that there will be a reciprocal agreement when US goes green for them to open their border to the UK or vice versa. It all depends now on who is willing to concede first.
However, there are signs that the US is softening its stance on the UK. After only just making 80% of countries level 4 in April which means “do not travel”, the US has now changed the UK’s status to level 3. Level 3 is ” Reconsider Travelโ and they also lowered Israel to โLevel 2 โ Exercise Increased Caution.โ The US government advisory levels do not carry as much weight as an FCDO warning in the UK and also have no legal status. However, I take this to be a positive step to reopening the border with the UK which I am still feeling positive about happening by 1 July.
Virgin Atlantic offers traffic light test bundles
Most airlines are getting on board with the concept of making testing cheaper and easier for customers. I’ll be taking a look at some of the cheaper testing solutions shortly.
Virgin Atlantic and Prenetics will offer customers at-home Covid-19 testing solutions, which give them convenient access to the necessary testing for Virgin Atlantic destinations, where at-home tests are accepted.
Expanding on Virgin Atlanticโs existing testing partnerships, including an online lab locator tool and airport testing, Prenetics [EMEA Ltd] (, a leading UK health and diagnostics business, will now be Virgin Atlanticโs preferred at-home testing provider, with customers able to order a complete end-to-end travel testing bundle, tailored to their destination, via a dedicated microsite.
Each bundle is based on the UK Governmentโs risk-based travel traffic light system for arrivals to England, starting from ยฃ152 for a โgreenโ country and ยฃ179 for an โamberโ country, based on current test requirements, which should be subject to regular review. Round-trip bundles are initially available for Israel, Nigeria and Grenada and as requirements ease, this list will likely expand. The bundles include all the tests customers require and include a convenient remote โtest to carryโ rapid antigen test, (which is similar to the British Airways one) which customers can easily administer before returning to the UK, meeting Englandโs pre-departure testing requirements.
The packages will also include UK Government approved arrival packages for Day 2 and/or 8 of self-isolation at home with an option to add a PCR test at day 5 for early release from quarantine, where this applies for amber countries. To offer customers peace of mind, the pre-purchased bundle can be easily changed if a destination changes from green to amber for example, with customers simply required to pay the difference or issued with a refund.
Customers receive clear and detailed step-by-step guidance on the Prenetics web pages. The results of the rapid antigen test are returned within 15 minutes and for PCR tests, customers send their sample via a return envelope to an accredited Prenetics lab and will receive their results within 24 hours of receipt at the laboratory via email or notification on the website. All customers receive a โFit to Flyโ test certificate, that can be presented digitally, used in the digital pass solutions Virgin Atlantic is trialling for a seamless journey, or in paper format as a backup.
From the Virgin Atlantic Covid-19 testing at home page, customers will be directed to the dedicated Virgin Atlantic and Prenetics microsite, especially developed for Virgin Atlanticโs customers, where they simply select the country they are travelling to, and the tests will be packaged up into a single, innovative bundle.
Corneel Koster, Chief Customer and Operating Officer, Virgin Atlantic:
โAs the skies reopen weโre ready to ensure that we protect public health and enable our customers to book and travel smoothly with confidence. Based on the UK Governmentโs traffic light system, with Prenetics we have developed convenient and rapid at-home testing bundles, tailored to destination countries, including Israel which weโll increase to double-daily services later this summer, helping customers to easily navigate new testing requirements in one simple purchase, with an important offer of flexibility to give peace of mind if a country changes tier.
โWe cannot have a prohibitively expensive testing system that puts businesses, individuals, and families off travelling, which is why we are pleased to have worked closely with Prenetics to offer competitive prices for our customers and will continue to review these regularly. With the UKโs world-leading vaccine roll-out, the Government must also go further to expand the green list and significantly update the traffic light framework, enabling travel without testing and quarantine โ for โGreenโ countries and vaccinated passengers travelling to โAmberโ destinations.โ
Hopefully, with this partnership the airline has ensured there is enough capacity as many places are likely to get overwhelmed over the next few months as testing ramps up. Already there are queues to get on some of the cheapest testing websites. Once you know that your trip is definitely happening, or if you can find somewhere that offers refunds, I would book your tests as early as possible.
