Travel advice as we slowly make our way out of Covid
Here are some sage words from Michael Collins with a few additions of my own, from yesterdays Sunday Independent. Michael is a Travel Media Specialist and has been travelling extensively (essential travel only) throughout the Pandemic.
He doesn’t have this as his number 1, but from a travel agents perspective it should be !
- Book with a bonded and licensed travel agent, preferably an Irish travel agency. There are many UK-based travel agencies selling in the Irish market, but since the UK is no longer part of the EU, the DCC (Digital Covid Cert) does not apply to UK citizens or residents.
This means that a UK agency is less likely to understand how the DCC works than an Irish agency.
Licensed travel agents are your safety net when things go wrong, so make sure you use an Irish one to be extra safe.
- Get your DCC (Digital Covid Cert). You will need it to travel in Europe. Don’t rely on your HSE vaccination card or a letter from your GP.
You are entitled to a DCC if you have been vaccinated, have a negative PCR test, or have recovered from Covid. Demand it from the Department of Health.
Contact your local TD (but see 5 below) if you can’t get through to the Department of Health DCC Helpline. Tel 1800 807008.
- Since July 19, if travelling into Ireland from another EU state, and you have your DCC (Digital Covid Certificate), you do not need to quarantine, or get tested, when arriving back into Ireland. The DCC covers people who have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from Covid and have a medical cert to prove this, and people who have had a negative PCR test less than 72 hours before flying.
Each country remains responsible for deciding its own entry requirements; they are not standardised at EU level.
This means that what is required to enter a country depends on the measures and entry rules in place at your destination.
As well as a negative Covid test or DCC, most European countries require travellers to complete a Health Form; known in Ireland as the Passenger Locator Form. These are primarily for contact tracing purposes.
4.Travel insurance has never been more important. Ask if your cover includes Covid health and Covid travel interruption. Most travel specialist insurers now offer these as options. Speak to your travel agent for the most up to date and unbiased advice.
5. Avoid listening to politicians, they are not travel experts and are only interested in getting re-elected. Do your own research.
Anyone who read the Malta travel website, or researched Ireland-Malta travel on reopen.eu, would have known only fully vaccinated people would be allowed to travel there. Yet, some in higher office advised the HSE vaccination card was enough.
- Use the reopen.eu website or app. It’s excellent, clear and easy to understand. Search your departure point and destination for all the relevant rules and protocols.
- The DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) website is very often out of date. Be wary if using it to research travel, it is no longer reliable.
The DFA ‘TravelWise’ app, which was created to “help inform your decisions about travelling abroad”, is still suspended. You unfortunately cannot rely on the DFA website or app.
- Travel outside of Europe is still officially off-limits. At present, Irish and EU passport holders are still banned from travel to the US.
- Just because you received your DCC, it does not mean it is valid. If you received it seven days after your second jab, it would not have been valid for travel to France, where 14 days are required before a person is considered fully vaccinated. In Ireland, it is seven days according to hse.ie.
Again, do your research, call your travel agent or use reopen.eu. Do not depend on the HSE website for international travel advice.
- Children under the age of 12 do not need a DCC or negative PCR test when travelling within the EU. Children between the ages of 12 and 17 will be required to have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival to travel into Ireland, unless they have valid proof of vaccination or recovery.
Children of any age, travelling with accompanying vaccinated or recovered adults will not be required to self-quarantine upon arrival. But where one accompanying adult needs to self- quarantine, then all children must also self-quarantine.
And we all thought quantum physics was confusing !, unfortunately there are no qualifications you can get to be a worldwide expert on travel during Pandemic times. But, as we have advised, do your research, check and book with a licensed and bonded travel agent. If you book with a travel agent, they will let you know if there are any changes in regulations between the time you book and the time you travel.
Form travel are a licensed and bonded travel agency specialising in corporate, group, incentive and luxury travel.
