kingcole974

So am I right that with the UK’s special status, we can visit but can’t leave the hotel?

Does this impact trips under 5 days?

I ask as I’m looking to change a reward flight from MBJ to SEZ in January

babyg_wc

Correct you cant leave the hotel, however if you stay somewhere like the Labirz the hotel is on its own island.(mostly).. so there is plenty to do whilst being "confined"

kingcole974

I was actually considering the other hilton, but this may change my mind

babyg_wc

Well ive booked in with oliverhealthtravel, spoke to many companies doing the test, and oliverhealthtravel were the only ones that said we could get the results next day guaranteed.

• PCR Test same day results £250 (appointment cut-off time is 3:30 pm)
• PCR Test next day results £200 <<<<<<<<
• PCR Test two days results £150

Crackers amount of money for a family of 4 :-( but I cant find a better option.

bluemoon68

I've been researching this for an upcoming holiday, consequently I am now inundated with adverts from testing clinics. This one keeps appearing, note that I have no experience of them as yet.

https://www.haleclinic.com/pcr-test-for-travel who promise a quick turn around and claim that only Cyprus ,Barbados and Hong Kong require a time stamp on the test.

Their information may not be up to date, given that Seychelles has effectively been closed until now, but with the evening flight time it would make a big difference if 48 hours does just mean 2 days with no date stamp required.

babyg_wc

Thanks Blue Moon - i have struggled to get hold of the Seychelles health ministry, thou i have managed to chat with the Seychelles tourism board, they mentioned if the flight is Wednesday evening, you could do the test Monday afternoon. Furthermore if the results only had the DATE and not the TIME then the days would be used as 48hrs (so reading between the lines i could do the test Monday morning).
Another issue is there doesn't appear to be an "official" fit to fly standard that everybody is following. Some test centres require passports and have rules about what you can/cant do 24hrs before the test etc, others seem like covid "pop ups" and are just there as in intermediary between you and the lab. Its slightly stresful not being able to get the answer about exactly what they will accept, but hopefully a Monday afternoon tests, with results Tuesday night followed by application to travel will be OK, assuming ive picked the right PCR test.

mrpacifist

I think the 2nd PCR test on the island is worrying - the procedure if positive asymptomatic is not clear - what are the 'stay safe hotels'? I could not find a list.

barneyb

Looks like they are playing around with some of the timetables. I've just had a cancellation of my SEZ-LHR flight on the 25 Oct, which looks to now be on the 26 Oct (however the inbound flight still seems to be landing on the 25 Oct, with a day on the ground in SEZ). Think I'll use this as my excuse to cancel and get a refund as struggling with 48hr COVID testing outside of London.

babyg_wc

Yes.. arrghh... I am flying on the 14th.. and back on the 25 errr now 26th.. we have found a testing facility to do the testing within the timeframes.
https://www.privatecoronavirustests.com/

Hopefully i can claim EU261 as i now need to organise 1 extra night etc.... wonder what the reason for the change was? Only taking 1 crew, and they are going to rest there or something strange?

bluemoon68

I can see that at last the Seychelles is now on the list of places that the FCO doesn't advise "all but essential travel", so that helps with travel insurance.

Does anyone know if the PCR tests need to be time stamped? We have a 5.55pm flight, so 48 hours could be a lot easier if I could get the tests done "2days before" without literally being 48 hours.

babyg_wc

Who are you flying with for 5.55, my flight is 18:20.
FY https://www.privatecoronavirustests.com/ - these guys will omit the TIME (and keep the date) if you request it. Ill let you know how i get on Monday (for my flight Wednesday)

bluemoon68

flying BA on 7/11. Departure is 17.45.

Be grateful if you do let us know how you get on. Was thinking of finding somewhere who would time stamp on the Thursday and take the text just before they close, so opposite strategy to you!

babyg_wc

Sure will do

I looked at that option (late test), it just didn't leave any safety margin IMHO, they all seem to use the same labs so i wanted to squeeze a few more hours in and have the test done in the morning, there is a 3% chance of a re-running of the test, so you test would be delayed another 12hrs or so apparently.

The guys i am using do a courier around 1pm to the lab, and another towards 5pm i think, tests after that time need to go the next day.

48hrs is really tricky to achieve, unless you pay big bucks, and there is 4 of us.. so we needed to find a balance.

I will let you know on the 13th of this month (hopefully).

BWBriscoe

I was looking at a trip next month and the flight times/schedules are really baffling? Assumed flight arriving on Thursday morning would return same day, but is this not the case?

BA6501

Aircraft would stay on the ground with the crew, after 1 night rest. Not exactly a shortage of frames right now, and avoids keeping the crew downroute for too long. IB did something similar when they restarted longhaul flights.