KSVVZ2015

Has anyone dealt with Border Force during Arrivals during Lockdown 2.0 (or even returning to a Tier 4 location since December 18 or whatever)? By all accounts, at least at LHR, there is no checking of passengers reason for traveling at departure (indeed, a family member left this morning and was not asked her reason for travel) and there is no checking of passengers going through the egates on arrival. BUT, what about families with kids, passports that aren't read properly, etc. where you have to speak to someone on arrival - are people being queried?

Kgmm77

As said elsewhere, good luck to anyone with such flimsy rationale if they have reason to claim on travel insurance. I don’t think a claims assessor will be so easily persuaded.

JessicaB

My mother flew back from Dominican Republic on Sunday morning. She said there was a line of officers before you reached passport control checking that you had filled in the self-isolation form you were unable to get past them unless you could show the QR code. Evidently quite a few people didn't have this and were frantically using their phones.

boxlion

With this new lockdown I'm hoping for some advice mostly from you londoners. I have no experience of lockdowns or restrictions like this from my own country so I need to find out the facts what happens on the street so to speak. If flights are not cancelled my route is ARN-LHR, then stay overnight at a hotel by Gatwick to fly to CUN the next morning. (Same way back, but without the overnight).
My plan has been to take the trains/tube straight to Gatwick (taxi will be far too expensive).
Are the trains/tubes running? (on a weekend?) Are they empty??
Will I be stopped by police several times and possibly fined?? for getting from A to B?
This vacation is very important for me for health reasons, but of course in light of this I should have flown through Germany or Paris instead.
On another note my flights are still not ticketed?! (I made a change before christmas)
If the UK introduces PCR testing requirements I'll be forced to cancel it's too expensive and too complex. I have until Monday to decide, that's my last date for cancelling the airbnb.
Of course BA might cancel my flights, who knows? If I need to cancel can I ask for a FTV even though it's not ticketed?
Sorry for the endless questions, I have read the gov site but it doesn't say much about what actually goes on in the London streets.

JessicaB

I own a hotel in Dominican Republic. I did call my travel insurers and asked what their definition of essential was, and they said there isn't one, and I would be the one who would decide if it was essential or not. I got the impression that if you told them that your trip was essential they wouldn't ask much more.

JessicaB

Righty ho

Dove777

I flew back in mid-November, having left the U.K. a week or so before the Lockdown 2 announcement. My passport generally does not work in the egates but the border officer didn’t ask any questions apart from where I was coming from (the US).

KSVVZ2015

You have nothing to worry about transiting London. "Lockdown" here is not lockdown in the Chinese or even Italian sense of the word. It is not a police state. People are out and about. Taxis are running. Trains are running. There is traffic etc. At most you may need to explain your basis for checking in to an airport hotel (single night transit). While not specifically called out in the guidance, there is next to 0% chance an airport hotel is going to give you grief for this.

destone

Please note that this is not any different as to what the US CDC has imposed on US-bound flights from the UK. All departing passengers (including US citizens) must present a negative test result, there is no exemption.

I, for one, would welcome if UK citizens are not exempted from a test once the full rules are announced.

destone

In my experience the only problem may be hotels. They are strictly enforcing the law and may cancel your reservation.

destone

They’re not allowed to ask any specific questions if you have a UK passport unless you happen to be on their watch list.

sunshinebob

Until you start your claim, they might query it at that stage.

rockflyertalk

Public transport is operating but perhaps a little less frequently.

I very much doubt you will be stopped by police, there doesn’t seem to be extra resources for patrolling peoples general whereabouts and there never has been. Extra police resources would be miracle some may say!

rosswill

Departing Gatwick in September there were no checks. On my return we were asked if we had filled out the locator forms and those who had not were requested to do so when convenient. Departing Gatwick in November the travel pre-authorization forms required for the destination (esta equivalent) were checked but not our letter of authority from the employer to travel. Arriving back into Heathrow the e-gates were not working so you had to go to the counter where border force were insisting on seeing fully completed passenger locator forms but there were no questions regarding why or when you had travelled.

destone

Watch January 20th.