Probably there wouldn't be any surprises, but at the moment there is no 100% official confirmation that UK citizens would be able to travel to Portugal as currently Portugal doesn't accept UK citizens at this time.

However, probably this would change next week after EU's decision has been announced.

Thank you for the reply. I had made the assumption that leaving the country was allowed before the self isolation period was up. My inbound itinerary is LAX-LHR-GLA and I’d technically be leaving Scotland after the 3rd day. Oh well. Best case is that the US makes the green list before I depart. Worst case (well apart from it ending up on the red list) is that it stays Amber, then I see my return LHR-SAN flight getting canned, giving me the opportunity to switch some flights around. I would pull the inbound forward a few days, stay in England until TTR, fly up to Scotland and I don’t mind serving the remainder of my 10 isolation period up there and then fly back to England a few days later. The only wrinkles are that BA allows me to treat the LHR-GLA as a stop over and I fly a few days after arriving in England and what to do about the 8th day test.

Actually, after reading the COVID Testing Package requirements at that orange airline (for my GLA-LTN return to England) the second test required that it be performed on, or AFTER the 8th day. In theory leave Scotland on day 10 and take the 2nd test upon arrival

I also live outside the UK in an 'amber' country. Am I right in understanding from your post that as far as the UK rules are concerned, if I spend less than 48 hours in the UK, the only test required would be the one to present to the airline/ UK passport control on arrival, taken in my country of departure.

yes. You only need the day 2&8 post arrival tests if you are staying that long.

Yes I'm planning on visiting an Amber country, returning for 24 hours, and then going to another Amber country (I'll pay for the testing when I'm back from Destination #2). I assume all I'll need to show is flight confirmation at Border Control.

I'm by no means an expert and don't have personal experience of the latest testing requirements, but the 10-day self-isolation requirement with tests on days 2&8 is standard throughout the UK (with England including the 5-day TTR), and obviously a positive test at any point could extend the self-isolation period. My understanding is that leaving the UK completely before the 10 days is up would be fine, but travelling between the nations of the UK without TTR during that time wouldn't be. It is pretty confusing to be fair. There's also the possibility that travel between nations is limited if Scotland and England have different restrictions, for example.

This isn't a BA-specific question and I'd recommend checking with the good people on the Coronavirus forum. This thread might be useful:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2016518-uk-arrivals-requirements-pre-departure-test-quarantine-post-arrival-tests.html

Hope you manage to make it work. It's tough to be separated from family for this long.

Actually I think legally Reetmafreen can do what is suggested - albeit I am not sure that is an intended consequence of the law. They must remain in self isolation at the address in Scotland but are allowed to leave the address to depart Scotland prior to the end of the 10 day period, and they must continue the rest of the self isolation in England. I think you would also need to submit a new plf on the move in order to update the self isolation address.

This isn’t going to work. You need to self isolate in the same location for the 10 days. The occupants of the address also need to self isolate for the duration of your stay.

The tests can be done at home or at a location performing them. Day 8 tests are mailed to the address a couple of days before which will be no good if you’ve hypothetically left on day 3 or 4.

Your absence will be very difficult to explain should the Police decide to pay a home visit to check on you

Also if your itinerary is on one single PNR it might be picked up on the API provided to border force and you’d be making a false declaration on your UK arrival PLF form.

During last Fridays covid briefing which was about travel our head of the UKBF made no apology for checking 100% of all arrivals for 100% of their documentation and the ensuing increased processing time. And possible longer waits.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2...9/regulation/6

Not sure if I missed the fact that you can change address of self isolation but picked up the fact that the day 5 test to release doesn’t seem to apply In Scotland.

Very happy to be corrected, but this seems like an interesting approach to infection control if it's allowed! Would the testing bureaucracy cope with a change of address half way through?

Hope for Reetmafreen's sake this is all a moot point because US is on the green list by then.

You are allowed to leave your place of self isolation in Scotland before the end of the 10 days in order to leave Scotland which is what the OP would be doing.

Yes it is more a consequence of the 4 nation approach within the UK rather than a deliberate attempt to allow travel between the two when self isolating, but speaking strictly legally it is allowed.

EDIT: although I agree it doesn't seem to be a sensible thing to do.

Any more info about more Portugal flights? Haven't seen any increase in LIS, OPO or FNC - just FAO.

I think that’s because it’s a weekend - BA decision makers are Monday to Friday so doubt we will see any changes until tomorrow.

Also they are waiting for the Portuguese government decision when to let Brits into Portugal. Currently essential travel only don't forget.