 Poster: A snowHead
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| kb36 wrote: |
| Rumours flying about that UK government might remove the pre departure pcr test requirement this week |
This was the easiest part of all test requirements. We had a free lateral flow in Red Cross Saalfelden and had our certificates texted to us within 15 mins or so.
The annoying thing for me was the only place our negative LFTs were checked was at BA desk Munich (obviously not by a UK official). At Heathrow nobody even asks for proof of a negative test in last 48 hours.
The pre departure tests are pretty pointless on all honesty and IMHO are only there for political purposes.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Unless you test positive of course
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| buchanan101 wrote: |
| I'm going to print out all 4 parts of my NHS app proof (2 shots, recovered, booster) quartered on a sheet of A4. Many times. And in my Apple Wallet... |
No-one will be interested in all that (only the booster/entry PCR), but whatever floats your boat 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| kb36 wrote: |
| Rumours flying about that UK government might remove the pre departure pcr test requirement this week |
would make like easier if the Vienna government did.. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Chris_n wrote: |
@ousekjarr, the certificate doesn't avoid that need.
https://www.oesterreich.gv.at/en/themen/coronavirus_in_oesterreich/pre-travel-clearance.html
| Quote: |
| The obligation to bring a negative result of a molecular test with you or a medical certificate confirming such a test does not apply to persons who have recovered from COVID-19 and can present a medical certificate in accordance with Appendix H or Appendix I. The obligation to self-isolate, however, remains. |
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You read your quote wrong: it says you are NOT obliged to bring a negative test if you can bring a medical certificate of recovery.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@boardiac, that's correct, but read the last sentence – you have to quarantine, which as a tourist, means you're not coming in.
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@Scarlet, a hypothetical question if @boardiac, uses the certificate and has to quarantine on arrival, do the Austrian government make you quarantine at a venue of their choice or can you do it at “home”.
I know this was partly covered some pages back.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@radar, I believe if you have residency, then you can quarantine at your address, as the govt cannot prevent residents from returning to the country. As a tourist without an address, they can turn you around at the border (as happened at Innsbruck last week). I don't know which side of the line holiday-home owners fall, but I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to put themselves forward for quarantine by the Austrian authorities 
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@Scarlet, thank you, certainly agree with you!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Any news on whether the Austrian government will follow Germany's lead and drop the pre-entry PCR requirement?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@sparklingspringwater, no. There is a GECKO meeting this afternoon, but if anything, restrictions will get tighter not looser.
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I’ve just read that Omicron is now the dominant variant in Austria too. Hoping that this means an update to the ‘virus variant area’ list is imminent…
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You know it makes sense.
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| radar wrote: |
@Scarlet, a hypothetical question if @boardiac, uses the certificate and has to quarantine on arrival, do the Austrian government make you quarantine at a venue of their choice or can you do it at “home”.
I know this was partly covered some pages back. |
The quote from @boardiac is preceeded by the opening statement in Paragraph "C" which states that: "The following people are exempt from the entry ban and the obligation to self-isolate, if they can provide proof of...etc". It then goes on in sub-paragraphs to give the exemption for the recovery certificates. So if you have two jabs and an in-date recovery certificate that is consistent with Annex i, you do not need to self-isolate or quarantine on arrival, nor do you need a PCR test. The confusion at Innsbruck Airport last week was not replicated at Salzburg or Vienna where common sense seemed to prevail.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Another thing to note is that it looks like the NHS app is still using the old isolation rules (10 days). I.e. If you test positive but then recover within 7 days you cant get your NHS pass from the app for 10 days not 7; so might be worth printing it out in advance just in case.
"You can now end self-isolation after 7 days, following 2 negative lateral flow tests taken 24 hours apart. You should not take the first lateral flow test before day 6. However, you will be unable to use either your domestic or travel NHS COVID Pass for 10 days following a positive NHS test result."
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Poster: A snowHead
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@williamg97, welcome to Snowheads - and that raises an interesting point. I took a screen shot of my Covid pass and saved it to my Apple Wallet on my phone because I've had issues with the NHS App being slow to load at times or timing out when trying to view the pass. A refresh usually works, but the added 5-10 seconds in a queue is a pain, so the screen shot is a handy workaround.
Now that I'm recovering until 9th Jan (full 10 days), the NHS App doesn't allow me to generate a pass. However, the previous one had an expiry date of 21st January (30 day validity), and I wondered what level of checking is done when a QR code is scanned to verify that it has not been rescinded by a subsequent infection. Out of curiosity, I downloaded the NHS Covid Pass Verification app and pointed it at my saved pass. I was only a little surprised when it gave me a big green tick - there is apparently no online verification at all, so while the NHS system and app know that I am positive and not yet finished isolation, their own verification app does not use this information.
Whether travel is also possible using this is unclear - if all the verification apps are doing is extracting the digital certificate from the QR code and checking that it is correctly cryptographically signed and with an expiry date in the future, then it's yet another chocolate teapot in the government IT infrastructure.
Although the isolation period is now 7 days if you can produce negative LFT results on day 6 and 7, the recommendation is that you continue to take additional precautions until the 10 days is up so the 10 day rule is still effectively in place, just no longer mandatory if you test OK by day 7.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| @sparklingspringwater, no. There is a GECKO meeting this afternoon, but if anything, restrictions will get tighter not looser. |
Not sure there could be any tighter restrictions on tourists apart from not allowing them - or is it more likely to do with what hospitality can be open?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@buchanan101, sticking a finger in the air and making a wild guess is not likely to result in anything of use. Also remember that everything is up for discussion until it's been written down, so any leaks may not be accurate. I.e. there is no more information about this than you already have.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@ousekjarr - thank you! 
Thanks for the clarification there. I did wonder whether it was they hadn't updated the app or if that was still the general guidelines. I wish they'd publish that clearly on the GOV.UK NHS COVID pass page.
I think you are right on the QR code. I would expect it can only perform some sort of offline verification of that QR code and no online check is made to see if its still valid. It does raise rather a huge flaw in the whole system.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
| <snip>I wondered what level of checking is done when a QR code is scanned to verify that it has not been rescinded by a subsequent infection. <snip> |
This may not be entirely helpful, as I'm already in Austria and not travelling to the country, but I've had the QR code on my "Green Pass" scanned a grand total of zero times. In fact, I typically just show a little blue card I received at my second vaccination shot, which has the dates of the shots and the Doctor's stamp, no QR code at all. Same with the yellow "International" immunisation booklet - no QR code, just shows the number of injections.
As I don't typically ski in the larger resorts, rather keeping to smaller local places (for local people), I don't know what the situation elsewhere is like. Are the QR codes being actively scanned in the more popular destinations? (because having said that, I'm going to Ramsau tomorrow for four nights and want to know if not having a QR to be scanned is going to be a PITA)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@phillc, In Tirol, the vaccine pass is linked to the ski pass, so mine was scanned at the Kassa on first use at a particular resort, but will now last as long as it is valid. I think that if you didn't have scannable evidence, the person on the desk would be able to activate your pass manually, though I haven't tried this. Plenty of people are still using yellow booklets and vaccine cards as evidence.
Some resorts allow you to upload the QR code to your pass online to activate it before you arrive, but again, if you don't do this you can still do it at the Kassa.
My pass was also scanned by the security people at the Christmas market, but that is the only other time. Everyone else just gives it a cursory glance, although carefully enough to query whether my name is mine (it is  ) but not enough to bother asking for ID. Are you not able to download a certificate from somewhere?
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I’d assumed everyone had figured that out - if you want to game the system, before you do any important test take a fresh copy of your qr code from the nhs app (or at least make sure the latest one you have would still be current until the date you’ll need it).
I think all the verification apps are just going on the internal data held in the qr code - it’s highly unlikely you’d allow (for example) the Italian app to contact an NHS api to verify, and there’s no Central European repository we send this info to. The Italian app for example runs completely offline - it only does one overnight sync to get the latest keys to decode the qr codes. And this would be true of all nations qr codes - it’s not a uk thing.
But it’s not really that big a loophole - you still need (in most places) a current LFT or PCR to enter the country - so this only helps for the scenario that you’re testing negative post an infection, but your qr code is still in its disabled 10-15 days state.
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Thanks @Scarlet. I can go to the Apotheke and ask them to print the vaccine cert with the QR code. Just wondered if this was something I needed to bother doing. While I've had two vaccine shots, I've tried to avoid the electronic tracking around everything (tin foil hat) - no app installed, no digital pass, manually completing check-in forms with a pen etc, just using the paper based evidence and it hasn't been a problem in bars, restaurants or the smaller resorts to date.
When taking my young son to his swimming lessons, the people at the pool Kassa do insist on seeing ID to match the vaccination card. That's been the only time though.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@phillc, In Saalbach and the Ski Circus, you need to scan your QR code to validate your pass, there are self service scanners for this, if you buy a ticket at the kassa they ask for your QR code to scan.
We used the NHS app.
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@phillc, I don't think there's any tracking in the vaccine QR codes, merely a verification that the code is valid. The tracking app (the one that tells you about close contacts) is a different app entirely, and I don't think many people have it installed. Filling in forms manually enables more tracking, and that is easily avoided.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| @sparklingspringwater, no. There is a GECKO meeting this afternoon, but if anything, restrictions will get tighter not looser. |
Oh I see. Also thank you for letting me know this and all the other information you have shared in this thread, your posts (and those of the other snowheads from Austria) are always very informative and highly useful.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I'm not sure if the info about the GECKO meeting today is correct. Anyhow, it looks like the next update we will get will be Thursday, not today.
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Good to know. A nervous few days await - we depart on Saturday. Have pre-entry PCR booked and paid for, but it would be nice to not have to do it!
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You know it makes sense.
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| Scarlet wrote: |
| I'm not sure if the info about the GECKO meeting today is correct. Anyhow, it looks like the next update we will get will be Thursday, not today. |
Of course they would time any update for a Feiertag (public holiday), just to maximise confusion and sabotage communication as best as possible 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@clarky999, of course  Nothing's ever easy, is it?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Swen wrote: |
| JuliaLinsT wrote: |
| I am booked to travel with Crystal ski - flying to Innsbruck but staying in Italy. The adult kids can’t have their booster until after our trip - if we were staying in Austria it is clear we would unable to go but there is some contradictory info about whether or not transiting through Austria only means we all need to be boostered. Does anyone have any experience that can help me eitger way. I’m currently on hold to Crystal Ski btw. |
Think transit means you only have to do the tests and meet the rules of Italy. Think its detailed on Crystals covid page |
Thanks Swen Crystal Ski have confirmed that we only need to meet the rules of Italy thankfully.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@sparklingspringwater,
I'm in the same boat! Fingers crossed!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| RedandWhiteFlachau wrote: |
| radar wrote: |
@Scarlet, a hypothetical question if @boardiac, uses the certificate and has to quarantine on arrival, do the Austrian government make you quarantine at a venue of their choice or can you do it at “home”.
I know this was partly covered some pages back. |
The quote from @boardiac is preceeded by the opening statement in Paragraph "C" which states that: "The following people are exempt from the entry ban and the obligation to self-isolate, if they can provide proof of...etc". It then goes on in sub-paragraphs to give the exemption for the recovery certificates. So if you have two jabs and an in-date recovery certificate that is consistent with Annex i, you do not need to self-isolate or quarantine on arrival, nor do you need a PCR test. The confusion at Innsbruck Airport last week was not replicated at Salzburg or Vienna where common sense seemed to prevail. |
Please tell me which of the classes of people listed in paragraph C UK tourists fall under to allow them to provide a recovery certificate because I don't see they fit any of these criteria. You certainly can't apply an exemption under paragraph C to other sections.
People with a photo ID in accordance with section 5 of the Official Seat Act, Federal Law Gazette I No. 54/2021,
an accompanying person as part of the entry for medical reasons,
people who enter the country for the purpose of performing a mandatory court or official duty, such as summoning to court hearings,
people who enter for unforeseeable, urgent reasons that are particularly worthy of consideration in the family circle, such as serious illnesses, deaths, funerals, births and the care of people in need of support in emergencies,
for professional purposes to visit an international institution within the meaning of § 2 no. 1 of the Official Seat Act orfor professional purposes in the imperative interest of the Republic of Austria, especially in cultural or sport matters (this also applies to supervisors and managers);
Regardless of all of this on the Embassy website, the Austrian government website is clearer
| Quote: |
| The obligation to bring a negative result of a molecular test with you or a medical certificate confirming such a test does not apply to persons who have recovered from COVID-19 and can present a medical certificate in accordance with Appendix H or Appendix I. The obligation to self-isolate, however, remains. |
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| JuliaLinsT wrote: |
| Swen wrote: |
| JuliaLinsT wrote: |
| I am booked to travel with Crystal ski - flying to Innsbruck but staying in Italy. The adult kids can’t have their booster until after our trip - if we were staying in Austria it is clear we would unable to go but there is some contradictory info about whether or not transiting through Austria only means we all need to be boostered. Does anyone have any experience that can help me eitger way. I’m currently on hold to Crystal Ski btw. |
Think transit means you only have to do the tests and meet the rules of Italy. Think its detailed on Crystals covid page |
Thanks Swen Crystal Ski have confirmed that we only need to meet the rules of Italy thankfully. |
excellent news, have a good holiday
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Our flights to Innsbruck have just been cancelled by EasyJet because of 'changes in government travel restrictions' - is there something that they know of that we don't yet, I wonder?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| ptex wrote: |
| Our flights to Innsbruck have just been cancelled by EasyJet because of 'changes in government travel restrictions' - is there something that they know of that we don't yet, I wonder? |
It might be worth checking if TUI have any flights going.
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| ptex wrote: |
| Our flights to Innsbruck have just been cancelled by EasyJet because of 'changes in government travel restrictions' - is there something that they know of that we don't yet, I wonder? |
Which route/date was that please? I'm flying Gatwick - Innsbruck on Saturday 8th...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'm flying easyJet to Innsbruck on Friday and it's not been cancelled yet...
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I just looked for a flight LGW-INN, out on the 8th, back on the 15th Jan and they are available and being booked......
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FAQ
