 Poster: A snowHead
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@Mr.Egg, The Scottish government just have announced we can use any provider for Day 2/8 tests, it will apparently be officially put in place in the next week. Conveniently now the school holidays are over.
I’m back flying every 2nd week at the moment and yesterday I used Eurofins drive thru at Livingston for my day 2 test at only £20. As I’m connecting via Heathrow to Edinburgh and England is my first entry point it’s legally acceptable to use any provider. Test taken at 1030 and results back at 0740 the next morning
I’ve used 6 different testing providers over the past 3 weeks so might do a report on them if anyone if interested.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@muppet, definitely I would be, thank you.
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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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| j b wrote: |
| @andy from embsay, I had hoped the system was maintained to deter too much overseas travel over the school holidays but might decrease thereafter. However no signals of that. There is no obvious scientific justification. |
This system will last for a while, at least until the weather deteriorates around the Med. The govt would hate for a stack of kids to be taken out of school to go on holiday during term time!
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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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muppet, i would also be interested in your report on the 6 Covid Test providers. As i'm sure would many other Snowheads.
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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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hi @DCG, recommendation from @musehead can't take any credit !
but my understanding is that the green package is fine as long as you're double vaccinated as this negates the need for the day 8 test, ie amber and green are the same re-entry requirements. (For Italy we also need a fit to fly which seems to be part of the Chronomics package but not listed in the summary)
The Chronomics website could make it easier by stating exactly what is in each damn "package" but clarity seems to be in short supply where covid testing and travel requirements are concerned. But ca £90 for the three tests seems reasonable when you read some of the other posts.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| muppet wrote: |
@Mr.Egg,
I’ve used 6 different testing providers over the past 3 weeks so might do a report on them if anyone if interested. |
I think that would be useful, maybe start another thread ?
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@richb67, I just used Chronomics as they offer a one day service, I orderd on the 23rd as I needed to travel the morning of 27 August the return to the UK flow test arrived the afternoon of the 27th. When you order on the site you specify your travel date, wasn't impressed, will be intresting to see when the day two test arrives.
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| muppet wrote: |
@Mr.Egg, The Scottish government just have announced we can use any provider for Day 2/8 tests, it will apparently be officially put in place in the next week. Conveniently now the school holidays are over.
I’m back flying every 2nd week at the moment and yesterday I used Eurofins drive thru at Livingston for my day 2 test at only £20. As I’m connecting via Heathrow to Edinburgh and England is my first entry point it’s legally acceptable to use any provider. Test taken at 1030 and results back at 0740 the next morning
I’ve used 6 different testing providers over the past 3 weeks so might do a report on them if anyone if interested. |
Thanks for the info - good to hear. We paid almost £500 in tests for our summer break - glad to have been able to go of course but wish this had come a few weeks ago!
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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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Re the Test to Return: We've just had these done at the Pharmacie International in Verbier and they were free with our GHIC. They would have cost CHF 47 without one. The phramacist's PDF Certificates with its QR code was uploaded to Eurotunnel just now, and validated as OK.
So is it the case that while the tests are free (with a GHIC) in Switzerland, you have to pay in France? i.e. there's no reciprocal arrangement?
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 2-09-21 20:44; edited 1 time in total
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@LaForet, the first thing we were told by the pharmacy in France was that we needed to understand we'd be charged. No mention of the GHIC (or in our case, old-style EHIC in date).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@j b, I think tests are only free in France with a French Carte Vitale.
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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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@LaForet, my understanding was that EHIC / GHIC was no longer accepted in Switzerland post Brexit.
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You know it makes sense.
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The French themselves are now going to have to pay for tests as Macron wants them to get vaccinated rather than keep taking tests every couple of days to go to the bars.
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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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@pateman99, no one I’ve heard of is taking tests every week to go to bars, it’s really not that hard….many places don’t even ask, and none check for I.D.
Latest date I’ve heard is mid October before they start charging for tests, but a lot can change by then
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Poster: A snowHead
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@polo, anywhere I've been in has checked, even to refusal as I had extra jab ... idiot
Why would they ask for ID?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would say 30-40% of places I’ve been haven’t ask at all. And I’ve been to about 15 in last 2 weeks
Am not advocating cheating but all you would need to do in theory is flash someone else’s QR code. I’ve seen people do this and even in a local bar where they knew it was not the persons real name it was laughed off.
Might not be widespread, only been to small villages
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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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We visited A&E in Switzerland (Chablais Hosp) this summer for stitches and we were not billed. We presented our EHIC card and U.K. passport and at no point was there mention of payment. We did pay c. €30 for antigen tests in France for village GP.
ski holidays Reply with quote Edit-post Delete-post
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm pretty sure that EHIC is still valid in CH until it expires. The new GHIC is not valid in CH.
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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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My understanding is that the old EHIC card is not valid in Switzerland and neither is the GHIC. Although on the ground, from reports above, the Swiss do not seem to be applying the new rules across the board at the moment. If you are eligible for a new EHIC card then that would cover you in Switzerland.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Those of you who live/stay long term in France with a U.K. registered car… what do you do about long term breakdown cover and taking out a policy if you are already in France? Any recommendations? Or is this a problem that just doesn’t have a solution because it’s just doesn’t happen often. 
To give a bit of background… my OH took out long term European breakdown cover on our van in my name. We’ve now changed our minds - I’m not keeping the van out here (impossible to use where I live as a daily vehicle) and we’ve bought a locally registered car for me to use here. She’s going to drive the van home back to the U.K. instead. Her normal breakdown cover only covers two days European travel and the journey has to have started form the U.K. She’s quite paranoid about driving home without cover.
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@hammerite, can you not just add her to the existing policy?
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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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@hammerite, Do you use the tunnel ? I have never used it myself ( i have a french car and breakdown included with french insurance ) but every time I book a tunnel crossing it always offers to cover me for breakdown for a one off fee. Might be worth a look.
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| Hells Bells wrote: |
| @hammerite, can you not just add her to the existing policy? |
No, for some reason because the vehicle is already out here changes to the policy (name of holder) can’t be made.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@pateman99, thanks, we’ll check that out. Yes we sometimes use the tunnel, sometimes the ferry depending on what is more convenient at the time.
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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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Went through Eurotunnel France > England yesterday (1.9.21) mid-afternon: Only ever got asked for passports and it took about 1hr longer then we expected to be processed. This on a very quiet afternoon.
We arrived 2½h early, with almost no queues at Checkin gates and got put on the next train. No documents demanded. However, missed that because of processing delays at UK Border Control: once through Checkin, cars were being routed to the terminal parking, and the called by code on to French passport control, for which there was a 2-lane queue. At first it looked like the French were under-resourcing their gates (2 open). They took the passports and stamped them. However, it became obvious that the French man only as many gates as needed to control the feed into the UK Immigration gates (4 open). We had our passports scanned. No other documents demanded.
Couldn't work out why it takes 4 UK gates to process the same number of cars as can be processed by 2 French ones, given the French have to manually stamp the passport as well. i.e. the bottleneck is at the UK Immigration point. It was odd because as far as we could see, no one was engaging in any document-waving to-ing-and-fro-ing - people were just handing over their passports to be scanned and that was it.
Anyway, we missed the scheduled train and got on the next one an hour later. The train wasn't full by any means, so the delays are clearly in processing. There seemed to be a lot of Flexiplus cars (like around ¼) with the Flexiplus drivers getting very heated that they obviously only by-passed the checkin process, not the wait for the passport control. One even drove over some cones in a desperate attempt to force himself into the passport queue.
What it must be like when it's busy, I can't imagine. In any event, factor in an extra hour for UK Immigration processing, more if you're travelling at a busy time. And no one asked for the Passenger Locator Form and Negative Covid Test that'd been uploaded, or vaccination certificate, or Day#2 Test boking - just the usual passports.
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@LaForet, if it is uploaded in advance it is checked by a eurotunnel employee. If its all correct nothing is asked for, if theres something missing then they make you go into the terminal.
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You know it makes sense.
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Got to feel for Eurotunnel a little bit. We wouldn't blame easyJet for the queues at Geneva airport security or passport control, but as the checks are within the Eurotunnel complex they do seem to get the flak.
But I do agree - there is no chance of processing anything like the normal number of passengers unless things change radically.
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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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| Matt1959 wrote: |
Got to feel for Eurotunnel a little bit. We wouldn't blame easyJet for the queues at Geneva airport security or passport control, but as the checks are within the Eurotunnel complex they do seem to get the flak.
But I do agree - there is no chance of processing anything like the normal number of passengers unless things change radically. |
Are the lorry's going through the same checks or are they going through a different immigration check? I'm going to be watching with interest people's experiences at Xmas and Feb Half Term
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Poster: A snowHead
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@FrediKanoute, Different on both sides of the channel.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| LaForet wrote: |
it took about 1hr longer then we expected to be processed. This on a very quiet afternoon.
because of processing delays at UK Border Control |
It was the same when I went through Calais ferryport last Thursday. Arrived at 1.30pm for a 3pm ferry with only 4 or 5 vehicles in front of me and didn't get through the P&O gate until 2.35pm. Thought I was going to miss the ferry as last check-in was supposed to be 2.15pm.
UK border control only had 2 gates open and were taking forever to process certain people but I couldn't work out why. When I finally got to the UK gate he only looked at my passport for about 5 seconds and waved me through so what the issues were with other vehicles (some British registered, some EU) I really don't know. The negative antigen test and PLF were checked at the final gate by P&O, not border control.
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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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We got 7.20am crossing yesterday which left on time. Pet check in was speedy, which was a relief as this was the first U.K. France trip using his Pupship’s French pet passport. French passport control was one long queue but we managed to nip into a new lane the moment it was opened. Passports stamped and off we went.
12 hours door to door which was about par for the course.
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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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| FrediKanoute wrote: |
| Are the lorries going through the same checks or are they going through a different immigration check? |
No, the lorries go through a completely separate area. It was very puzzling as to why it was taking so long for relatively few cars to be processed by four UK Immigration channels. And why two French channels could process as many cars as four UK ones ... when the French actually have to physically stamp every passport. And as mentioned, all the key documentation is pre-loaded onto your booking and pre-checked by Eurotunnel: any delays due to missing documents would happen at the first checkin, where there were almost no queues.
On the way out, the traffic at Ashford was similar, if not slightly more, and we just drove straight through to the boarding lanes with perhaps only 10 minutes delay due to being sidelined with four other cars for surface tests. The French immigration officer asked us if we had our Déclarations sur l'honneur and we waved them at him, but that only added 20 seconds at most.
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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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@LaForet, we went through on Tuesday morning and it took about the same time for us to get through Uk passport control as it did in pre COVID days. They only checked passport details - all our documentation was uploaded against our booking. They seemed to be processing everyone quickly.
French passport control took a little longer than it used to as our passport numbers were written into a book (and they couldn’t get their heads around us arriving in the Schengen area in Spain, rather than France) before stamping them.
We departed within an hour of arrival at check-in.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just managed to download my NHS Scot vaccine QR codes and upload the 2nd QR code into the TousAntiCovid app - got a little shower of confetti on the screen so think it’s worked!
Better late than never.
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@Rookiescot, If you're the belt, braces and a length of baler twine just in case type of person then you can download the "Tous Anti Covid Verif" app onto to another device and scan your TAC QR code and it will tell you if its valid.
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Sitting in the train waiting to leave Eurotunnel. Arrived check-in 1329, put on 1420 departure (1 hourer earlier than booked), quick pee, joined passport queue 1345, my passport stamped at French point (though outbound hadn't been) asked at UK border check if we were UK resident (we are) in view of Mrs DJL Dutch passport I presume. Queueing for boarding by 1355. Nothing even slightly out of the ordinary. Departed on time.
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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 took the 07.40 DFDS Dover to Calais this morning. There were only about 30 cars on it. There were two French border kiosks open and about 6 or 7 cars in each. It took 17 minutes to reach the Kiosk. Passport stamped and vaccine code scanned. No check of car contents. The car in front had five occupants and all handed a mobile phone over one by one to scan the code, it seemed to take ages. I think in those circumstances print outs may be quicker/easier.
I was on an old 2019 Multi Ticket fare which at the time I paid £48 return. DFDS have been good in extending the validity and looking at today’s fares it was a good price and flexible too.
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For those asking who to use for lateral flow over web:
Qured - used a video link so needed to book and queue at test time, results certificate back in a couple of hours
Chronomics - test done with stage by stage instructions on web, results certificate back instantaneously (clearly pic was machine read)
Living Well - test done with stage by stage instructions on web, results certificate back in about 15 mins (so most likely real person)
Pricing dearest to cheapest as order above. All results certs accepted by Dutch, UK, Spain (and I'm sure France, but as I drove into France from Switzerland then not actually stress tested).
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FAQ
