 Poster: A snowHead
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@snowdave, i agree. I’ve read through it in depth ahead of FR-UK travel this week.
In this day and age (with google translate) the non-english speaking element doesn’t make any difference. Its how responsible you are for your own travel, how long you spend to check you are compliant etc.
But would it kill Eurotunnel to just have a QR code with links to covid test website at Folkestone for those who fall foul? Non.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
Testing doesn’t benefit the person being tested
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Yes it does it allows them to travel. No "clear" test result and you can't travel.
(Edited to add)
As I read it, the point that Egg Man was making was 'why should the country as a whole pay for "gold-standard" testing for people who want to go on holiday?'
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm with @Pamski re Eurotunnel's shortfall in sensible measures. Clearly, they're getting a significant number of people not understanding the travel requirements. This must be causing Eurotunnel a lot of hassle and trouble, and customer resentment. It's in Eurotunnel's own interests to minimise such misunderstandings. There's this thing now called email. It would be easy enough to be explicit about the problems of travel if UK citizens don't have specifically the right documentation, uploaded onto their website as required, with an emphatic clarity about what tests are and aren't valid for travel to France. With 3 weeks to go before we travel, I was expecting exactly this sort of communication - instead what I just got from them was a sales shot for the Emovis tag.
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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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One aspect may be keeping up with the changes (often rapid) in requirements. If travel restrictions change and Eurotunnel have provided less than up to date advice then they may be financially liable for expenses and damages incurred by the passenger.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| LaForet wrote: |
| . With 3 weeks to go before we travel, I was expecting exactly this sort of communication - instead what I just got from them was a sales shot for the Emovis tag. |
With 3 weeks to go, there’s no point them saying anything because the rules could change and they’d have given you duff info. Then you’d be complaining about that.
With 3 days to go they emailed me, with 2 days to go they called me, and as I said earlier, their website is clear about testing requirements. The only thing that is unclear is what you do about the “reason for travel” form for 11-18 year olds, to which their answer was (as of last week): don’t tick any reason, sign it, submit it. This worked for me.
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So travelling on the Eurotunnel back from brussels to London is okay no quarantining.
But driving back from Austria and not stopping in France other than checking in through the tunnel isnt? Yet that incurs a ten day isolation period?
But you can stay in your car all the time doing the tunnel, yet on the train, passengers can get on at Lille, and sit close enough to be a risk, and thats okay?
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@jafa, you expect logic from this government?
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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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Apologies, what a stupid assumption...............
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When we checked out of the hotel this morning the receptionist checked that we understood that from August 1 we would have to show double jabbedness or a negative test in the previous two days, that is French law, currently. We didn’t question what sort of test.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I’ve spent 15mins on that link and can’t see a single reference to antibodies. The only text I read on cert via proof of recovery mentioned a positive PCR test, which was my original point. If your positive test is more than 6 months old it’s no longer valid. But if you have high antibody count after say 6-18months you can not use this to get a travel pass. Hotel access in Austria aside, I am yet to see any other recognition of natural immunity as allowable for travel.
So again, your assertion that 30 sensible countries recognize antibody tests for travel is unfounded…..is there even one such country in Europe?
Very happy to be proved wrong / thick. Please make it so
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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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| snowdave wrote: |
| LaForet wrote: |
| . With 3 weeks to go before we travel, I was expecting exactly this sort of communication - instead what I just got from them was a sales shot for the Emovis tag. |
With 3 weeks to go, there’s no point them saying anything because the rules could change and they’d have given you duff info. Then you’d be complaining about that.
With 3 days to go they emailed me, with 2 days to go they called me, and as I said earlier, their website is clear about testing requirements. The only thing that is unclear is what you do about the “reason for travel” form for 11-18 year olds, to which their answer was (as of last week): don’t tick any reason, sign it, submit it. This worked for me. |
In which case, how come so many people are turning up without the right test documentation? Is Eurotunnel as thorough with everyone as they are with you? Is 3 days a long enough lead time for working parents of a family to organise a PCR test? (no). Is 2 days enough to organise a certified antigen test? (probably not). This is the 21st Century - advice needs to and can easily be tailored to the passengers' profiles, especially if children's ages are borderline. And this is their business: they're linking the UK and France - they're a multinational multi-million £ business - it is no great challenge to have staff focused on the rules and regulations that apply to travel between Ashford and Coquelles on a rolling 2 week window, tailored to the profile of each group. They have the data.
I've worked in a customer-facing role for many years and there are two approaches to these problems: One is to put out all the information and then tell customers it's their fault that they misunderstand it. They other is to say that you're sorry they haven't understood what you've said, and offer to help them as far as you can. My reaction is that increasingly, I seem to see the former approach from companies that are supposed to be service-based and customer-oriented.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Mon 19-07-21 11:38; edited 1 time in total
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| polo wrote: |
| Hotel access in Austria aside, I am yet to see any other recognition of natural immunity as allowable for travel. |
The link I posted conforms it the antibody test is valid for entry into the country, not just for hotels, though it's fine for that too. I don't know how much of an outlier Austria is on this though – the test doesn't appear to be valid for entry into Italy or France, for example.
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You know it makes sense.
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| LaForet wrote: |
| In which case, how come so many people are turning up without the right test documentation? Is Eurotunnel as thorough with everyone as they are with you? |
How many people are turning up without the right documentation? That wasn't my experience on Saturday, most cars went through pretty quickly.
If Eurotunnel had called me 3 weeks ago, they'd have had to call me again 2 weeks ago to tell me things had changed, and again a week ago, and again on Friday...
I travelled with 2 kids and work full time, and managed to arrange all the tests in advance with no problems.
Qured tests are delivered next day, and results are within 30 mins, so 3 days is plenty. I'm really not sure what all the fuss is about!
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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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@Scarlet, both French and Swiss doctors told us not to bother getting antibody tests as they would not be valid for travel. So kudos to Austria for at least minimum recognition (90 days).
Sadly for me Austria is not high on my travel needs list. And If I really fancy eating indoors, it’s only 10km to the nearest Swiss village.
Awaiting UANM response for whether he is right or one of us needs to go to specsavers / misinformation re-training
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Mon 19-07-21 11:59; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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| polo wrote: |
I’ve spent 15mins on that link and can’t see a single reference to antibodies. The only text I read on cert via proof of recovery mentioned a positive PCR test, which was my original point. If your positive test is more than 6 months old it’s no longer valid. But if you have high antibody count after say 6-18months you can not use this to get a travel pass. Hotel access in Austria aside, I am yet to see any other recognition of natural immunity as allowable for travel.
So again, your assertion that 30 sensible countries recognize antibody tests for travel is unfounded…..is there even one such country in Europe?
Very happy to be proved wrong / thick. Please make it so |
Well. There you go. You are quite correct if "What Is a Recovery Certificate?"
Travellers who have recently been infected with COVID-19, and recovered from it, should also be permitted to travel with an EU COVID travel certificate.
“The EU Digital Covid Certificate of recovery confirms that the holder has recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection following a positive test. It should be issued no earlier than 11 days after the first positive test,” the Commission explains.
However, the Commission also points out that tests that detect if a person developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 – also known as antibodies tests – cannot be used to obtain a recovery certificate."
from https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/all-details-on-eu-covid-19-passport-revealed-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ is to be believed.
Which, is a bit nuts isn't it? A PCR test only definitively reveals the presence of viral DNA fragments, whereas an antibody test conclusively demonstrates prior infection ... no? Bonkers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Bonkers? Sure, what else is new. Pre-meditated, purposefully difficult, impractical and non scientifically controlled totalitarianism more likely.
Note to even qualify via a +PCR test your recovery cert would have to have been issued within 11 days of test, ie when you are still quite sick and worried about imminent death. TOTALLY useless red-herring BS.
Effectively, practically, covid recovery means no rights.
And even if you did somehow get the cert in time, it invariably expires, unlike the human immune system.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@CaravanSkier, and my apologies to you as well as to @polo. I am afraid I made the mistake of presuming that a definitive test of exposure+infection would be valid, whereas a non definitive one would not.
Not an unreasonable presumption given that my antibody status forms an element of my fully vaccinated status.
Bonkers.
Oh and just on antibody longevity, Mrs U's at 16 months were higher iirc that at 2 months, not surprisingly.
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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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Oops my turn for a mistake, no earlier than 11 days, not within the 11 days. Still bollkixxx
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@polo, so bonkers and useless?
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Well not completely useless (transmission risk aside) if you know the rules and happen to test positive. Get a cert after 11 days and you are good to travel for next 5-6 months.
Bit useless for the millions of people that tested positive last year / up to Jan 21.
And yeah it counts down either way to the point that you either start the vax program or get a +ve PCR test somehow, despite being immune.
Looks like you are in the market for fake -ve and I need a fake +ve 
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@polo, ah, mais non mon pot, we're apparently fully vaxxed, although Mrs U's hasn't appeared on her health account whereas mine has.
Anyway, definitely fine for flights to Nice next week 
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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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Just wondering if anyone has experience of sailing DFDS into Netherlands and transiting through to France. We were thinking of doing this then spending 10days in germany with family prior to returning to uk. Thanks!
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Has anyone returned to the UK by purchasing and using an antigen test in France? Just wondered how easy it was and the process taken considering a lot cheaper than here.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
When we checked out of the hotel this morning the receptionist checked that we understood that from August 1 we would have to show double jabbedness or a negative test in the previous two days, that is French law, currently. We didn’t question what sort of test.
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I've considered this (we are double jabbed but kids not obviously) and I will take some of the packs of lateral flow tests I have left over from school - worse case, I can test the kids and upload the result and show that as proof of a recent test. I'm sure (in that sort of context) the result from those tests would be accepted (although I know we can't use them for travel!)
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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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| Quote: |
So travelling on the Eurotunnel back from brussels to London is okay no quarantining.
But driving back from Austria and not stopping in France other than checking in through the tunnel isnt? Yet that incurs a ten day isolation period?
But you can stay in your car all the time doing the tunnel, yet on the train, passengers can get on at Lille, and sit close enough to be a risk, and thats okay?
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Hi - no, it has to be a direct train that does not stop in France whatsoever. Apparently trains can outrun Covid. What's to stop people going from France to Brussels, coming back on the Eurostar and saying they spent their hols in Belgium? Obviously this can only be for part of the travel group or non driving parties!
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| kettonskimum wrote: |
| Quote: |
When we checked out of the hotel this morning the receptionist checked that we understood that from August 1 we would have to show double jabbedness or a negative test in the previous two days, that is French law, currently. We didn’t question what sort of test.
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I've considered this (we are double jabbed but kids not obviously) and I will take some of the packs of lateral flow tests I have left over from school - worse case, I can test the kids and upload the result and show that as proof of a recent test. I'm sure (in that sort of context) the result from those tests would be accepted (although I know we can't use them for travel!) |
The problem with the school tests is that they provide no proof whatsoever. Anyone can take a test and report it as positive or negative without that actually being the case. Or you could just not take the test and go on the website and say that it’s negative. They need to be checked.
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You know it makes sense.
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@LaForet, yes 3 days is plenty. Every man and his dog is offering travel testing in the UK.
I booked on Saturday and i have had an email on day of booking and an additional one today titled URGENT - so lets see if i get a call. Ive uploaded our API and i will do the test results, tests booked code and UK govt form on Wednesday at it is no more than 72hrs before FR-UK.
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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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@kettonskimum, it doesn't apply to children until 30/08/21. So no need to test them to enter premises. For everyone else your NHS app QR code can be uploaded to the French TousAntiCovid app soon or print out of covid cert should suffice.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Nadenoodlee We went into our local pharmacy that advertises testing. When I said we were travelling on Eurotunnel soon and needed the requisite tests, they offered us an un-certified antigen test. If I wasn't Internet-savvy and on Snowheads, I might well have taken their advice and turned up with an invalid test. People aren't stupid and feckless just because they're badly-advised and not Internet-savvy or haven't read through 14 pages of Snowheads thread; navigated through gov.uk; and absorbed the French Interior Ministry webpages - one of which BTW says that vaccinated people don't need any testing whatsoever to enter France from the UK:
«If you are already vaccinated, you must present proof of vaccination status and a sworn statement attesting to the absence of symptoms of covid-19 infection and contact with a confirmed case of covid-19.» from a Green List country, and «If you are already vaccinated, no restrictions shall apply when entering metropolitan France.» from an Amber List Country.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 19-07-21 21:13; edited 3 times in total
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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, I think I agree with you. My grown up kids would be the first to say I am not particularly liberal in my views but I did feel very sorry for the poor folk at the tunnel who had got it wrong. I know most people on here are very internet savvy and always get everything right and are successful in their lives, but not everyone else is.
Meanwhile it is wonderful to be back in France and Beaune is delightful.
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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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@Pamski, having seen the mess in the Pet Check in at Calais Eurotunnel in the early days when we first started travelling with Meg, it doesn't surprise me that there is chaos with the Covid rules. Vets didn't get it right and owners assumed vets were correct and knew the rules. There were so many people in tears as they weren't being allowed to travel home. I suspect in those days they were out of time or had forgotten to get the treatment at the vets, as I saw it less once the time from the French vet visit was moved to 5 days max instead of 2.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@LaForet, how gullible you are or not isn’t eurotunnel’s responsibility. All the info is there. If you read it. Even the UK Govt site is well laid out. But you do need to invest time and read it.
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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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@Nadenoodlee, I agree, as having travelled with our dogs for years, I didn't rely on Eurotunnel to tell me what I had to do, that was for me to find out for myself. We managed to get it right every time.
However, they usually gave the people ahead of us in the queue who had managed to mess it up details of a local vet to provide the right treatment. Not sure why they can't do this for Covid tests.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @LaForet, how gullible you are or not isn’t eurotunnel’s responsibility. All the info is there. If you read it. Even the UK Govt site is well laid out. But you do need to invest time and read it. |
It's not gullibility to rely on the advice of a local pharmacy who by offering testing as a paid service it is reasonable to expect are on top of the rules and regs around that testing. Of course worldly wise citizens may want to double and triple check what the Saturday girl has said because they know only too well how many failure points there are in any system.
It's relatively easy on sHs because there are many people actively following micro rule and requirement changes every day but I've no idea where I'd turn without it for the best summaries that weren't compiled by well meaning but under informed "experts"? Martin Lewis maybe? Simon Calder?
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@Dave of the Marmottes, indeed. There was a Q&A on anglia news tonight where the expert gave completely wrong advice. When asked why someone had been pinged when they had checked in but hadn't actually entered the venue he said it was because she had not checked out....there is no checkout on the app and .gov.uk says you do not check out.
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @LaForet, how gullible you are or not isn’t eurotunnel’s responsibility. All the info is there. If you read it. Even the UK Govt site is well laid out. But you do need to invest time and read it. |
I suppose it's a matter of character. I don't think people are stupid or gullible just because they don't understand something as well as I do, or have the time to devote to the issue. There are many areas of life where someone better-informed or more adaptable than me will manage better, but I don't think that makes me 'gullible'. And my point is that from Eurotunnel's point of view, however stupid or 'gullible' their customers may be, it's simply good business practice and more cost-effective use of their time to assume the worst case scenario and plan for that, rather than have to spend significant amounts of time handling customers who arrive without the right paperwork.
Last edited by After all it is free  on Tue 20-07-21 10:38; edited 1 time in total
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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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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| @LaForet, how gullible you are or not isn’t eurotunnel’s responsibility. |
That’s true. On the other hand, my willingness to help someone isn’t determined by whether they are smart or stupid, it just seems like good manners to help if you can. Taking that from the personal to the professional, isn’t it just a matter of good customer service to make a small effort to assist your customer in a small way as at that moment they are in quite a pickle?
I’m not talking about a personal concierge service to help them get the correct test, but a brief fact sheet explaining why you can’t accept them for travel, what certificates they need and perhaps a couple of links or Google search suggestions (without making any recommendations, to keep the lawyers happy). All of that info is already on the Eurotunnel website, so handing out a summary of that when travellers get it wrong seems much more civilised than a shrug of the shoulders.
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Others are being more helpful I believe.
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FAQ
