 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello snow heads 
My first time doing a longer post like this but I thought I might be able to help some of you who have questions about travelling to Austria at the moment. Reading all the posts on here really put my mind at ease and answered a lot of my questions, so it would be nice to be able to help someone else.
Disclaimer: I know the rules in Austria are changing again this week, so this is just a snapshot and I would definitely suggest checking the relevant government websites before you go! Both my OH and I are triple vaccinated, got the booster in December and were not travelling with kids - only stuck with half term because I am a teacher!
We travelled with EasyJet from Manchester to Innsbruck, out on 20th Feb and back on 27th. We stayed in an apartment in St Anton and did a mix of self-catering and restaurants. OH doesn’t drink, so there wasn’t much apres for us, although we did see a fair bit of it going on!
Travel out: We arrived at Manchester just under 2hrs before our 8.35 am flight out. Used the self-service bag drop machines and it was pretty much empty. Before we used the machines, a check-in agent had a glance at our vaccine QR codes but nothing else. I mentioned to an easyJet employee how quiet it was and was told if we had arrived at hour earlier we would have been in a huge queue, so I think it depends on the time of your flight. Longest queue was for security - took almost an hour. By the time we got though our flight was starting to board. not a problem for us, as we aren’t fans of browsing duty free. Nobody was allowed to board without an FFP2 mask and those without were being directed to boots to buy some. We got a pack of 20 from Amazon to take with us and they were perfect. Flight took off on time and arrived ahead of schedule, thanks to a tail wind. When we arrived at Innsbruck our QR codes were looked at by the army before passport control.
In resort: As we had a hire car, I can’t comment on resort transfers but would imagine mask wearing is still insisted upon at the moment. When we arrived at our apartment our vaccine QR codes were scanned - just the booster ones for us. Once this was done, we were told by the lovely owner, that we didn’t need to wear our masks inside the building but this likely varies from place to place. Probably also different if you are in a bigger hotel with more communal areas.
Vaccine QR codes scanned again to buy lift passes, we both had ours downloaded from the NHS app and then saved to our apple wallets for easy access. Didn’t see anyone with paper copies, though I am sure these would have been fine.
The resort was definitely buzzing but not overly busy. We both noticed there were more Dutch and Swedish families around and fewer English, though some were definitely present. Our final night, Saturday, we noticed it got considerably busier in town, as lots of German families were arriving for their holiday week.
The first couple of days a lot of lifts were closed, due to high winds, so there were queues because everyone was confined to one area. Once they all reopened, we didn’t queue once. We found it easy to get tables for lunch, as we tend to eat a little later. We also sat outside mostly, as it was so lovely and sunny! QR codes were scanned at some restaurants and bars but definitely not all. More so in the evenings when we sat inside to eat. Masks definitely worn inside all restaurants until you are sat down and on buses too. Lifts were hit and miss. Most chairs nobody seemed to mind and very few masks were worn. Often people seemed to stick in family groups anyway. More strictly policed on the gondolas but I still saw a few people with buffs over noses.
Honestly, it was an amazing week with some great food and some great snow as well. We are already planning a trip back in January 2023, as it was our first visit to St Anton and we loved it. Other than masks and occasionally showing a QR code on your phone, covid really wasn’t a worry. We even managed to make use of the wellness centre a few times and only had to show our QR codes for entry.
Travel home: Arrived home yesterday and had another smooth journey, did feel glad we weren’t flying BA, as we saw many cancelled and delayed flights. Both filled in our passenger locator forms the night before we left and saved them to our phones. These are a bit wordy and repetitive but only took us 5 minutes.
By the time we had dropped the car off, we got to the arrivals hall at about 11 for our 12.40 flight. Small queue for bag drop but made easier, as there was a lady checking passenger locator forms and vaccine QRs whilst we waited. She was mainly checking that the name was the same on both documents and our passports. Saw a huge line for security but we were redirected upstairs to a 2nd security area and flew through. Longest wait was to buy a coffee in the departure lounge! By the time we were done the flight was boarding and we arrived back in MCR on time, very quick with bags too. There were signs as we passed through UK passport control, saying they were doing spot checks for passenger locator forms and vaccine passes but didn’t see anyone being checked.
Now missing the mountains more than ever and cannot put into words how amazing it was to be back skiing after a long 2 years!
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