19th July Updates: Quarantine Free Amber Travel

Today, the 8th of July 2021, we have received excellent news on the next great step for travel during Covid, detailing the changes that will take place on the 19th of July at 4 am surrounding quarantine free amber travel for vaccinated travellers.

Grant Shapps has announced that as of the 19th of July at 4 am, anyone returning from an amber list destination who is fully vaccinated will no longer have to self-isolate on return.

Though there is a little uncertainty about other tests at present, the release from day 8 testing could imply, as Grant Shapps noted, that “In essence, this means that for fully-vaccinated travellers, the requirements for green and amber list countries are the same.”

As of the 8^th of July, green list requirements by the UK government for adults are as follows:

• A pre departure lateral flow test no more than 72 hours before returning to the UK
• A PCR test on or before day 2 of arrival back in the UK

Green list requirements by the UK government for children are slightly different, as follows:

• For children aged 11-17, a pre departure lateral flow test no more than 72 hours before returning to the UK
• For children aged 5-17, a PCR test on or before day 2 of arrival back in the UK
• Children aged 4 and under are not except to any tests

It is still important to check the policies of your destination, since they could be different to the UK government guidelines, but with our confidence may come some changes to destination policies. We and our lovely PTS members will also keep up to date on that front, so we are prepared to help our consumers.

This means that of the 19^th of July, any adult who is fully vaccinated, or any child travelling with a vaccinated adult, will no longer have to do a day-8 test upon return to the UK.

This is a great step forward for the travel industry, and many of our members are also rejoicing the possibility of all the holidays they can now offer to their consumers, so look forward to all the wonderful trips that will be offered after the 19th of July.

The FCDO will also be changing their ‘should not travel’ advice for amber destinations on the 19^th of July, which will give consumers a lot more clarity on amber destinations in comparison with red list destinations.

There will be an update on the FCDO advice and the PCR requirements on the 30^th of July.

The NHS App will also be accepted as Covid vaccination confirmation, which will help speed up the ease with which vaccinated travellers can travel outside of the UK.

In order to be exempt from quarantine, double vaccinated travellers will be required to put their vaccination status on their Passenger Locator Form, to make this process smoother, so don’t forget to do that when you’re preparing to return home.

Grant Shapps has also acknowledged that, “It’s about helping businesses to trade and grow and it’s about supporting aviation – a sector which hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on.”

This is such great news, and we are all incredibly excited to be able to offer more holidays for our consumers and provide an even better range of services. We are all keeping an eye out for the next updates and will keep you up to date with us each step of the way.

So, if you’ve been yearning for that holiday, now is the time to get in contact with a fabulous PTS member and get ready for the 19th of July and all that follows.

And if you want assistance picking a member to book that quarantine free amber travel with, please get in contact with one of our friendly staff at 0207 190 9988. Or if you want to learn more about the traffic light system, or your consumer protection when you travel with PTS, take a look at our pages.