Pre Departure Covid-19 testing

Even for people who are fully vaccinated, some countries still require a negative PCR covid-19 test performed within 72 hours of arrival.

Thankfully the £160 prices that were normal for the past year are finally coming down.

And airlines are now arranging discounts for customers in a bid to increase passenger numbers.

British Airways for example has a list of 11 companies that will provide you with various different tests, and packages.

I'm particularly interested in pre departure PCR tests - so I went through the 10 companies comparing prices for this particular test (ignoring Chronomics who don't offer this test)

First in the BA list is CityDoc who charge £125 for a central London in person test

Then there's Collinson who charge £82.50 for in person tests - available at multiple airport locations and a site at The O2 Arena in London

Eurofins offer a home testing kit for a very attractive £40.42 - and they have a number of drop off points around the country, which would remove Royal Mail from the equation. They promise to give you a result with 24 hours of them receiving your sample.

Update 6th June 2021: Eurofins currently does NOT have any tests in stock

Update 12th June 2021: Eurofins failed to despatch my order on time - I do not recommend using them

Express Test charge £59 for various airport testing sites, and have higher fees for some city centre locations

Halo's home test kit is £74.76

LetsGetChecked also provide a home test kit for a slightly cheaper £69.30

Medicspot have a higher £84.15 fee for a home test kit

It looks like Qured charge the same £84.15 for a home test kit, but the final price is only available if you go through the full registration process (which I didn't)

Randox have recently reduced the price of their home test kit (previously £60) down to a more competitive £43 net of BA discount  Updated 12th June

BA have added Wren Healthcare which offers £139 tests at 10 clinic sites and £169 tests in your own home  Updated 3rd June 2021

These prices are specifically for British Airways customers - but I'm not sure how much validation they all do.

I like the sound of Eurofins £40.42 fee, and being able to deliver my sample directly into their own drop box.

Using a British Airways 2-4-1 voucher on a one way redemption

British Airways & American Express recently announced changes to their 2-4-1 vouchers triggered after the 1st September 2021.  Full details are on the Head for Points site for both the free Amex card and the paid for Amex card.

One aspect of the changes that I want to look at is the new option of starting a redemption outside the UK (currently all 2-4-1 redemptions must start in the UK).  And specifically using a voucher for a single redemption flight from a low fees point of departure (e.g. Brazil or Hong Kong) back to London.

Firstly let's look at a standard return redemption from London to Brazil during August (using peak redemption calculations)

LHR - GRU return

Economy  80,000 avios plus £200 per person

Premium Economy  120,000 avios plus £483 per person

Business  180,000 avios plus £586 per person

So a pair of Business class redemptions saves you 180,000 avios with a spend of £1,171 for taxes and FEES

Now let's assume you book a cash ticket from the UK to Brazil, and let's look at a single redemption flight from GRU to LHR

Economy  40,000 avios plus £8 per person

Premium Economy  60,000 avios plus £8 per person

Business  90,000 avios plus £8 per person

So a pair of Business class redemptions saves you 90,000 avios with a spend of £15 plus the cash fare from the UK to Brazil

To try and compare these options, let's assume you buy a one way cash ticket for £300 per person (and that you're happy to fly Economy on a day flight to Brazil)

So it's a choice between saving 180,000 avios and spending £1,171 on a return redemption or saving 90,000 avios and spending something like £615 on a single redemption

If you value avios at 1p, then a return redemption is generating a saving of £1,800 less £1,171 in fees - so a net saving of £629

A single redemption is generating a saving of £900 less £600 for the cash tickets and just £15 in fees - so a net saving of £285

Whilst the single redemption will have limited use (Brazil and Hong Kong routes only, and those willing to book single cash tickets), it may appeal to flyers who don't have 180,000 avios available for a return Business class redemption.  It may also be attractive to those who don't want to spend nearly £1,200 on a pair of return redemptions, when they could spend around half that on Economy outbound seats and Business class inbound seats.

  

Car Hire from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland

With foreign travel this summer likely to be subject to restrictions, many of us will end up spending more holiday time than usual nearer to home.

In preparation for things opening up, I thought it would be useful to see what the rules/fees are with hiring a car in Northern Ireland, and driving it across the border in the Republic of Ireland.

Disclaimer: This is correct at time of writing, April 2021, check that the rules / fees haven't changed if you're about to hire a vehicle!

The UGLY

Europcar have the highest fees of the big rental firms. Their website makes it clear that you need their "Europdrive Pack" - which starts at £90 for a 1 day hire, and costs £130 for a week's rental.

With SixT it's also clear - you need to pay a daily fee to take a car you've hired in Northern Ireland across the border.  For the smallest cars that I looked at, the fee is £8 a day.

Budget charge a one off fee of £23 to take a car to the Republic of Ireland - irrespective of the duration of your rental period.

The UNCLEAR

I'm not really sure about Enterprise.  There's clearly a charge of £125 to take a car hired in "mainland" UK over to the Republic of Ireland, but the wording is unclear whether this also applies to cars hired in Northern Ireland.

The GOOD

With Avis their extra "continental cover" is NOT required when taking a car from Northern Ireland over the border to the south.

Hertz also make it clear that there are no extra fees for taking cars from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland.

Final Hurdle

One extra complication is if you hire your car through an agency or as part of a package, for example with airline tickets.  The agency may impose their own terms and conditions, and whilst the car hire company's terms may take precedence, it's probably best to avoid any doubt, and hire directly from the rental firm.

So if you see a good headline rate with Europcar, SixT or Budget ... stop, think, what are the fees!

British Airways Avios Peak calendar 2022 analysis

Like many frequent flyer programmes, Avios charges you different number of points to fly on different days - unpopular parts of the year less points, school holidays more points.

Head for Points recently published the Peak / Off Peak dates for 2022, so I thought it would be interesting to see how things have changed over the last few years.

This analysis is just based on the British Airways Peak / Off Peak calendar - there are different calendars for Iberia and Aer Lingus

Firstly the total number of Peak days in each of the three years

2020  137

2021  138

2022  140

Only a small increase in the number of Peak days each year - but as always, the devil is in the detail.

If you’re able to fly midweek, the number of peak days has reduced (2020, 2021, 2022)

Tuesday  12, 13, 11

Wednesday  15, 15, 5

Thursday  17, 15, 17

If you’re looking to have a long weekend, then Fridays and Mondays are pretty similar too

Friday  22, 24, 23

Monday  21, 23, 19

The big change is on weekends with a jump in the number of Peak days

64% of Saturdays and 60% of Sundays in 2022 counted as Peak

Saturday  25, 23, 34

Sunday  25, 25, 31

The other way the changes can impact you is if you like to use your Avios in particular months.  As Easter changes date each year, there’s often a shift between March and April, but this is how the whole year pans out across 2020, 2021, 2022

January  5, 6, 11

February  8, 8, 10

March  5, 6, 6

April  18, 18, 13

May  10, 5, 5

June  0, 3, 13

July  27, 27, 20

August  29, 29, 19

September  6, 6, 12

October  10, 11, 11

November  0, 0, 0

December  19, 19, 20

The months with the big increase in Peak dates are June (from 0 to 13), September (from 6 to 12) and January (from 5 to 11)

The big winners are July (from 27 to 20) and August (from 29 to 19)

CORRECTION: November has ZERO peak dates.  "Nov" is actually December in this table!  Apologies.

So if you can fly midweek in the Summer, you should be happy with the 2022 British Airways Avios calendar

But if you like weekend flights, or getting away in June, then you need to budget for some extra Avios in 2022.

Take Two: Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London by Eurostar - direct

Back in February I wrote about the new direct Amsterdam to London service that was due to commence operation on 30th April 2020.  Unsurprisingly there was a delay, but happily it has a new start date of Monday 26th October, with booking opening on 1st September.

After being a bit disappointed with the April time savings, let's see if Eurostar has improved the October timetable.

For context, the London to Amsterdam service takes 4 hours 7 mins and the London to Rotterdam service 3 hrs 28 mins.  There's currently a single weekday departure at 11:04 from St Pancras International station.

The existing Amsterdam - Brussels (Thalys) - London (Eurostar) connecting service is timetabled from 4 hours 42 mins (some take a lot longer), which includes at least 45 mins to change trains and clear UK immigration in Brussels.

The direct Amsterdam to London service starts with an 07:47 departure on Monday 26th October that is due to take 4 hours 10 mins (and 3 hrs 29 mins from Rotterdam).

This is equivalent to duration in the other direction, although the 32 minute saving feels a bit light - but maybe that's down to the impressive 45 minute connection time for the existing service!  Obviously not having to change trains will make the journey much more comfortable.

Whilst the service officially starts on Monday 26th October, it looks like there is also a 18:47 departure from Amsterdam (19:28 from Rotterdam) on Sunday 25th October.  Although this may disappear when tickets go on sale on 1st September.

Rotterdam is currently showing a second weekday direct service departing at 17:28 - which again takes 3 hours 29 mins to get to London.  It seems odd that this train wouldn't start in Amsterdam - so it may not really exist.

In November from Monday 9th to Thursday 12th and again from Monday 16th to Wednesday 18th, the normal weekday 07:47 departure from Amsterdam is switched to a 15:47 service (16:28 from Rotterdam).  And this later departure takes 5 hours 10 mins from Amsterdam and 4 hrs 29 mins from Rotterdam. 

There's no direct weekend service until Saturday 21st November - 16:47 from Amsterdam and 17:28 from Rotterdam.  On Sunday 22nd November it's a later 18:47 departure from Amsterdam and 19:28 from Rotterdam.  After that the weekend departures disappear again - but hopefully they will be timetabled before booking opens on 1st September.

And if the new direct train doesn't appeal - there's always the Sail Rail option via Harwich and Hoek of Holland.

Covid-19 Travel Advice and Returning Travellers

Different governments have different views about which countries pose the higher risk for catching the virus formerly known as Wuhan.


Starting with the UK - as of 8th March 2020 they advise against all travel to Hubei Province in China and the Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan areas in South Korea.
The UK government also advises against "all but essential travel" to the rest of mainland China and the 10 Italian towns that are currently on lockdown.  Since these towns are on lockdown, it's unclear how anybody could actually gain entry - so "all but essential" seems a weird category to put them in!

As far as returning travellers are concerned - the UK has put Iran, Hubei Province, the 10 Italian towns and Daegu & Cheongdo into their "Category 1" list which means you should self isolate for 14 days, even if you do not have symptoms.

The longer "Category 2" list comes with the instruction to self isolate only if you do have symptoms.  This list is mostly SE Asian countries - rest of China, Hong Kong, Macau, rest of South Korea, Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam - as well as the whole of Italy (previously it was just northern Italy).


In the USA, the Centre for Disease Control recommend travellers avoid "all non essential travel" to all of China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.  It also advises "older adults" or those with chronic conditions to postpone travel to Japan.  It puts Hong Kong in their "Level 1 - Watch" section which just means that travellers should use "usual precautions".

The USA just has one list for returning travellers, the equivalent of the UK "Category 1" list - where you have to self isolate even if you do not have symptoms.  And for the USA it's all of mainland China, all of South Korea as well as Iran and Italy - so covers a lot more than the UK list.  In addition, the US does not allow any foreign national to enter the country if they visited China or Iran in the previous 14 days.


Canada puts China, Iran and Northern Italy in their "Level 3 - avoid non essential travel" category and also suggests avoiding Daegu and Cheongo.  Hokkaido in Japan as well as the rest of South Korea are in their "Level 2 - Practise special precautions" with Canada advising "older people" and those with "weakened immune systems" to consider postponing visits to the area.  Hong Kong and Singapore are in the "Level 1 - Practice usual precautions"

Canada only requires returning travellers from Hubei Province, Iran and Northern Italy to self isolate even if they do not have symptoms.  All other travellers only need to self isolate if they develop symptoms.


Australia says "do not travel to" mainland China, Iran and Daegu in South Korea.  It also suggests that you "reconsider your travel" to the rest of South Korea.  And the Australian government says to "exercise a high degree of caution" in both Japan and Mongolia (which nobody else bothers about).

Australia requires any returning traveller from mainland China, South Korea or Iran to self isolate, even if they do not have symptoms.  In addition, if you are a foreign national you will not be allowed enter Australia if you have been in China, South Korea or Iran in the previous 14 days.  Although if you're returning from Italy you just have to be checked out, but do not have to automatically self isolate (and there's no ban on foreign nationals).  Similar to the UK with their "Category 2" list, Australia requires you to self isolate if you have symptoms after returning from Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore or Thailand.


Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs does not provide information on a single page - so you need to go and look up each country separately.  The DFA advises against all travel to Hubei Province.  They advise against all non-essential travel to the rest of mainland China, Iran, Daegu and Cheongo in South Korea, and the Northern Italian regions of Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont, and Le Marche.

Returning traveller information is also located separately on each country page.  Those returning from China, South Korea, Japan and the Northern Italian regions listed above should self isolate only if they develop symptoms.


Information as at 01:00 Monday 9th March 2020 - check links for latest information (and to check for errors) !

Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London by Eurostar - direct

Update:  This planned service never actually took off.  See my new post for new October 2020 start details.

If you want to travel from London to Amsterdam by Eurostar tomorrow - there are three direct services (at 07:16, 11:04 and 17:16) which take 3:55, 4:17 (with a stop in Lille) and 3:55 respectively.  Eurostar website will also offer you another four services which take between 4:40 and 4:49 and include a change of train in Brussels.

However if you want to travel from Amsterdam to London by Eurostar tomorrow there are no direct services - because there currently aren't any UK immigration desks at Amsterdam Central station.  So not only do you need to change train at Brussels, you also need to pass through immigration there - adding even more time to your journey.  This means that on a normal weekday the Amsterdam-Brussels-London trip will take 4:47, 4:51, 5:00, 5:18 or even 5:50 if you're unlucky.

That changes on Thursday 30th April - when the UK Border Force starts operating in Amsterdam, and the first direct train departs at 18:47 taking 4:10 to get to St Pancras International.  On Friday 1st May they open their desks twice - for an 07:47 departure, and then again for the 18:47 service - both of which take 4:10 to get to London.

Exhausted after those three shifts, the take the weekend off - so you're back to clearing immigration in Brussels.  The connections on the four services that Eurostar offer aren't as good as during weekdays - so the journey times are between 5:22 and 6:25 (which includes 104 minutes in Brussels).

But from the following weekend they do a shift every Saturday morning for the 07:47 departure, and another every Sunday evening for the 18:47 service to London.

Rotterdam also gets a UK border post from Monday 18th May.  Up until then the journey time on the Thalys to Brussels, clearing immigration there, and then the Eurostar to London is between 3:59 and 5:07 on a weekday.  At weekends it's quite similar, ranging from 4:04 to 5:07

The 07:47 service from Amsterdam will depart Rotterdam at 08:28 (and the 18:47 Amsterdam service at 19:28) and the total journey time for these direct trains will be 3:29

The UK Border Force staff get the first weekend off.  But from Saturday 30th May the once daily Eurostar weekend service from Amsterdam is available to catch from Rotterdam.

The 3:29 journey time for the direct service compares with 3:16 for the early morning and evening London to Rotterdam trains, and 3:28 for the late morning direct service.

Whilst it's obviously a much more relaxing (and productive) trip not to have to change trains and clear immigration half way through your journey - the actual time savings aren't as large as you might imagine.  For Amsterdam departures the direct services takes a minimum of 37 minutes off your journey (although more typically 50 minutes).  And for Rotterdam departures it reduces your journey time by at least 30 minutes.

Part of the reason why the time savings aren't greater is that the direct services from Amsterdam take 15 minutes longer than the two faster services in the opposite direction.  And from Rotterdam the trip to London takes 13 minutes longer than vice versa.

Maybe Eurostar will be able to squeeze these minutes out of a future timetable - but for now you're left with a 30 - 50 minute saving, and a more comfortable journey.

Ryanair - Why you should always pay in original currency

Ryanair used to be a complete ripoff when making payments in foreign currencies - they would charge you in the currency of your credit card, whilst adding a hefty margin, and not give you a choice about it.

Then they mended their ways, and would charge you in the original currency.

Then they went back to their bad old ways - but with an escape route if you spot it in time !


Now they have changed again - offering you a choice of currencies.

In this example I'm booking a flight that 16.99 EUR and I've put in a UK address ... so the first choice is in GBP

but 15.48 GBP represents a 6% commission for Ryanair on the GBP - EUR fx rate

and 179.05 NOK would be a 6.2% commission for Ryanair on the NOK - EUR fx rate

and 76.48 PLN would also give Ryanair a 6% commission on the PLN - EUR fx rate

and 190.94 SEK would give Ryanair another 6.2% commission on the SEK - EUR fx rate

and finally 20.14 USD represents a 5.9% commission for Ryanair on the USD - EUR fx rate

Since most credit cards charge 3% on foreign purchases - and some don't charge anything - this means you should always pay in the original currency of the flight.

Star Alliance gold status

Although the received wisdom in the frequent flyer community is that Aegean Airlines gold status is the easiest to obtain - I thought it was worth a check to see if that really is the case.

Initially to get to Aegean Airlines silver status you need either:

12,000 Tier Miles and two Aegean/Olympic flights or

24,000 Tier Miles 

And then to upgrade to gold status you need either:

24,000 Tier Miles and four Aegean/Olympic flights or

48,000 Tier Miles

So in order to go from zero to gold you need either:

36,000 Tier Miles and four Aegean/Olympic flights or

72,000 Tier Miles

But then to retain gold status you only need:

12,000 Tier Miles and four Aegean/Olympic flights or

24,000 Tier Miles

This compares to an airline such as Thai Airways - which requires the following for gold:

50,000 Qualifying Miles within 12 months or

80,000 Qualifying Miles within 24 months

And then to retain Thai gold they still require the same amount of miles per year / two years.

Aegean Airlines are also sometimes more generous in calculating their Tier Miles - so for example a Thai Airways business class flight booked in C class will earn 150% in Thai's own frequent flyer programme, but will earn 200% in Aegean's.

WhereToCredit is an excellent website to check out which programme to credit your flights.

Looking at a real life example - an itinerary such as LHR-BKK-CTS return in business class (assuming C booking class) would earn: ( 5,958 + 3,152) x 2 x 200% = 36,440 Aegean Tier Miles.  So it would get you straight into Aegean gold if you took a little LHR-ATH-LCA trip later in the year.

So the moral of the story is that whilst Aegean is only a little easier to get to gold, the lower retention requirements are where it really shines.

2020 Fares Unfreeze

Whilst the Mayor is today tweeting about his claimed "fares freeze", the reality (as we have previously seen) is different !

For many TfL users, the daily caps are what impacts them - and they are increasing inline with national fares - something that isn't under the Mayor's control (although he fails to mention this).

So for example, a day travelling around Zones 1 & 2 in London will cost you an extra 20p in 2020.

And for many TfL users, the weekly caps are what impacts them - and these are again subject to the national fare increases, and something which is again mysteriously missing from all official announcements and emails !

A week travelling around London's Zone 1 & 2 areas will cost you an extra 1 gbp in 2020.

For completeness - the full 2020 fare table is shown below:





And for more comparisons over the last five years, have a look a DiamondGeezer's blog post.