Concert St John’s Smith Square (2021)

[TullyBascombe]

How difficult is it for an American to visit the UK now? My main concern is getting the 2nd day Covid-19 test. Apparently you have to schedule one even if you're only staying 2 days. Are the places for testing convenient and relatively timely?
( I know this is a bit off topic, but it is relevant to anyone outside the UK thinking of attending.

[john45]

Information (which could change at any time) is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-e ... s-covid-19

[LordG]

Information (which could change at any time) is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-e ... s-covid-19

If you are fully vaccinated
This is what you need to do if you qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.
Before you travel to England – fully vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
You will need to enter your COVID-19 test booking reference number on your passenger locator form.

What's going on in England?
Taking a Day 2 test after you arrive. Actually, I don't plan to stay longer than 24 hours.
From what I've read so far, I'm leaning towards going to Barcelona instead.
There's a musical there that I've always wanted to see...

There was less hassle when I was in Sweden last weekend...

[dani]

Information (which could change at any time) is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-e ... s-covid-19

If you are fully vaccinated
This is what you need to do if you qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.
Before you travel to England – fully vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
You will need to enter your COVID-19 test booking reference number on your passenger locator form.

What's going on in England?
Taking a Day 2 test after you arrive. Actually, I don't plan to stay longer than 24 hours.
From what I've read so far, I'm leaning towards going to Barcelona instead.
There's a musical there that I've always wanted to see...

There was less hassle when I was in Sweden last weekend...

The UK has the highest rate of coronavirus cases and reported deaths in western Europe, as the wave that began over the summer continues to surge.

Are the leading Headlines at the moment in the country.

[Mr W]

Most of the UK is in denial really about Covid. Very little mask wearing outside of public transport, and the country has high infection rates. Luckily the vax rate is flattening the hospitalisations somewhat.

My brother is currently over from Texas and its relatively straightforward to get the tests sorted for returning, but its inconvenient and not inexpensive.

[TullyBascombe]

While the number of new cases in the UK remain high, about half that of last winter, the rate of Covid-19 deaths is down, almost to where it was in the spring of this year. The disparity is most likely due to the relatively high rate of full vaccination in the UK. Still, the CDC rates the UK very high risk and advises against travel. Decisions, decisions...........

[Yorkie]

How difficult is it for an American to visit the UK now? My main concern is getting the 2nd day Covid-19 test. Apparently you have to schedule one even if you're only staying 2 days. Are the places for testing convenient and relatively timely?
( I know this is a bit off topic, but it is relevant to anyone outside the UK thinking of attending.

While the number of new cases in the UK remain high, about half that of last winter, the rate of Covid-19 deaths is down, almost to where it was in the spring of this year. The disparity is most likely due to the relatively high rate of full vaccination in the UK. Still, the CDC rates the UK very high risk and advises against travel. Decisions, decisions...........

Basically our government is useless and they have abandoned the country to fend for itself. They are pretending everything is over and many (most?) people are happy to go along with it as long as they can go to the pub...

The requirement for the day 2 test was for a PCR test to be booked and paid for before you travel but I don't think there is any requirement to actually take it! I think I heard on the news that was changing to a LFT on day two and by December there may be no requirement at all for the double vaxxed (but who knows when you are dealing with the clown circus UK government?)

To answer your question if you are double vaxxed it is easy to visit - what is extra is the requirement to prove you are double vaxxed, complete a passenger locator form and buy a day 2 test before travel). The question is do you want to do it? We can sort you out with seats if you decide you want to come if you make your mind up soon

[TullyBascombe]

I decided that I will try. I'll be triple vaxxed by concert time. I've already purchased a ticket. I got on the SJSS website promptly at 9 am (east US). The first couple of seats I tried to grab the little blue dot turned yellow after I clicked on it then when I hit "confirm" a red banner appeared stating that the seat had already been taken. Little blue dots faded to gray right before my yes, but I eventually managed to snag one for myself. I'll sort out the flight, hotel, locater form and 2 day test over the next few weeks. Those of us coming from the US will need to get a test within 3 days before departing. Since the concert is on Monday I'd suggest getting a test on Thursday or Friday or maybe flying a few days early. It may take 24 hours to get a test result, and many places are closed on Sunday, some are even closed on Saturday. Likewise for the 2 day test, give yourself 24 hours to get the results. I don't know how much leeway is needed at international airports currently. Does anyone have any advice?

[theriverflowson]

Based on my experience from last month (Germany-Canada-Germany) you should try to be earlier at the airport than normal. Many people are still not well informed about necessary preparations to be able to travel to their destination (proof of vaccination, pre-flight testing, completing questionaires) and there is a lot of time consuming checking and discussions going on at check-in / baggage drop. At least this is my personal experience.

I also learned that many people do not receive their ordered "Day two" test kit, which was supposed to be send to their hotel address. You might make some research to identify a reliable test provider or make a test on site instead.

[Yorkie]

Since the concert is on Monday

Th concerts (there are two) are on Sunday. Don't want you to fly in on the wrong day!

[Celt]

I have tickets for both, in the third row (row E) after a lot of "seats already taken" notices.

As for travel, having just managed a trip to Europe, I would give this advice:

The current outlook is that by the date of the concert, 5th December, those travelling from countries that the UK deemed to be on the green list will require you to take a Lateral Flow test within two days of arrival. (It is currently a PCR test, but this changes on October 24th) It will cost you about £35.

You must book the test BEFORE you fly to the UK as the test confirmation will include a booking code that must be entered as part of the compulsory UK passenger locator form. They will check this information at immigration control when you land.

Most airlines should refuse to check you in until you have had a document check, e.g. booked the test and filled the passenger locator form, and vaccinated certificate. BA for example offers an online document verification process, which allows you to then check in normally online once the documents have been verified, thus avoiding airport queues for those with no baggage.

The above applies to fully vaccinated travellers. It is worth checking to make sure your vaccine is on the UK approved list.

There is an additional rule that states that if your trip is less than 2 days, you must still book the test and enter it into the passenger location form, but you could fly home before the test date.

E.g. You arrive on Sunday morning (day 0) and have a test pre-booked for Tuesday (day 2) but you fly back on the Monday (day 1) thus avoiding the risk of being made to quarantine for a positive test.

You should also check the rules for the return to your own countries.

Disclaimer: All above advice should be independently verified.

[filiarheni]

Many thanks to everyone for helping and advising on the complicated travel situations and how to prepare the trip correctly! One of these days I'll have to delve into all the instructions further. Not sure yet about the means of transport I'll choose. Usually I prefer the train to the plane for such a short distance, but I must figure out what will be better under these particular circumstances.

For some reasons, I happened to book two more tickets than needed for the 8:00 pm concert yesterday. They are in row G, which is actually row 5. So if anyone is interested, let me know.

[Padmachou]

The current outlook is that by the date of the concert, 5th December, those travelling from countries that the UK deemed to be on the green list will require you to take a Lateral Flow test within two days of arrival. (It is currently a PCR test, but this changes on October 24th) It will cost you about £35.

Hi everyone !
Where did you find a PCR test that costs only 35 pounds ? I'm very interested
I know I have been saying I would not come but... you know... it's Libera So I will see a bunch of you in December !

[Celt]

The current outlook is that by the date of the concert, 5th December, those travelling from countries that the UK deemed to be on the green list will require you to take a Lateral Flow test within two days of arrival. (It is currently a PCR test, but this changes on October 24th) It will cost you about £35.

Hi everyone !
Where did you find a PCR test that costs only 35 pounds ? I'm very interested
I know I have been saying I would not come but... you know... it's Libera So I will see a bunch of you in December !

£35 is my estimate for a Lateral Flow, which is what you should need in December. My PCR (current requirement) that I took on Thursday after my jaunt to Europe, cost me £66 from Express Test with a small discount from BA.

[TullyBascombe]

Th concerts (there are two) are on Sunday. Don't want you to fly in on the wrong day!

For some reason I thought the concert was on the 6th, thanks for letting me know.

I also learned that many people do not receive their ordered "Day two" test kit, which was supposed to be send to their hotel address. You might make some research to identify a reliable test provider or make a test on site instead.

So you're saying we're supposed to receive the kit at our hotel? Would we then swab ourselves and run the test in our room? How would the test be reported?
The lateral Flow test is a rapid test is it not? I had thought that the person to be tested would make an appointment in advance, present themselves to the facility, get swabbed and then the test would be run within an hour and some sort of documentation would be given.

Thanks all for the advice. It's good that we get all of this cleared up well in advance.

I've done some research on viral safety in airplanes. Decades ago there was a great deal of concern about disease spread in packed flight cabins, but a great deal of effort has been put in to improving the HEPA filters and the air flow patterns within the passenger cabins of airplanes. Recent tests of the flow or air droplets has confirmed that airplanes are now amongst the safest of public spaces.