Travelling After Lockdown

Working remotely has always been a dream for many but when we think of doing just that, what comes to mind?  For many it’s getting down to the beach and getting a few phone calls under our belt while enjoying the view, or maybe it’s enjoying a coffee on the terrace while you bash out the emails.  Yet during lockdown the reality has been wall to wall zoom calls from the sofa on grim and grey February days.

 

Now with lockdown ending, hopefully for good on July 19th, the good days of remote working can still emerge.  For many people don’t wish to go back to their old lives of travelling to and from an office or even to their clients location.  Indeed there will be many clients who don’t want to go to the hassle of travelling or might still be shielding for medical or personal reasons.  

 

We’ll talk about setting up in the UK and travelling round as well as tips and tricks for working abroad in later posts but this time round we’ll consider what you need to think about and what to expect if you are ready to travel abroad. 

 

No doubt you would have already checked entry requirements for your chosen destination too.  Many countries are still not letting in travellers, or require you to apply beforehand, with a few still allowing entry as long as you have had or will take on arrival a covid test so double check.  Watch out for countries like Thailand or Australia that have a mandatory quarantine stay for up to 14 days on arrival, this can be expensive!  Wunderlust has a great guide to entry requirements for each country around the world. 

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash 

Most countries that do allow entry expect a negative PCR test within 96 hours of entry.  These take more time to process, are more expensive and need a lab to process than the lateral flow test now commonly available around the country.  You can even get a PCR Covid test at the airport but it can take up to 48 hours to get a result, so remember to take that into account.

 

You’ll need to think carefully about travel insurance and confirm with your insurer that you will be covered for your length of stay.  Many insurers can cover you for stays for up to 90 days as standard but if you plan to stay for longer search for long stay travel insurance for example StaySure and make sure to check if your insurer offers Covid cover too.

 

Check the government covid guidelines for what you can do in case you want or need to travel back to the UK quickly from your chosen destination.  Depending on where you are going there might be quite onerous quarantine requirements for getting back into the UK!   

Photo by Andrew "Donovan" Valdivia on Unsplash 

So now you are booked and ready to jet off, what can you expect from your flight?  We talked to Satu Dahl, Chief Content Officer at Travel Radar, to ask her what airlines are doing to gear up to start taking people around the world again.  “Many expect to see a strong summer holiday season and have been preparing accordingly. There is good progress on the testing front – British Airways announced in mid-May that it is conducting a trial with a medical tech company to assess how an ultra-rapid Covid-19 test, which displays a result within 25 seconds, can play a role in opening up travel. It has also introduced changes to the flying experience to help ensure a frictionless experience, including trials of digital travel health apps and introducing pre-flight food ordering. Ryanair, on the other hand, is providing its passengers with up to a 50% discount on PCR Covid testing kits for its holidays. Airlines are also providing more flexibility; easyJet, for example, is offering fee-free flight changes to any date or destination up to two hours before departure. Airline association IATA, among other organisations, has developed a travel pass solution which allows passengers keep all their COVID-19 data on their mobile devices to ensure a quick and smooth experience throughout the passenger journey.”

 

But that is only part of the puzzle, health and safety as always has to be key. Of course, we all know flying is actually one of the safest ways to travel and even with the dangers of covid prevalent, things don’t change on an airplane, with most passengers wearing masks and air filters on the planes using “hospital-grade HEPA filters that are 99.9+% effective at removing viruses, bacteria and fungi.”  Definitely safer than a tube train!  And there’s also the mental health aspect of travel.  Satu continues, “IATA conducted a survey recently that shows travel restrictions come with health, social and economic consequences – nearly 40% of respondents reported mental stress and missing an important human moment as a result of travel restrictions and 68% of respondents indicated their quality of life has suffered as a result.”  So whether you are a Yoke professional travelling while working or just getting out of the four walls for leisure, the easing of lockdown can’t come soon enough!

Photo by Michael Walk on Unsplash 

And the airlines are now getting more planes in the sky and more seats available to book.  “British Airways has scheduled 21% more flights scheduled for June than May 2021 – totalling to an additional 8,000 seats.” Satu tells us on flights to Portugal, one of the start countries on the green list, “Wizz Air has also entered the Portugal market, with 67 flights to Portugal scheduled for June and more in July. In contrast, fights destined for amber-listed Spain in June have decreased by 200 flights since last week, with easyJet dropping capacity by 25,000 seats and BA by 24,000 seats.”  While seats can still be picked up for decent fares, “Including Newcastle to Faro fares that start from just £29.99 and holidays that cost just £269 per person,” watch up for the bite next year, “Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has warned fares will be more expensive in 2022 due to airlines having to reduce their operations.”

 

So now you are where you want to be, hopefully with a tasty beverage in hand but it’s time to get those bookings in again.  Of course, that’s where Yoke comes in to help you manage your availability and bookings.  You’ll always see your availability and bookings in your local timezone, while your clients or students, when booking, will see in their local timezone, so you can always be sure that you’ll be aligning correct.  Just remember to set your availability to when you want to be booked based on UTC when you add your booking windows in on your availability area in your Planner.

Photo by Luke Bender on Unsplash

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