la3morri

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has travelled from LHR to Toronto recently - starting from 9th of Aug children travelling with vaccinated adults will not need to quarantine. I am fully vaccinated and travelling with small children - all of us Canadian citizens (dual UK). I've confirmed this on both sides with authorities so my question is more about experiences in both airports, testing, using the ArriveCan app, proof of vaccination etc. - are there any niggles in the process that people are experiencing?

PCR test in the UK before travel seems straight forward - but returning back to the UK its a lateral flow test? I am planning FH health near the airport which says it gives a 2 hour turnaround before the flight? Anything else? I have the documentation of vaccination from the NHS app with a QR code, I hope this will be accepted.
Kind regards.

Twitcher1958

My understanding is that you do need PCR test to fly to Canada but antigen test only to fly to the UK. Some branches of Shoppers Drug Mart, but not all, offer these with a quick turnaround - 20 minutes or so. I’ve found a company local to me which offers the same service but only $26.

Siouxie

Arrive Can is required.. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...arrivecan.html

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/tr...ntering-canada

It's a requirement to have a quarantine plan, in case of any issues - to show on arrival.

ACF

I am in exactly the same position as you and we fly on the 9th (subject to all our PCRs coming back negative over the weekend). I'll let you know any issues once we are (hopefully!) through but a few quick points in case helpful:

• The advice appears to be that you should book your YYZ arrival tests in advance to save time at the border, which I am planning to do - https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/tr...rrival-testing [EDIT: it seems you cannot book the tests but can register with the provider in advance per the guidance]
• You can request a hardcopy of your NHS Covid pass - it comes in the post pretty swiftly and looks like a proper/official document
• We are still going with a quarantine plan in our back pocket in case there are any issues at YYZ...

la3morri

Ahhh thank you. I didn't get my official NHS letter, but downloaded the letter from the app, which is not as official looking. Fingers crossed they will accept it.

I didn't know we had to book arrival tests - I thought that was ending. Thank you. Very grateful if you update based on your experiences.

Good luck travelling on the 9th!! travelling can be normally stressful, but the lack of clarity and risks and making it even more daunting (but if the family reunification actually happens… should be worthwhile!)

la3morri

This is another thing I'm wondering… for the pre departure test I have used a company recommended on the Air Canada website - they posted me the PCR test and then I need to drop it off at a drop box in a nearest service station (!?) - at least seems relatively straight-forward provided it actually works!!

However on the return - I'm staying in London Ontario so all of the Air Canada recommended places for testing are in Toronto region…. I seem to have a choice of booking an antigen test with 2 hour turnaround near YYZ through the recommended testing company, or do another test in London Ontario 72 hours before my flight… should I book a non-recommended tester and will they accept it?? The 2 hours before testing in YYZ will certainly add another layer of stress...

Twitcher1958

Have you looked at the gov.uk site for guidance? That gives the criteria for acceptable testing - I’ve only got a screenshot of the link entitled ‘Type of test’ and tells you to check with the test provider. I suspect that this is a burgeoning industry and it’s difficult for AC to list all providers that do acceptable testing. Besides Shopppers, I’ve now found a government approved local company which offers the test with results within 30 minutes for $26. You have to get it done within 72 hours before flying so I’m going the book appointments for a couple of days before our flights to relieve last minute pressure.

la3morri

For return back to UK - I am using the Air Canada website for advice…. it all seems to say antigen (i.e. 30 minutes results) are OK… gov.uk is not clear, which country returning from and I'm not even sure if I am satisfying UK or Canada procedures!!

I think I will go with the most reputable place I can find in London Ontario (shoppers doesn't do them in London!)…. and like you, 72 hours in advance to build adequate time for a crisis response!

la3morri

ACF, I hope you've arrived safely and enjoying your time with family! If you had time to update on your experiences I'd be keen to hear, but only if you had time… precious family time comes first!

ACF

Thank you and apologies for the slow response - we did make it and I basically went offline then for a while - lots of visiting to do!

Our experience was, in brief, as follows:

• Experience at Heathrow was easy - Air Canada wanted to see negative C19 results and also our marriage certificate (my spouse is not a Canadian citizen) but otherwise everything was straightforward and the airport was quiet
• Experience on the plane was fine - we flew Air Canada, the staff seemed stressed and the food was terrible (more so than usual), all the kids had to wear a mask the whole time (only 2 and under exempt apparently), flight was full (I think AC are running a reduced service) - but generally it was fine
• Experience at Pearson was utterly terrible - we were held on the plane for an hour before disembarking, then held in a random tunnel for another hour, then made it to arrivals where the queue was out of the arrivals hall and up the escalator - altogether it too us about 4 hours to get to the border agent....
• Experience at border control was easy - they asked us a few questions about how long we were staying and checked our ArriveCan receipt but then otherwise just sent us through
• Because it took so long to get through border control our luggage had been offloaded from the carrousel and just left in a random corner of the luggage hall - took us quite a while to find it (and note there were no luggage trolleys)...
• We were not selected for on arrival C19 testing - it seems to be random and generated by a machine that you have to scan your passport at as you approach border control
• We are now just starting to get organised for our return next week and I'll let you know how we go on the return leg when we are back in the UK

I hope that helps. It was a huge hassle (and significantly more costly) to do it but seeing all our family here has been fantastic and the kids have loved the freedom of a Canadian summer. Just let me know if you have any specific Qs of course.

dbd33

This is my typical experience of arriving at the Toronto airport. If the bags aren't on the carousel I don't bother looking but wait for the airline to deliver them; that's easier if it's all just laundry, of course.

ACF

I have similarly low expectations of YYZ but in 40+ years of flying via that airport our experience this time was a new low-water mark I am afraid...

la3morri

Thank you ACF! We have also managed to arrive in Toronto a few days after you and very similar experiences to you. Heathrow totally fine and straightforward, Pearson an utter disgraceful mess from start to finish. We went on Air Canada as well. We are travelling back in a few days and plan to get to Pearson extra early given our arrival experiences. All of the paperwork and pre-testing went well, and we had no problems with that. We will be getting our departure tests (Antigen) at Shoppers and hope that will go OK - feels strange to go for that compared to the PCR we had in the UK.

ACF

Wonderful - I am so pleased to hear and I hope you have had an excellent time!
If you are on the Monday night flight we may see you there!
We are doing our pre departure (also antigen) tests at the Switch Health drive through facility close to YYZ which apparently has a 30 min turnaround time. Feels a little stressful to do it on the day but it's difficult to find a test center outside TO (and we are not in TO). Are you using the Shoppers in TO?

EDIT: also in case helpful this is the cheapest I have found for the UK tests on return: https://nwp-online.co.uk/ - what are you planning in this respect?

la3morri

We are flying back on Sunday - missing the new "green light" status by one day! You might want to check - I don't think that you will need to get tested on your return to the UK since the green light starts on Monday. In any event, I've used Randox in the UK and found them to be efficient and a good price - I think 43 pounds for each test.

I am using Shoppers in London (Ontario) - 2 days before the flight. Frustratingly, all of the places that are recommended on Air Canada's website are in the Toronto region. It seems you can't do an antigen test 3 days before. I hope it works, and if not I will be calling Switch on the day of travel! Apparently kids don't need to be tested at this point… but I decided to get them done as well. Finding information in bits and pieces on different websites does not always fill me with confidence.