Flights to the USA
 

I’m planning to fly to Chicago during November , I want to book Early as possible to get a good deal for a flight and rental car , should I book in a months time or wait until the summer months !! I’m thinking by summer tourism should have opened up .

Re: Flights to the USA
 

Book when you want to, most Airlines seem to be offering easy cancellation

I personally doubt things will open up this year, hopefully improve.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

The minute things start to look like they might open up air fares will start to rise and quickly. If you have found an airfare you think is really good, I would book it, so long as it has flexible terms and you are willing to take a flight credit in the event that things remains closed down and you need to cancel. No one knows, but unfortunately I also doubt that things will open up by the summer. This is just an observation not a political comment but the Biden administration appears to be ultra cautious so I would plan on things opening up later than sooner. Perhaps by the fall or winter with proof of vaccination but no one can be sure. If you are based the UK, I would book with British or another European airline as you would have more possibilities to use a flight credit than if you booked with a US airline.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

I just flew back from Chicago and right now these covid testing regulations are a nightmare.

First: Add atleast 300 - 400 £ in UK for the:

- 80-90£ for the cost of Covid test before you fly out and then
- 210£ for the 2 compulsory tests after your return. They wont even let you board the flight without the test booking.
- Then another 80£ - 100£ for the ‘Test to release’ on day 5 of ur quarantine, if you dont want to be confined to ur home for 10 days.

Second:
Then about 200$ in the US for the tests when you arrive and again before you board the UK bound flight.

This excessive testing paranoia in the UK is just crazy. I had to do all these tests ‘Despite’ having the Covid vaccine.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

Other than American Airlines and United, no European airline is operating direct flights between the UK & the US. And that too in a much less frequency.

you may be able to books these US airline flights as code share but not sure if the same regulations apply.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

You may have had the vaccine but you could be a carrier and pass it on...

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Fair enough but why make people take 4 covid tests in 8 days?

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No European airline could operate a direct flight from the UK to US before CV19 either.

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Has that happened ?

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I have no idea, but that’s why they are asking people to wear masks, distancing etc even if they have been vaccinated. IMO they are not sure, but want to cover all bases, especially with the new strains that keep appearing,

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You're correct, in Brexit land, but before Covid-19 "European" also referred to "British". And so British Airways and Virgin Atlantic would have qualified under the term "European".

Re: Flights to the USA
 

Vaccination levels must reach critical mass before conclusions can be drawn. According to recent CDC guidelines (scroll down to "What's Changed"), it would seem that we're headed in the right direction.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

I travel frequently between LAX-LHR. For me, the mandatory costs are:

• LAX to LHR: $120 pre-departure test plus £210 UK-mandated Covid-19 test package
• LHR to LAX: £80 pre-departure test

And so the grand total is £375/$525.

(As per your note, Test to Release is optional, and it doesn't make sense to opt in given that the UK is still in a national lockdown.)

Re: Flights to the USA
 

The incubation period ranges from 2 - 14 days, median of 5 days, so presumably that's why.

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In a loose sense maybe, but while people can be nationals if multiple countries companies can say they are “European” but they are actually only incorporated in one country, and are restricted in terms of routes they can fly. So while IAG is the holding company for BA and Iberia for example, they are the subsidiaries in their respective countries and would only fly from UK-US and Spain-US. Yes there are exceptions with 5th freedom rights for some airless but I am not aware of European or UK airlines using them to the US, only ones like Singapore/Emirates etc.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

There are a significant number of variant strains in circulation now, with studies so far showing that the current vaccines are not as effective against all of them.

You might consider it paranoia that the UK wants to reduce the chances that the variants could be imported and undermine the vaccination drive, but that seems like sound public policy to me.

But how would you prove that?

Anyone could print out and mock up a vaccination card - they are just pieces of paper with stamps or stickers on them, and the general public doesn't seem to want to accept vaccination passports despite one being around for Yellow Fever for decades (and it's a paper one with the same security limitations as vaccine cards).

More importantly, there's not much in the way of strong evidence yet that being vaccinated will prevent you from contracting the virus or from spreading it to others, only that the vaccine will dramatically reduce your chances of becoming sick, developing sever COVID or from dying.

That's not to say that the vaccines don't reduce transmission - they very likely do - but there's not much in the way of peer-reviewed data yet, so public health authorities are naturally going to err on the side of caution for the time being.

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All I know is I boarded a BA flight in London and landed in Denver many many times. If that’s not ‘Direct’ then what is?

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The test only proves you don't have the virus when you took the test. I watched a documentary set at an NHS hospital following non-covid patients having procedures done and there was a Covid outbreak in a non-Covid ward tracked to a member of staff, and the staff get tested twice a week. One of the patients that contracted Covid from that outbreak was a 93 year old woman who subsequently died.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

That would be a "Non-Stop" flight in airline parlance, although it's also a "Direct" flight.

A "Direct" flight is one which may (or may not) stop at intermediate locations between the origin and destination for fuel and/or passengers, but where the flight number on each leg remains the same even if the aircraft itself changes.

All Non-Stop flights are therefore Direct flights since there are no intermediate stops, but not all Direct flights are Non-Stop flights.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

Sounds like you took a direct / non stop flight.

My reply was to another post. The point was that a UK airline could fly Rome-London-Denver but could not fly London-Rome-Denver with the same aircraft that’s part of the UK airline. And as noted even a direct / non stop flight can have planned and unplanned stops, the old BA LCY-JFK on Airbus 319 would stop in Shannon for immigration and fuel, and 757’s going West may have to stop in Canada for fuel. I have been on other flights that divert for medical emergencies, or even things like a toilets that don’t work.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

1) i am not questioning the testing immediately before (Day 0) and after (Day 2) taking the flight.
I am questioning excessive testing. Why would you again test on Day 5 and then once again on Day 8?

2) Ofcourse the vaccination records can be easily regulated and verified. Its not the biggest of challenge to check if someone really had an approved vaccine from a regulated provider.

3) obviously there are scientific studies to prove the effectiveness of the vaccines. These are widely reported in the media. Surely, there can always be new mutations in the future but one has to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

Re: Flights to the USA
 

1) See post #14

3) Not one scientific body, including the WHO, is claiming that any of the available vaccines will prevent a vaccinated person from contracting covid 19. What is being claimed and supported by data is that vaccinated people who do contract covid will have a much less severe disease course and therefore much less likely to need hospital care.

I know it sucks having to hand over large amounts of money for testing, everything about this pandemic sucks, from lockdowns to not being able to see your family and friends at home or abroad, to the most important sucky thing - becoming severely ill and dying.

It's absolutely fine to have a whinge when we're inconvenienced, god knows I've done it often enough. But after we've had it, we just have to pull our socks up and realise that the restrictions aren't personally aimed at us, they're public health measures designed to save lives and economies. Sometime in a happier future we'll have the luxury of knowing whether or not individual governments got it right.

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Day 5 is not mandatory. It's optional, called "Test to Release", which serves no real purpose under the current general nationwide UK lockdown.

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maybe not for you but others may ve reasons to be able to go out and about. For e.g. i m moving house to the US and have a lot of things to sort out in my local area before i finally pack up.

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That's great but no one mandates that you take said test (in contrast to the other three tests when flying US -> UK bound).

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not sure what your point is?

i never said i was mandated. I am only saying that your assumption is false and some people have valid reasons to be able to be quarantine free and for that ve to take all these tests.

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Don't you think that the fact that you wish to go back and forth between the two countries makes it essential that you are monitored with great regularity? Especially as I believe you have mentioned having young children at home.

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No not really and what has children gotta do with that?

The 2 tests immediately before and after the flights are sufficient to prove the existence of the virus.

Regardless of the virus’s incubation period, the Antigen & PCR swab tests should be able to detect the existence of virus (even if you aren’t showing any symptoms physically). Therefore, to me, the tests on day 5 and then on day 8 are unnecessary and excessive. I don’t really think that any other country in the world is following this kind of testing regime.

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Ensuring that when you are cooped up on a plane, everyone will be as healthy as you believe that you are, so that you can avoid taking anything nasty home.

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Canada is not far off, the last time I checked.