the times Saturday December 4 202154 Travel
Don’t put
up with this
Covid test ‘delay’
almost ruined trip
My wife and I were due to fly from
Gatwick to Portugal on August 15 at
4.30pm. We had our tests at Boots at
11.30am on August 13. These cost £85
each and we were told our results
would be ready in 48 hours. My wife’s
results arrived within the time framebut mine didn’t arrive until just after
8pm on August 15, obviously much
too late. I had to get an emergency
PCR test at the airport at an additional
cost of £35 and this thankfully arrived
on time for us to get on our flight, but
the whole episode was extremely
stressful. After many unsuccessful
attempts to get a refund from Boots,
I’m hoping that you can help.
Terry Hand, via emailBoots says that test results will be
available “typically within 48 hours” but
explains in its small print that this is not
guaranteed. It has, however, nowoffered you a refund. “We are sorry
to hear about Mr Hand’s experience.
The vast majority of our customers get
their test results within 48 hours, but
on rare occasions there can be delays
due to tests being retested in the lab,
which is why we always recommend
customers book as close to 72 hours
out if possible.” In future, you may
want to use highly rated testing
companies such as C19 Testing
(c19testing.co.uk) or Testing for All
(testingforall.org), especially for the
newly mandated day-two PCR tests,
which will require isolation until a
negative result is received.Q
My husband and I plan to
pluck up the courage to fly
again in 2022. We’re thinking
of a week by a lake in Italy in
the springtime as a gentle
reintroduction, perhaps Como. I’m
gluten-free and we like going half-
board, so I’d like to be certain that I’ll
be catered for. Ideally we’d like to be
somewhere we can potter around, catch
a few boats to explore local villages and
maybe do a day trip or two. It’d be nice
to be based somewhere comfortable and
we’re not restricted in terms of timing.
Debs Rackstraw, via emailA
A week on Lake Como would
make a glorious spring break,
and if you stay at the art
nouveau Grand Hotel Victoria
in Menaggio with its idyllic lakefront
location, facing Bellagio, you’ll be close
to ferries for day trips. Unusually for a
Como hotel, rooms are ultra-modern as
well as supremely comfortable and
there’s a top-notch state-of-the-art spa
and indoor pool; you’ll also find gluten-
free options in its restaurants. A seven-
night half-board stay in March starts
from £1,550pp including flights from
Gatwick (with lounge access) and
transfers (citalia.com). Gluten-free dishes
are also no problem for Como icon
Grand Hotel Tremezzo, old school but
not stuffy and also perfectly positioned
for exploring. Seven nights’ B&B in a
Prestige Park View room in April starts
from £2,149pp, including flights and
transfers (kuoni.co.uk). You might want
to download the free Find Me Gluten
Free app, which will direct you to
suitable local restaurants for lunch,
including Trattoria La Vecchia
Magnolia above Menaggio.Q I was meant to be going to
South Africa on Tuesday for my
first family gathering since 2019.
Because my family live in
Zimbabwe and have had such a
grim time, I decided to fly them out
for a two-week break and get an
Airbnb. Of course, with the new red list
it’s now cancelled and I’ve lost almostTravel doctor Solving your holiday dilemmas
Julia Brookes
Consumer expertVaccination Data Resolution Service
(VDRS). We’ve been referred three
times but have heard nothing and they
are completely uncontactable.
Bernard Stevenson, via emailA What a mess. The NHS systems in
England and Scotland don’t talk to each
other and there seems no way to resolve
this problem quickly. After I sent details
to NHS England you finally heard from
the VDRS but were told that, because of
data protection issues arising from your
Scottish jabs, it couldn’t resolve your
case, which would be closed. You were
then advised to ring 119 in four weeks’
time and were also told the service was
dealing with 65,000 similar cases, but
only those in England could be resolved.
But you have at least now managed to
access the Scottish NHS Covid app so
that you can get a QR code to prove
your first two vaccinations. You are now
hoping to end up with two QR codes:
one showing Scottish jabs and the other
the English booster.Contact us
If you have a gripe, suggestion or question
relating to your holidays, please email
[email protected]£3,000. If I had cancelled two days ago,
I would have got 50 per cent back. But
at this late stage, I get the cleaning fee
— which is just over £14.
Caroline Broughton, via emailA The speedy implementation of this
latest travel ban has left thousands
of travellers with their holiday plans
in disarray and many, like you, will
have lost money. If you’d booked a
package holiday you would have
been able to claim a refund. But
unfortunately Airbnb changed its
cancellations and refunds policy in
October last year and Covid-19 is no
longer considered an “extenuating
circumstance” when it comes to
cancellations. So you are at the mercy of
the terms and conditions of the booking
imposed by the property owner, who told
you that he’d had a tough year and
would refund you a portion of the fee if
he were able to re-let locally. I’m afraid
my only advice is that for future trips you
should use Airbnb’s search facility for
flexible cancellation policies and look for
listings that offer free cancellation until
24 hours before check-in.Q We are travelling to Antigua on
December 19 and when we get backon December 27 a member of our
family is taking the next flight to
Paris. Is this going to be possible with
the new restrictions in the UK of
day-two testing and isolation until
the result is received?
Caroline Clifton, via emailA Don’t worry, the rules for transit
passengers allow for departure for the
next stage of the journey without testing.
This applies whether you stay airside
(which means you don’t go through
border control) or landside as long as
you leave the UK shortly after, usually
within 24 hours. You can leave from the
same airport, station or port where you
arrived or from a different one, as long
as you go there directly, even if you
make the trip by public transport.Q My wife and I are wondering
whether we’ll be able to travel to
Europe since our NHS app Covid
passes show only our booster jabs,
which were administered in England,
not the first two vaccinations, which
were given in Scotland. Because our
GP is in England the Scottish
authorities can’t help. The NHS
helpline 119 is sympathetic but
powerless and can only refer us to theLake Como, Italy. Below:
Mana National Park,
ZimbabweALAMY