Potential opening to UK for vaccinated US citizens!

Paywall so I cannot read. Can you give the highlights?

But this is not the article, it is a link to subscribe to the Financial Times.
And thus essentially useless.

If you have the article, then copy and post it, please.

I found this, for free, at The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-border-vaccinated-us-eu-b1891830.html

My apologies...I thought the link would work here is the text and another link:
https://thefinanceinfo.com/2021/07/27/england-set-to-welcome-double-jabbed-us-and-eu-tourists/

Boris Johnson is on Wednesday expected to approve the reopening of England’s doors to double-vaccinated tourists from the EU and the US, in a move that will bring relief to the country’s leisure sector.

Whitehall officials said UK ministers, led by chancellor Rishi Sunak, had pushed the prime minister to act, arguing that it was safe to start readmitting foreign tourists without the need for quarantine if they had received two jabs.

Sunak was particularly concerned that tourist destinations like London would lose out to locations like Paris and Rome now that the EU had decided to admit US visitors.

“It could take effect from as early as next week,” said one Whitehall official briefed on the ministerial discussions. “Rishi has been leading the way on this.” Falling coronavirus case numbers in the UK made the decision easier.

Grant Shapps, transport secretary, and Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, have both also argued for a resumption of travel into England. Arrivals from the EU and US would have to take a test pre-departure and repeat the process on day two of their stay.

The decision to reopen England to EU tourists was made easier after the bloc started issuing citizens with a digital health pass from the start of this month.

Opening up to double-vaccinated US travellers is more complicated since the American system of proof is paper-based and organised at a state level.

But government officials said ministers were confident that US travellers with an American passport and a paper certificate would provide the reassurance needed.

Airlines expect to be asked to check passengers’ documentation at check-in, and have been conducting trials with travellers from the US and EU to try to push ministers into opening up travel for vaccinated visitors.

Transatlantic travel is critical to airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and has been severely depressed since the start of the pandemic.

The White House said on Monday it would maintain its Covid travel bans for the foreseeable future on a range of countries, including the UK, EU nations and China, due to the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant.

Ministers hope that the unilateral move to welcome back US tourists to England will be seen as “a gesture of goodwill” that could accelerate the full reopening of transatlantic travel.

Companies across the inbound tourism sector celebrated the news but warned that more red tape would need to be cut if business was to recover.

Inbound tourism is the UK’s fifth largest export industry generating £28.4bn in export earnings in 2019, £5bn less than the car industry.

Joss Croft, chief executive of trade body UKInbound, said the sector needed an imminent schedule for the changes. “Until we get a date no one can book,” he said. “We are running out of road. Tourism in the UK, particularly outside London, is very seasonal so now we only have possibly August and a bit of September before we are into autumn and winter again.”

The government also needed to work to reduce the cost of testing, which was “prohibitive” and putting off holidaymakers, he added.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said the announcement would boost central London businesses in particular: “[The US and EU] are our two most important markets when it comes to rebuilding our inbound tourism.” Losing US tourists to the EU had been a “big concern”, she added.

here's the BBC on the same situation:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57999362

They say that an official announcement should come later today but no info yet on when the changes would actually take effect.

From the article:
People who are fully vaccinated from the EU and US will be able to avoid quarantine when arriving in England, the BBC has been told.

Currently, people who have been fully vaccinated in the UK do not need to isolate when travelling from countries on the amber list, except from France.

But that exemption did not apply to people vaccinated outside the UK.

The government's Covid Operations committee met earlier and made the decision.

More details will be released later on Wednesday. It is not yet known when the change will come in - and whether it will relate just to England or the whole of the UK.

August 2 apparently

what they mean is residents not citizens

This is the official government statement:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-travel-update-government-waives-quarantine-for-arrivals-fully-vaccinated-from-europe-and-usa-while-also-confirming-international-cruise-restart

"The UK government has today (28 July 2021) announced that passengers arriving from amber countries who have been fully vaccinated in Europe (EU Member States, European Free Trade Association countries and the European microstate countries of Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City) and the USA will not have to quarantine when entering England."

"Amber arrivals who have been fully vaccinated in the USA and European countries will still be required to complete a pre-departure test before arrival into England, alongside a PCR test on or before day 2 after arrival. Separate rules will continue to apply for those arriving from France. Those vaccinated in the US will also need to provide proof of US residency. Passengers from all countries cannot travel to the UK unless they have completed a passenger locator form."

So, for Americans travelling to the UK they will need:

1) Negative Covid test prior to arrival, (Amended info)

2) Proof of residency in the USA

3) Fill out a passenger located form

4) Take an additional PCR test on or before their second day in the UK

5) Proof of approved vaccine.

This decision is only for visitors to England, not the rest of the UK. Expect a pathetic lack of agreement from Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford in an attempt to make themselves feel important. They will align at some date once they feel they've made their point.

This all came a little late for me. I re-booked flights three times this year to visit family in the UK and had to cancel my July 15th trip due to quarantine and several covid tests still being required at that time. My summer window of travel is over as I will return to my teaching job next week. Most American schools will be back in session by mid to late August so the tourist window has essentially closed for many of us.

Margaret

Stupid question: How do kids factor into this (and other similar policies)? I can't find anything about them. Are under-12s counted as unvaccinated (duh, obviously they are) - but as far as quarantining for 10 days? Or, if their parents are fully vaccinated, are they counted as protected? Again, stupid question, and it's not like we're going to really travel there any time soon....But....

So, for Americans travelling to the UK they will need:

1) Negative PCR test prior to arrival,

The pre-departure test can also be LAMP or antigen, but must be in the 3 days before you board the final service to England.

Details here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-people-travelling-to-england

Scotland has now said they will issue the same rules as England regarding entering the country from USA.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-57995063

They say no to Canada. Sigh. I don't even have a trip planned for England yet feel it is an indication that it will be a long time before Canadians are welcome anywhere. Better temper my expectations.

Thanks, Nick! I was looking on my phone and somehow missed the BBC link.

Wales is following in the footsteps of England and Scotland in regard to no quarantine for us Americans.

Canada, sadly, is getting no respect. And a member of the Commonwealth too.

Many countries in Europe have changed Covid list status for us in the U.K. as cases rise and fall, so if infection rates rise rapidly in the USA, expect to be put on the quarantine list again at short notice.

It’s a pity it’s not reciprocal.

I think it's fair to say that the Covid figures in Wales have a lot more to do with other factors rather than any policies Mark Drakeford imposes. It certainly wasn't a result of policies such as being able to buy a bottle of vodka in a supermarket but banned from buying a pair of socks at the same time.

I'll leave the politics out so we don't zap this thread.

If I had to guess, I would say economics had a hand in the UK opening to vaccinated Americans.

According to Visit Britain, in 2019, 4.5 million Americans visited the UK spending approximately 4.2 billion pounds. That's 11% of the total number of visitors to the UK, and 15% of the total money spent by visitors. They had projected an 11% increase for 2020 but that was before Covid. Americans spent more money in the UK in 2019 than any other country including China which was second. (2.5 billions pounds more.)

Dont' forget , it's not just Americans who are now allowed in without quarantine. It's also most of the EU.

And with approximately 88% of visitor pounds spent in England, Boris had an incentive to open up.

After all , why else would they allow Americans, with a U.S. current 7 day average of new Covid cases at 11,839 but not Canadians from a country only having 529 cases. (Even taking into account the difference in population, Canada had at least half the number of new cases as in the USA.)

Money talks.

In case you were wondering, visitor from the UK to the USA in 2019 totaled 4.78 million and spent 6.6 billion pounds. While that was the third hightest after Canada and Mexico in terms of people, it amounted for only 6% of the total number of visitors.

I agree Frank. The airline's industry group, Airlines UK, has been placing pressure on the government to open up. I hope it sticks!