Travelling Between the UK & USA in November 2021

Last week, I was super lucky to be able to fly out to New York for the week with my Mum. After booking a trip on a whim at Easter, it was a trip we didn’t think would happen. In fact, I’d tried to cancel the trip several times (clearly I didn’t try hard enough). But by some sort of miracle, towards late September the USA announced that after 18 months the borders will be reopening in “early November” to fully vaccinated passengers. For a while, we waited in anticipation for more information. Thankfully, the borders reopened the week before our flight and they accepted Aztrazeneca (although it’s not used in the USA) so we were good to go!

I thought I would put together a blog post on my experience as I received so many messages about the in’s and out’s of our experience. HOWEVER, Since my return, things have changed in terms of re-entry back into the UK so I will try and publish as much info that’s up to date. It’s still worth checking the Government’s website and your airline if you are flying soon. 

Fully Vaccinated

I don’t really want to go into the whole vaccination thing too much as I’m not 100% on the rules for children and the unvaccinated. Speaking from my own experience, we are both vaccinated. This was something we had to prove on arrival to Heathrow and attest to in forms with Virgin Atlantic. Our vaccine is also one that isn’t used in the USA but it was approved for travel to the US which was a relief for us.

Pre-Flight Test

One of the key things to be able to travel to the USA is to do a pre-flight test within 72 hours of flying and now a PCR test within 2 days of returning to the UK. We booked our tests through Express Test who were recommended by Virgin Atlantic who we were flying with. As we were staying at Heathrow Airport the evening before, we booked our tests for the Heathrow Terminal 3 testing site. We booked an Antigen Test for £34 where we got our results within half an hour. The test was a simple lateral flow style test administered by a professional up the nose. If you are wanting to take a test at home, you do have to do it on camera in front of a professional.

Our results were sent within half an hour to our e-mail and this was to be shown before our flight.

attestment form

Another condition of flying into the US is filling out a passenger disclosure and attestment form. I filled ours in during online check-in on the Virgin Atlantic website. The forms essentially provide information on where you are staying in the USA. You are also confirming that you are double vaccinated and have received a negative test result.

Our Experience at Heathrow & Our Virgin Atlantic Flight

On arrival at Heathrow Airport, we headed towards the Virgin Atlantic area where the crew were on hand to help. Before checking in our bags, a member of staff had a look at our NHS Covid Travel Pass to show we were double vaccinated and also our negative test results certificate. She then put a sticker on our passport to show that we had been seen to. This was also checked when boarding the plane.

Throughout the flight, you are required to wear a mask at all times unless eating and drinking. They were pretty strict with this and essentially if you get two warnings you could be banned from the airline. Honestly, 8+ hours (as we were delayed) with a mask on wasn’t really a big deal. The crew did their best to separate people who weren’t travelling together too.

Arriving into JFK

Arriving at JFK Airport was super smooth, the lines for passport control were pretty short. We didn’t need to provide any information printed out so I can only presume everything was linked to our passport.

General Experience in New York

Overall, our experience in New York was great! Everywhere seemed pretty covid-safe with masks required pretty much everywhere indoors. One of the main things to note is that restaurants and attractions all required you to be double jabbed and to show proof of vaccination and ID on arrival. Takeaway places like McDonald’s, Shake Shack and Taco Bell were not offering seating indoors but you didn’t need to show proof of vaccine there.

The only place I didn’t feel was covid safe was when we visited the Summit at Vanderbilt One. There were so many people there and we were all crammed into the same hallway waiting for nearly an hour for an elevator to the observation deck. Once up there it was insane how many other people were up there. It was just one que after another. Additionally, there was no security like other observation decks so anyone could’ve brought anything with them.

Passenger Locator Form

When it was time to fly home, we had to fill out a passenger locator form as per the UK government rules. The form was to be filled out via the UK government website. It was pretty lengthy compared to the small form we filled out online on our way to NYC. I presume with the recent rule changes, the form may have slightly changed but we had to disclose the reference number of the Day 2 Test we had purchased (through Express Test) and our location once back in the UK. As we were staying in London for one night before returning home, all the details of that needed to be disclosed.

Day 2 Test

We had to take a lateral flow test within 48 hours of arriving back in the UK. Also known as a Day 2 Test. As I said ours was purchased through Express Test. We picked it up when we did our Antigen Test before flying to the US. Once we did the test, we uploaded a photo of the results onto their app. We then received a certificate of the results via email.

Obviously things have changed since my return. You still need a Day 2 test but this needs to be a PCR test and you must isolate until you have done the test and received the results. More information on the new rules can be found on the Gov website here.

Overall, we found the whole experience pretty smooth and easy. I did worry about the tests (especially on the way out) ruining our plans as these things can happen. I’d recommend if you are travelling on a big trip like mine to limit contact with people before flying. We felt really safe in NYC and even on the plane. With the new rules, it does complicate things a little bit. I’d say just do lots of research and be prepared if you are travelling.

XOXO