Trip to UK VTL flight December 2021

[Beanoyip]

Just got back to Melbourne last night, flight was full due to transit passengers majority from India/Sri lanka.. most of them visiting family living in Australia.

Process was smooth and efficient on both ends. Can't wait for the next trip back!

[Silver_blade]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kei

 

Apparently they have a new owner since 2014...maybe that explain the improvement in their service. 😀

[bsswan]

On 1/4/2022 at 4:57 PM, teomingern said:

Anyway, I did a check... it seems that lateral flow is possible for pre-departure test... not sure if applies to Singapore's ART professionally done? Cos professionally done ART is only $15 I think... and on landing 

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

Of course on landing then a PCR test is necessary...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

 

Rules changed....... again.

From Boris,

“So I can announce that in England from 4am on Friday we will be scrapping the pre-departure test, which discourages many from travelling for fear of being trapped overseas and incurring significant extra expense.

“We will also be lifting the requirement to self-isolate on arrival until receipt of a negative PCR, returning instead to the system we had in October last year, where those arriving in England will need to take a lateral flow test no later than the end of day 2 and, if positive, a further PCR test to help us identify any new variants at the border.”

 

Means no testing is required in Singapore prior to travelling to England and, upon arrival need only a Lateral Flow Test (ART) within 2-days to test negative. Of course, if testing positive, you go back into PCR and self-isolation.

[teomingern]

2 hours ago, bsswan said:

Rules changed....... again.

From Boris,

“So I can announce that in England from 4am on Friday we will be scrapping the pre-departure test, which discourages many from travelling for fear of being trapped overseas and incurring significant extra expense.

“We will also be lifting the requirement to self-isolate on arrival until receipt of a negative PCR, returning instead to the system we had in October last year, where those arriving in England will need to take a lateral flow test no later than the end of day 2 and, if positive, a further PCR test to help us identify any new variants at the border.”

 

Means no testing is required in Singapore prior to travelling to England and, upon arrival need only a Lateral Flow Test (ART) within 2-days to test negative. Of course, if testing positive, you go back into PCR and self-isolation.

Wah lao, dear Boris, please make up your minds, don't flip prata can?

This makes UK a very attractive holiday destination now cos the cost of testing is almost erased on the departure side while arrival back in Singapore is still subject to PCR testing... if only we also accept ART... after all Omicron is more sensitive to ART and we've got new saliva ART that is more sensitive than PCR tests now mah... hope our MOH help to commercialize that new test asap and use it...

[teomingern]

6 hours ago, Beanoyip said:

Just got back to Melbourne last night, flight was full due to transit passengers majority from India/Sri lanka.. most of them visiting family living in Australia.

Process was smooth and efficient on both ends. Can't wait for the next trip back!

Now borders closed again for Singapore... sian...

[Boringchap]

I think we need to wait for this Omicron to blow over a bit.  Given how fast it is spreading in countries like UK, USA, Australia, probably don't need to wait too long.  

[Boringchap]

On 1/6/2022 at 2:25 PM, teomingern said:

Seriously? That sounds like an institution of rude behaviour... woah! Like that also can sell...

Not just sell, in the past, they did a roaring trade! People will put up with their bad service because their food was cheap, at a decent quality.

It would be interesting to see what happens after COVID and whether their business model would change. 

[teomingern]

44 minutes ago, Boringchap said:

I think we need to wait for this Omicron to blow over a bit.  Given how fast it is spreading in countries like UK, USA, Australia, probably don't need to wait too long.  

Yeah I also say... UK now no more pre-departure testing and only ART on arrival within 48 hours is a sweet deal! Just waiting for next school holidays to jet over... but then again situation so dynamic... sigh...

[Boringchap]

3 minutes ago, teomingern said:

Yeah I also say... UK now no more pre-departure testing and only ART on arrival within 48 hours is a sweet deal! Just waiting for next school holidays to jet over... but then again situation so dynamic... sigh...

 If and when got a window to go, just go.  Otherwise, the next variant comes along and all the restrictions come in again.

Let me start planning for a trip in April maybe.  I should start applying for my leave. LoL.

[teomingern]

1 hour ago, Boringchap said:

 If and when got a window to go, just go.  Otherwise, the next variant comes along and all the restrictions come in again.

Let me start planning for a trip in April maybe.  I should start applying for my leave. LoL.

Yeah thinking off lar... but don't to book tickets then got to cancel... 

[Boringchap]

Just now, teomingern said:

Yeah thinking off lar... but don't to book tickets then got to cancel... 

Indeed. Haven’t booked anything yet. Will wait till at least after CNY. By early Feb, the situation in Europe should be much clearer - cases should have peaked and started to come down. It will also be much clearer whether the millions of cases have translated to more or less severe Illness. 

[teomingern]

6 hours ago, Boringchap said:

Indeed. Haven’t booked anything yet. Will wait till at least after CNY. By early Feb, the situation in Europe should be much clearer - cases should have peaked and started to come down. It will also be much clearer whether the millions of cases have translated to more or less severe Illness. 

Totally agree... but still got to pay pre-departure ART in Heathrow then PCR tests in Changi for return to Singapore... a bit sian... ART should suffice actually since that's the SOP now in Singapore... no idea why a PCR test is still required...

[Boringchap]

11 hours ago, teomingern said:

Totally agree... but still got to pay pre-departure ART in Heathrow then PCR tests in Changi for return to Singapore... a bit sian... ART should suffice actually since that's the SOP now in Singapore... no idea why a PCR test is still required...

Yeah, hope they can change it.  But then we are also quite 'kiasu-kiasee'.  And now got Deltacron.  Haha.

On another note, here is a video of a rest stop when I was driving from Ebbw Vale to Tenby.  Diesel cars require Ad-blue and I had a very interesting Ad-blue experience many years ago.  Thankfully this time round, I had no issue. 

Back in 2016, we had rented a car Audi A6 which required Ad-blue.  I had no idea what Ad-blue was at that time except that during my driving trip, the warning indicator came up and I had to fill up the Ad Blue in the tank otherwise the car wouldn't be able to run.  We were only about halfway through our rental.  So I had to google and educate myself.  The problem with the Audi A6 then was that even opening up the Adblue tank required some special tool (can't use my hand).  Fortunately the tool was available in the lower boot compartment - with the spare tyre.  I had to get the wrench from the spare tyre!!!

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Boringchap

[teomingern]

Wah bro... do you always rent premium cars when you travel to UK? I notice you also always opt for diesel leh... does the fuel savings offset the increased rental rates? Any car rental hacks to share? I usually go for the standard fleet rental like the Toyota Corolla/Mazda 3 size or the Toyota Camry/Mazda 6 size... and that already be pretty expensive... I usually use Hertz cos their cars are very new and hence reliable... of course Hertz comes with a premium... more recently, I use Rentalcars.com to help reduce the cost quite a bit... the difference in price was quite substantial when renting in Perth compared to getting a direct quote from Hertz... I notice that Auto Europe also offers super cheap prices relative to renting direct from Hertz or the big ones... I didn't dare to try when I went to UK, France & Switzerland in 2018... not sure if you tried them before...

Edited January 9, 2022 by teomingern

[Boringchap]

1 hour ago, teomingern said:

Wah bro... do you always rent premium cars when you travel to UK? I notice you also always opt for diesel leh... does the fuel savings offset the increased rental rates? Any car rental hacks to share? I usually go for the standard fleet rental like the Toyota Corolla/Mazda 3 size or the Toyota Camry/Mazda 6 size... and that already be pretty expensive... I usually use Hertz cos their cars are very new and hence reliable... of course Hertz comes with a premium... more recently, I use Rentalcars.com to help reduce the cost quite a bit... the difference in price was quite substantial when renting in Perth compared to getting a direct quote from Hertz... I notice that Auto Europe also offers super cheap prices relative to renting direct from Hertz or the big ones... I didn't dare to try when I went to UK, France & Switzerland in 2018... not sure if you tried them before...

My requirements are automatic transmission (many rentals in UK are still manual), onboard navigation as well as a large enough boot space to take all our bags.  Turns out that with such requirements in the UK, it usually ends up with a more premium make.   Also, I didn't explicitly choose diesel.  For some reason the cars I got were all diesel.

Years ago for some reason we hired a smaller Audi and we couldn't fit all the bags.  I even wrote a poem to commemorate that very difficult rental haha.

I've not tried all those brands before.  So far in UK I've only rented from AVIS and SIXT.

No, I don't have any car rental hacks to share.  

Edited January 9, 2022 by Boringchap

[teomingern]

41 minutes ago, Boringchap said:

My requirements are automatic transmission (many rentals in UK are still manual), onboard navigation as well as a large enough boot space to take all our bags.  Turns out that with such requirements in the UK, it usually ends up with a more premium make.   Also, I didn't explicitly choose diesel.  For some reason the cars I got were all diesel.

Years ago for some reason we hired a smaller Audi and we couldn't fit all the bags.  I even wrote a poem to commemorate that very difficult rental haha.

I've not tried all those brands before.  So far in UK I've only rented from AVIS and SIXT.

No, I don't have any car rental hacks to share.  

Oh I love manual... and yeah boot space is important... cos I still have strollers to carry along...

Navigation I save money by using Google Maps saving the map in my phone for offline use... then don't need to rent their satnav which may not always be most updated... with really cheap data these days, don't need to use offline anymore...

And yeah would love to rent a stationwagon but they're really expensive...

[Boringchap]

If I were renting car for just two of us (i.e. my wife and I), we wouldn't take such large cars, though I would still probably go for SUV but not the biggest model.

Yes, you are right that google maps work very well.  We were comparing the google maps navigation versus the on-board GPS one this trip.  My navigator had to help me navigate.

[Boringchap]

20 hours ago, teomingern said:

And yeah would love to rent a stationwagon but they're really expensive...

On this issue of rental cost, frankly, I think the money is well spent because cars in Singapore are so expensive.  Renting a more premium car when travelling overseas gives me a chance to drive a premium car that would cost a few hundred thousand in Singapore. 

Back home I drive a 5 year old Corolla Altis.  My previous car was also an Altis which I drove 9+ years. 

Frankly, after driving all the premium cars, I find my Altis to be more than capable for Singapore roads and speeds.  Especially the model I am driving now, is definitely better than the older one (which I drove from 2007ish to late 2016) and more than good enough for my family of 4.  So I always go for my trips feeling excited to drive newer premium cars, and while I enjoy the ride, I come back telling myself that there is no point buying a similar car in Singapore.  

Oh, this is another video I made years ago.  Didn't feature the car much but it was a trip to Norway where we rented a car and got a free upgrade to a BMW 5-series, again Diesel!