Considerations if travelling for leisure this summer✈️✈️
Will HK’s next CE, John Lee, announce further relaxation of border control measures after his official installation in July?
Outgoing CE, Carrie Lam has repeatedly announced there will not be any further relaxation of covid rules during her tenure. However, in her 10th June CNBC interview, Lam admitted that the border control measures have really made people very impatient and undermined Hong Kong’s status as a hub.”
She also added, “If you cannot travel freely to other places and into the mainland, how could you be a hub?” Is this an indication that there might be some relaxation when the new CE is onboard in July 2022?
Nicola and I have dreamt a little. We are going to plan for our respective holiday away from HK for the first time since 2020. We know there are 3 things we have to accept and be prepared for upon our inward travel back to Hong Kong :
1. Expensive and difficult to get hotel quarantine upon our return to Hong Kong. We need to budget at least HKD 1000/night for hotel quarantine.
2. Last-minute flight changes
3. Stress of timing PCR testing within the 48 hours prior to HK flight
After some research, here are the 3 main considerations to help with our holiday planning:
1. Destination with minimal covid restrictions. It won’t be fun if we have to worry about covid tests at our destination and/or not having the freedom to move around. Wego Travel Blog (blog.wego.com) takes into consideration your passport and departure location.
2. Finding flights within budget. Airfares usually take up the biggest portion of the traveling budget. Once this is taken care-off, we will be able to decide on the budget required for accommodation and the rest of our trip. Here are some tips on getting started on flights search :
● Be flexible with timing and destination
● Be open to non-direct flights. Consider local low cost, regional and local carriers.
● Use air mile redemption if applicable.
● Use a few search engines. Try google flights and Trip.com. Try search using “one way” rather than return flights
● Search tickets for individual pricing. If traveling with others, it can be cheaper to search for single rather than group tickets.
● Search ticket pricing in other currencies. Try to search for airfare in a country where currency is cheaper than HKD or USD.
3. 3. Returning to HK
HKSAR is likely going to continue pre-boarding, arrival tests and quarantine requirements for a while. Will the next CE announce shortened and/or home quarantine? While we await for this million dollar question to be answered, let’s be prepared for the following :
● Factor in the possibility of flight delay when planning for 48 hour pre-boarding PCR test.
● If on transit, the 48 hour is counted from the last leg flying into HK. Hence, consider spending the last few days of your trip at a covid restriction free country in Asia with direct flight to HK
● Plan your HK arrival timing wisely. Day one is counted from the time you landed at HKIA. If you land at 11.50 pm on 1st July, your day one is counted from 1st July onwards.
Sze Yeen: The holiday destination I have in mind for coming July is Northern Italy where we can enjoy summer skiing, hiking, food and wine. Now is the time to take advantage of the weakened Euro.
Nicola: I would love to go to the East Coast in the US when there are no quarantine factors in Hong Kong. I am thinking of visiting during Christmas time because I have not seen my friends in over 10 years.
Support groups that might be useful