My granddaughter has been asked to set up an unexpected work trip to London for someone in her company and is wondering what the current Covid protocols might be for going and coming back. A possible added complication is the person can’t find her actual CDC vaccination card but has a picture of it. I’ll start the search for information on the internet but thought I would also reach out here to see if anyone might be familiar with what all is needed. Thanks for your help.

Very little at the moment.

I would suggest she has a good look for her card, but if she can't find it she has to take a test before departing and one within the first two days in the UK.



UK open for travel with all restrictions removed for eligible vaccinated arrivals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Check if you qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England: approved vaccines and proofs of vaccination - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Thanks nonconformist2.

We went to Paris just before Christmas, and Air France at SFO checked our paper 8 1/2 X 11 photocopies of our CDC cards (not the original CDC cards), and we were OK to go. Nobody at CDG asked for anything except our passports. On the way back home, a negative antigen Covid test taken the day before in France (or the same day as departure) was required. I think it still is to get on the plane in France going to the USA.

Stu Dudley

France and the UK are two entirely different situations, plus everything has changed since December.

I'm sorry, but she really needs to find her CDC card and protect it. (Unless . . . if she lives in California, New York or Washington State - those three states have official digital vaccination records/passes). With the CDC card or state digital record there are no special requirements to travel to the UK other than filling a very simple on line PLF (Passenger Locator Form). Without the CDC card she needs to proceed as though she is not vaccinated at all.

Everything she needs to know is published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-t...virus-covid-19

Janisj
Are you saying that one has to have the ORIGINAL CDC card????? My copy worked fine.

Stu Dudley

If flying on British Airways or American or their partners, you download the Verifly app and upload a photo of your CDC card to that. I am not sure they would be able to discern if it’s a copy or not, especially if it’s a color copy.

with the app, you do not show anything at the airport, at least I did not have to.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Take a look here (click on link below). She might be from a state that participates in the US Digital Vaccination Card program.

My state does (CO) - I just scanned my driver's license and it matched my CDC card to my photo. I still have my CDC card, but figured it doesn't hurt to have a back-up.

National Digital COVID Vaccine Card

Thanks Melnq8. I’ll check this out.

Quick followup of the situation so far. The person traveling was able to get there on Delta using the passenger locator form and the picture of her CDC card and no Covid test was needed. She is coming back Thursday and I'll try to post another followup with how that goes. Again, thanks for your help.

No, I'm saying the card is irrelevant to UK travel. Traveling to the England (as I did in Dec.) there was no need to have the original OR a copy of the CDC card. The CDC card wasn't in the mix. Testing, on-line PLF, etc. but no checking of a card for any venue or pass or anything else. Different countries / different rules.

To clarify -- since I live in CA and have a digital vaccination record no one in any airport/or immigration agent asked to see a card. I don't know if someone without a QR code would have a different experience. But 'on the ground' in the UK there was no need ever for any card or pass.

You have to upload proof of vaccination when filling out the PLF for the UK. In my case that means scanning the QR code with my computer's camera or uploading it. The PLF is linked to your passport/ID. They don't ask to see it again after you have uploaded it. Last time I travelled to the UK was late February.

Neither my wife nor I are "savvy" mobile phone users. I do not own one, and my wife is about a C+ user. I like the security of something I can touch - like a CDC card. I made 6 copies of ours when we went to Paris in Dec. The UK web site seems to say that I can enter the UK using only my paper CDC card & PLF.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/countrie...of-vaccination

The site is a little hard to follow and the bulk of the text talks about uploads to phones etc. But if you keep in mind that there are old dummies like me - only a CDC card seems to be acceptable for entry.

Any help that experts here on Fodors can give me would be appreciated. We depart for Scotland from SFO on May 9.

PS. The friend of the OP only had a picture of her CDC card & got into the UK without any problems

Stu Dudley

You do not HAVE to upload proof of vaccination on the U.K. PLF form. You have the option
to select no to the question re uploading the vaccination certificate as it is not always possible to scan & upload when you are travelling. I have never uploaded proof of vaccination to the U.K. PLF form, last entry to the U.K. was end of Feb.
The form gets checked at check in along with vacc certificate and I have never so far been asked for proof of vacc at the U.K. border and I always see an immigration officer.

Stu, I travel to the UK all the time. I have never been asked to show proof of vaccination at the border at Eurotunnel or Eurostar by British officials (I have not traveled by plane). They ask you to upload your proof when filling out the PLF. If you do not do this, you do not get a PLF and cannot travel.
Uploading my QR code is a bit of a performance, holding it in front of the computer camera until it is accepted. I've tried to upload the paper version of the European Vaccine Certificate instead, but that did not work. I have probably filled out at least 10 UK PLF's. I'm sure you'll manage with your bit of paper from CDC, as many Americans have managed to.

Sorry Balthy, posting at the same time. This is my experience, traveling to the UK regularly. I cannot finish the PLF form without uploading it. Eurotunnel asks you to upload it as well. I have not traveled by plane for some time, only Eurotunnel and Eurostar. Maybe the process is different coming from the US and by plane.

Final followup. She booked a test for the day before she came home (not sure exactly what time or where) but it was very easy to do and she made it home with no problems. Based on her experience, it appears meeting the requirements for getting to and from the UK from the US is not difficult at this time.

Just to make sure I understand/confirm what I'm up against, the only thing she showed upon departure from the US was a filled out PLF (she maybe filled it out the day ahead), and a picture of her CDC card. There was no upload of a "proof of vaccination/CDC card" to a digital "anything". Just 2 pieces of paper (or photo on her mobile) that she showed to the Delta gate agent in the US when she checked in. Nothing was checked upon arrival in the UK, except her passport (and maybe she submitted the PLF to someone who asked for it). Is that what happened in her case? Not sure if she showed the PLF to the Delta agent in the US.

The negative Covid test upon departure is SOP.

Thanks
Stu Dudley