travel

Travel information for MPs and their staff

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Parliamentary Travel Office

The Parliamentary Travel Office provides a comprehensive travel service including:

  • domestic and international air and rail ticketing
  • hotel booking (both in the UK and abroad)
  • passport, visa and currency services
  • support with organising travel and accommodation for events.

The Travel Office offers specially negotiated discounts on many fares, in particular on air travel, and on the costs of hotels.

The Travel Office is provided by Reed and McKay and they have an excellent online booking system and a mobile app.  Once you have set up your account, you will have to ask Reed and McKay to add you as a delegate so that you can manage bookings on behalf of your Member or other colleagues.

The Reed and McKay site also has a section called ‘Sherpa’ which gives up-to-date visa and travel information.  Simply put in your destination and it will tell you what visas are required and will let you click through to the correct place to apply.

Taxis

Please note that the Parliamentary Travel Office does not offer a taxi booking service.

Overseas Travel

If you or your MP are travelling overseas on Parliamentary business, you can find information about services available to you on the intranet:

Overseas Travel Advice, Guidance and Vaccination Arrangements – St Thomas’ Hospital

Members and staff of both Houses together with their accompanying staff/partner travelling overseas on office business may obtain travel advice, vaccinations and medication from the Occupational Health Service at St Thomas’ Hospital.

For further information and to book an appointment, click here.

For information on travel insurance, please see the intranet page here: Travel insurance

Important – Post-Brexit British Passport Validity

To be eligible to travel to most European countries, on the day of travel, British passport holders must:

  • Have at least 6 months left on their passport, and
  • Have a passport that is less than 10 years old, even if it has 6 months or more left

These rules also apply to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. They do not apply to travel to Ireland.

Please check your passport expiry date before booking any travel and renew it as soon as possible if it does not meet the new criteria. Failure to do so may mean your passport is invalid and you may not be able to travel.

You can check here for the country you’re visiting.

Click here to renew your British passport.

Foreign travel advice

Get country-by-country advice about travelling abroad, including the latest information on coronavirus, safety and security, entry requirements and travel warnings.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

 

Commons Library Research Briefing – Coronavirus: International Travel FAQs for England

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The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper which provides answers to frequently asked questions about international travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus: International Travel FAQs for England

This paper is a compilation of frequently asked questions about international travel from and to England, and how it is affected by current restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper addresses the following questions:

  • What is the international travel ban?
  • What are the reasonable excuses for travel?
  • Who is exempt from the international travel ban and travel requirements?
  • What are the penalties for international travel offences?
  • I’m travelling to the UK, what do I need to do?
  • What COVID-19 testing is required after arrival in England?
  • What is the “test to release” scheme?
  • What is hotel quarantine for travel from “red list” countries?
  • Are there any exemptions from Hotel quarantine?
  • What if I cannot afford to pay for Hotel Quarantine?
  • When can I go on holiday?
  • I can’t fly because of lockdown, but my flight wasn’t cancelled, what are my options?

Post-Brexit British passport validity

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From 1 January 2021, passport guidelines are changing.

To be eligible to travel to most European countries, on the day of travel, British passport holders must:

  • Have at least 6 months left on their passport, and
  • Have a passport that is less than 10 years old, even if it has 6 months or more left

These rules also apply to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.  They do not apply to travel to Ireland.

Please check your passport expiry date before booking any travel and renew it as soon as possible if it does not meet the new criteria. Failure to do so may mean your passport is invalid and you may not be able to travel.

You can check here for the country you’re visiting.

Click here to renew your British passport

 

 

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