If you are thinking of travelling with children via VTL flights, you might want to find out more before booking that flight. Will travel be safe? How risky will it be? What should you bring along? We speak to a mum – Grace who visited Netherlands with her family via the Vaccinated Travel Lane and learnt about her experience and some #protips.
On The Vaccinated Travel Lane with Kids to Netherlands
Grace, together with her husband and three children ages between 6 to 10, travelled to Amsterdam, Netherlands for two weeks recently. She returned, before there was a full lockdown ahead of the Christmas period. Grace shares her experience and gives families an idea what they can expect when travelling.
How was the process at Changi? What documents did you have to prepare?
The process was smooth. We obtained our digital vaccination certificate from Notαrise and did a pre-departure ART (for the adults) as it was required for entering Netherlands. The queue at the check-in seemed to move slower than usual as the staff had extra documents to check but it not a long queue so it didn’t take too much time overall. My kids were disappointed that there wasn’t a bowl of sweets at the Changi airport customs counter, so parents may want to pack some if the kids need something to suck for the take-off.
What was flying like with a mask on? Were the children in discomfort?
No, it wasn’t too difficult at all. The kids are already used to wearing their mask for long hours in schools and they could remove it whenever snacking or having meals.
Upon arrival at the destination, how was the experience?
The arrival at the Amsterdam airport was really smooth, thank God. We already filled up our health declaration form online before we left Singapore so we cleared customs quickly. We were just reminded to wear our masks in the airport.
What was different about the precautionary measures in Netherlands compared to Singapore?
Netherlands was having a partial lockdown when we were there which meant that most places close at 5pm except the supermarket (at 8pm). That didn’t affect our plans too much as most of the attractions and museums we visited would have closed at that time anyway.
However, there were no Christmas night markets. For dinner, we either bought takeaway or cooked at our Airbnb apartments. The kids were glad they did have to wear masks in Netherlands while the adults were required to wear masks at indoor vicinities.
The most inconvenient part was that the adults had to take a pre-event testing every morning as a Corona entry pass is required in many places and our vaccination status was not reflected in their system.
Thankfully, the pre-event testing is free and available in many locations in the Netherlands so we usually made an online booking to do it near our accommodation in the morning before we headed out and it usually took an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
What would your advice be to families keen to travel via VTLs? What are essentials they should bring?
My advice is to book accommodation that allows for free cancellation, buy travel insurance that has COVID-19 coverage and keep updated with the latest travel news in the countries.
Essentials to bring include ART kits (we tested the children if they complained of any sore throat or had runny noses).
Thank you, Grace for sharing with our readers on your VTL travel experience with your family!
VTL Travel with Kids: Plan Ahead
The pandemic might have transformed the way we travel but it is still possible to head overseas knowing your risks and having minimising them with the right insurance and an optimistic mindset.
If you are thinking of travelling with your family, do plan ahead, do your research on protocols and bring along necessities like masks, ART test kits, immunity boosting supplements. Also, do check on protocols should you require quarantine. Each destination would have its own rules.
