Holiday warning as rip-off firms are charging £70 for free travel forms

BRITS heading on holiday are being warned of rogue travel firms charging up to £70 for travel documents – despite them still being free.

Covid restrictions currently require most travellers to fill in an entry form, which includes the UK with all arrivals needing a Passenger Locator Form.

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These are free, often provided via the government website.

However, a number of firms are charging travellers to fill these out, for an additional fee with some up to £70 per person.

The study, conducted by Which? found 12 different websites charging travellers to fill in documents needed for the UK, as well as Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Turkey.

They warned that some of the websites ranked higher on Google “than the actual government website link,” which could suggest to travellers it is a more trusted site.

Not only were the services charging for the forms, but many incorrectly said they return them faster than the government official website.

However, most travellers get their completed Passenger Locator Forms back in minutes after filling them out via the official website.

The free form can be filled out on the government website here.

To avoid being caught out, Which? warns travellers to always go via the official government website, and to not click on the first link when searching.

Brits only need to have a negative lateral flow when returning to the UK, which must be taken by day two.

Millions of Brits have also have been targeted by Covid Pass scams conning them out of money and sensitive data.

In one scam, people were sent a text with a link to a convincing copy of the NHS website. It asked them to pay £4.99 for the passport. Criminals then use the card details to make other fraudulent payments. 

Here are just some of the common travel scams to be aware of being booking your next holiday.

There is some good news for holidaymakers – as the NHS Covid app is expected to start displaying proof of a third dose in the next few days, helping Brits over 40 travel abroad.

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