I am traveling to Europe next month, and have heard that the Australian vaccination certificate is not really accepted everywhere. I also read I can get an EU covid pass from Switzerland , Has anyone done this and how did it go. Thank you in advance for any helpful information
EU covid / green pass
lesleigh on 31/01/2022 - 09:48
Comments
There are a few articles of late in the MSM, along with a few 'letters' from aggrieved travellers with first-hand experience. This older article suggests some workarounds, but I'm not sure if these remain current:
https://www.traveller.com.au/australias-vaccine-certificates…
I purchased the swiss Covid certificate in December. I couldn't see any other way around it and the cost ~$45 AUD was annoying but really a reality of travel during Covid times.
I booked a fully refundable hotel in Zurich for one night for around 3 weeks in the future then used the address of the hotel and hotel booking details in my application. The App is available on the Australian app store so no issues downloading it and getting the special code they need to load the certificate automatically. They processed it successfully around 5 days later and I got the certificate in the app on my phone. The process was pretty smooth once I had the documentation. I then cancelled the hotel booking and never visited Switzerland. Unfortunately due to the omicron surge I never travelled to Europe to use it in person but I see no reason why you'd have issues on the ground with it
I followed the guide here: https://flighthacks.com.au/how-to-get-your-eu-covid-qr-covid…
They just ask to see your Aussie cert then to show some ID to cross reference (passport/drivers licence) that it’s actually your certificate. Most people want your money and will be satisfied with your Aussie cert. you won’t have any border problems once your vaccination is added to your passport.
Airlines will just glance at it and restaurants and bars just have to follow procedures, as I said they want your money. Don’t believe all the clickbait.Until you get to a museum/attraction/popular restaurant that isn't willing to bend the rules for you. Then you'll be out front arguing in a foreign language about how your QR code that they cannot scan is official but when they scan it it will fail and won't work… Or just pay the $45 and get an official one that's guaranteed to work…
I mean if you're broke it might be worth the saving but if $45 is a big deal to you then you're probably not travelling when flights are expensive, travel insurance is difficult to get and you need hundreds of dollars of tests to travel there and back…
Thank you all for your input, it looks like I'm going Swiss just to be sure. I have waited a long time for this trip and put a lot of planning in so really do not want to mess it up.
Are you sure? Accepted perfectly fine in UK and USA. They follow which vaccine you've taken rather than simply being "Australian cert". A Pfizer vaccine for example should be accepted.
Australia isn't listed on the EU Digital COVID Certificate. Not even as one if the 33 non-EU countries supported: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-re…