Another Passenger Locator Form Question

[-SharonA-]

Can those who have used this on their return to the UK please advise.
I am going to Portugal next month staying in a villa with no printer.
I can fill in the PLF online here, but can I print the form & take it to Portugal to use at the airport when returning?
There is WiFi, so when form is submitted 48 hrs before return I will get the QR code. But the form will be the one printed back in the UK 2 weeks previously.

[puzzled54]

I don’t think you need to print the form out. When you fill it online in and submit it before your return travel, you will get a document emailed to you that has the QR code on it. I took a screenshot of the document and showed that at check in.

[Etch]

You don't 'fill in the PLF' online - you give answers to questions which will then appear on the PLF document once the online process has been completed and submitted less than 48 hours before arrival back in the UK. Do you have a device to which the document (or a screenshot thereof) can be transferred and shown at the airport?

[237SJ]

You can just fill it online while you are away and you will receive a QR code which you can show on your phone. You don`t need to print it off and you can`t do it at this end because it won`t let you submit until you are within 48 hours of your return journey.

[New Judge]

When I did mine last October I completed it before I left the UK. They are kept on the system provided you revisit them less at intervals of less than 7 days. If you leave it more than seven days they are lost and you have to start again. I submitted it when I was within 48 hours of returning to the UK and got my QR code. Nobody asked to see that either at my point of departure or when I arrived back in the UK.

[smurfchops]

I thought you didn’t have to fill in a PLF when travelling home to England any more. Why is everything so complicated?

[237SJ]

I heard the Gov were supposed to be simplifying it. I did one in December - waste of time really. Just a box ticking exercise.

[New Judge]

It is a complete waste of time. But one that will now almost certainly remain ad infinitum. Remember the "temporary" Advance Passenger Information requirement brought in following 9/11? Twenty years later, it's still a requirement, its continued existence continuing to "keep us all safe". Along with this we will see London Mayor Khan's "temporary" restriction of Freedom Pass holders being unable to use their passes before 9am extended indefinitely. This was brought in during the early days of the pandemic when capacity on public transport was restricted to about 25%. There are no such restrictions now.

[237SJ]

I knew of people who were dealing with the PLF when it first came in. From what I heard, a lot of people just put false contact details down and then scarpered and were uncontactable. Nobody said API would be temporary and that is a security issue - to check if somebody is on a no fly list.

[jno]

Freedom Pass restrictions were hardly Khan's idea. They were "announced as part of TfL’s financial support package from Government" - no restrictions, no funding. Boris greatly enjoyed his powers over transport when he was mayor, introducing exciting bike lanes and buses with backward-facing seats and windows that wouldn't open in summer. Now he's doing his best to run TfL from Downing St.

[237SJ]

Freedom Pass - lucky you. I would have to be 67 before I got one of those.