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UK hopes to fully reopen by June 21st…at the earliest, but maybe it won’t, but it could, and if it does, this is how it will happen in 5 stages
Boris Johnson has announced a “hopeful” timeline of the UK’s plan to fully reopening and eliminating lockdown restrictions all together. The first stage begins in roughly two weeks and, if all things go to plan, end in mid June. If they don’t go to plan? Well…it’ll be sometime after June 21st. This is why it’s so important to realize that the dates listed below are “at the earliest” and are data dependent, but with vaccine rollouts under way and cases dropping precipitously…things are starting to look hopeful for the heavily locked down UK. Johnson mentioned that have Covid passports could become a thing, although not enforced by law at this time, it could be advantageous for indoor businesses to reopen if people showed they were vaccinated. Remember, the dates you see listed below are the earliest things could change. Also remember that the UK was shutting down for two weeks in November…
Now…before you get too excited ( I’m excited since my fiancee is British and maybe I could actually see her again ) there are some conditions that must be met prior to moving to the next step. Each of the listed criteria doesn’t really have any specific data points attached to it…like what is an effective vaccine distribution rate? How much reduction in hospitalization clears the threshold? Does the country roll back a stage if these numbers aren’t met?
- Vaccine continues to be distributed effectively.
- Vaccines continue to show efficacy towards reducing hospitalizations
- Infection rates ( R number) doesn’t threaten to overwhelm the NHS .
- New variants don’t derail plans.
The 5 Steps of unlocking the country
Step 1: March 8th, 2021
- Schools reopen and outdoor sports are allowed again but must be after school sports
- Two people would be allowed to sit next to one another as long as they are outside
- Nursing home/care residents are allowed a visitor ( although they must be designated a “regular” visitor)
Step 2: March 29th, 2021
- Two households ( or 6 people ) can meet outside
- Outside sports facilities and organized sports are allowed once again
- You can travel outside of your zone, or local area
Step 3: April 12, 2021
- Non essential retail stores can reopen
- This includes hairdressers, etc
- Reopening of outdoor hospitality
- Indoor gyms, swimming pools, exercise facilities can reopen
- “self contained” holiday accommodations are allowed to reopen
- I would assume this means Airbnb, etc
- Funerals for 30 people and weddings up to 15 guests
Step 4: May 17th, 2021
- No social contact rules while outside – social distancing etc is lifted
- Two households are allowed to begin meeting inside, up to 6 people
- Indoor dining and hospitality will reopen and hotels can reopen
- movie theaters, museums, performances, etc
- Weddings can now have 30 people
Step 5: June 21, 2021 – the country is fully open
- No limits on social contact…I.e. social distancing inside, outside
- Nightclubs are open, bars are open, etc
- Anything that is still close that the country forgot to reopen can now open as well. Let’s be honest, there’s probably someone, somewhere that was forgotten about. You can open up laddy
I’m going to stay cautiously optimistic
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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