Shortly after the start of covid-19, Greece instituted a PLF – passenger locator form – that was, at first required for everyone leaving and entering Greece. After a while, it was only required for everyone entering Greece. I had received well over a thousand e-mails and comments asking for help with this form from travelers so I am glad to report that today that form is gone (mostly!).
Greece Has Ended the Passenger Locator Form (PLF)
The purpose of the Greek PLF was to identify ahead of time where travelers were coming from and have all their contact information with one QR code to show upon arrival in Greece. This let Greek officials know with one scan whether the traveler needed a rapid test on arrival and also a way to contact them if a passenger in close proximity to them tested positive.
While the idea makes some sense for contact purposes, it caused major headaches for many travelers. For most of the life of the PLF, the form could only be filled out within 48 hours of arrival in Greece but had to be filled out the day before arriving in Greece.
The Greece PLF Caused Much Confusion
This caused confusion for many who didn’t realize the form was necessary and showed up at European airports only to find it was now too late to fill out the form. They either had to pay to change the flight and go the next day or give up on their travel altogether.
For people traveling from the US, it was a bit easier since their first flights mostly left before midnight in Greece. But, for people that were departing on their reservation from an international gateway, it was possible that this flight was departing after midnight so if they had not already filled it out, they were stuck.
Lastly, again for most of the life of the PLF, the QR code was not delivered until midnight in Greece on the day of arrival. For travelers from the US, this meant that they did not have the PLF before checking in for their flight. Some airline agents were confused and did not know this and insisted on having the PLF – making for a very difficult time.
Over the last year, it evolved to the point that you could fill out the PLF whenever you wanted (as long as it was still not the day of arrival in Greece) and receive the QR code immediately after. That certainly helped but it was still an extra step in the process for visiting Greece.
I had to do the form more times than I can remember and am thankful I never once had a problem with it but this is largely because I am very familiar with the situation in Greece. I know for holiday travelers, it was something that many either did not think about or had forgotten and that is why it caused problems.
The Greece PLF is No Longer Required
As of today, March 15, the Greece PLF is no longer required for travelers visiting Greece. This means there is one less thing to worry about if you are heading to Greece. However, the PLF does still exist for anyone that would like to fill out a simplified form so they can generate an EU certificate of a negative of positive Covid-19 result. This is helpful so they can simply have the form generate a QR code they can have scanned to make it a little easier upon entry (but certainly not required).
Aegean Airlines is celebrating the end of the Greece PLF by having a 20% off sale for all direct and connecting flights to/from Greece. This sale is bookable until March 21 and is good for travel until June 30, 2022.
