Heathrow Airport planning to charge £150 for coronavirus tests on departure

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• Mike says:

  5 Oct5 October 04:49

  Considering the cost to the government of the current COVID-19 testing program has been estimated at ~£100 per test then £150 for the same style test at the airport doesn’t seem unreasonable.

  If this opens up some closed countries to travel then it may be worth it for some, for example if I wanted to go to the US and this enabled it, then sticking £150 (or x2) would seem reasonable. Obviously it would have to be adding destinations that I couldn’t currently travel to, the quarantine on return isn’t a hassle for me as my business has gone to complete home working so it’s not a great problem. I doubt I’d do it for a Ryanair flight to Spain.

  • memesweeper says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:12

    For a family of five, even for long haul, this is a very high barrier, and doubly so if repeated on the return.

    • Lady London says:

      5 Oct5 October 13:03

      Given the volume that price is bl00dy ridiculous.

      • illuminatus says:

        5 Oct5 October 13:15

        +1. Private test cost peanuts in many countries, and so they should, £150 is outrageous

      • Callum says:

        5 Oct5 October 14:56

        £100 does seem slightly excessive but healthcare is not a cheap business. Companies offering their service “at cost” have been charging around £80 per test. Add in all the staff required and the logistical nightmare of processing hundreds of thousands a day from every corner of the country and its really not hard to see how it reaches that price.

        This is also not something that particularly benefits from “economies of scale”, not least because of the unprecedented and unwavering demand.

        • Callum says:

          5 Oct5 October 14:57

          I’d wager that the dirt cheap prices being quoted from other countries are heavily subsidised by the government (or are different, less reliable tests – there are many types).

        • Rob says:

          5 Oct5 October 16:05

          You can do it at scale. What you do is run 10 samples together (this is how the Chinese manage to mass test). If the test is clear then all 10 are free to go. If the test fails then you retest those 10 individually, using a 2nd swab you collect initially.

          Given that Jersey was testing all arrivals for free, and having to ship tests to the mainland for processing overnight, I doubt it can be that expensive. Even at £60 cost price, it would be costing Jersey almost £10,000 to test a full short haul aircraft and I can’t believe the Government is paying that.

        • Callum says:

          5 Oct5 October 21:26

          Given the positivity rate is 5%, I’m not sure it makes much sense to group them in 10s. You’d be retesting tens of thousands of people every day. Asymptomatic airport tests would be more feasible, but it doesn’t seem particularly practical given you might not be able to retest people in time for their flights. On arrival is a different matter.

          That’s not really an economy of scale anyway. You can use that technique regardless of the number of tests being carried out.

  • Fenny says:

    5 Oct5 October 18:42

    Do you *really* want to travel to the US at the moment, given how little most of their citizens seem to be bothered about the virus, even when their glorious leader allegedly has it?

    • Dave King says:

      6 Oct6 October 01:52

      I have travelled to the USA several times during the summer on essential business and found the majority of Americans are taking the pandemic very seriously. I have felt very safe during my trips to Florida and Michigan.

• Laura says:

  5 Oct5 October 05:29

  How long are private clinics offering turnaround for covid tests? (Real life examples not the ones on their website)

• Colin MacKinnon says:

  5 Oct5 October 05:50

  Heathrow used to handle an average of 200,000 passengers a day.

  So at even 20 positives per 100,000, that is 40 cases a day if we were to return to “normal”.

  On the other side of the world, Sydney Airport has 150,000 a day, for instance – obviously not all from UK! And the Australians are determined, it seems, to reduce cases to zero.

  Do we think the Australians – or other countries like them – want even a just one or two a day of positive cases, the ones that the tests missed?

  As Rob points out, it takes two to tango – and many partners around the world are still very unwilling to even get to their feet, let alone dance.

  • ChrisW says:

    5 Oct5 October 07:27

    I can’t see Australia replacing their current hotel quarantine requirement anytime soon.

    • memesweeper says:

      5 Oct5 October 08:08

      Given the way they are handling things I think you’re right. But Australia is a bit of an outlier, most countries want to find a way to open things up more, but with a managable risk.

• Stu R says:

  5 Oct5 October 05:57

  Heathrow seem to be authoring their own destiny with this. That said, it shouldn’t be down to them to provide this service, it should be the government, and it should be mandatory for most arrivals, this IS a global pandemic after all.

  However, compare our shambolic Serco T&T system with the experience of our friends upon their arrival in Funchal (yes, yes, FNC is a fraction the size of LHR, I know) … every passenger on every arriving flight is tested and sent to their respective accommodations to self isolate pending the results. They arrived at 20:00 Friday and their test results arrived by text message at 05:00 following morning.

  I said compare, yet there is no comparison …

  • memesweeper says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:06

    +1

    our country’s handling of arrivals has been lamentable from start to now in this pandemic.

• James says:

  5 Oct5 October 06:59

  I opted for the Qatar voucher and received a voucher for the whole amount originally charged to my card plus 10%, – not just base fare.

  • Rob says:

    5 Oct5 October 07:46

    Thanks. I thought that was how it worked but the small print says base fare.

• ChrisW says:

  5 Oct5 October 07:31

  Is anyone booking any longhaul travel anymore? I have absolutely nothing booked for the next 12 months while usually I would have several longhaul trips booked.

  I can’t be bothered with vouchers, tying up money with airline that may go bust before at anytime (like Virgin) or navigating finding a covid test the day before travel.

  I appreciate how generous these policies like Qatar’s are but I’m not booking anything until I’m certain I can actually go which for longhaul travel seems at least a year off yet.

  • Anna says:

    5 Oct5 October 07:40

    I’ve got 2 long haul trips booked, re-scheduled from this year. Starting to wonder if BA would agree to move our Easter flights to somewhere we’ve a chance of getting into without 14 day quarantine (e.g. Seychelles, but that might change again!)

  • Louie says:

    5 Oct5 October 07:41

    Yes, me. I’m 10,000 miles away from elderly family and would like to see them as soon as I can. I have flights booked at Christmas (unlikely to happen and would need a Covid test anyway, though I would be happy with that if it meant I could go) and in June (more likely I hope). Both on points but not with BA so the £ tied up is insignificant.

    • Lady London says:

      5 Oct5 October 15:02

      I’m in a similar position right now, @Louie.

      If I had spare cash I would be doing a speculative Qatar Airways booking knowing I would need to change it, but as governments still havent been able to work out coordinated strategies that dont change 2x a week, and as I doubt QR would ever provide a timely refund, I’ll hold off booking any longhaul for 6 – 9 months even though I have the same worries as you.

      Anyone with spare cash can achieve some things that normally would be harder to achieve, by a bit of strategic booking on shorthaul if the flights can be found operating (not the case on my routes).

  • memesweeper says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:10

    I have a long haul booking on Avios for Xmas… the route isn’t operating at the moment, tests are required for entry, and quarantine on return, so on balance unlikely to happen I think.

  • Mike Lo says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:15

    I have the maldives booked for December with Qatar.

  • Number9 says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:25

    I’ve got Dubai booked in January, but can’t see that happening. I’d have to travel to London ( unless somewhere nearer opens up) 96hrs before pay £150 for pcr test plus the hourly cost of employing carer for mum while I’m gone that puts the test at nearer £250/300 for me. Plus can’t get insurance as I’m 60 and companies like battleface Age for Covid cover is 59. Plus all the face mask stuff. Then you have to get test before you come back, I have to apply for permission to bring my meds in, another £35 for Drs letter, I’m not concerned about isolating when I come back as I’m stuck indoors anyway, but if I tested positive over there it would be a nightmare as I have to get live in care for my Mum while I’m gone, another 2 weeks paying for that would be a nightmare. Holidays are meant to be relaxing time and for me to recharge my batteries, I just don’t think I’ve got energy to deal with all of it plus the stress of the tests.
    I’ve got a cruise booked to South America and Antarctica in January 2022 I’m slightly more optimistic about that.

    • Lady London says:

      5 Oct5 October 15:05

      @Number9 what happened to SpursDeb? I liked that name as a symbol of grit and determination 🙂

      • Number9 says:

        5 Oct5 October 17:17

        Well I’m just celebrating the return of the God Bale to the Lane. It’s his shirt number. I will revert back later. But yes being a Spurs Supporter certainly teaches you to manage your life exceptions. I might change it to audere est facere.

  • Jody says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:56

    We’ve got Australia booked with Avios for end of January. I’m 99% sure that will be cancelled!

    Got lots of stuff re-booked from this year, will just have to wait and see what happens I guess.

  • Callum says:

    5 Oct5 October 11:18

    I see the distinction between short haul and long haul travel mentioned a lot, but I don’t really see why it matters? Either way, you’re going to a foreign country and are going to spend many hours in close proximity to others on the way. Does it really make that much difference?

    And I found this policy great to get back to Europe from Australia. Saved money by buying a cheaper route and then got to choose the actual destination 2 days before based on the latest quarantine updates, giving me a 2 week holiday on the continent on the way. Plus I can now use the return leg anytime within the next 15 months, giving plenty of time for the border to reopen.

  • Princess says:

    5 Oct5 October 22:20

    I’ve got Jordan booked for the end of the months that I will need to cancel/change as they require quarantine and then China at Eater time… both trip were booked before COVID and I have had to move them.. the only trip that I managed to do since March are the one to go back to see my family in Italy…

• ScienceTeacher says:

  5 Oct5 October 07:38

  What would be wrong with doing the ‘less accurate’ test three times? Probability will tend towards 99% accuracy rather quickly with a 3.5% error rate.
  And it’ll still be cheaper and quicker.

  • David says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:06

    You’re assuming that there’s no chance of a repeating common cause error on the part of the patient.

  • marcw says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:34

    False negatives are calculated based on the sensibility of the test. If the virus load is below a threshold, then the test won’t detect it. You can test 100X, it still won’t detect it.
    In contrast to false positives, which are based on the test specificity (but their specificity is quite high, in the 99% and up).

• TripRep says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:00

  Maldives are demanding proof of a PCR negative test on arrival for all pax. Although it needs to be done 72 hours previously. I think this is a good idea but obviously doesn’t account for you catching CV19 in a taxi, at the airport or a connecting flight.

  I suspect that this will become the norm in the coming months. Some testing providers are going to do very well out of it.

  • Michael C says:

    5 Oct5 October 08:31

    …which is 72 hours before landing, i.e. around 60 hours. Hardly anywhere is guaranteeing this any more (note the *small letter on the 48-hour ones saying “except when especially busy) except the odd in-person private clinic in London charging in the hundreds.
    Any Heathrow offer would be preferable…as long as it’s accepted by all, of course!

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