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

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• Nobby says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:13

  I have a trip to Cape Town booked for mid-November, from Oslo. Fully expecting it to be cancelled, I recently called Qatar to potentially change the trip to Adelaide instead (I’d calculated that it was just less than 5000 miles difference, which the guy confirmed) but was told that although I could change the trip, I’d have to pay the price difference.
  I’d only paid an incredibly-low £1325 for the trip back in March, so to fly return to Australia in business class for the same price was going to be a pretty good outcome (whenever it was that I was going to be able to get there).
  So the ticket change, as far as I was told, is doable but the difference in fare must be paid.
  Is this something anyone else has been told…?

  • Rob says:

    5 Oct5 October 09:02

    No fare difference under the old rules.

  • Martin says:

    5 Oct5 October 09:20

    No fare difference if you found flights with the same booking class available (so if you booked business promo – R class you had to find flights that also had business promo – R availability)
    I was able to swab 1600gbp Mumbai flight to Maldives the last day before the policy was updated

    • Martin says:

      5 Oct5 October 09:27

      Also note that they change the inventory quite often. For example my MLE flight was showing lots of R availability one night then the next morning 0 for whole November and December and the next day again lots of R availability

      • Callum says:

        5 Oct5 October 11:05

        I called expecting to be quoted a big fare difference as the same class wasn’t available, but they changed it for free without saying anything.

        Might be worth a try anyway.

        • Martin Pelant says:

          5 Oct5 October 15:25

          Hmm check the endorsement field on your new ticket. Mine seems to have “Endorsements: INVOL REROUTE /C1-4 NON END / CHNG
          PENALTIES AS PER RULE /COMM REF 1060” so wonder if they in fact treated me as involuntary reroute (but I found dates that have R availability regardless and didn’t ask for any other dates so it didn’t have any effect for me so far)

        • Callum says:

          5 Oct5 October 19:00

          Mine also says involuntary reroute – but maybe thats just how they implement all the free changes? The fare basis still lists change fees etc.

• Yuff says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:15

  The sooner airport testing arrives the better as far as I am concerned.
  The 4 areas in this country with the greatest percentage of furloughed workers are where major airports are based, unsustainable going forward.

• RG says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:24

  Testing is a great initiative
  I withdrew from a flight where testing would be done on arrival, as didn’t want to risk arriving, being asymptomatic and failing test and being stuck in a hotel room for 2 weeks+. Much better to keep others safe on the plane, and if unwell, staying at home with NHS.
  I looked at the private testings, but unless want to pay £200 a person plus travel to a London clinic, they do not guarantee certificate would be ready within 72 hours.
  The two BA ones: City Doc (72-96 hours inc. post): Nomad Travel (£195 if you go to one of 4 clinics)
  £150 is too high: at least the euro 7 is a good start

• Simon says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:31

  What happens if you fail the test. I assume if you drove there you’d be ok to drive home but if you got the train or public transport there then what? Check into the Sofitel T5 for 2 weeks? I doubt they’d want you as a guest.

  • memesweeper says:

    5 Oct5 October 12:32

    A lot of people isolate in hotels, believe it or not.

    What the law is on going home by public transport with your newly-minted COVID diagnosis certificate is unknown to me — but I assume there’s an exception?

• Dave says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:46

  I’m still slightly confused by the exchange ticket validity bit. I’ve got a flight from Oslo to Bangkok in December which clearly I won’t be able to use. Can I extend the validity and use it say in December 2021 without paying additional fees or extra money? Or will I have to pay if the dates I choose are more expensive?

  • Martin says:

    5 Oct5 October 09:22

    If you find new flights with the same booking class availability then it’s all free

• AJA says:

  5 Oct5 October 08:56

  The idea of testing at the airport is good except it needs to be rapid and a lot cheaper than £150 per passenger. Who is going to pay that for a short haul flight with the potential to then get turned away if they get a positive result? Basically costs more than the flight or a good proportion of a business class fare on top. It’s an option if you’re doing long haul but again only doable if the airline then refunds your airfare if you test positive. And having to do a test on arrival or before departure for the return flight just makes flying at the moment not worthwhile.

  I only travel for leisure, I did 7 trips in 2019 and 2 in Jan and Feb 2020. Nothing since then and nothing for the foreseeable, much as I’d like to, and this idea isn’t encouraging me to book. Sorry for all that work in the airline business but I am effectively waiting for a vaccine which I recognise may be a while in coming.

  • Lady London says:

    5 Oct5 October 13:01

    I’m waiting for it to die out except in disparate grographical areas from time to time.

    Much like other diseases endemic in places we travel.

• Alex M says:

  5 Oct5 October 09:07

  While in Russia I could choose to pay between 12 (state owned lab) and 22 (private lab) pounds for PCR, which I think was a fair price. 150 pounds is little bit too much.

  • Rhys says:

    5 Oct5 October 09:36

    Were you offered Sputnik V too? 😉

• Dermot Connell says:

  5 Oct5 October 09:13

  Does anyone know which BA recommended company, Nomad or CityDoc are offering £90 tests?
  I can’t see an offer anywhere near that price?
  We’re travelling to Barbados at the end of October, fingers crossed.

  • Anna says:

    5 Oct5 October 10:36

    I thought it was 7 days quarantine in Barbados at the moment?

    • elt says:

      5 Oct5 October 11:48

      Wef 1/10 barbados tests on arrival, then have to isolate for 3 days until results confirmed OK. This becos UK now classified as high risk

      • Rob says:

        5 Oct5 October 14:16

        Technically your second test is 5 days after your first. If you get your first 2 days before travel then you get another 3 days in.

        Ironically testing at Heathrow would make this worse because you’d have 5 days left to quarantine after arrival.

      • Dermot Connell says:

        7 Oct7 October 15:15

        ELT, Do you know different from below?
        From Barbados website just now:
        “It is now mandatory for all persons travelling to Barbados from High and Medium-Risk countries to have a negative COVID-19 test result in order to enter the country. These tests must be taken at an accredited or certified facility/ laboratory within 72 hours prior to arrival.”

  • RG says:

    5 Oct5 October 14:40

    It’s City doc https://www.citydoc.org.uk/ba/
    “This high quality test is available at a substantial discount for British Airways passengers; reduced from £175 per test to £93 per test.” and
    “Samples returned via Royal Mail Priority Post Boxes should reach the lab in the following 24 hours. Once a sample is delivered to the lab, the lab usually takes less than 72 hours to process the test, though it can sometimes take longer.”
    So £93, but the test is going to take up to 96 hours, perhaps more, hopefully less.
    Given many requirements are less than 72 hours (or at best 96)……it represents a gamble that is difficult to accept

    • Rob says:

      5 Oct5 October 16:07

      The problem is, as far as I can tell, that many ‘in person’ tests (eg swabs taken at your local chemist) are still popped in the post and you’re at the mercy of Royal Mail. Unless you take a test with someone where the lab is on the premises, nothing is certain. At best the lab will refund your money if the result doesn’t come back in time but that is hardly covering you for the loss of your holiday. It is also debatable whether travel insurance would cover the failure of a lab to deliver a test result.

    • Dermot Connell says:

      7 Oct7 October 15:07

      Thanks RG. I’m near a test centre for CityDoc in London so hopefully they’ll be quicker I person.
      Anna, I believe you just need a negative test 72hrs before travel. Last time I looked anyway.

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