Government scraps pre-arrival covid testing and ‘Day 2’ PCR tests

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• Alan H says:

  5 Jan5 January 19:52

  Welcome change. Travelling in CS to GCM on Friday and prices for our return covid test to enter the UK were £120 each so that’s a saving of £240!

• Erico1875 says:

  5 Jan5 January 20:33

  I wonder how long it will be before Scotland falls in to line with England?
  I’d like to book the Canaries for a week, end of Jan. I dont have enough holidays available to do the 2 day isolation reqd on return.
  Jet2 have some really good package deals from Glasgow, but it’s a risk if Nasty Nick doesn’t change the rules.
  I was an independence voter, but the Scottish Governments antics have made me think twice, not that Im a fan of Boris and his pals either

  • TGLoyalty says:

    5 Jan5 January 20:44

    If you do a fast test on landing there’s no 2 day isolation. Could be as quick as 3 hours.

  • Paul says:

    5 Jan5 January 22:02

    Oh have a day off!

    She has followed the science. Johnson can’t, as his cabinet and backbenchers are in full revolt. Dropping testing has more to do with lack of tests, lack of capacity to test and to stop counting the mounting infection numbers. It’s all about the Tory party and nothing else!

    Those infected may not be very ill, I wasn’t and not testing may prove to be right, but it’s not yet backed by any real evidence and is a gamble.

    Personally, I prefer the approach Scotland has taken, one more reason why my family are moving north

• Redeyedonkey says:

  5 Jan5 January 20:58

  I realise this is going to vary a lot country by country in Europe depending on where one is going back to but as a general rule how was it working before under these ‘old rules’ if someone is coming to a 2 day conference in the UK from Europe do they have to do our 2 day test even though they’re at the airport leaving the country at that point AND another test as required by their destination or???

  • riku says:

    5 Jan5 January 21:08

    you have answered you own question. it varies by country. there is no general rule. And many countries don’t mandate entry tests for their own citizens or residents anyway – the principle being that if you live there you’re probably going back to your own house, not a hotel and moving around doing tourist type things.

• Chris says:

  5 Jan5 January 21:18

  QQ – What is the cheapest “observed” lateral flow provider you have used to fly out to US?

  • SammyJ says:

    5 Jan5 January 21:53

    We used DocHQ which is £24.50 with code RETURN30. Got the cert while we were still on the call.
    If you’ve already got some non-NHS tests kicking around that you can use it works out under a tenner with them just by booking a video for up to 4, and buying the certs for £6 each.

• Aaron C says:

  5 Jan5 January 21:49

  We’ve booked some Day 2 PCRs with Express Test at LGW which are now redundant. Is there any chance of a refund?

  • SH says:

    5 Jan5 January 22:17

    In my experience if you cancel with ExpressTest you will shortly afterwards get a voucher code in that amount which you can then type into the checkout of a new booking for the type of test you now need or a future trip.

• CH says:

  5 Jan5 January 22:16

  While I think the simplification is a net positive, I still don’t understand why a test on arrival is preferred to a pre-departure test.

  • SH says:

    5 Jan5 January 22:18

    Presumably preferable for airlines who are no longer adjudicating the suitability of your test or authenticity of your certificate but just checking that you have completed a PLF

    • YFP says:

      5 Jan5 January 22:22

      and also, no risk of getting a positive test and having to isolate for 10 days in a foreign country! That alone puts me off, so this is very welcome

  • QFFlyer says:

    5 Jan5 January 22:40

    I’ve asked this question. My only thought is that there’s no need to stop it entering the country (as community transmission is rife anyway), but they still want to know who’s got the virus and where they are.

    I flew to England in November, to come back to Australia I needed a pre-departure PCR, then a day 1 PCR and a day 5-7 PCR after arrival (luckily the latter two are paid for by Medicare). So the English system seems a dream in comparison!

  • Dominic says:

    6 Jan6 January 08:54

    Short haul airlines cannot sustain a model whereby people won’t take short trips to Europe as a result of the risk of not being let back in.

    Scientifically flawed, of course, but business has won that argument.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Jan6 January 09:52

    For people the fear is always testing positive on holiday and being stuck there

    They would much rather get home and test positive and isolate at home. The problem with that is if they are positive they’ll infect others on the flight.

• stankpa says:

  6 Jan6 January 03:20

  Good morning! We are flying back from US to Scotland via London on BA on Saturday. Am I right in thinking that English rules apply for entry to UK?

  • Rob says:

    6 Jan6 January 10:31

    Technically no, because you live in Scotland and must obey Scottish law. However, you will land in Scotland as a domestic passenger so your documents won’t be checked.

    • Patrycja says:

      6 Jan6 January 17:42

      My VeriFLY pre departure test box is showing as completed even though we haven’t submitted anything. In the past it was entry point that made a difference I.e. for amber countries you had to quarantine in the hotel if you entered Scotland directly but quarantine at home if you flew into England and made your way to Scotland. I am hoping this will be the same approach.

• GS says:

  6 Jan6 January 03:46

  I’m currently in the States, due back mid morning on Sunday. I’ve got a LFT with me (which I was going to be using for ‘fit to fly’ back to the UK but that’s not now required). Can I now use that LFT as my day 0-2 test rather than the PCR that I’ve got as part of the same package? Or do I have to use the PCR given the latter was purchased as my day 0-2 test and the LCF was for ‘fit to fly’. They are on a single reference from the provider (Randox) for PLF purposes as they were one package.

  • Rob says:

    6 Jan6 January 10:33

    As long as you have a reference number I don’t see the issue.

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