Pick up a Randox ‘Day 2’ test at your local PayPoint store – but you are overpaying

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• Shaw West says:

  7 Jan7 January 04:52

  I had few £1 RT-PCR day 2 tests. Are they still available. I will need to fill the passenger locator form as I am “transiting” after 24 hours

• Kay Melville says:

  7 Jan7 January 05:24

  Every supplier of tests in UK is overcharging. Here in Cyprus we pay €5 to have a lateral flow test performed and a text/email/printed result given for travel. The mandatory PCR test is €15 at Larnaca or €19 at Paphos and are carried out at the airport before anyone even collects their baggage. The whole process runs like clockwork and results arrive on your phone…. usually in under 12 hours. Yes fewer passengers arrive here however the numbers are pro rata to the population of the country. There is absolutely no reason, other than profiteering, (and lack of organisation!) for UK not to be doing similar.

  • MikeL says:

    7 Jan7 January 08:41

    Thought the mandatory PCR upon arrival at Paphos had stopped. Can you clarify

    • PlaneSpeaking says:

      7 Jan7 January 21:20

      It’s still mandatory at Larnaca Mike so will be at Paphos too. We went in on Dec 23 and the restrictions haven’t relaxed. In fact, they now need a pre-departure test from the UK as well according to the FCO site today (Jan 7).

• Dr Dr says:

  7 Jan7 January 05:42

  It is very obvious that now that the opportunity for profiteering from the pandemic has been reduced for uk travellers, the cost of a LFT day 2 will sky rocket! You cannot buy now for later as no one has the correct code yet, which will probably begin LFT2XXXXX…….

  • mzb says:

    7 Jan7 January 07:37

    Day 2 LFT codes pre-Omicron used the same format as PCR tests (PRVDRxxxxx), don’t see this changing.

• ScienceTeacher says:

  7 Jan7 January 05:48

  Out here in China it is £3.30 for a PCR test with results in 4 hours. If there is a local case, the test is free and still done within 4 hours. Quite impressive I found!

  • John says:

    7 Jan7 January 06:10

    Most of the cost of PCR tests is labour

    LFTs should be cheap too given that they are all made in China and the UK government doesn’t want to support UK LFT manufacturers

• truthbetold says:

  7 Jan7 January 06:21

  LFT are almost pointless unless the test is actually monitored or you personally want to test yourself. Simply taking a test and posting a photo is completely open to fraud (and lining pockets). What’s the point now?

  • mradey says:

    7 Jan7 January 06:49

    There is none.

  • john says:

    7 Jan7 January 10:34

    I’m not sure what the numbers are, but there is certainly a decent percentage of people who have common decency and are responsible enough to isolate if they get a positive result as they don’t want to infect their family / friends / colleagues etc..

  • Derek Broughton says:

    7 Jan7 January 10:37

    TBF, monitored tests aren’t necessarily much use either. Our Fit-to-fly tests, performed by a tech at the Malta airport, consisted of a _very_ perfunctory swab just barely inside the nostrils.

  • Alex Sm says:

    7 Jan7 January 23:42

    The point is to calm down agitated public opinion – if you look at public opinion polls (like YouGov) about 50-60% of UK people support strictest covid restrictions especially for those who travel. I think it’s out of jealousy / envy or whatever name this deadly sin is called. But by doing this “I know that you know” game with testing the govt keeps everyone relatively happy

    • Rob says:

      8 Jan8 January 11:29

      One of these polls recently added an extra question as a test – should all pubs and nightclubs in the UK be shut for good, permanently, made illegal? Over 20% agreed.

      • Alex Sm says:

        8 Jan8 January 19:57

        Hehe… people are quite radical from their sofas. And there was another question about how likely you think other people break the rules, and people say 80%, and then how likely you break the rules, people say 5% or so…

• Sandgrounder says:

  7 Jan7 January 06:54

  Not a chance in hell I would trust my personal data to a company run by a director with a history of 8 entities since 2013. But, each to their own. It’s a whole £6.95 that stays in your pocket after all.

  • Sarah says:

    7 Jan7 January 07:18

    Not sure why the fact that they’ve had unsuccessful companies (or actually by looking on companies house companies that never actually traded so just ‘ideas’) means they’re no good here. They have v good reviews on social media and trustpilot, so as you say – each to their own!

    Seems to be trigger happy on registering companies (at worst) but nothing suggesting any kind of impropriety?

  • Rob says:

    7 Jan7 January 07:49

    A business charging £12 for a product it is buying for £2, and relying on word of mouth instead of paying for marketing, seems pretty stable to me.

    You could set up an identical business yourself within 2 weeks if you were bothered. £20k gets you 10k of their tests wholesale. Neil, our IT guy, could build you the website on a day or so. We could probably sell the lot for you if you undercut £12.

    The tests are probably identical to the Randox ones too.

  • Derek Broughton says:

    7 Jan7 January 10:40

    I’m pretty sure that if you picked ANY successful (long-term) company, you’d find most of their directors have been )directors of at least 8 companies since 2013. It’s the way corporate boards work!

    • Sandgrounder says:

      7 Jan7 January 12:36

      Husband and wife operations that last a year and don’t file returns? Hardly a non-exec role with a blue chip is it!
      Anyway, said my 2p and I’m done.

      • Sandgrounder says:

        8 Jan8 January 07:43

        Ok, coming back because they have now added a VAT number, and it is correct as per the HMRC search tool.
        I am risk averse but fair 🙂

• Gavin says:

  7 Jan7 January 07:02

  I will leave spain on sunday at 6pm to fly to heathrow…..which test do i need to get in order to get the code for my passenger locator form to enter the uk…..can somebody tell me please ?
  Thank you.

  • Rob says:

    7 Jan7 January 07:46

    A Day 2 lateral flow test, such as the £12 one discussed in the article.

• novelty-socks says:

  7 Jan7 January 07:56

  Living in an area where the post has been heavily disrupted by COVID absence, I would definitely favour click and collect over Royal Mail delivered options.

  • Flyer says:

    7 Jan7 January 09:20

    I guess if you order far enough in advance you’re pretty safe – maybe not if your Day 0 is tomorrow (although if your test doesn’t arrive…. not your fault and no isolation so not a massive risk!)

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