Returning to Wales from amber list country, do i have to use CTM for my 2 & 8 day tests?

departed99

Hi Guys

Need some advice.

I'm an expat about to return to the UK and visit my family in Wales after 3 years working abroad. The trip is urgent, i'm not a tourist and the trip is for family reasons. It seems however that if you return to Wales then you HAVE to book your tests through the CTM portal on the Welsh Gov website at the totally ripp-off price of £170! In England you can choose your test provider and there's many much cheaper options than this. 

Is this definitely the case? Has anyone returned to Wales and used a cheaper provider? It seems crazy that you are forced to go though one very overpriced testing company when the rest of the country is free to choose a much cheaper one. 

Caz3121

departed99 said:

It seems crazy that you are forced to go though one very overpriced testing company when the rest of the country is free to choose a much cheaper one. 

Scotland also only has a choice of one....not sure there is much you can do about it.

eskbanker

departed99 said:

It seems crazy that you are forced to go though one very overpriced testing company when the rest of the country is free to choose a much cheaper one. 

Many in Wales would phrase that as 'those in another country are free to choose a much cheaper one', which is of course largely the root cause of such policy variations....

onashoestring

Are are you arriving at an airport in England or Wales ?

departed99

onashoestring said:

Are are you arriving at an airport in England or Wales ?

I'll be arriving at Heathrow then travelling onward to Wales. I believe that they look at where you've been for the last 10 days

onashoestring

Is your onward travel a domestic flight ? 

onashoestring

If you are arriving in England and not flying on to Wales directly your PLF - which includes details of your Day 2& 8 booking will be checked according to the rules for those arriving in England .
So theoretically , you could choose a provider from the list that is available for travel to England - and you would likely not have any problems entering the UK at Heathrow .

However the test results from the private labs are not uploaded to  NHS Wales Test, Trace, Protect Systems so you may run into problems  ending your 10 day quarantine. 

I would also recommend that you read these threads before considering a “cheaper” test provider.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6276566/on-your-own-head-be-it-amber-list-country-trip

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6276229/u-k-gov-scam-company

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6258709/covid-day-2-and-day-8-tests-with-nowtest-extremely-bad/

Butts

onashoestring said:

Is your onward travel a domestic flight ? 

Does anyone fly from Heathrow to Wales ? - new one on me !!

sheramber

https://gov.wales/rules-foreign-travel-and-wales-coronavirus-covid-19-html

Travellers arriving in Wales from an amber list country

departed99

onashoestring said:

If you are arriving in England and not flying on to Wales directly your PLF - which includes details of your Day 2& 8 booking will be checked according to the rules for those arriving in England .
So theoretically , you could choose a provider from the list that is available for travel to England - and you would likely not have any problems entering the UK at Heathrow .

However the test results from the private labs are not uploaded to  NHS Wales Test, Trace, Protect Systems so you may run into problems  ending your 10 day quarantine. 

I would also recommend that you read these threads before considering a “cheaper” test provider.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6276566/on-your-own-head-be-it-amber-list-country-trip

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6276229/u-k-gov-scam-company

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6258709/covid-day-2-and-day-8-tests-with-nowtest-extremely-bad/

Thanks. This is where there's some confusion as technically i'm entering England so should follow English rules, however i'll then head to Wales (via car) to stay. The wording isn't clear and i haven't been able to get through to anyone official yet to confirm anything. 

One of the most annoying things is i'm actually a scientist who works in the field of tropical diseases, and i have a box of RT-PCR and antigen tests at home!

sheramber

Your passenger location form will show you are going to Wales.