Day 2 test after return to the UK from Amber country - any good ones? any evidence of a price cap?

Shookup

We are going to Greece next week and returning to the UK early September.
I need to book our day 2 tests for when we are back in the UK and generate the code for the Passenger Locator Form.
There has been talk in the news of the prices of these tests being capped.
However, when trawling through the recommended list on the government website they all seem very expensive.  When looking at the reviews for the companies, they all seem terrible.  The issues seem to be:
1.  We don't live near test centres so the home delivered ones are out best options, however some of these require you to drop off at a collection point far away
2.  The true home delivered options which you can send back in the royal mail or with a royal mail postal priority box are very expensive.
3. On reading the reviews, some people are finding it easy to get their code for the Passenger Locator Form, but actually not getting the test properly delivered to them.  So are happy at first, but miserable when they don't get the test.

The government said it was going to be looking into all of this and capping and regulating them more, but so far I see no evidence of this.

Has anyone found a good home delivery day 2 test service yet?

silvercar

The prices of the tests for those in Wales and Scotland, where only one supplier was allowed, have been reduced.

If you are under 18, had your vaccinations + 14 days or coming from a green country, then you don't need to isolate, so how quickly you get your test results is almost irrelevant. 
That said, people have reported putting Randox tests in a Royal mail priority post box and still receiving their results. 

If you are concerned about getting results quickly, then look for the suppliers that operate at airports and do your test on day zero ie the day you arrive at the airport.

onashoestring

Agree with everything @Silvercar has said 
the link to all the suppliers on the Government list is here ( prices start at £20)
https://www.find-travel-test-provider.service.gov.uk/test-type/green

The Government suppler is CTM(NHS T&T) and they have reduced their price to £68 available to travellers  to England as well as Wales and Scotland

Shookup

Thank you.  Greece is an Amber country.  Unfortunately we get back at 1130 at night and I don't think the airport test centres are open then, so we will need to do them at home.  Good to hear people have been able to return the randox ones by a royal mail delivery box as randox has had better reviews than others (and it was the returning of them that was putting me off).  I do think £68 is expensive when they are advertised on the government site as from £20 but whenever you click on them they seem to be more than this.  I will look at that government supplier though.

Thank you very much

MattMattMattUK

Shookup said:

Thank you.  Greece is an Amber country.  Unfortunately we get back at 1130 at night and I don't think the airport test centres are open then, so we will need to do them at home.  Good to hear people have been able to return the randox ones by a royal mail delivery box as randox has had better reviews than others (and it was the returning of them that was putting me off).  I do think £68 is expensive when they are advertised on the government site as from £20 but whenever you click on them they seem to be more than this.  I will look at that government supplier though.

Thank you very much

£68 is pretty much as cheap as they get in most circumstances, it is just part of the cost of international travel at the moment and should be factored in, just like hotel, flight, food, drink, other transport, etc. costs. If I had made the decision to travel then I would probably take the CTM option, people seem to have far fewer issues with them than with other providers.

The £20 are for very specific circumstances, you pretty much need to live next door to the lab so you can pick up the test and drop it off yourself, in reality for almost everyone they do not exist.

jimi_man

Hi

We used the Randox ones coming back from Greece and it was all very straightforward. £43 each. We dropped them in the collection box as it was only 3 miles away. Not sure how much a courier/postage is.

I must say I found the whole travel thing very easy and no bigger queues than normal - slightly less if anything. Getting the required documents is easy if you have a smartphone and Greek airport staff don't make a big song and dance about it - quick scan and that's it. Coming into the UK it was no different than before the pandemic. 

NickRno77

I’ve been investigating this today, I’m going to Tenerife in October. Randox  says £48 for fully vaccinated 2 day test, need to drop off. NWP Online say £40 for fully vaccinated 2 day test, can return by post as far as I can make out. 

I’m guessing if the tester messes up the postage or loses the test it doesn’t matter a jot as the passenger locator form has the ID code for the test. ( I wonder what happens if we put any old number on the form! ? )

https://nwp-online.co.uk/home/p/covid-19-day-2-pcr-testing-package-for-fully-vaccinated-travellers

Shookup

I went with Boots in the end, should have waited a bit longer as that nwp looks good.  This cost £75. It generated a booking reference sent to me by email which I hope is what is needed for the passenger locator form to come back to the UK.  Unfortunately, it would appear that you can only fill that out when in Greece as it says you have to fill it out 48 hours before return.  Will I need to have it printed out or is it okay to keep it on my phone?

silvercar

NickRno77 said:

I’ve been investigating this today, I’m going to Tenerife in October. Randox  says £48 for fully vaccinated 2 day test, need to drop off. NWP Online say £40 for fully vaccinated 2 day test, can return by post as far as I can make out. 

I’m guessing if the tester messes up the postage or loses the test it doesn’t matter a jot as the passenger locator form has the ID code for the test. ( I wonder what happens if we put any old number on the form! ? )

https://nwp-online.co.uk/home/p/covid-19-day-2-pcr-testing-package-for-fully-vaccinated-travellers

Your legal obligation is to buy and book the tests and include them on your plf. you then must take the tests before the end of day2 and send back for processing.

If the provider messes up in any way, then that is not your fault.

However, not buying the tests and making up a number of the correct format would leave you liable for a fine. Similarly if the tests don’t reach you in time, you complete them when they do arrive. If they don’t arrive by day 3 phone 119 and they will send you new tests to do. 

There is a balance between breaking the law by using a made up code and choosing a cheap but unreliable government approved supplier.

onashoestring

Digital copy is fine but a paper back up is useful in case your phone battery goes flat - you will need to show it when you check in for your flight and again when you arrive in UK . 

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

£68 is pretty much as cheap as they get in most circumstances, it is just part of the cost of international travel at the moment and should be factored in, just like hotel, flight, food, drink, other transport, etc. costs.

It's part of the cost of international travel if you're a UK citizen. A test will cost you 20-30 euros in Greece, to give just one example (given the OP is going there).

I have to admit I find it a bit mystifying the way so many people on here (a money saving forum) seem to instinctively defend the pricing whenever this gets discussed. It's been an obvious rip off from day one and they've only now cut the price and started to talk seriously about regulation when they should have been doing it months ago.