MiraculousM

This is the most important point.

While i think this is a huge step in the right direction.. honestly its not about the test but its more about the fact that this will deter people from travelling who would have travelled before, taking advantage of the cheap deals and saying "f it.. i need a holiday".. We all need a holiday. Key workers need hollidays more than anyone else. Believe me, i want nothing more than to be able to go "ahh its just money", blow the majority of my pathetic savings and finally get on club world seat to a beach destination somewhere. I dream about this every day. But i will wait.

So stay at home for us. Please. We are over double the number of people (thats humans with families who care about them) dying then last Sat. The situation will get worse before it gets better. Please dont contribute to it.

brunos

I agree with you.

Just a datapoint from Hong Kong which imposes strict quarantine and requires a test on arrival and on end of quarantine. Most arrivals (not all) also require a 72h pre-departure test, so most pax will have tested negative before departing (although there are some doubt on the reliability of tests from countries like Nepal, India,..).
The daily order of magnitude for the number of arriving pax is 500
In a two-weeks period in December, 19 pax got positive on arrival and 18 in their 14 days quarantine (was raised to 21 days subsequently). HK has more comprehensive longer-term statistics but I don't have them.

This does not answer the question about the efficacy of the pre-departure tests, as those positive do not fly. All that can be said is that the number of positive arrival tests was much much larger before the pre-departure tests were instituted some months ago.The 50+% positive (19/37) upon arrival shows how silly the magic 7% number quoted by UK government is. Before the pre-departure testing, the number of positive cases upon arrival was much larger so the breakdown between positive on arrival and positive after quarantine was very different.

WE don't know how pax who develop covid during quarantine got infected. It could be that they got infected prior to taking their 72h predeparture test or prior to flying. They could also have been infected during the flight as demonstrated in the New Zealand case..

13901

I meant to provide an example that I know of. Of how, in moving from the public purse to Main street, the same thing - produced by the same company, same product - managed to increase its costs not once, not twice, not three times.. but almost 9 times. I'll say it again so everyone who actually bothers to read is clear: I-am-not-saying-the-price-should-be-the-same. I am saying that either Boots is using Giannis Antetokounmpo to develop those tests or they are making a killing on each test they sell.

I'm not advocating the end of free market, but it's abundantly clear to me that this crisis is seen by many companies and many 'entrepreneurs' as a way of making fast money in a very questionable way.

tuonopepper

Snap, were the same. There's already a reduced OPEX for travel as the business hasn't suffered as badly as expected by driving it via Zoom, so they're looking much harder at what justifies travel in the first place.

We'd kind of hoped there would be some element of treating the C19 vaccine like any other travel vac employees could go pay for and expenses but I think that was always a long shot.
The net result for us, a US based global corporate, will be a big reduction in travel, of others go the same way, which I suspect they will, then it can't be good for a recovery as I still believe most of BAs revenue comes from the business traveller.

​​​​​​As for leisure travel I have 2 kids over 11 plus myself and the Mrs, £150 per test, twice just says don't bother with a holiday right now tbh, not that we were thinking of anything before August anyway at best.

Misco60

And that is surely the point.

A lot of people seem to have still not grasped that we are in a public health emergency, and if the only way of stopping them travelling is to make it as inconvenient and as expensive as possible then I'm all for that.

Andrew35K

Given that it’s possible that Lateral Flow tests will be allowed, is that the same test as an Antigen test?

corporate-wage-slave

Antigen testing means looking for molecules from a disease, as opposed to antibody testing where you are looking for material relating to the immune response (mostly). So in that respect PCR, LAMP and Lateral Flow are all examples of antigen testing. PCR is sometimes not put in the antigen category since the processing is different, but it's still a molecular test of the virus itself.

bisonrav

Most of the threads on this subject are in the excellent dedicated coronavirus and travel forum, and include detailed information and discussion on incoming and outgoing requirements, including a parallel thread to this one discussing UK border restrictions. So if you missed a thread, it is probably there. It's an invaluable resource, and acknowledgement that this is a general question and not specific to one airline.

But I can't honestly blame BA for supply/demand PCR test pricing at either end of a trip, given they have nothing to do with it, nor does BA have much to do with questions about the morality of travelling under current circumstances. BA has stopped holiday bookings and has done at least as much as any other airline to reduce the pain of having to change arrangements and defer or cancel travel, so it's not as if it's forcing individuals to travel or lose their money. The restrictions aren't going anywhere soon, even when the UK is vaccinated to a high degree, other countries won't be. This, again, seems to have very little to do with BA. I guess it's possible that airlines may seek to put in place lower cost testing to generate demand when the infection rates have fallen back, and that might include BA too. But at the moment it doesn't.

TGLoyalty

just so that everyone else’s point is clear
the deal was for machines and materials.

The government is paying many more millions for the test centres, labs, logistics, result processing and everything else in between. So each test has a cost far higher than what you have calculated.

you are comparing the cost of seeds to the cost of apples on the shelves.

But the fact express test and collinson can do it for £80-99 and places in Germany can do it for c£40-50 shows boots etc are trying to make a killing.

destone

When is this coming into effect?

Still no official guidance available at https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control...1-e3109cce8eae

Is this government completely inept?

realgaga

Friday as reported on https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55626818

corporate-wage-slave

I've put a few more details in the UK Travel Corridor thread in the Coronavirus forum.

EDDLEGLL

Is there any further detail (/speculation) regarding the permissibility of a test done in England prior to leaving for a day/one-night trip? Arguably this won’t currently affect many but some of us still have to do those trips for essential (and legally permitted) purposes.

I’m not expecting the further official details due to be published to make reference to this particular question and I’m afraid it might come down to airline/agent judgement...

destone

The wording of the to-be legislation focuses on the timeline of the test taken, and not location. In my view what you proposed should be fine.

HB7

I don't work for the NHS and I'm so very lucky to be able to work from home. I know it is not much, but I just want to say thank you to you and all front-line workers.

I genuinely don't know you all do it, it really does take an amazing type of person to do what you all are doing, especially considering you guys must be absolutely exhausted at this point. I'm praying and hoping we are out of this as soon as possible.