VSLover

great question as i will be in a similar boat late october.

looking at express test, i was thinking of booking a PCR "fit to fly" test upon my landing at LHR since i will have a booking code to insert on my PLF.

then when i take the PCR test at LHR upon arrival i would imagine i can use that as my day 2 and will have a fit to fly letter for my departure on day 3 that would apply to my ongoing journey.

for express test, they do not make any mention of a "fit to fly" letter for the day 2 arrival test, but they are the same PCR and would imagine any business outfit in the UK would want to obfuscate to goad people into paying for the arrival test AND a separate new fit to fly test.

curious how others have handled.

13901

I think I had a similar situation. I got back from Italy on Saturday and I was told to bring my a*se to Spain come Monday evening. So I did the following:
> Booked a PCR test for arrival at Collinson (back then they still had an office in T5 Arrivals, now it's Expresstest) for the Saturday of my arrival (day 0). It wasn't cheap at all, but I comp'd it and, by miracle, it was approved. I booked it via their website and, as it was an "in person" test, there was no need for boxes to arrive home, sending stuff out and so on.
> Got the results back on Sunday evening
> Left on Monday.

The sooner this ends, the better (BTW BBC is saying that the CMA was raising the risk of testing "rip-off" way back in April..)

GBOAC

So you were allowed to board and enter the UK on the basis of your 'day zero' booking (rather than a day 2 booking)?
This might work for us, we are looking at a wednesday AM arrival and a thursday PM departure. So could effectively just do a test wednesday morning at LHR on arrival, but just to confirm this would be enough for the first entry back into the UK?

fc0175

VSLover, I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding your comment but just wanted to clarify that the only test you can use in the UK as a day 2 test (and put on your PLF) is one sold as a day 2 test. A kit sold as a fit to fly test wouldn't be permitted as your day 2 test (even if you took it on the correct days etc).

It does however potentially work the other way round - i.e. a kit sold as a day 2 test can potentially be used as a fit to fly.

Just to note that the rule of the day 2 test is it can be taken anytime from landing in the UK up until the end of day 2 (so you have a bit of wiggle room here to make it work for the timings of your departure, too) - I think that might answer part of your query to 13901, GBOAC?

I think what it comes down to is whether the format the day 2 provider gives you the results in is sufficient for the entry requirements of wherever you are going next. I think other flyertalk members have done this in practice so probably have some good insights here - e.g. it sounds like Collinson must have given a sufficiently detailed results form for 13901. I haven't done it myself, but to share my experience of the day 2 results format: Sirkka Ltd give you just an email, with name and date of birth, but no further details about date/time of test, type of test etc and doesn't look very official - so that would be unlikely to serve the dual purpose you need. Randox give you a nice fancy looking pdf (complete with QR code!), full of details including the option of adding your passport number when you register the kit. I reckon that pdf should likely work as a fit to fly certificate. However to be clear both of these were home testing kits with results by midnight the next day, so a bit slow for you GBOAC if you are looking at a wednesday AM arrival and a thursday PM departure. And to be honest, I'm not sure I'd want to rely on Randox for a departure test given their less than stellar reputation on kit delivery etc. I think where quick turn arounds are a priority there might be something to be said for looking for an in person day 2 provider that gives detailed results forms and guarantees a quick turn around - I'm sure others on this forum will have some suggestions!

Finally, GBOAC - have you considered using your pre-arrival to the UK test as your pre-departure test for entry to the next country? I believe with your timings you would be required to book and pay for a UK day 2 test (and get the reference for your PLF), but not actually have to take it given you are leaving the country on day 1. If you booked with a carefully selected supplier you might be able to get a refund on the day 2 test. So if you could get your pre-arrival to the UK test to serve dual purpose, it might reduce your total testing requirements down to just 1 swab which is quite efficient!!

bluemoon68

You can take your day 2 test at any time upto the end of day 2. So it is completely within the rules to take a day 2 test on arrival at the airport on what is day 0.

You have to ensure that the certificate issued meets the requirements for your departure. So if it generates a certificate and that the certificate shows all the necessary detail.

13901

Bear in mind you need a pre-departure test done before you step on the plane. But apart from that, using the day 2 on day 0 is fine. why they call it day 2 then I don't know!

VSLover

this is basically what i was getting at. if i book a PCR day 2 test at LHR when i land from FCO on sunday afternoon, take my test there in T5, why wouldn't i be able to use those results for my exit flight 48hrs later (since the US only requires a PCR 72hrs in advance)?

presumably they provide some form of letter that one is negative (well, hopefully negative)? regardless of them selling it as a "day 2 test" and so this goes to the other part of my question--what is the difference between a fit to fly and an arrivals test? both are PCR but one is 59$ and the other is 69$ (this is express test at LHR T5)

fc0175

Yes. The problem is not all suppliers will give you something very substantive e.g. in my example, Sirkka (albeit a home testing provider, not one available at the airport) just sent a generic email saying "at the time you took the day 2 test you didn't have COVID". It didn't specify the date/time of the swab or testing, or specify what sort of tests had been done. So I wouldn't want to try and rely on that as pre-departure test evidence.

So my advice is to just double check exactly how detailed the results letter the day 2 provider you pick would be. If you are planning an in terminal test I think there is a very high chance that someone else here on FT has used that provider (I think maybe you mentioned expresstest?), so will be able to confirm for you what the results letter looks like!

VSLover

thanks for the considered feedback. that is kind of what i presumed re the information fed back to you. but it is odd indeed that the day 2 test is actually MORE expensive than the fit to fly pcr test, even though you are at least guaranteed a letter (lol).

my other question re the day 2 arrival test, since you have gone through the process: you insert your booking reference in the PLF, but after you took your test and got the results--what did you have to do with that information? do you just keep it in the event test and trace contacts you asking for your day 2 results?

fc0175

I think strictly the difference between the Day 2 test and a more generic fit-to-fly test is that for the Day 2 test the provider has to jump through additional government hurdles - e.g. if you were to test positive, it would theoretically get sent off for detailed variant testing (which may not necessarily be the case on a 'standard' PCR). Plus I understand there might be an obligation on the provider to share negative results with NHS T&T on a Day 2 which I suppose is arguably an additional admin burden on the provider when compared to a standard PCR..... However in practice, I am afraid I suspect you would get exactly the same test kit / experience in either case, and are just being charged an extra $10 for the privilege of being able to tick the right box on your PLF....

As far as I am aware there are no obligations on you (the traveler) to do anything with your day 2 booking reference and / or test result once you've completed your test (assuming you're negative, of course!). I agree it would definitely be prudent to keep them handy however, just incase anything goes awry

13901

Randox provides a complete testing results for Day 2 with a pdf, passport number and so on (FYI).

VSLover

Great to know--the drop box put me off but now looking at this, the drop box for a day 2 test is only a 10min walk from home!

13901

this is what it shows. It has passport, name, status, date of test etc. It doesn’t look the same as the “fit to fly” certificate issued by Randox but, then again, nobody even glanced at it when I flew out of MAD!

suley

Would appreciate your advise, so one of the so called £20 providers recently added on the gov site seems to be 20 mins away from me as oppose to some random place up north or far down south. Joy! The test supplier is Randox and its one of these pop up over night type companies operating out of a social club offering self test on site for £20 on random dates in September. Seems to work for me in date and time. They seem to offer both day two test for £20 and two and eight £20, I would have thought two and eight would be more but it seems priced the same. I am vacinated and coming from a amber so only need a day two, is there any point booking a day two and eight just in case either Dubai or Morocco go Amber plus before the end of September or just book the one I need ie the day two and see what happens. I was thinking maybe I could ask them for my day eight test and keep for myself and post back but it seems they book your day eight test when you book day two. Any thoughts on this?

Schwann

Amber Plus is no longer a thing.