You don’t need to take the test even if you stay for any length of time. Nobody is interested in the result, it is only for your own interest. It is not an official rule you have to submit the test.
You only need the reference code number, taking the actual test is only for your own information. It is not checked or a requirement to complete a day 2 test. Only to Buy one.
Hello @Corona - my apologies, I’d forgotten it has changed again on 18th July. No need for a test before travel if vaccinated x2.
Copy from Gov.website :
From 18 July, fully vaccinated adults no longer need to present evidence of a negative test result before travel. Fully vaccinated travellers will need to present the following documents:
- a completed ‘sworn statement’ (déclaration sur l’honneur) form self-certifying they are not suffering from symptoms associated with coronavirus and have not been in contact with confirmed cases in the preceding fortnight. This can be found on the French government’s website
- proof of vaccination status
Thank you for your reply and the info.
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My sister and I are contemplating having lunch together sometime in near’ish future as have Eurostar vouchers to use up from cancelled trips last year.
Either round King’s Cross, or Gare du Nord… so far King’s Cross wins on choice of food, although a nice Indian round the corner from GdN.
Which wins out on ease of testing? Better for her to come here, or me to go there?
We are both double vaccinated.
As you can go there without an exit test maybe by a tiny amount in favour of travel to France. But I havent looked at day trip test requirements.
I really would like to see an audit of these companies offering these tests in the UK just to see how many actually return positive test results.
It is a complete scam!
I have even seen video footage taken, on hidden cameras, where at one place they were sending sacks full of untested samples to waste.
When I returned to the UK from Germany in March you had to do two tests (Days 2 and 8) and a single private company, CTM (Corporate Travel Management) owned by an Australian multimillionaire had been given a government monopoly over these tests (there was NO CHOICE) and they charged £210. incidentally, CTM were also the sole company administering the enforced hotel quarantines.
Now they have allowed a plethora of these fraudsters to proliferate but all still linked into the Gov.uk website.
When I returned again from Germany, about 3 weeks ago, the price of a Day 2 only test ( for Fully Vaccinated people) had shrunk down to about £55. You’ll see them advertised even as low as about £28, to get your attention, but you will find that those are for tests that they only conduct “in person at their clinic”. I tried this for a Day 2 test in early August and was faced with “fully booked…first available date 5th September “. Yeah! Go figure!
Some of these companies even falsely use the blue and white NHS logo emblazoned (randomly) on their websites to give them a gloss of authenticity. They have NOTHING to do with the NHS.
It is yet another absolute scandal being sanctioned by a corrupt UK government. I needed no tests to enter Germany now that I’m fully vaccinated. The pre-arrival into the UK test that the UK are still insisting on was actually carried out for free in Germany, even though I’m not (yet!) a German citizen. It was done, as a walk-in without prior appointment or fuss. I had a result in minutes both electronically and at my request, a printed copy too.
I am just amazed at how long people in the UK are allowing this corrupt, Pandemic-profiteering to continue unchecked.
My advice is, don’t worry about whether the test you are booking in the UK is a PCR, Rapid Test, Lateral Flow or any other nonsense. Just find the absolute cheapest one you can from the choice online. As long as it gives you the code for your PLF that’s all you need.
AND, make sure that you buy the test using a credit card. A friend and his wife bought theirs for their return from their house in France recently. The company they booked theirs were at least completely thorough scammers who never sent the postal kits to them at all and never answered any of their phone calls or emails. When they contacted the relevant Government body that they hadn’t received their tests they were told not to bother with them at all and just get a refund through their credit card company….which they did!
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Seconded
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I agree.
The Day 2 test would be easy to monitor because each test package has a reference. Presumably the provider has to return this data electronically back to the government authority handling this in order form them at least to being paying lip service to the process and maintain their presence on this list of government sanctioned providers on the Gov.uk website. I did mine and got the result back electronically by App a couple of days later. Presumably the relevant authority gets this result too.
What IS complete nonsense however is that you can conduct one of these self-administered tests at home with no supervision or anyone checking that you are doing it properly! A properly conducted swab of the posterior nasal cavity and tonsillar regions can be bloody uncomfortable! I had a few done now. So, this time I gave it the most perfunctory of waves around the front of my nose and mouth….and that was it. Sod it! Just because I know how to do it properly, doesn’t mean I’m actually going to do it properly. This is why the whole thing is an absolute charade. I did think about swabbing the kitchen floor instead but an apparent sudden Ebola focus in Lincolnshire probably wouldn’t have been funny!
But seriously, I maintain my earlier point: This is all a complete scam and just get the cheapest thing you can find that generates a code for your PLF.
(P.s. I haven’t tried it yet but the codes come in a particular format of letters and numbers and I wonder if it would be possible to put in an old/ used code on the PLF just to complete it? Technically, a form of fraud, I suppose but I would feel little remorse or compunction not to do it given that I would only be defrauding fraudsters ie. the corrupt Government and their chums.)
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The Guardian: PCR Covid test firm with links to former minister accused of multiple failures.
So, plus ça change and all that - back to needing a test pre-travel to enter France.
I was hoping to travel on the 2nd or 3rd of Jan - however the need to get a test done within 48 hours of travel makes this impossible using the typical test at home kits.
Eg - normally you could test on the afternoon on the 1st, drop it off in one of Randox’s drop locations or the priority postal service (for e.g. Expert Medical), have the result by close of play on the 2nd and then get the morning ferry on the 3rd both travelling and (just) arriving within 48 hours of the test.
But as the 1st is a BH I doubt there will be a collection or any lab work.
As I have to squeeze in pre-travel testing on the way back as well as “Day 2”** testing and get the result before I return to work the trip risks getting trimmed at both ends into pointlessness.
Randox offer a lateral flow which you do at home, then use an app to register and they claim you get a certificate suitable for travel.
Has anyone used this service in the last couple of weeks, will the French accept the certificates?
** Well, Day 0-2 as it is now.
I used that system on the 28th with TestnGo without any problem, got the result back in 7 hours
You took a video of yourself doing the PCR test and a photo with the result strip and your passport, you also scanned the QR code on the test strip to complete the form before sending it all in.
It was a bit of a faff but worked ok and you got a test certificate back to print out.
Thanks - can’t say I’m wild about the video or passport photos but it might be a question of “needs must”.
I just need to see if they will respond to a query about which days the system will work, given that the 1st is clearly out, the 2nd is a Sunday and the 3rd a BH as well.
Obviously to show its you taking the test and not someone else, you could easily get round this by substituting the swab but nothing is foolproof.
I wonder if Randox are operating without a break - apparently CS phones will be manned, albeit with reduced hours, continuously.
Hopefully they will be back to me shortly.
I used a walk-in express test service to get clearance for my US trip. About 50 quid for a lateral flow with results by email same day. They also offer a rapid PCR if you need that.
Locations are typically not that convenient if you are sailing rather than flying.
