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Pre-flight Covid Tests throughout England

After much searching and sifting out expensive options, I found a very fast and inexpensive pre-flight Covid test you can get in 50 different UK (England, Scotland) cities. I took the test in Bath as I was departing for my flight back to San Francisco the next morning, but it looks like this service also has testing clinics throughout the UK.

I'm just posting here to save people time and expense since our Bath B&B owner (Peter at Marlborough House) didn't have the latest details and there are lots of predatory (expensive) Covid testing if you aren't in-the-know. I am not affiliated with the service, but from my personal experience, I highly recommend it.

I went to officialrapidtests.com and clicked the "In Clinic Testing (PCR & Antigen)" button ("Find Test Centre").

N.B. To fly back to the States, all you need is an Antigen test. PCR tests are also accepted, but they take lab work -- the Antigen test is like your home tests, but it's proctored by a doctor, and MUCH faster.

From there, select your city and they'll offer you a local option. In Bath I went to the DAM Clinic at 3 Milsom Street. They do testing 7 days a week from 8AM to 4PM with appointments booked every 15 minutes, and you get your Antigen test results back by email within 2 hours (mine took 1 hour). Price as of June 2022 was £22.49 -- much cheaper than nearly all other options I found, including testing at Heathrow.

Select the "In-Clinic Lateral Flow Antigen Fit to Fly Test (Results within 2 hours)" option, fill in your info, book the timeslot, and be sure to show up on time. While they do take walk-in customers, I wouldn't risk being turned away if they are particularly busy. Remember that you can test the day before or day-of; There is no 24 hours before requirement as of today.

My experience: I went into the DAM Clinic and they gave me a fresh mask and confirmed my info, then I sat for about 5 minutes. The clinician called me in and I did the usual drill (so to speak) with the nose swab. If they get a positive result, they would prefer to do a second test, so they ask you to hang around for 15 minutes, or just go grab coffee nearby and pop your head back in after 15-20 minutes. They can also call you, but only if you have a UK mobile number. Easier just to hang around and wait for the all-clear.

Test results come in the form of a PDF file sent to your email address, which you can print at your local lodging. I fly United, and they ask me to upload it to their website so I'm "Travel Ready" -- easy peasy.

I hope this saves folks a ton of time and expense. Best of luck, and happy travels!
Michael
San Carlos, California

Posted by
2980 posts

Just tried the link and it just goes to another web search engine. Can you confirm the address?

Posted by
329 posts

Michael, thank you so much for posting. We will be staying outside London next week (for work) and want to visit Oxford on our last day, but we thought our only testing options were to haul ourselves to LHR (during Friday evening rush hour after we visit Oxford), or do a supervised home test (& we've heard of people having connectivity issues while trying this).

I am about to book a test at a local clinic. So convenient. Thanks!

p.s. just saw your note about United, which we are also flying. That's also helpful.

Posted by
7143 posts

@Laura - you only need to upload your test results to United if you want to check in online and make it easier at the check in counter. By uploading your information beforehand, you won’t need to show it at the counter when you go to check in and check your bags. United’s Travel Ready Center is easy to use. Once you upload your information you’ll get a confirmation text within a few minutes whether the document was accepted or not. I just took a screen shot of my negative test result document, saved the image, and uploaded it. I didn’t upload the pdf because it was password protected from eMed.

Posted by
33 posts

Thanks for posting this. I was looking on Delta's website where they provide testing information and none of the places show testing available. So, then I thought I'd just take some of my government issued tests with me and pay for someone to watch us take them on video. I'd much rather go somewhere and hav it done. Thanks.

Posted by
329 posts

thank you, Jaime, for the additional information. That's good to know about being able to use a screenshot.

Of course, while I was in England, this testing requirement was dropped ... whew!