Travel European Travel and Holidays 2021/22

Phil David said:
For those who've used the Randox tests, any idea where to find the unique reference number in the kit?
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It’s both on the box and on a sticky label inside it which you can remove and put in the paperwork instructions you retain in case of any problems. You use this ID number when registering your test with randox .

the booking reference number is a different thing which you need for your travel locator form when returning to U.K. and that number is contained in the e mail from randox confirming the the order.
 
jonathan points said:
It’s both on the box and on a sticky label inside it which you can remove and put in the paperwork instructions you retain in case of any problems. You use this ID number when registering your test with randox .

the booking reference number is a different thing which you need for your travel locator form when returning to U.K. and that number is contained in the e mail from randox confirming the the order.
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Thanks Jonathan - no URN in either of those places but it transpired not to be necessary when using the app, which was a whole world of faff. Clunky, glitchy, wouldn't work on my iPhone SE but eventually successful using an iPad at the second attempt when the certificate didn't appear after a few hours. Their customer service is lamentable, as is the contemporary norm. The entire procedure seems to be of zero practical benefit to anyone other than those selling the tests.

When collecting them from Brent Cross I was struck by how few people in the shopping centre were wearing masks, no more than 10%, compared to the close to 100% at Girona market the previous day.
 
my wife came back on eurotunnel and the antigen test booking ref had still not come thru on email so she just made up a random code on the passenger locator form. Straight thru - of course - because no one is really checking! Another £90 into pockets of well connected health care provider whose antigen kit looks amazingly just like the NHS one but in a new box
 
Paul J a i n e s said:
my wife came back on eurotunnel and the antigen test booking ref had still not come thru on email so she just made up a random code on the passenger locator form. Straight thru - of course - because no one is really checking! Another £90 into pockets of well connected health care provider whose antigen kit looks amazingly just like the NHS one but in a new box
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£90?!! We paid about £50ish to Randox, code comes back within a few seconds. A few fortunes will have been made, for sure.
 
Coming back from France last week, I paid £19.50 from BioGroup. The test result was inconclusive . Somehow I see no point in paying for another test, especially as I did the test this morning for the ONS survey project.
 
Just had an email from gov.uk saying that anyone intending to use a paper copy of their vaccination status in France needs to ensure that it was printed past 1/11/21 to ensure the bar code can be read. I haven't read the gov.uk website in detail, and I guess most people will use an electronic version to prove their status, but if you have printed off a paper copy, as I have, then it sounds like it won't be accepted since Monday.
 
John Devlin said:
Just had an email from gov.uk saying that anyone intending to use a paper copy of their vaccination status in France needs to ensure that it was printed past 1/11/21 to ensure the bar code can be read. I haven't read the gov.uk website in detail, and I guess most people will use an electronic version to prove their status, but if you have printed off a paper copy, as I have, then it sounds like it won't be accepted since Monday.
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Well, I found that most people were happy with my wife’s uk code, although they couldn’t scan it - they just read the dates and assumed it wasn’t a complete fake!
 
We have four French family visitors who struggled with the Randox Day 2 procedure for about three hours last night....finally sorted but blimey, what a faff! Less than 20 quid each but they had to pick them up somewhere on the Bath Road near Heathrow which would rank as a location somewhere in Dante's nine circles I'm sure..

Which makes our 22 quid a head 2 day tests from Prenetics the day before (delivered by courier, fairly seamless IT) seem like an absolute bargain..
 
Just asking - is a PCR test the same as a Lateral Flow test - ie they send you a swab and a tube with liquid?

I ask because I requested a PCR but it looks the same as a flow test.
 
David Pope said:
Just asking - is a PCR test the same as a Lateral Flow test - ie they send you a swab and a tube with liquid?

I ask because I requested a PCR but it looks the same as a flow test.
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Usually Lateral flow test will come with a card or strip, which you would put liquid on and know your result within 20 mins. And then you take a photo of the result sending back to the service provider.
It is also possible that the company will do Lateral flow test on their side, in that case the package you receive would be the same as PCR test; it's the test on their side different, you are just taking sample.

If you already have a positive LF test, you should be able to get a free NHS PCR test kit. (probably this is what you got)
 
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