Pre Departure Covid-19 testing

Even for people who are fully vaccinated, some countries still require a negative PCR covid-19 test performed within 72 hours of arrival.

Thankfully the £160 prices that were normal for the past year are finally coming down.

And airlines are now arranging discounts for customers in a bid to increase passenger numbers.

British Airways for example has a list of 11 companies that will provide you with various different tests, and packages.

I'm particularly interested in pre departure PCR tests - so I went through the 10 companies comparing prices for this particular test (ignoring Chronomics who don't offer this test)

First in the BA list is CityDoc who charge £125 for a central London in person test

Then there's Collinson who charge £82.50 for in person tests - available at multiple airport locations and a site at The O2 Arena in London

Eurofins offer a home testing kit for a very attractive £40.42 - and they have a number of drop off points around the country, which would remove Royal Mail from the equation. They promise to give you a result with 24 hours of them receiving your sample.

Update 6th June 2021: Eurofins currently does NOT have any tests in stock

Update 12th June 2021: Eurofins failed to despatch my order on time - I do not recommend using them

Express Test charge £59 for various airport testing sites, and have higher fees for some city centre locations

Halo's home test kit is £74.76

LetsGetChecked also provide a home test kit for a slightly cheaper £69.30

Medicspot have a higher £84.15 fee for a home test kit

It looks like Qured charge the same £84.15 for a home test kit, but the final price is only available if you go through the full registration process (which I didn't)

Randox have recently reduced the price of their home test kit (previously £60) down to a more competitive £43 net of BA discount  Updated 12th June

BA have added Wren Healthcare which offers £139 tests at 10 clinic sites and £169 tests in your own home  Updated 3rd June 2021

These prices are specifically for British Airways customers - but I'm not sure how much validation they all do.

I like the sound of Eurofins £40.42 fee, and being able to deliver my sample directly into their own drop box.

Using a British Airways 2-4-1 voucher on a one way redemption

British Airways & American Express recently announced changes to their 2-4-1 vouchers triggered after the 1st September 2021.  Full details are on the Head for Points site for both the free Amex card and the paid for Amex card.

One aspect of the changes that I want to look at is the new option of starting a redemption outside the UK (currently all 2-4-1 redemptions must start in the UK).  And specifically using a voucher for a single redemption flight from a low fees point of departure (e.g. Brazil or Hong Kong) back to London.

Firstly let's look at a standard return redemption from London to Brazil during August (using peak redemption calculations)

LHR - GRU return

Economy  80,000 avios plus £200 per person

Premium Economy  120,000 avios plus £483 per person

Business  180,000 avios plus £586 per person

So a pair of Business class redemptions saves you 180,000 avios with a spend of £1,171 for taxes and FEES

Now let's assume you book a cash ticket from the UK to Brazil, and let's look at a single redemption flight from GRU to LHR

Economy  40,000 avios plus £8 per person

Premium Economy  60,000 avios plus £8 per person

Business  90,000 avios plus £8 per person

So a pair of Business class redemptions saves you 90,000 avios with a spend of £15 plus the cash fare from the UK to Brazil

To try and compare these options, let's assume you buy a one way cash ticket for £300 per person (and that you're happy to fly Economy on a day flight to Brazil)

So it's a choice between saving 180,000 avios and spending £1,171 on a return redemption or saving 90,000 avios and spending something like £615 on a single redemption

If you value avios at 1p, then a return redemption is generating a saving of £1,800 less £1,171 in fees - so a net saving of £629

A single redemption is generating a saving of £900 less £600 for the cash tickets and just £15 in fees - so a net saving of £285

Whilst the single redemption will have limited use (Brazil and Hong Kong routes only, and those willing to book single cash tickets), it may appeal to flyers who don't have 180,000 avios available for a return Business class redemption.  It may also be attractive to those who don't want to spend nearly £1,200 on a pair of return redemptions, when they could spend around half that on Economy outbound seats and Business class inbound seats.