How did you get a fit to fly test before the flight?

[filka]

We've arrived in the UK recently so are taking day 2 & day 8 tests. We skipped the day 5 test because we were buzzed by the NHS to isolate the full 10 days.

The first test was taken and posted on Monday (day 2) before last post, in a local priority box. It was received in Swindon at 9pm on Monday and delivered in Birmingham at 08.25 on Tuesday - pretty good.

But the lab then took forever to process the tests and we only got the result at 16.00 on Thursday (day 5) - so a total of 3 days.

Day 8 test we did on Sunday but there were no priority post boxes I could find within an hour's drive, so I opted to hand-deliver to Reading sorting office at 0800 on Monday. It didn't reach Swindon until 0800 on Tuesday (ffs I could have driven there in an hour!) and hasn't arrived anywhere else since then (now 21.00). So the earliest it will hit the lab in Birmingham is tomorrow and if they take 2 days again that'll be 4 days in total.

Now here's the issue. Delays in getting these tests back is merely inconvenient. But when we return abroad we have to take the tests within 72 hours of our flight and get the result before we fly. But the track record of the Royal Mail plus our testing lab is making this look very risky. Our flights are one per week...

So the question - how did you make sure you got your fit to fly test result in time?

I think you may be better off going to an actual test centre if you can, we did ours on a Wednesday evening (travelled on the Saturday) I wanted to leave as much time as possible to get results back as was worried about delays but thankfully got them back by lunchtime on the Thursday so not even 24 hours. The lab emailed the results/certs.

Does it have to be PCR or lateral flow? We did our lateral flows the day before departure via a zoom link and it worked really well. Can check which company it was if you would like more info.

It's a PCR...

Don't use MASTA.
They were so late with our tests (blamed Royal Mail) that I was in the airport car park by the time my text message arrived. They cut it very very very fine.
I think you'll find that wherever you go where they rely on Royal Mail. Your safest bet is to drive to somewhere where the test can be processed the same day.
It just isn't worth the extra stress. We were very lucky. If my text had come through an hour later, we would have missed our flight.

I'm not happy at the huge amount of money I've spent to then get piss-poor service as well...what a scam, duly supported by the government. When trying to find a test firm I found websites with spelling mistakes, site not found errors and all sorts...with over 400 to choose from how do you make an informed decision?

We did in-clinic tests that guaranteed results within 48 hours. It wasn’t cheap, but it was great for peace of mind.

You need to go to a test centre where they do the test for you and process the result on site. We used Randox at Stansted Airport. My DCs had their results back within three hours - we had paid for the 12 hour turn around. £70 per person.

Express Test at Reading? It’s drive through at Madjeski Stadium. Got my results in 24 hours as did my niece.