Do I need an in-store PCR or home kit? Any recommendations or experience?

[Fivemoreminutes1]

“Visitors from the United Kingdom must present a negative RT-PCR (NAAT) test taken within 48 hours before departing to _”
Is this the same as a fit to fly certificate?
I’m getting so confused reading various websites. And I’m trying to keep costs down.
Please help!

For travel a PCR test needs to be carried out by a medically trained person and recorded so cannot be done by yourself at home. When you get result, that is your fit to fly confirmation. Travel is changing all the time, so check last minute before you place an order.

We used simplytestme when we flew back to France (before the rules were changed)

You do the test at home, upload a photo of the result and you are emailed a "fit to fly"certificate within 30 minutes.

You can order the test online and they are less than £20.

@Mindymomo We’re not going for another two months, so will wait as long as possible just in case things change.

@Parpophone Thanks, that looks good but it appears to be for LFT testing, not pre-departure PCR. I’ll email them.

All travel testing must be done using the paid for options. Randox appears to be the most commonly used one but there are plenty of others to choose from - just check they're authorised.

Some countries say the test must be done by it in front of a man authorised person, others allow at home tests.

Some countries allow pcr or lft.

Some countries allow you to use a recovery from covid certificate, with or without testing, but not all of these accept the nhs app version.

The rules are often different depending on if you're fully vaccinated or not.

I found the TUI covid restriction page and tables really useful as it's all broken down with links.

I'd check further the requirements of your destination. That will determine if you can sample at home and post back, or if the sample needs to have been monitored when taken.

If you are close to an airport, that is one place to look.

Last summer Randox PCR wasn't don't by a professional,we did it & sent it off to Randox. Anything could happen on 2 months, tbh.

This page shows "pre-travel antigen test" £12

www.simplytestme.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzJOV-LGb9gIVF_lRCh00GQqTEAAYASAAEgJeAPD_BwE