British Airways Brilliant UK ‘Travel Testing’ Solution

Reasons for not booking a trip right now are many, but many won’t last forever. Travel is the thing we all love and miss, and whenever it makes sense to do so, there will be nothing better to quell a year of challenging circumstances.

For UK travelers though, the governments circuitous route to a “solution” – that’s as polite as I can be at this point – has brought tremendous new hurdles to anyone who leaves the country.

While it’s expected that many current border measures will be dropped, a negative covid-19 test before arrival into the country is likely to remain for quite a while, and British Airways has a brilliant solution, which takes out all the guesswork, most of the cost and a lot of the hassle.

British Airways x Qured Testing

British Airways is taking customers travel happiness into its own hands, announcing a partnership with Qured that sorts out all the stresses of testing to return to the UK. For the super discounted price of £33, customers can buy a Qured testing kit before they depart the UK, and take the kit with them on their travels.

No need to find a testing center abroad, pay a wildly varied amount of money or worry if the test will be accepted by border authorities. That’s serious peace of mind.

Here’s how it works. You buy the test before you travel, and it turns up to your door. You pack it, take it with you, and keep it closed until you’re getting ready to return.

As the days approach before your return to the UK, you book your online e-consult to supervise your rapid test within the UK government’ allowed testing window, complete the kit on your own and receive a result within 20 minutes – all done at home, hotel, or wherever.

Nope, no need to ship the kit off for additional testing or anything. And yes – the test is 100% ok’d by the UK Government for this purpose. It will allow you to board a flight to the UK, assuming a negative test result is rendered.

Easy Testing To Unlock Travel

Vaccinations are the goal, but rapid testing and easy access is the key to travel in the shorter term, until access is more widespread. Live studies of pre-departure testing programs have found that with a negative covid-19 test taken within 3 days of travel, there’s a 1:1,000 to 1:1,500 chance a passenger could still be of worry.

With rapid testing on arrival, that figure can shoot as high as 1 in 1 million, according to the Mayo Clinic, after trials with Delta Airlines, Atlanta and Rome Airport.

In some destinations, testing is relatively easy and free, such as the United States where I currently write this, while in other locales it’s absolutely not. Not needing to worry about whats offered at a destination, or how reliable it is, is a huge step up for reasonably reopening travel.

British Airways Making Things Simple

GSTP understands British Airways invested significant time and resources in getting costs for this testing partnership down, so that customers would benefit.

Paying £33 for an easy covid-19 test may still be less of a win than the ideal of “free”, but it’s a reasonable add on cost to travel right now. Really, if it means summer trips to Europe and beyond can go ahead, it’s a small price to pay. A family of four would pay just over £120 for a trip, whereas now it’s £120 per person for most testing in the UK.

Some destinations may still require a negative test before you’re allowed to leave the UK, and Qured has other services covering these sort of tests, and there are a myriad of other testing providers as well. GSTP was incredibly impressed with Halo Verify, an at home solution for pre-departure testing for departure from the UK.

Still, this solves at least half the equation, and maybe more. Well done, British Airways.