just wondering I'm fully vaccinated and travelling to the uk, do i only need a negative antigen test to show for the flight heading out and not a PCR test. also do they check you have booked your day 2 test at customs and who does it? boots the chemist ?

An antigen test is fine. And you can book your test with any of the providers listed (https://www.gov.uk/find-travel-test-provider), you have to provide details of it on your passenger locator form. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...ing-to-england

And if it's not a one way trip, make sure you do everything needed for the return to Canada too!

HTH.

My understanding is you have to book your Day 2 and also Day 8 tests for UK in advance and enter your details on the passenger locator form. I’ve also seen reports from travellers saying they also wanted to see the receipt for the purchase of those tests.
The suggestion was also to print things off for easy access which is what I propose doing to ease the stress.

Thanks for the reply. So where would I go for these tests? I'm going home to Manchester ? Can I use these self test kits are they good enough do you know?

Have a look at the gov.uk site for rules entering from an Amber country - if you’ve been vaccinated in Canada, unfortunately you’re not classed as fully vaccinated by the current UK rules. That means to have to quarantine and as a minimum, do tests on Day 2 and Day 8. You can pay for and do an additional one on Day 5 which, if negative, means you get early release from quarantine but you’ll still have to do the Day 8 test.
The website also gives you recommendations of where you can buy the tests - you have to do that before you go and enter the details on your Passenger Locator Form.
I can’t tell you more because I haven’t gone through the process yet but that site will guide you.

See the link above - it gives you a list of all providers. Yes, home testing is fine as long as it’s an authorised test, as above you’ll be quarantining anyway so getting them sent to your place of quarantine is fine.

HTH.

hi, so i have looked at the website and wondering how do you decide which test to have? do you go for the cheapest? do i go to boots the chemist and just do a swab test. this hole thing just seems dumb . what's stopping me from just not doing the tests

Canada is an amber country ..
Use the links provided https://www.find-travel-test-provide...v.uk/test-type
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...d#type-of-test

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-q...ive-in-england

You will need to fill out a passenger locator form - with the test booking details https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-c...fore-travel-uk

We travelled to the UK a few days ago.

EXIT TEST : The antigen test is absolutly fine for the UK. The test is available at some of the major airports (Toronto being one) in only minutes. Note: you will need a test to board any domestic leg in Canada of your UK bound flight. We were struggling to get a test locally in rural Manitoba and found Winnipeg airport were not offering tests. I contacted Air Canada to find out if we could fly Winnipeg to Torronto and then get a quick test before boarding our international flight the answer was a loud and resounding NO. In the end we found Manitoba Health do free PCR tests so got one of those.

UK Locator - You can't get this done until you are within 48 hours of your UK arrival. You can set up an account to prepare the ground but wont be able to put any travel details in until then. You must book a Day 2 test, you don't need a Day 8 Test and you don't need to quarantine despite what some of the confusing info might lead you to believe, also you can do the test as soon as you arrive in the UK. We used Randox home test for the day 2 test, about £45. I would book it no less than a week before your travel so you can be sure it will be waiting for you at your UK address. You can drop the swab in at a collection centre or arrange a DX Courier collection. We used a collection centre and got the result in 24 hours. All the test and locator paperwork is checked prior to departure so entering the UK for us was really quick through the e-gates. When you order the day two test kit the supplier will provide a reference number which you will need to complete the locator form.

As per the link, you have to book and pay for the tests in advance, and there's a fine if you don't do it.

I’m intrigued by your statement as I thought coming from Canada, which is classed as Amber by the UK, we have to quarantine and also do tests on Days 2 and 8? It seems to state it quite clearly but you say it didn’t apply to you. Were there particular circumstances for you or am I totally misunderstanding things I’ve read?
It’s worked for you obviously but as I say, I’m puzzled - can you shed light please?

Randox had some bad press two days ago with collection bins overflowing and unable to meet turn-around times resulting in some people not getting the results they needed in time for a flight - so they had to change their travel arrangements. The bad reports might have kicked them where it hurts but some caution is called for.

I know of one traveller going through LHR on a UK passport from a US flight about 1 week ago who went unchallenged. Simply walked through the e-gate and out.

Yes, the day 8 test is for those who are not fully vaccinated - I don't think the UK Government will be getting a Crystal Mark for their guidance on this but it's all here: Red, amber and green list rules for entering England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

I saw that and it did look worrying but can only go on my own experience which is that my wife and I have had 6 separate PCR tests with Randox and they have all comeback within 24 hours. When we arrived in the UK we too just went through the e-gates so I would assume that your locator form is somehow tagged to your passport record.

OK - I’ve been vaccinated here in Canada so unfortunately that doesn’t count under the UK rules - presumably you met their criteria but most of us won’t. Looks like most of us have the full testing and quarantine to endure until they change the rules.