The Travel Network Group has sealed a deal to offer clients PCR tests for below £45pp.
A partnership with Eurofins Covid Testing Services Ltd (ECTS) will enable agents to offer customers a £44.90 test, while another deal with Randox Health features a £60 kit.
The Eurofins test involves sample kits being delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery to customers’ homes, with pre-paid next-day postage to the laboratory, either via Royal Mail or a network of Eurofins postboxes.
Members with retail premises or offices can become one of Eurofins’ collection points, with a courier collecting samples daily. Test results are delivered directly to customers within 24 hours.
The Randox partnership involves a referral code to reduce the price of home test kits, which are returned to Randox laboratories via next day delivery drop boxes. Results are sent directly to travellers within 12-24 hours.
Randox Health also provides a ‘Day 2 and Day 8’ testing service for testing on arrival for £120.
TTNG chief executive Gary Lewis said: “When the government announced the traffic light system, we identified the cost of testing as a major barrier to travel for many people.
“When customers book a holiday, they will have no way of knowing which category their destination will be in when they travel, so run the risk of having to pay for multiple tests or quarantining on their return to the UK.”
He said TTNG had examined many different providers and found PCR prices “varying between £119 and £225”.
‘’By identifying these two strong providers who can offer testing at £44.90 and £60, we hope we have taken away the stress from our members into researching testing providers and that they can now recommend an affordable solution to their customers, with capacity to cope with huge levels of daily testing.”
He said TTNG would continue to lobby the government for standardised test pricing.