Reviews

What it’s like to get Covid tested at London Heathrow Terminal 4

We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.


I just flew back to the USA from England and went through the Rapid Antigen testing at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 via ExpressTest by Cignpost. I know what you’re thinking, why didn’t you get the Emed Binax testing and just do it via video chat. That’s a great point, and we did order them, but as life would have it, they got mailed to the wrong address. As a result, we needed to get tested before we could hop our Virgin Atlantic Upper Class flight back to the States. Here’s what the experience was like:

Booking via ExpressTest

  • Several tests are available at both Terminal 2 and 4
  • You have the option of drive thru or park and test ( we did this )
  • The Rapid Antigen or Lateral Flow Test was sufficient for our travel back to the USA

You have several options for testing and we chose the one that would be completed in 40 mins and cost £35

 

You should receive an email with a QR code as well as a text with your confirmation. You’ll need at least one of these and the QR code is much easier.

 

Arrival at the Testing Center

Upon arrival at Heathrow, follow the signs for Terminal 4 and you’ll see a lot of signs leading you to Express Test

a sign on the side of a road

Our appointment was at 9:20am, we arrived at 8:40, and didn’t get into the physical standing queue until it was our time. You’ll wait in your car until the appropriate time.

a parking lot with cars parked

Once it was our time, we hopped in the queue which took roughly 20 minutes until we were in the testing center

a line of people standing in a parking lot

Testing

You’ll need the following

  • QR code or reservation number
  • Passport

Make sure that your email is correct since that is how you’ll receive your results.

a booth with a chair and a stool

Results

By the time we returned our rental car to Sixt, hopped on the train and arrived at Terminal 3 we had our results. We were negative and ready to fly.

 

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with blue lines and white text

Learn More

Affiliate Link

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 2x on all other travel
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
  • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
  • $95 Annual Fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

3 Comments

  • Steven January 6, 2022

    I used Binax now, but you definitely need a backup plan. Too many things can go wrong with Binax.

  • dee January 6, 2022

    We ordered the EMED Binax tests but they arrived the evening after we left for our trip. When ordered it said they would ship overnight…But did not

  • Joey January 6, 2022

    ExpressTest also has a location at Terminal 3. That’s where I took my arrival test at LHR back in December. I had a similar experience but they weren’t checking appointment times. Just join the queue and wait for your turn.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.