We understand the stress that many supporters are having trying to arrange the necessary tests for travelling to Portugal for the final. Particularly for those travelling on the club day trip.
We can appreciate that the rules and timescales can be difficult to understand and follow, especially for such a short stay. There are many providers of testing offering the tests with different prices.
We have been approached by a company CHB Medical, who are one of the government’s approved testing facilities.
They are offering Chelsea supporters a complete service with a very reasonable discount. They have also given us step by step guidelines through the process.
Supporters will need a PCR test 72 hours before their flights and then a 2 day test after they have returned. CHB have said they will do all of this for a single price of £149 which includes both tests.
We know many people are having difficulties finding a provider, and the CHB service may help you get sorted as well as providing a very competitive price. However, Chelsea Supporters’ Trust are not endorsing CHB, nor take any responsibility as we know that there are other providers are out there who may be more suitable for you and we have not had experience of their service. Any interaction will need to be directly with CHB and not with the Trust.
We appreciate the help and advice that CHB have given us in making the process very simple for supporters and for providing a discounted price, but we do urge that you also check the latest government guidelines and ensure that this service works for you. Please take particular notice of the passport and passenger locator form requirements.
Champions League final: travel advice – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Here are the full details from CHB Medical.
Covid Testing service from CHB Medical
First of all, huge congratulations on reaching the Champions League Final!
We hope we can make the travelling a little bit easier for the supporters who have been lucky enough to get a ticket.
Please find below the advice from gov.uk:
Taking your test in the UK before travel
If you are returning to the UK within 3 days, you can use the result of a COVID-19 test that you take in the UK before you travel. You must use a private test provider for the test and not an NHS test.
The service on which you will arrive back in the UK must set off for the UK within 3 days of when you took the test.
So the good news is that supporters coming back on the same day will only need to take 1 x Fit to Fly test before leaving the UK. You will not need to take another one in Portugal before you return. This one test will cover you for outbound and inbound flights unless you are staying longer.
Timescales here are the trickiest part but we have arranged with our labs to prioritise ALL Chelsea fan’s tests. So they will be processed in just 6 hrs rather than 24hrs.
The test must be taken within 72 hrs of the flight departure time. However, because supporters need to use the same test for BOTH trips you must take your test within 72hrs of your RETURN flight departure time.
So for example, if your return flight was 1am on Sunday Morning after the game then you can take your test after 1am Thursday. This is the time of the scheduled flight departure so if the flight is delayed then you are still covered.
Then you MUST post it by 12 noon on Thursday via the Royal Mail returns bag provided (ie – you must catch the morning post). You can also drop your test at a designated drop off point at London East, London Central, Heathrow, Manchester Airport or Birmingham locations before 2pm on Thursday.
(Please note, if you miss the flight for any reason and catch a later flight which is outside the 72 hours you will have to get a local test in Porto at your own expense.)
The test will arrive at the lab Thursday evening/Friday morning and the lab will process the sample and send the results via email direct to your inbox (please also check your junk/spam folders)
Each returns bag will have a special priority sticker on to identify it will be processed on the special 6 hour turnaround time.
When you come home it is a government requirement that you must take another test called Day2 – this test must be taken on day 2 of your return or before . We are an approved government supplier of this test and will post this out to you alongside your Fit To Fly test so that its ready to do when you get home.
We have come up with a fantastic package for Chelsea supporters that includes BOTH tests for £149.
To book this service, please click this link
UCL Final Package (Fit to Fly + Day 2 PCR Tests) – CHB Medical
If you need any help booking the service, please call our helpline or visit our page
Tel : +44 (0) 124 269 8371
www.chbmedical.co.uk/contact/
Staying longer than a day ?
If you are staying longer in Portugal you will still need to do these two tests, so it is worth considering the package.
You can take the first test within 72hrs of the departure time of your outbound flight to Portugal.
However, because the gap between your flights is longer, your UK PCR test will expire so you will also need to have another PCR test for your inbound flight back to the UK. For this you will need to find a test facility in Portugal as it needs to be completed within 72 hours of the departure time of the inbound flight home to UK.
