Travellers rejoice! Soon you can get tested before your trip for free

That’s right, no more additional travel costs to pay for testing before your vacation abroad. The Dutch government has decided that in July and August 2021, travellers can get tested for coronavirus completely gratis!

So pack your bags because you can already make your appointment on June 30. The test you’ll need depends on your travel destination. However, both PCR and antigen (rapid) tests will be offered for free.

For antigen tests, you can make an appointment for an affiliated commercial test location and you’ll have your result within three hours.

For PCR tests, you can book a test for either an affiliated commercial test location or some GGD test locations. It’ll take 24 to 26 hours before you have your result.

The Dutch government has a list of travel advice per country — so you can easily check which test you’ll need and what preparations you should make before holidaying.

Sounds great! How do I make a free appointment?

To differentiate between the free travel tests and regular tests, the government has decided to make a new website for booking travel test appointments. (Don’t we just love a bit of Dutch bureaucracy?)

If it’s just looking like an info page now, don’t worry. The page will be updated on June 30 and you’ll be able to book your free coronavirus test directly or via a phone number that’ll be available on the website.

Proof of negative test with CoronaCheck

Once you have your (hopefully negative) test result, you can put it into the CoronaCheck App or CoronaCheck.nl by simply entering the so-called pick-up code of your result. Then you’re ready to board!

CoronaCheck can be thought of as your new coronavirus vaccination booklet. It’s part of the Digital Corona Certificate (DCC) that’s being introduced throughout Europe from July 1 and serves as proof that you’re healthy to travel.

Will you make an appointment for a free test? Tell us in the comments below!

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