Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most common questions that people who use our service ask. If you are unable to find the answer you are looking for, use the Chat function at the bottom of the page.
How does the booking service work?
Register on our system and after validating your email, you will be able to create a profile for yourself and your contacts (e.g. other members of your family) and book tests for them. Prices and locations are clearly displayed before booking.
Do I need to fly with a particular airline in order to book?
You can use this booking service if you are flying with any airline where we have Providers. It is also possible just to book a Covid-19 test even if you are not travelling. If you are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, please do not use this booking facility or go to any of our Providers. Please contact a local healthcare authority and follow their local advice.
How early can I book a test?
There is no restriction on how many days before your travel you can book one or more tests on our service. If you are travelling, you must be sure to select a day within the time-limit specified by the countries you are travelling to, from or through. If you are not sure how many days before your travel you need to actually take the test(s), contact your carrier, research on the respective countries websites or search on Sherpa (Sherpa is an unaffiliated third party site and we are not responsible for the correctness of its information).
Am I given details of the Provider after I book?
Once the booking is placed, we provide full location details of the Provider to you.
Is a Concierge Service available?
Some of our Providers offer a Concierge Service, where they may come to your hotel, home or office. Wherever this service is offered, it is clearly stated. If you book this service from a hotel, please inform the Reception. The Concierge Service Provider will typically phone the day before in order to confirm.
Do I receive a credit card receipt?
Yes, a credit card receipt is sent to the email address that you provide. If you don't receive it, check your Junk or Spam folder. Contact us via the Chat function at the bottom of the page if you are unable to receive it.
I own a clinic or laboratory and want to join this service
There are many advantages to working with Ink and we are happy to welcome new Providers onto the platform. Please contact us via the Chat function at the bottom of the page.
Do I need to wear a mask?
While you are on the premises of any of our Providers, it is mandatory to wear a mask (not cloth mask or scarf) as a condition of service. These are independent of country, state and local guidance and is not subject to negotiation, your personal preferences, perceived difficulty of breathing while wearing a standard mask, religious or political beliefs. This is for the safety of our Providers who have to test many members of the public.
If you refuse to do so, refuse to cooperate, refuse to wear a mask that fully and properly covers your nose and mouth or are abusive in any way in relation to a request to comply, service will be denied.
What is a Covid-19 test like?
There are different types of sample collection (swabs) in order to do Covid-19 tests: Nasopharyngeal (the most common type) at the rear of the nose or Oropharyngeal, which is at the rear of the throat. The type of sample collected depends on the type of test.While we do not provide details of which type of sample collection is done for the selected test, please discuss any concerns you have with the individual Provider. Ink only works with accredited Providers that have done many tests in the pasts and carry out many tests per day.
Are Nasopharyngeal swab tests the only ones that airlines accept to travel?
The airline does not stipulate the test. The type of test is actually a requirement of the destination or transit country. Please consult the information published by that country's government.
How long does it take to receive my results?
The processing time of each type of test by the selected Provider is shown when you are booking. As soon as the result is made available by the Provider, it is forwarded to you.
How do I know that my results have arrived?
Results are delivered by email. Otherwise, you can log into our system and check. As soon as results are received, they are sent directly to you immediately.
Do I receive a certificate that can be printed?
Your result is delivered as a PDF, which can be downloaded and/or printed. If you are travelling and the country that you are flying to insists on seeing a printed copy, please print the result before your journey. Otherwise, the document can be displayed from your smartphone.
Why do you not have Providers in my area or country?
Ink has a network of international Providers (i.e. labs and clinics). Because we provide a managed service with a high level of customer service, we only currently offer the service in a limited number of countries. Please visit our Locations page to see where we are able to provide a booking service.
What is the cost of a test or other service?
The cost of any booking is clearly shown before you place a booking. The exact cost depends on the type of test selected.
What type of test should I book for my journey?
Please check with your airline or the respective government website before booking a test. Unfortunately, we cannot be liable if you book the wrong type of test or test at the wrong time for your journey so be sure to check before booking.
What are the advantages of booking with Ink Health?
- Customer Support. If things go wrong, we work to try to resolve the problem. While we cannot offer guarantees, especially when there are spikes in Covid-19 rates in a region, we communicate directly and continually with the Provider on your behalf. If you book direct elsewhere, you are on your own.
- If a lab does not maintain a high level of service, they are removed from our platform.
- Customers who pay Ink for bookings can rest assured that they are working with a professional ISO:27001 accredited company that carefully manages the security of customer data and is not in the business of price gouging.
- As we already work with the airline industry, we can provide a superior level of service and reliability
that they require and manage their relationships with their Providers on their behalf.
Can you guarantee that my test results will be received in time for my journey?
Ink cannot guarantee this; nor can any of the Providers. But you are unlikely to encounter this issue.
When you are travelling, you cannot take a test earlier than the number of days stipulated by the countries you are travelling to and through. So the timeliness of results is critical. We work diligently to ensure that results are delivered in time but are ultimately dependent on laboratory processing capabilities, which can become extremely stretched when there is a spike of cases in a region or country.
To date, we have a failure rate of less than 0.2% (due to the issues above; not our own performance). If we are aware of processing difficulties affecting the timely delivery of results, we do not accept bookings in that region. Consequently, we have an extremely high reliability rate (99.8%) of delivering results in time for people's journeys.
What privacy policies apply to my data?
We never use your data for marketing or disclose it to any third parties except:
- The Healthcare Provider that is actually carrying out the medical service/procedure
- Note that we do not share the result of passengers' tests with your employer unless they are the one requesting/paying forthe service and you have explicitly provided consent for that to happen.
- If we are compelled by local law enforcement to do so.
Do you ever use this data for anything?
We use anonymised data for statistical and performance reporting. We never use Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for any purpose other than providing this booking service, including customer service support to you. Your test results PDFs are irretrievably deleted after 30 days.
Is Ink a Healthcare Provider?
Ink provides a booking service and customer care related to the booking and the handling of the result asset. Ink is not a medical healthcare provider and is not an intermediary in the Provider-Patient relationship. Ink does not have a role to play in the administering of any actual healthcare procedure.
Is my data secure?
Yes. Even though the service is provided in many countries outside the European Union, Ink conforms to strict EU GDPR data protection policies and guidelines. The servers running our system are secure and regularly tested for security. Ink Innovation is an ISO 27001 accredited company. Accordingly, we maintain a very high security level when it comes to collecting, handling, storing and managing your data.
Can I contact someone by phone?
Ink does not provide support by phone or a phone number for booking enquiries. However, we deal with all enquiries through the Chat facility at the bottom right of every page. Every enquiry is answered - please leave contact details so that we can find your booking. Support via Chat enables us to maintain a higher quality of customer service and handle more enquiries with less staff.
That said, the Chat facility is manned by real people. Our Bot provides answers to the most common questions instantly, which saves both your time and ours but if you need help from a person, our Customer Service Agents will be happy to assist. Just provide detail about the booking and the problem you are experiencing so we can help.
My results are late. Help!!
If your journey is not today, do not panic. Notifications sent to your email address might go to Spam or Junk so be sure to check in there. If results are not received during the timeframe indicated when booking the test, get in touch with us via the Chat function at the bottom of the page. We will ask for some details to be able to track your booking and get in touch with the Provider.
What should I do if my result is positive?
You must not travel or attempt to travel with a positive result. It is a criminal offence to do so or to fake your results. In many countries, you and those who have been in close contact with you must isolate. Please seek guidance from the health authority of the country in which you currently are. And contact your carrier directly if you are due to travel.
Why is my credit card being rejected when I'm trying to pay?
The most common causes for this are:
a) The CVC/CVV number on the rear of the card not being correctly typed.
b) Some other card details being entered incorrectly
c) The country where the credit card was issued is not on our permitted list. If you think this is the case, please contact us in the Chat function below but never enter your full card number into the Chat. We will never ask you for it.
I need help with my travel itinerary or travel booking
Please contact your airline. Ink only provides a booking service and is unable to provide help or support for your actual journey.
How do I reschedule or cancel my test booking?
Rebooking
No problem. Just contact us on the Chat function at the bottom of the page and we will help you to reschedule. There may be a difference to pay if you are rebooking at a location where the test is more expensive or changing the type of test (e.g. from Antigen to RT-PCR).
Cancelling
If you are cancelling or rebooking very close to the time of the test, there may be a cancellation fee - this is dependent on the Provider.
