Holiday Farce - Advise?

[Blaarev]

What did you do?

Two weeks of basically doing as little as possible

 

[mabrah]

Just the airport .

Mahrez spotting?

 

[RHYDAL]

Two weeks of basically doing as little as possible

Whoosh

 

[Blue Maniac]

Whoosh

Oof, only just saw it myself

 

[Blaarev]

Ah. Yes. Good one that.

 

[camberwell fox]

Jesus.

 

[RHYDAL]

Jesus.

Sad state when only a Welshie appreciates your work.

 

[Joe_Fox]

Just the airport . Was in Side a few years ago.

Left or right?

 

[Brown Nose]

I've got myself into a pickle and don't really know what to do. Having trawled the internet for advice, I'm none the wiser.

Last July, I booked and paid a deposit on a two week family holiday for this July - a Villa in Majorca. In April, I was told that I had to pay the balance or lose the deposit. Perhaps foolishly, I paid the balance in the expectation that if travel was banned, I'd be due the entire amount back as my holiday is covered by ABTA as it is a package. It felt better than losing the substantial deposit.

Up until yesterday, I remained fairly positive that Majorca could well be a 'green' destination by July meaning that the holiday would go ahead. Now it is looking much more likely that Majorca will remain an 'amber' destination at best.

I understand that I will need to pay for PCR tests for my family before departure, whilst in Majorca and again on our return - this will cost approx £900. This is a right pisser but I'd suck it up rather than losing the entire holiday. I also understand the need to isolate at home for 10 days following our return - this is something I'd be fine with doing as we can work from home. If the destination is suddenly moved from the 'amber' list to the 'red' list whilst we're away - we'd be fecked having to pay a fortune for hotels on our return. Not to mention the possibility of one of us getting a positive test whilst away and being prevented from returning.

So on balance, I would like the holiday to be cancelled or rearranged. Looking at the rising infection rates, travelling feels like a dumb thing to do now. However, I can't change anything. The holiday provider refuses - point blank - to engage with me let alone cancel or even rearrange. They say that they'll be in touch in the 2-3 days prior to departure and not before. Their view is that as long as the flight goes ahead, or an equivalent one they can book us on if the original one gets cancelled, the Villa is available and they are providing the holiday as booked.

We're due to fly out in five weeks time and I have no idea what will happen. I have travel insurance which covers cancellation if one of us tests positive preventing departure but it obviously doesn't cover us deciding not to go.

It feels like we either just go for it and hope it works out or just wave goodbye to thousands. Does anyone see that I'm missing something? It seems really odd that the Government are telling us not to go on holiday but I'm basically being forced to.

 

[camberwell fox]

I think you need to sit tight BN. At the moment they aren’t going to offer you anything as their is nothing concrete.

It may also be worth checking with your payment provider as you may be insured by them?

You will almost certainly be offered an alternative nearer the date of departure as things become clearer.

I understand how you feel as I booked two countries, one a year ago (France), and one a few months ago (Greece) in the hope that one will pay off.

It’s a ****ing mess.

 

[pork pie fox]

I've got myself into a pickle and don't really know what to do. Having trawled the internet for advice, I'm none the wiser.

Last July, I booked and paid a deposit on a two week family holiday for this July - a Villa in Majorca. In April, I was told that I had to pay the balance or lose the deposit. Perhaps foolishly, I paid the balance in the expectation that if travel was banned, I'd be due the entire amount back as my holiday is covered by ABTA as it is a package. It felt better than losing the substantial deposit.

Up until yesterday, I remained fairly positive that Majorca could well be a 'green' destination by July meaning that the holiday would go ahead. Now it is looking much more likely that Majorca will remain an 'amber' destination at best.

I understand that I will need to pay for PCR tests for my family before departure, whilst in Majorca and again on our return - this will cost approx £900. This is a right pisser but I'd suck it up rather than losing the entire holiday. I also understand the need to isolate at home for 10 days following our return - this is something I'd be fine with doing as we can work from home. If the destination is suddenly moved from the 'amber' list to the 'red' list whilst we're away - we'd be fecked having to pay a fortune for hotels on our return. Not to mention the possibility of one of us getting a positive test whilst away and being prevented from returning.

So on balance, I would like the holiday to be cancelled or rearranged. Looking at the rising infection rates, travelling feels like a dumb thing to do now. However, I can't change anything. The holiday provider refuses - point blank - to engage with me let alone cancel or even rearrange. They say that they'll be in touch in the 2-3 days prior to departure and not before. Their view is that as long as the flight goes ahead, or an equivalent one they can book us on if the original one gets cancelled, the Villa is available and they are providing the holiday as booked.

We're due to fly out in five weeks time and I have no idea what will happen. I have travel insurance which covers cancellation if one of us tests positive preventing departure but it obviously doesn't cover us deciding not to go.

It feels like we either just go for it and hope it works out or just wave goodbye to thousands. Does anyone see that I'm missing something? It seems really odd that the Government are telling us not to go on holiday but I'm basically being forced to.

Honestly? You can’t really do anything.

ABTA, ATOL etc aren’t anything more than an insurance policy against the company you’re booked with failing. If they collapse, you’ve got some protection on your money, or will be repatriated if you’re away while it happens. It means nothing in terms of whether travel is permitted and seems to be used (IMO) as giving people a false sense of security about their booking, in terms of what it’s covering.

My business takes away about 50000 people a year and we’ve made sure that our events, which have been cancelled for the past two years, have seen everyone get a no quibble refund. We’ve come out of it with an enhanced reputation, as we’ve made sure we did the right thing, but many companies haven’t. As a “package”, which is a defined thing, people should have their money back if it’s cancelled, but many companies haven’t done this and organisations such as ABTA have been lobbying for support on behalf of the companies, as that’s who they’re representing, ultimately. We’ve been left to fend for ourselves though and it’s feckin tough and a testament to how we’ve run our business that we’ve been able to get through it. It’s us that’s got us through it, with **** all support from the government.

In a way, you’ve done the right thing, in that if you had cancelled earlier, rather than paying your balance, you’d have lost your deposit. The problem is you’re now in a difficult position, in that you “don’t want to go”, rather than can’t go. It’s probably a bit of a game of chicken now, given the stance of your holiday company. Different companies have different guarantees in place, in terms of your options once you’ve booked. It seems like yours has a very inflexible approach, which you’re now finding. If they are really that rigid (and it’s always worth keeping talking to them, to try to get them to rearrange), I suspect you’re going to have to wait it out until it gets to their crunch point, rather than yours, whenever that may be. Your trip may be in 5 weeks, but what have they done for trips depositing in the next 2/3 weeks? This may give you a steer as to the timetable they’re working to.

Not much help, sorry, but if the terms you’ve booked under are that inflexible, you’re probably just going to have to wait and see.

 

[pork pie fox]

I think you need to sit tight BN. At the moment they aren’t going to offer you anything as their is nothing concrete.

It may also be worth checking with your payment provider as you may be insured by them?

You will almost certainly be offered an alternative nearer the date of departure as things become clearer.

I understand how you feel as I booked two countries, one a year ago (France), and one a few months ago (Greece) in the hope that one will pay off.

It’s a ****ing mess.

Unless you can prove that the company you’ve booked with has done something unlawful, I doubt your payment provider will be able to provide much support. It’ll come down to the terms you’ve booked under.

 

[Brown Nose]

Thanks chaps. Interesting insights.

The provider is simply not prepared to read, respond or engage at all. There is no scope for any discussion until the days before departure. Even then, I get the impression that it's a waste of time.

It would be much simpler if they got rid of the 'amber' status altogether. It's either okay to travel or it's not. Saying that it's not okay but forcing people to travel just seems insane. It's so ridiculous, I keep thinking that I must be missing the 'out'. But it seems not.

 

[camberwell fox]

Thanks chaps. Interesting insights.

The provider is simply not prepared to read, respond or engage at all. There is no scope for any discussion until the days before departure. Even then, I get the impression that it's a waste of time.

It would be much simpler if they got rid of the 'amber' status altogether. It's either okay to travel or it's not. Saying that it's not okay but forcing people to travel just seems insane. It's so ridiculous, I keep thinking that I must be missing the 'out'. But it seems not.

Perhaps try booking with booking.com which allows you to cancel up to close to departure without payment or lastminute.com who allow low deposits?

The whole situation is stupid, are we going to carry on going to ‘high alert’ status every time there is a new variant?

New variants will constantly present themselves as Covid is a variant in itself. It feels as if the government and therefore country is on a roller coaster and nobody is willing to apply the brakes.

Surely with such a high % of adults and at danger category fully vaccinated, what is the problem with letting the variants just go through in a sort of herd immunity?

I don’t understand the risk? If it is purely that we might introduce a variant that evades the vaccines then surely the whole world is in the shit as we can’t put our lives on hold indefinitely?

 

[pork pie fox]

Thanks chaps. Interesting insights.

The provider is simply not prepared to read, respond or engage at all. There is no scope for any discussion until the days before departure. Even then, I get the impression that it's a waste of time.

It would be much simpler if they got rid of the 'amber' status altogether. It's either okay to travel or it's not. Saying that it's not okay but forcing people to travel just seems insane. It's so ridiculous, I keep thinking that I must be missing the 'out'. But it seems not.

The rules are that you must not travel to amber countries for leisure purposes. My suspicion is that they will have to offer you a refund/amendment, but until they know for sure that the country you’re meant to be travelling to is on that list at that time, then you’re not able to do anything. Assuming it remains as an amber country, I don’t see how they can make you go, but I don’t know the terms of your booking. I presume they’re just clinging on to the hope that it gets switched to a green country in time for your holiday, in which case it just all falls on you.

 

[Brown Nose]

Perhaps try booking with booking.com which allows you to cancel up to close to departure without payment or lastminute.com who allow low deposits?

The whole situation is stupid, are we going to carry on going to ‘high alert’ status every time there is a new variant?

New variants will constantly present themselves as Covid is a variant in itself. It feels as if the government and therefore country is on a roller coaster and nobody is willing to apply the brakes.

Surely with such a high % of adults and at danger category fully vaccinated, what is the problem with letting the variants just go through in a sort of herd immunity?

I don’t understand the risk? If it is purely that we might introduce a variant that evades the vaccines then surely the whole world is in the shit as we can’t put our lives on hold indefinitely?

On the booking, yeah I know what I'd do if I were booking one now. The rules are pretty risk free. My problem is that I did it last July when I couldn't really imagine the world still being in the shit.

The planet has gone 'all in' on the vaccine and nothing else seems to matter. In that world, until everyone is protected, the risk of circulating variants means an increased risk of a variant that evades any of the vaccines. That's the official line I guess. In which case, surely just stop people travelling until vaccines are 90%+ rolled out?

I've read/listened to enough to believe that the vaccine approach is unlikely to work. Ivermectin seems a smarter move but it's being talked down because people won't take the vaccines up if there is an alternative that works as well, if not better. Though why we're not treating anyone that tests positive with Ivermectin staggers me. Where is has been used, it's impact is astonishingly positive.

I was all for lockdowns and closing the planet down when this all started. I followed all the rules, as well as losing three stone to make myself healthier and then got both vaccines as soon as possible. But now we know what it is and how to treat it effectively, I really don't see the logic of our approach any more.

 

[Brown Nose]

The rules are that you must not travel to amber countries for leisure purposes. My suspicion is that they will have to offer you a refund/amendment, but until they know for sure that the country you’re meant to be travelling to is on that list at that time, then you’re not able to do anything. Assuming it remains as an amber country, I don’t see how they can make you go, but I don’t know the terms of your booking. I presume they’re just clinging on to the hope that it gets switched to a green country in time for your holiday, in which case it just all falls on you.

It's not a rule though, that's the problem. It's advice from one part of the government which is contradicted by the most relevant part of the government - the Foreign Office - which says you can go ahead and travel wherever you want.

No holiday company is under any obligation to offer anything. They'll only do so to avoid negative publicity and protect their brand. However, given the announcements the other day, I think many of these companies are now going to go bust so they'll just hang on to every penny they can. I'm pretty sure that they'll not offer me anything.

 

[pork pie fox]

It's not a rule though, that's the problem. It's advice from one part of the government which is contradicted by the most relevant part of the government - the Foreign Office - which says you can go ahead and travel wherever you want.

No holiday company is under any obligation to offer anything. They'll only do so to avoid negative publicity and protect their brand. However, given the announcements the other day, I think many of these companies are now going to go bust so they'll just hang on to every penny they can. I'm pretty sure that they'll not offer me anything.

That’s a fair point. I agree with you though, the amber designation seems redundant.

 

[Joe_Fox]

Ah, overseas travel, now there's a foreign concept for you.

 

[Lako42]

Can you try and covid a few days before?

Not one of these bad strains obviously but the original one which is now well safe.