Problem is my daughter booked an expensive 10 day family holiday in Croatia with TUI in 2019 for Easter 2020 which was obviously cancelled by TUI and vouchers given with the incentive of extra money towards another holiday. When it look edlike things were easing off a bit they booked for this Easter in Tenerife . The Govt ban only runs until early March but the holiday is booked for late March at Easter If they cancel they lose a lot of money, If they rebook again they lose the additional extra bonus they were given and the new holiday is likely to be a lot more expensive. to make matters worse her husband is a teacher and my grand daughter will be starting school in September this year but her dad teaches in a different LEA area and the holiday weeks do not coincide. My daughter cannot cope with high summer temperatures hence why they preferred Easter or Spring bank. They prefer to hang on and hope that the Govt extend the travel ban so TUI cancel and they can get their money back or risk having to cancel and lose out. TUI do not accept that having no indoor pool (closed) most A la Carte Asian, Indian, French Mexican restaurants within the hotel complex closed and only buffet one open ( food variety and choices being of the reasons they booked an expensive hotel), having to wear masks at all times and distance., limited shuttle bus service etc. is NOT sufficient reason to refund all or any of the holiday booking cost. The biggest problem though is that even if restrictions against travel is partially lifted quarantining is still likely to be in force and as one of them as a teacher can really take extra time off to isolate. Most of the travel industry claims of a surge in bookings for this summer is simply that people like my daughter had been given incentivised vouchers from 2020 and rebooked for 2021 when it looked like things were improving. Personally, I believe it is a huge gamble to book anything. UK may be surging ahead with vaccinations but most destination countries are nowhere near being 'safe' including EU!
I think it’s all down to personal circumstances mate, everyone’s going to be different, we know that if TUI cancel our July holiday we will probably rebook for next year so we’d use the voucher, but I also understand if people prefer to wait until things become a little more clearer,
My daughters due to go to to Jamaica in June, holiday was originally booked with TUI in 2019 for May 2020, so was obviously moved to 2021. If it gets cancelled again she’ll not be rebooking until it’s absolutely clear that it won’t get cancelled again. I think a lot will be in the same position- they’ll take one rebooking but if it’s kicked down the road again they’ll chalk **** on it. If that happens I seriously believe the travel and airline industry will go back to a similar size it would have been in the early 1970s. You may be free to go away in 2022 but they’ll be no industry to support it- UK holidays are already overcrowded, imagine what it’ll be like when the 22 million foreign holiday trips are re-patriated? The queue to Cornwall and Scarborough will meet on the M1 around Wakefield!!
Jesus every man and there dog was calling for lockdowns, they lock the country down and more or less shut the borders and its a dictatorship. They have handled it poor throughout but with some no matter what they do it will be the wrong thing.
Looking that way aswell as high Street shopping town centers were already dead but now google etc buying the clothing chains shutting stores online only. 10, 20 years I imagine town centers will look completely different and even places like medowhall
I can understand the caution advised for booking holidays abroad. We've got Portugal booked at the end of September after postponing from the same time in 2020. I thought it'd certainly go ahead this year but now I'm not so sure. The UK holiday situation on the other hand I just can't understand. Come June/July almost everyone over the age of 40 should have had their vaccine so why on earth freedom of movement would be in doubt is completely beyond me. Who will we be locking down to protect then? Unless there's something they aren't telling us.........
The media last year during the first lockdown were constantly trying to manipulate the government and the general public by constantly asking when are we coming out of lockdown. This time round we need to be cautious and careful. A premature end to lock down could put the country back months. Hopefully the media need to be more responsible.
Yep we booked a back to back cruise(4 weeks) back in 2019 now had 4 cancelled, instead of asking for money back we just saved as credit. Booked another for October this year & one for March 2022, fingers crossed they will go ahead but can't see it.
Jamaica always looks amazing. I was watching on National Geographic the other day the latest documentary of Mariana Van Zeller called Trafficked and she was there showing how easy the locals scam people, well worth a watch.
We’ve a couple of holidays booked, booked at a time it would have been ok to travel to them. One being the holiday we booked in 2019 for last May, it’s rebooked for this May and if we can’t go, we’ll likely have to rebook for next year as we were going with mates and it took a lot of coordination of calendars.
Its the vaccination programme that will get us out of this nightmare eventually and look to be the only long term way out. If they have enough of the population vaccinated I cant see why lockdown cannot be eased.
We had our Croatia 2020 holiday cancelled obviously and moved it to June this year. We also had a week in Gibralter in April 2020 cancelled and moved to March this year and it's just been cancelled again. Very doubtful that the Croatia one will happen and if it gets cancelled I think I would rather take the money this time and sit on it and wait to see what happens. I am not confident that all of these big tour operators will survive another lost summer season, so the money would be safer in my bank account than pushed forward to next year as a credit.
The government dont want us to take Summer holdidays abroad. The holiday companies are advertising summer holidays on tv. Who's in the right?
If you feel that you *need* to go on holiday, then book somewhere in the UK this year. If you don't have a staycation and take some day trips from your home - plenty of great places to visit within a 2-3 hour drive. You don't *need* an overseas holiday, but if you are booking one - even with the threat of potentially having to quarantine on arrival and return - you need to pick somewhere where the local population is vaccinated (at least the vulnerable) *and* requires mandatory testing to travel there. Malta might be a good choice if you want somewhere hot. Guernsey or Isle of Man if you want somewhere closer. Those places could change though as the vaccination programs increase in speed and coverage and their own government guidelines change to accommodate their tourist industry. Get travel insurance to cover for Covid-19 cancellations or losses though - you could lose the lot if you aren't covered.
Why would people have to quarantine if the vulnerable have been vaccinated? There's absolutely no logical explanation for that. In fact there is no explanation for that view which isn't that these restrictions are forever
We've something booked for a week in the UK for late April. Middle of nowhere, no humans for miles, ideal. Though I suspect it will likely be cancelled and we'll have to bump it along for a different time which is completely fine and something we're prepared for. I absolutely wouldn't go overseas at the moment though. Ironic given I've never wanted to leave these shores more!
I would love a DAY away but it's not going to happen for a while by looks of it. Hopefully this latest (lockdown) and vaccinations will at least allow us UK holiday's.