o think that it's only on mumsnet that people cancel holidays so easily?

[gymboywalton]

I read so many threads on here where people will say 'well you must cancel the holiday' for many reasons.

In real life i don't know anyone who would cancel their holiday with days to go unless something seriously major happened.

but on here people say it all the time.

do people really do this ? or do just say that others should do it?

I think it's very easy to say you would do something when you are not in that situation yourself. Once you've actually lived it you often react very differently.
I too don't know anyone that has cancelled a holiday at a couple of days to go unless it was something major. A lot of these posts are situations where insurance wouldn't pay out either and I don't have money to throw away on cancelling.

YA definitely NBU! It's not just the money, it's things like whether you can take any alternative time off work, dealing with the disappointment of children who can't go on a holiday they may have been looking forward to for months, etc etc.

I think it's very easy to suggest things from a keyboard. I don't think it's just cancelling holidays but advice such as retrain, up childcare hours, work from home, set up your own business, stop contact, go n/c, . I think the intricacies of people's lives are very much lost on a solution offered by someone with good intentions.

Reality is that insurance won't pay out in most of the situations where it's suggested, and even when it does it takes a long time for the money to come through.

There are really very few situations where I would really cancel a holiday.

People also suggest moving house and school, leaving work at the drop of a hat. Just bollix from the safety of your own keyboard with very little link to reality.

Because its easy to say 'cancel the holiday' when its some anonymous person on the internet that you're addressing. Real life isn't like that though, is it? Cancelling a holiday at the last minute usually means losing the entire amount of money spent - and its only possible to recoup that if its for serious illness or death in your immediate family.

Is a taat by any chance? .

Yeah, we had to cancel a holiday this month - cost us thousands

"I think the intricacies of people's lives are very much lost on a solution offered by someone with good intentions."

Wigglesrock, that might be the most sensible thing I've ever seen on MN.

It's like LTB
A snap response to a request for help.

And no I wouldn't cancel.

I had to cancel a holiday last year. It was an easy decision to make. My DDog had to have life saving surgery.

We had to cancel a holiday this year as OH had to have life saving surgery.

Depends on the situation. There is no 'one size fits all' answer to this. If this is a taat I have not seen the other thread.

having life saving surgery is something big happening isn't it?

It's the 'dsd is ill' thread Feels, I think anyway.

We cancelled a holiday once with 2 days to go but had a note from the Dr so had a full refund minus £70 admin costs.
It wasn't a decision taken lightly but was the right one for us at that time.

On the one hand sometimes suggestions seem perfectly valid and logical but they're not always practical...

Call the police op is another favourite.

Or LTB!

People have to cancel holidays all the time because one of the party is ill. In hospital, even!

That's what insurance is for.

Sometimes people hope they will be able to have a holiday, this year, but because of illness, lack of money, or work or study commitments, they don't get to go.

That's also a thing.

A holiday is a luxury. Sometimes you just don't get to have all the luxuries you would like to have.

On the soaps it's the opposite. Characters suddenly announce they are off to Spain / Brazil/ Portugal for an unspecified length of time, often to nurse a sick yet never previously mentioned relative. They are usually in that taxi within hours and may not return for months until they have had charges dropped or overcome a drink problem. No problem with irate employers or childcare in Corrie

For what reasons do posters suggest that OPs should cancel their holidays?

Presumably only if there is some pressing reason to keep them at home?

I've also cancelled a holiday at the last minute - because DD was in hospital although 5 year old DS did suggest we should just go without her I would certainly suggest to someone in my circumstances that they did the same thing!! And yes we did lose money though we got some back through insurance.

Matilda, yes Casualty where Charlie and Connie went straight to the airport from prison to rescue Louis

I have never had to cancel a holiday, but my ds did this year because gf ended up in hospital a few days beforehand and was banned from flying for a month, her family had to cancel their holiday a few weeks later as well.
Thankfully DS insurance paid out in full and he listened to me when I said make sure you get holiday insurance.

My parents had to cancel a holiday at the last minute, and they simply lost the money. Not something to do lightly, but sometimes it is the best decision.

We cancelled our holiday as dd broke her arm, lost nearly £1k but git most back