To think we might not be going on holiday next April after all?

[Hoardernomore]

We stupidly booked a holiday to France for about a fortnight after Brexit. I didn’t even consider brexit at the time, I just considered ds’s Easter holidays. It’s to Disneyland Paris and we’ve been waiting to take the children for ages. We’ve only paid the deposit on the hotel (stopping in Disneyland hotel so expensive if we end up not being able to go) but have paid for the flights.

We are idiots.

Would we be best to cut our losses and not pay the balance on the hotel and book for another time?

STOP REFERRING TO THE MILLENNIUM BUG FFS - IT ADDS NOTHING TO THE DISCUSSION AND JUST MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A NUMPTY

Having just read all the replies - it's clear no-one has a clue.
Personally I'd lose the £300 and save DH bonus payment until I knew more. What's the worst outcome?? The holiday will be delayed for a few months?? Or take a chance But be prepared for stress levels to go through the roof from now until departure time or worse lose the full amount.

That there is the bottom line, you can all gloss over it - fact is none of us has a clue.

For what it's worth I began preparing for the Unknown 12mths ago...by preparing I mean getting rid of all debt.
If the shit hits the fan I don't wish to be covered in my own!

They predicted a global meltdown for Y2K. N-O-T-H-I-N-G H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D.

BECAUSE WE WORKED HARD TO PREVENT IT. Capitals, if we are now shouting.

It's a pity it's not like Y2K, or we would already have had thousands of people working out what needed to be done, and how to do it, and in what time frame. Instead of silly slogans and May busting a gut to invoke A50 when even now the Tories haven't decided what they want.

Prior to the EEC people didn't travel nearly as much. There weren't the cheap flights and there were currency restrictions. People didn't start travelling because airlines put on cheap flights - the cheap flights came because a pent up demand was there.

Why are people mentioning Y2K - that has nothing to do with Brexit. Avoiding Y2K problems took years and years of planning whereas potential Brexit problems haven’t been planned for. Many posters here are similar to some senior Politicians - ignore it, bury your head in the sand and hopefully it will all go away!

(FT paywall) EU drafts tough contingency plans for no-deal Brexit

Based on reports by diplomats who have seen the draft.
Hopefully the reports of May nearing agreement on Canada++ are correct and no deal doesn't happen

https://www.ft.com/content/5606f710-c8ac-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9
...
"Notably, the EU is not planning special arrangements for customs or road transport and only limited provisions for financial services
⁃ a decision that, if seen through, would cause long queues and operational difficulties at ports and airports.
...
The plans are intended to enable basic air services, allowing flights to land and fly straight back to the UK,
and to extend air safety certificates and security exemptions for UK travellers in transit.
Visa-free travel is envisaged for British citizens, as long as it is reciprocated."

< so, worst case: air travel would be more tiresome, but would continue.
Exports, goods transport etc would be hit, but that's not what the OP asked >

@user1467536289

If the EU was fairer then we would all move around as if we were moving from north to south - we don't. Why is that?

We can and do, the UK has the 5th largest expat population living in the EU for more than a year, its approx 1.3 million, not too bad & its 2.2 million for those staying in the EU for less than a year! this gives lie to your assertion.

Fraud is down to UK not enforcing EU rules and a non contributory benefits system.

Be it going on holiday, studying, working or retiring, being in the EU and FOM is great thing.

Even in my small world, i know 4 teenagers studying abroad.

Our health service this winter is certainly going to notice lack of EU staff, or rather our sick and elderly are.

I really cannot see that the government would put us in a situation where we cannot travel or receive imports. I don’t think it will come to that. None of us know wat will happen but I’m pretty certain that won’t. It would be completely irresponsible of the government to put the country in that position. I wouldn’t worry. Business as usual. That’s all we can do at the moment.

I think it will probably be ok but possibly faffy. It is almost inconceivable that we won't be able to travel, though I would definitely not plan to travel in the immediate week or so following Brexit.

If you can change to go later in the year though that would bring stress levels down a bit. Something will have to have been sorted for the peak summer travel season. Europeans do very well out of us British tourists.

However it's worth saving up euros in cash now because the £ will almost certainly rank in the event of no deal.

Why are people mentioning Y2K

Because they are ignorant, in the main. There were dire warnings of what might happen, but not the same emphasis on what had been done to anticipate the problems and fix them. Imagine if our preparation for Y2K had been 'Y2K means Y2K' and no more.

A better comparison, which I have not seen Leavers make, would be to make a comparison with the situation in Europe in the 1930s, there will be war, there won't be war. Few people actually wanted war. Why don't Leavers make this comparison? Because it doesn't lend itself to glib answers like 'nothing happened with Y2K'.

@Sb74

Fair enough BUT the Gov has published its plans for this exact scenario, so the question is, why would they that?

News item I spotted today. In the event of a no deal Brexit, make sure you have more than six months left on your passport. If it has less than a year before it expires, renew it now.

Agree with Peregrina re war. My parents used to describe the lead up to WW2 as being very odd, with life going on more or less as normal despite everyone being well aware of preparations being made - and hoping that in the end, nothing would happen and it would be sorted out.
(My Mum and Dad were lucky and survived. My Mum a nurse - Irish -was bombed in Gloucester and Liverpool. My Dad, a Surgeon-Lieutenant in the Navy, was sunk three times in the Med and took part in the D-Day landings. They both lost friends who were killed. They both valued our membership of the EU as a defence against war between European countries in the future.)

Sb74
History tells us that governments around the world have done many 'unthinkable' things. Whether deliberate or accidental, the possibility of not traveling and not receiving necessary imports is very real.
The UK government has been responsible for many atrocities, particularly when the UK was in it's 'colonising' phase. Lies, 'economy with the truth' and news embargos (enabled by poor communication of the day) meant that the very dark side of 'spices from India' or other delights in fashionable UK society and the like was never revealed to the UK public.

Sorry but WTF?? Is a big wall going up and I haven’t heard about? The tourist industry would collapse if anything people are saying here is true. It might take you a bit longer to get through immigration and you may have to get a stamp in your passport like the olden days but other than that you’ll be fine. FFS🤣

Refer you back to "why is the Government publishing technical papers on a no-deal scenario"

Asking Drugs companies to stock pile 6 weeks of medicines?

Oh yes the car industry employs 1 million workers, no deal threatens all their jobs and its not stopping the Gov from surging ahead..........

While the tourist industry is significant, it will fit easily under the wheels of the bus.
Besides, EU destinations will be having a 'sales drive' to attract the Chinese and Russians who have more money than many of the Brits.

I'm going to Spain at Easter. Not even thought of the risk. Will just join the line for a visa. It's not like they are going to turn us away

The airline company might have to turn you away though:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44725606
BTW this can’t be addressed until the Withdrawal Agreement is secured - as was made clear from the start. Which we have continued to drag our feet on.

'For those 'poo poohing' the idea of everything stopping, if there is 'no deal' and we crash out then literally at midnight (EU time) on 29th March NOTHING can legally travel, it really is that scary. Any flights or ferries that might be mid travel would have to turn back as they will be uninsured to land in the UK.
It is as unsubtle as chopping your finger off with an axe, there is no 'half measure'.
An airline went into bankruptcy this week, leaving passengers stranded in many countries. It will be like this but ALL airlines and ferries at once.'

Seriously?

Lets get a grip people. In the worst case it will be like going to a non EU place like? Russia? You will need to apply for a visa in advance. I certainly wouldnt cancel my travel plans...

Do you people still believe in the Easter bunny??

Will just join the line for a visa. It's not like they are going to turn us away

What line is this? Like in Turkey where you spend an hour to get to the immigration desk, then find you need a tourist visa, get turned away, join another whopping queue, get a visa and then two hours later get back to the head of the immigration queue?

Or like India, where you used to go have to take a day off work to go to the Embassy, queue all day, and hope to get seen. Or do what I did eleven years ago, pay a firm a fee, £52, on top of the visa fee, to save you the hassle to go and get the visa for you?

1tisILeClerc which planet are you on?

sallythesheep I hope your user name isn't a reflection of who you are. The truth is that none of us know what will happen. You might have blind faith that the Government will sort it out. What evidence do you have that the Govenment can sort anything out? They can't even agree among themselves.

Who knows what will happen, nobody knows, it's the uncertainty.

I'm hoping it'll be like the much publicised 1999/2000 computer bug. Nothing happened and we all carried on as before.

Personally I think there will be short term chaos, lots of forms etc but at the end of the day the EU needs tourists. But who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think there are some posters on here who are either mentally sub normal or are deliberately bring up the Millennium bug to try an wind people up.