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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Going on holiday tomorrow but poorly kids!!!

328 replies

Asvan · 17/04/2019 22:12

Hi everyone

We are due to go on holiday to Turkey tomorrow but two out of my three kids have fallen Ill today. They both have sore throats and temperatures and have not eaten or drank much today. One of them has just complained that he feels sick.

We have been looking forward to this holiday for six months but I really don't want to take them in this state. Our flights are at 2pm tomorrow and I really don't know what to do. I need to think of a plan b just incase we have to end up cancelling.

Our flights are booked with easyjet and we do have travel insurance, what could my options be if I do cancel? I have only paid for one nights hotel stay and the rest would be paid on arrival.

Will my insurance company pay out? I feel like they both have some kind of virus but the last thing I want to do is take them abroad and be stuck in a hotel room.

OP posts:
nighttimebrowser · 18/04/2019 08:10

I've had a 'cold' for the last month and I've been knocked out by it, sleeping all day, unable to go to work, absolutely exhausted with no energy.

Stuffy nose
Tiredness
Sore throat
Ear pain

All the main symptoms and I would NOT get on a plane like this much less traipse around a bloody airport feeling rubbish and unable to be in bed.

I could be in Florida Disney World and I'd still feel shit and unable to leave my bed.

angieloumc · 18/04/2019 08:10

How are they this morning OP? Hoping they've brightened up.

DizzyPhillips · 18/04/2019 08:13

Another one who thinks you’re looking for excuses not to go, OP.

Abuse! I’d have been more likely to threaten to call Childline if my parents had cancelled our holiday because I had a cold 😱😱

PeonyTruffle · 18/04/2019 08:14

Don't cancel over a cold, if they are feeling well enough to go, then go.

D&V no don't travel but a sore throat isn't the end of the world.

SileneOliveira · 18/04/2019 08:14

I've had a 'cold' for the last month and I've been knocked out by it, sleeping all day, unable to go to work, absolutely exhausted with no energy.

Which sucks for you but is in no way comparable to children having a sore throat for one day.

tabbiemoo · 18/04/2019 08:18

Hope the kids are feeling a bit better this morning OP.
I very much doubt you’ll get any money back from insurers over this and the kids are likely to be better within a day or two so on that basis I would go if I were you. Dose them up with calpol/calprofen and go.

nighttimebrowser · 18/04/2019 08:19

@SileneOliveira True, but we don't know what they have. I felt awful from day one.

itsnotso · 18/04/2019 08:20

My youngest came down with a cold the day before we left for Ibiza, she was 3 at the time. It was very obvious she wasn't well, her nose was bright red and she was very very pale. But, I know my kids. And when they're ill, they sleep.

We had an early morning flight, and in the airport the excitement kicked in and she was running around like a loon. Once on the flight, I'd bought a blanket and she settled on my knee. She never really woke up until we were in the baggage lounge.

For 3 days she was really up and down, but I looked after her exactly the same way I would have done if I was at home. She slept in the shade on a sofa/lounger. She was fed calpol and whatever crap she wanted to eat, which was mostly yogurts. But, when she was awake she was in the pool, which you would think she would have avoided given she had a cold. On day 4, she was completely back to normal.

I really wouldn't cancel your holiday for a cold. What if they developed it out there? Would you fly home? Just take plenty of calpol, make a big fuss about the holiday, and try to enjoy it x

Aridane · 18/04/2019 08:20

The insurance should pay out as a doctors letter would be adequate evidence

Insurers will not pay out merely on the basis of a GP letter- insurers have their prescribed forms for completion!

Aridane · 18/04/2019 08:25

Ask easyJet.

Don't mean to be rude or blunt but no one here can tell you the answer.

Your Insurance policy will be specific to you. They will tell you what you need to make a claim.

Your flights may or may not be transferable, again, they will be specific to your booking.

You need to contact:

Insurers

Airline

OP gets this but is anxious and got herself in a right old state and venting (hyperventilating?) on Mumsnet. Plus wanting to know what others would do and their own experience with insurers and EasyJet in similar circumstances.

There would be little traffic on mumsnet if everyone did research before posting in a panic!

Aridane · 18/04/2019 08:26

BTW - pharmacy staff in Turkey are great and with excellent English!

stucknoue · 18/04/2019 08:27

The kids would need to be certified by a dr as unfit to travel they won't accept your word

JulianDickGeorgeAndTimmy · 18/04/2019 08:28

You will need a letter from the doctor. I have literally just had to do this

Aridane · 18/04/2019 08:28

I'm not so sure that a GP will write a note for a cold and say they aren't fit to fly

Tend to agree

Hollowvictory · 18/04/2019 08:30

Surely you would have needed to speak to the insurers yesterday. A sore throat isn't really a cancellation reason is it.

Moneys2Tight2Mention · 18/04/2019 08:31

Can’t believe you’re thinking of cancelling the holiday for a couple of sore throats

This x 10000000000000000000%

Get yourself on the plane and have a good time! If you start thinking they are ill, telling them they are ill, chances are they will feel more ill.

Perfick · 18/04/2019 08:32

We have cancelled a holiday before as one of the DC came down with chicken pox two days before we were due to fly. Had to go to the GP to get a letter proving he was unfit to fly.

We went on a long haul flight last Christmas and over half of the plane were sneezing and coughing. I didn't really think much of it other than my mother would be in a state of panic that people were sneezing near her. I'm not sure that a GP would deem having a cough or cold as being unfit to fly.

Hope your DC are feeling a bit brighter this morning and that you can go on your holiday, OP.

brizzlemint · 18/04/2019 08:32

I'd go, a GP isn't going to say don't go on the basis of a sore throat.

WaxOnFeckOff · 18/04/2019 08:33

Aridane, that's been my experience too. I have never failed to have excellent service from friendly efficient and knowledgeable staff with perfect English everywhere in Turkey and especially in the pharmacy. I don't know what people think it's like Confused

WaxOnFeckOff · 18/04/2019 08:34

And they have a complete range of food, including what would seem 'normal' to UK children.

DesparateDino · 18/04/2019 08:40

How are the children this morning OP?

Also, what is wrong with Turkey?

Persimmonn · 18/04/2019 08:43

Well i'm leaving you all you hard nosed folks to it - I look after children like yours every day who are plonked into day care when they should be at home - but just you keep telling yourself it's OK - I take the temperatures - give the Calpol - wipe the noses - rub the sore tummies - change the dodgy nappies & give the comforting hugs instead - all the while feeling glad that when my son needed all this I was there for him

Well don’t fucking do it then! You’re not some beacon of righteousness with your healing hand. Leave your job if it pisses you off so much, or send the kids home. Don’t come on here bitching about working parents who use common sense and realise a cold isn’t the plague.

IndianaMoleWoman · 18/04/2019 08:44

Some of the comments on this thread are hands down the craziest I’ve ever read on this site.

I have had to miss a holiday due to being admitted to hospital the day before (I was in all week) and I still had to pay for a GP letter (£50 I think) to confirm I was too ill to fly. It’s more of a form than a letter and asks what treatment you sought, what was diagnosed, what was prescribed etc. so I very much doubt you’d get an insurance pay out on the symptoms you describe in your OP.

Anyway, I hope this is all moot and you’re on your way to the airport (and haven’t been taken away by social services for being “abusive”/ decided to quarantine yourselves for fear of being “selfish” Wink )

MissHemsworth · 18/04/2019 08:50

Also worth taking into consideration is the on site pharmacy at most Turkish resorts.

Eminybob · 18/04/2019 08:52

I hope everyone feels better this morning op and you are still going.

I have been ill twice before setting off on holiday, and although the flight was horrible, the sea air and sunshine made me feel tons better once I got there.
Last time I had tonsillitis, I went to the drs a couple of days before I travelled, and even though it didn’t look bacterial then, he prescribed antibiotics in case it developed into bacterial while I was away as he knew I was going and couldn’t go back to drs if I got worse. So he knew I was going away and was quite happy for me to.