UK holidays booked for July and August - AIBU not to cancel

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

Due to go to Devon early July and Center Parcs end of August. Devon final payment is due next week and Center Parcs has to be paid off next month. Have considered cancelling but not sure if I'd get a refund or credit should the holidays not go ahead!

What do people think the chances are we'll be able to go? And if it's "no chance" is it best to pay anyway?

I would be optimistic with U.K. based holidays by then. No ones going abroad for a year basically (just for holidays) those slots you have booked for July/August will be worth their weight in gold IF it’s possible to go.
I would keep the bookings and assume you’re going but accept you could be disappointed 😊

I think it's very unlikely to go ahead. The advice I saw was not to cancel and to pay the balance - that way you would be entitled to a full refund if it doesn't go ahead. Worth checking though - I think it was Simon Calder. Also that it's better to get a refund than a credit.

I have Butlins booked for the end of August which we are paying monthly. I'm continuing to pay hoping it will still go ahead. We realise it may not though but will change it to next year or get a refund if not.
We did have a eurocamp holiday booked through the campsite for May. I cancelled and lost my deposit as I was starting a new job that week.
My job offer has now been withdrawn and I wonder if I would have got the deposit back too now if I hadn't cancelled!
I think hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

We are due to go Cornwall early August. It is fully paid but i can't see it happening i think it will more than likely be cancelled. As previously mentioned though the advice is to pay your full balance for a full refund

Unfortunately it’s easy to say pay it all and get a refund but in reality the majority of people how have paid fully and had their holidays cancelled have only received credit notes and can’t get a refund no matter how hard they try.
I believe ABTA is trying to get a law or something like that passed to allow holiday companies to only give credit notes.

I think there is a good chance at least the August one will go ahead. Otherwise the UK tourist industry will effectively lose a whole year's trading which will decimate it.

Other countries are starting to relax their rules now, so if we start in May things could be 'half open' across the summer.

We have a week booked at Haven in August, I'm not cancelling yet ,if anything I would prefer to postpone it.

Week booked in Wales at the end of August and I'm trying to stay optimistic.

If other countries such as Italy and Spain are slowly easing restrictions after 6-8 weeks why do people think U.K. travel will still be completely banned in August which would be 5 months after restrictions were introduced here? Apart from anything else the impact on economically deprived areas such as Cornwall would be horrific.

Our summer holiday is one of the things keeping me going at the moment. The prospect of spending the entire summer cooped up in our small London flat with no break...well it's going to wreck my MH.

We had a short break with haven booked for next week and I have to say they have been brilliant - option of a full refund, or credit note and £50 towards food on next holiday. I'm taking the credit note and voucher and will be booking a break as soon as is allowed.

We're got a trip to Majorca leaving late August. I'm getting less optimistic it's going to happen. The flights are already paid for, but the accommodation balance (which is about 2k) isn't due until two weeks before thankfully so I'm holding off putting anymore money down right now as hopefully by the time August rocks around we should know if it's possible or not.

From what I can gather most companies are offering to move dates rather than give refunds / give a credit note rather than give refunds so it whether you want to keep paying depends on whether you are happy with that I guess.

We are due to go to Devon in August. So far we've only paid the deposit on the cottage. I am really hoping that it will be possible to travel in the UK by then - it's nearly four months away.

We also booked to stay at a campsite in the Lake District in late August. I had an email saying it's been cancelled, but that if the regulations change, it will be un-cancelled.

I haven't cancelled a trip for May yet. I know it will not happen but if I choose to cancel it will cost me if the company cancel they will refund/issue a credit note or move it. I still want to go away even if its next year so I will pay the balance when it's due and let them cancel it.

The thing with holidays this year is even if you can still go we are still going to be having to observe social distancing. Lots of other places, where you get a lot of people to together may not be open. Or we may open up a bit and find we have to close down again. I think given the chance we'll move ours to next year, as it won't be the holiday we where hoping for. Although I'll maybe just be begging for a change of 4 walls by then who knows.

Centre Parks have moved the payment of the balnce to 5 weeks before from 10 weeks, so you may get breathing space there! I've heard its better to pay up and either change dates or get a refund, but am hearing redunds are hard to come by.

I think there’s a chance that some UK holidays will be able to go ahead, where social distancing rules can still be observed. I’m not sure about centre parks as I’ve never been...I assume it involves many hundreds of people in one place?

We are booked to go with TUI to Greece in Mid July. Our balance is due end of this month and we will be paying and if (when!) they cancel we will accept a credit note as we tend to go with them most years anyway.

Don't forget holiday companies could well go bankrupt then the credit note would be worthless.

If that money is important to you and the deposit was small enough, really think about pulling out to save the majority of the balance.

We've got a cheap uk chalet holiday booked for mid July (Northumberland)

I have everything crossed it's going to go ahead 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Exactly what I was thinking FusionChefGeoff. I'm also booked for mid July, with the full balance to be paid in a few weeks. I'm worried that the company may go bust after I've paid. So it might be safer to just not pay the balance and lose the deposit.

My only worry about credit notes is that the company may go broke anyway and the credit notes will be worth nothing ?

Refund credit notes aren't worthless if the company goes bankrupt. The RCNs are protected by ABTA/ATOL/ABTOT, whichever is applicable.

If you can't go on holiday, please transfer your booking or accept the RCN. Most companies are only receiving credit notes from their suppliers, so if customers all demand cash refunds then it causes a huge cash flow problem and a lot of operators are likely to go under.

Also worth bearing in mind that the RCNs will have an expiry date - if you don't use them by that date you can apply for a cash refund

Pay by credit card if you can, even if it's only £100, then you will be covered under consumer credit act.

Getting a credit note for a holiday abroad is all very well but will you be able to get insurance that will cover Coronavirus?

I’m particularly interested to see if the medical bit of insurance will cover Coronavirus in the future! If they don’t, it’ll be a big risk going abroad and catching it while you are away? We are booked to go to California in August but I don’t think it will happen, I was thinking about re-booking for next year but worried about the insurance element.

We have Bulgaria in July and Holland long weekend August plus airport hotel and parking booked. I was going to carry on paying until I hear and hopefully move dates if needed?