To book a holiday for next summer ?

[Khtchkn]

If we book a holiday to Greece with tui for May 2021, is there a chance that we wouldn’t get money back/rescheduled to next year if coronavirus flared up and stopped us going? Tia

I booked one for Aug 2021 while I was lying in bed with COVID in April. Looking increasingly unlikely now!

Depends on your insurance and booking terms

I thought most companies were giving Covid guarantees? Check with Tui.

Hiya, I work in the travel industry and I have to say Tui have been one of the best holiday companies through this pandemic (I don't work for them for btw). Tui and others have to conform to the holiday package regulations so if your holiday can't go ahead ie, they cancel it because the FCO take Greece out of the travel corridor, Tui are obligated to refund you or offer you a credit on a new holiday. Their incentives to rebook are really good - up to £500 I think. If you don't want to reschedule you can request a full cash refund - package regs state it must be issued in 14 days. But I think 21 is more realistic.
However, if you choose not to go on the holiday and Tui are still operating it you may not get much back. But most companies now are offering free amendments so you can move your holiday to another time that suits you.

Hope this helps.

As much as I would love to go on hols I simply cannot afford (financially or emotionally) to book something and then lose it.

I’d be more worried TUI would go under. They weren’t in a great position even pre Covid

But on holidays, I’ve booked 2 for next year. We’ll see if they happen 🤷🏼‍♀️

We booked Tenerife for March and they immediately went on the quarantine list 🙄 fully refundable but we're already thinking it's a no go.

If your accommodation is fully refundable and your flights can be rebooked for free or a voucher given if either country's government guidelines change, yes.

If you can I’d book last minute. Not like the flight prices are going to skyrocket with everything going on and demand so low.

If people are being vaccinated by may, why not an august holiday?

Thank you everyone and that’s v helpful @Carlat86! @alwayscheddar I would prefer to book in September 2021! But we’re travelling with my son and he turns 2 in June, so that’s why we’re wanting to go before then to avoid paying full price for a 2 year old!

Jab & Go.

I got a refund this year from TUI for a cancelled holiday. I would stick to packaged holidays with TUI/First choice.

We have - Spain for August 2021. It was actually booked originally for 2020 but we postponed by a year due to the quarantine rules. The hotel is free cancellation until 24 hours beforehand (we only pay on arrival), so if it’s cancelled we only lose about £170 per person for the flight.

@Carlat86

Hiya, I work in the travel industry and I have to say Tui have been one of the best holiday companies through this pandemic (I don't work for them for btw). Tui and others have to conform to the holiday package regulations so if your holiday can't go ahead ie, they cancel it because the FCO take Greece out of the travel corridor, Tui are obligated to refund you or offer you a credit on a new holiday. Their incentives to rebook are really good - up to £500 I think. If you don't want to reschedule you can request a full cash refund - package regs state it must be issued in 14 days. But I think 21 is more realistic. However, if you choose not to go on the holiday and Tui are still operating it you may not get much back. But most companies now are offering free amendments so you can move your holiday to another time that suits you.

Hope this helps.

Just to add to this good advice - use your credit card for the booking, even if only for the deposit. If any part of the holiday cost is paid with a credit card then the whole of that holiday cost is covered by additional protections. It was before Covid, but I got caught in the Thomas Cook crash as I had booked a flight with them. Whilst others waited months to get their money back, I had mine back in my account within a week directly from the credit card company.

The other obvious thing is to have insurance - it scares me how many people travel without insurance because "they don't really need it".

We have a holiday to Gran Canaria booked for end July which was postponed from last year. I feel like it will be 50/50 whether we get to go. We are low down on the priority list for vaccinations. If things don’t look good when our balance is due in April we will attempt to postpone again. I presume we can do this again? Booked as a package with Tui.