To assume families with children too young to be vaccinated won’t be able to holiday overseas for years?

[ohcarolina2001]

So various countries are welcoming vaccinated people. By autumn my partner and I should both have had both vaccines, but our 1 year old DD is not eligible for a vaccine and by the time all the trials etc have been done on progressively younger people, we are years away from her being vaccinated. AIBU to assume we can’t take her on her first overseas holiday any time soon, because there is no exemption for unvaccinated children who can of course still spread Covid-19?

The only possibility I can see is going to a country which doesn’t require anyone to be vaccinated - but surely these destinations are a much riskier prospect (with an unvaccinated toddler licking everything and no vaccine 100% effective anyway).

Looking at holiday websites, most package holidays seem to be sold out for autumn already. These can’t all have been bought by couples without kids and older couples with adult children, surely? Have families with kids who won’t be vaccinated booked too and are hoping for positive news that kids will be exempt from the requirement to have their vaccines before entry?

We will be travelling, adults and child without vaccinations if possible. We live in an Eu country that has no plans at all to vaccinate under 50s for ages ( probably never). All family back in Uk. So far I haven’t seen family for 18 months. Nobody has even met our almost 1 year old. We plan a trip back to England in September if possible. I have parent with limited time left due to illness, so don’t want to delay much longer.

Uk is vaccinating lots. But I don’t think hardly any countries in Eu are. So if your planning on a summer Europe holiday, almost everyone you meet who isn’t old or in Heath are working won’t have been vaccinated or won’t ever be.

I’ll be travelling twice at least hopefully with mh 3yo. If he needs a test then I’ll pay one for him

We put our kids too much risk during the day anyway (going to nursery every day Is more risky for my ds covidwise than him going on a plane with people vaccinated or with proof of negative test )

As for people feeling depressed that they can’t travel abroad, how about holidaying in the UK and helping out our own economy before flitting off somewhere else.

Oh I don't know, the shit unpredictable weather, the ridiculous price for the most basic of cottages, the fact I've not been able to leave this miserable country for 2 years. Yeah...no, we have flights booked for August and we will be on them if allowed which seems quite likely at this point. And about to book 2 more for the next 18 months.

@HeartsAndClubs not sure how I was supposed to take all these factors into consideration as someone who moved every 3 years growing up, was sent to my dad's country for uni while they moved some more for work, and then finally retired in my moms country.

I obviously know I can't go see them whenever I like, but I don't think it's unreasonable to be upset (or obtuse apparently) that there is no way to plan when I will ever see them again. Surely that isn't so difficult to understand.

It won’t be years, probably just this year. Depending on the country, young children will likely exempt from vaccines, but will probably need a negative test to fly. Also remember that the UK has requirements for returning from abroad too, even if quarantine is stopped another negative test is needed to get into the UK. That could end up being £200 extra for a child to go on holiday.

@Caspianberg two vaccine doses are needed for the vaccine passports, so even if your DS gets his before July he won’t get his second until autumn.

We had a UK holiday last year and made the best of it but camping with young children in UK weather can be hard, and we've spent the past year going to wet playgrounds almost daily anyway. I want to go abroad and just let my kids toddle about in the sunshine and play in the pool. This may well not happen and that's fine, but I won't be doing a UK hokidays instead as I'd much rather save the money. I say this as someone who hasn't had a summer holiday abroad for 5 or 6 years so I'm not one of the holiday obsessed. Just think the argument that you can have a similar UK holiday is silly. Also we are planning on driving and getting the ferry to France - not all holidays involve flying.

@changingnames786

As for people feeling depressed that they can’t travel abroad, how about holidaying in the UK and helping out our own economy before flitting off somewhere else.

Oh I don't know, the shit unpredictable weather, the ridiculous price for the most basic of cottages, the fact I've not been able to leave this miserable country for 2 years. Yeah...no, we have flights booked for August and we will be on them if allowed which seems quite likely at this point. And about to book 2 more for the next 18 months.

I completely agree. I resent paying £200+ a night for a "holiday" in this country where the weather is likely to be shit. It's great that lots of people enjoy staying in the UK for holidays but some of us don't.

And I really feel for people who have family abroad, esp those with babies. You don't get that time back and sharing the joy of a baby with my parents has been one of the loveliest things in my life.

We got a holiday abroad last year and hoping to do the same in July. I think under 10s will be exempt in a number of the popular European countries

@changingnames786 👏👏👏👏 exactly we have booked for August too and we will being going if allowed!

Under 6s are currently exempt for Covid testing in Spain. We have budgeted £500 for two lots of adults tests for outbound and return.

@HalfGalHalfCake

I'm looking forward to a couple of years of holidays without screaming kids ruining it

100% this!

@Marvelwife123 they aren’t exempt from UK testing though, have you factored in a test in Spain for the kids before returning to the UK? And possibly further testing in the UK which is currently £210 per person for when you return, though hopefully that won’t be needed by August.

@stealthbanana

For all of you proclaiming that travel isn’t a necessity - assume you don’t have family abroad who might actually want to see said children at some point? It annoys me that travel is so blithely written off as being indulgent holidays only.

Er there's families in the UK with parents in different counties who haven't seen each other in over a year. No a holiday/travel isn't a necessity. And let's face it, would you be as keen to go if they lived somewhere cold? I doubt it.

@changingnames786

As for people feeling depressed that they can’t travel abroad, how about holidaying in the UK and helping out our own economy before flitting off somewhere else.

Oh I don't know, the shit unpredictable weather, the ridiculous price for the most basic of cottages, the fact I've not been able to leave this miserable country for 2 years. Yeah...no, we have flights booked for August and we will be on them if allowed which seems quite likely at this point. And about to book 2 more for the next 18 months.

This is not a miserable country! It's lovely, interesting and beautiful and there are some marvellous beaches. We usually have several weeks of sun too.

Agree with previous posters. DH and I happily travelled in the U.K. as well as abroad when it was just the two of us but I find U.K. holidays overpriced and impractical now that we have kids. Spend £2k on a cottage for it to piss down all week, do your own cooking or spend a small fortune eating out. Then there’s the cost of entertaining the kids when it’s raining cats and dogs. DS2 has very sensitive skin and hates beaches so even when it’s sunny we can’t get “free” entertainment that way. Also, the theme parks are totally shit in this country. We don’t spend all our holidays in theme parks but we do like to visit from time to time.

@Racoonworld those rules are in place at the moment whilst holidays are banned, to enable travel that has to happen. If the travel industry opens up and countries aren't "red" areas, then there is no reason to assume quarantine and £210 pp tests. Holiday companies last year allowed cancellations and rebookings where quarantines came in anyway. So I've budgeted based on the £70pp tests, but companies like BA are already working on cheaper alternatives.

[quote Racoonworld]@Marvelwife123 they aren’t exempt from UK testing though, have you factored in a test in Spain for the kids before returning to the UK? And possibly further testing in the UK which is currently £210 per person for when you return, though hopefully that won’t be needed by August.[/quote]
Spain at the moment requests a test for over 6yo. So if you have children under that age then you don’t need it.
This is at the moment as mentioned , it might change

@ClarkeGriffin actually I'm really hoping to holiday in the UK... my dc want to see Stonehenge and their grandparents. Obviously not coming for the weather but there is so much I'm longing to see and do. I'll be vaccinated but Dh and dc no...

But it won't be the end of the world if we have to stay in our warm beachside house here if the (vaccinated) grandparents can come to us instead.

Uk doesn’t request one for kids below 12

We have two teens. Both dh and I will be vaccinated by July. I will be absolutely gutted if we can't go away.

Holidays are what I look forward to. Already missed out on two trips that have been cancelled in the last year.

Id love to know what decent holidays people do in the U.K. with two teenagers. We do lots of city breaks with them here which is fine but two weeks

This is not a miserable country! It's lovely, interesting and beautiful and there are some marvellous beaches. We usually have several weeks of sun too.

Can you let me know when those weeks will be please so I can book something?

Most counties so far seem to be saying vaccine, negative test or antibodies

Exactly

OP, where did you get the idea that only vaccinated people will be allowed to travel?

I think young kids don’t really get an awful lot out of travelling abroad for holidays anyway. From what I see a lot of the time it’s about what parents want, not children. There’s often not a lot for kids other than sitting on a beach or by a pool, which is okay for a couple of days, but often it’s a week or more of that. There are a lot of lovely places in the UK, which are going to be a lot more interesting for children, and it’s not going to be too much of a hardship surely in the short term.

I think people just need to realise that overseas holidays may not be possible this year, and we have no idea of the requirements yet. We don’t know if the UK will still have quarantine and two tests on return, we don’t know if full vaccination will be needed to travel, if testing and quarantine will be needed in other countries. The government has even said it’s too early to make abroad holiday plans for summer.