To wonder why people are booking holidays abroad...

[MrsMillhouse]

... when the rules seem to change every 5 minutes?

I understand those desperate to see family. But otherwise I don’t get why you would take the risk of getting your holiday canceled or have to spend £000s on quarantine as the bloody rules seem to change from day to day

@MrsMillhouse

I don’t blame anyone for wanting to go abroad. But I personally couldn’t deal with the worry of whether flights could get canceled or having to go into quarantine when getting home. I wouldn’t be overly worried about catching Covid abroad as I could just as easily catch it at home

Possibly but you may mingle with masses of people from Red countries where you go . I would say the chance is higher .Opened up my FB today to see friends from a Red country living it up in Italy .

1 Optimism and hope
2 It’s cancellable and fully refundable

@chocolatesaltyballs22 completely agree
If we wait until " it's all died down " it could be 2 or 3 years before travel is normal again.
My job used to involve travelling all over the world and some places needed paperwork, vaccinations and visas so I'm pretty used to it and have has last minute cancellations too

@avamiah What is your issue with your friend? I have also booked flights which can be cancelled 24 hours in advance and a hotel that is pay on exit. Even if I didn’t cancel the flights they only cost me £200 which I can afford to lose. Our only risk is that we catch Covid whilst we are away and that’s a risk that we are happy to take. The fact is that we are going to a country with a much lower rate than the U.K. so our chances of catching it are much lower anyway.

@Greenwateringcan absolutely nothing terrible! Just I can’t understand why anyone would take the risk. I’ve seen friends stuck abroad for a while and then spend thousands isolating in a hotel while losing work. When they headed abroad (for a family emergency) they had absolutely no idea that the country would go to “red”

I do totally understand why people are desperate to escape somewhere warm and have some proper R&R but I also wouldn’t book anything abroad now. Different if you have family there and different if it’s a previous cancellation you are rolling on.

I think if I didn’t have kids and it was just me and DH I would be more inclined to risk it since we can both work from home so isolation would not be that bad but no way am I risking that with 3 young children. Not to mention that my 8 year old is literally hysterical at even the thought of a COVID test after she had to do a few this last year.

As it is we are going to Devon and even that I feel quite pessimistic about. Rates around here are going crazy, half the school is isolating, my kids are booked in to an activity camp so I can work the week before we go on holiday. I am not at all sure we will be able to go given the fact that we will almost certainly be in contact with someone who has COVID in the next couple of weeks.

@Greenwateringcan

I’m overweight. Clearly I should cancel my holiday forthwith.

Didn't you know overweight people should stay at home ?

The overt reason is a faux concern' for their health- after their risk of dying of Covid is increased from incredibly miniscule to miniscule .

The more covert reason it's that 'normal' people ( weirdly those normal.people are actually on the minority in this country ) wouldn't then need to see them out and about having a good time which no fat person should do. They should be cowering at home measuring their food and feeling shit about themselves.

I'm booked to go in August and will if I can but I work for the company I'm booked with and know the answers to all the rules and 'what-ifs' around my destination already (plus of course I can cancel on the day if necessary and as staff not be charged). I don't know if I'd have booked with any other company though.

I'm guessing the problem with the Portugal holiday booking where she's not paying for the hotel until she gets there, is that it's a really cunty thing to do to the hotel

And it's relevant that the Mexican holiday people are very overweight, because that's a well-established mortality risk for covid

[quote MrsMillhouse]@Greenwateringcan absolutely nothing terrible! Just I can’t understand why anyone would take the risk. I’ve seen friends stuck abroad for a while and then spend thousands isolating in a hotel while losing work. When they headed abroad (for a family emergency) they had absolutely no idea that the country would go to “red”[/quote]
But I work from home. The flights were peanuts. What’s the risk for me?

I'm supposed to be going on a girls' holiday in a few weeks. Carried over from last year. If it happens, it happens. Not risking a family one though

@DameFanny

I'm guessing the problem with the Portugal holiday booking where she's not paying for the hotel until she gets there, is that it's a really cunty thing to do to the hotel

And it's relevant that the Mexican holiday people are very overweight, because that's a well-established mortality risk for covid

Almost all hotels (on every major selling platform, Expedia, booking, LastMinute, hotels.com etc) are, (as they always have, from well before Covid) offer this option. You can cancel up to the day before, pay on arrival, pay when you leave etc etc. It's not a Covid thing. Do you not travel much? How do you not know this? I have always booked on that footing precisely because you never know what might happen.

Well done on yet another fat shaming comment though.

because life is too short to put it on hold - it's not like the UK is safe at all anyway

because when you can WFH or in a hotel you can tolerate the quarantine if you end up being locked up

because they are seriously bored of the UK and need some air!

because people already said the same thing last year, and if we had listened, we would have missed out on holiday in August and October half term..

You just book planning for the worst, it's still worth it.

Plus it means one less family crowding the "staycation" touristy place, you should be grateful

It's not fat shaming, if anything it's covid-risk-non-comprehension-shaming.

And don't all those hotels have cancellation charges? As someone who used to work in travel insurance I find that extraordinary. But you're right - since I got sick I haven't been to many hotels

@DameFanny

It's not fat shaming, if anything it's covid-risk-non-comprehension-shaming.

And don't all those hotels have cancellation charges? As someone who used to work in travel insurance I find that extraordinary. But you're right - since I got sick I haven't been to many hotels

Some have options where there are cancellation charges, most don't.

I wouldn't book anything new right now. But we, like others, have a holiday that was booked in 2019 for August 2020, postponed to August 2021. We've just made the reluctant decision to postpone again to August 2022. But I can see why some people would want to go ahead with it if at all possible. We were very unsure what to do as dd1 will be 16 in 2022 and might not be wanting to holiday with us by then.

Blimey. That's got to hurt

We didn't even consider booking anything for this year and I'm starting to think the same will apply next year. Not even in the UK- we can't afford to lose the money if one of us were to test positive or be told to isolate.

I worry about something going wrong at the best of times, I'd be a wreck if we had a holiday coming up this year! Bit concerned that it could be years before I've got the guts to book a holiday actually!

We had a holiday booked for last year (booked in 2019). It was transferred to this year. We don't really want to go but would lose all our money if we cancelled.

I know some people are booking up recently but some are in the same position as us.

@ProbablyGryffindor 4.5% of cases are the beta variant in Metropolitan France. Its 100% in Reunion, a small French island off Africa.
It's like putting restrictions on the UK because of an outbreak in the Falklands.

Yanbu. Unless it's to see family abroad it all seems way too much hassle.

I'm just back from a green country. I travelled alone to see friends. It was bliss. I work from home anyway so could quarantine if it went amber.
If those of us who can don't travel now, there will be less choice in the future as another airline could well go under. I'm going back in September. I refuse to live in a state of what if. I love my holidays and will pay what I need to in order to get away. (I fully appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to do this).

[quote ProbablyGryffindor]@Melitza - France is on the amber list due to a specific variant in France, not due to actual case numbers.[/quote]
That variant is apparently actually only dominant in Réunion Island, which is in the Indian Ocean. Not mainland France.

Oh sorry - just seen a PP already said that.