To ask about a holiday to Egypt

[Iwillnotdancewiththedevil]

First of all - yes, my family holiday is totally insignificant with the events in Israel, but I'm just looking for practical advice and thoughts.

We are due to go to Hurghada at the end of Oct. While the FCDO have advised against travel to other parts of Egypt, Hurghada is still (currently)open for travel.

For now, EasyJet won't commit to any decisions on whether they will cancel the holiday. If they decide it will still run, where do we stand?
Our travel insurance is being helpfully vague and saying wait until the tour operator make a decision.

I feel very uncomfortable travelling to Egypt for a jolly holiday while the region is going through such trauma and as it stands now, I really don't want to go.

@Bushgirl no apology necessary, it was a valid point and I appreciate the input - thank you

Egypt has been notoriously wobbly for several years and isn't somewhere I would go and feel 'safe' I think I would be getting my head around not going due to what I perceived to be the increased risk. I would just let the money go. Look at it the other way and if you were being asked to pay that amount to be perfectly safe and get out of Egypt if something happened you'd pay it, by not going you are essentially paying to be safe at home rather than flying over a warzone to get to a place that has potential risks involved and is known for its instability

We are going to Sharm in a fortnight and have no worried about it. (also went last year, we are regulars).
The tourist resorts are in their own little bubble from Egypt and the surrounding counties.
Egypt relies on tourism. If anything, it’s going to have heightened security making it one of the safest times to go.

We are due to go to hurghada at the end of November and initially this worried me too as we are going with our 3 young children.
I think if they were really worried they would not allow people to go to Egypt or book. Personally I’m just keeping an eye on the news but if anything changes then I won’t be going.

I'm in exactly the same position as you. Going to Hurghada on Sunday with my family, first holiday since before COVID, with EasyJet and I don't want to go, but my fiance thinks we'll be fine. I have no idea what to do and it's really upsetting!

We're probably on the same flight, that's when we go!

I've got my head around it a little now.
The FCO advice for Egypt hasn't actually changed for a few years - they haven't added any new warnings since the attacks. Also, Hurghada is quite a way from the borders so as someone on here said, it's a bit like something happening in London but being worried about travelling to Carlisle... ie it's far enough away.

I've tried not to read too much of the news as well... the more I was reading was making me too anxious so I'm trying to keep away, while obviously still keeping an eye that nothing is escalating.

Probably! I keep going from "it will all be fine" to sheer panic! I will keep a close eye between now and Sunday, and if anything changes then the government will stop flights and we'll all get our money back... I think I do need to remember that it's far away and when things have happened in London in the past that didn't stop me from going there. You can be unsafe anywhere! And if anything, things might be saver with more police and security... It's really put me at ease to know that current advice hasn't changed as I wasn't aware of that so thank you. I think when I go I will keep checking that nothing has changed that can affect Egypt and Hurghada and if not, try not to read anything else. I hope to meet a lot of family's out there that feel the same way and hopefully all have a good time! I hope you do end up going and have a great time with your family.

I remember in summer when we were booked to go to Tunisia and DD said oh but there's a threat of terrorism..until I pointed out that the official terrorist threat level is actually much higher in the UK.

Went to Egypt in Jan, back next week. The security in the resorts is much more strident than here, so if you are worried don't leave your resort.

I would still go, as someone has already said it's like avoiding Scotland because of conflict in London.

We're off to Egypt in December so I can understand your thoughts. Obviously the humanitarian situation is awful, however it's also normal to have concerns about the safety of your own family. I'm concerned about attacks on soft targets like tourists who are from nations who are very clearly supporting Israel.

The tourist resorts in Hurghada are like a different world. It’s not like your in main “Egypt”

all have stringent security, the staff are amazing and tourism is so important to their economy.
we went in May, I’d go again in a heartbeat & always felt safe.

I have a holiday booked Hurghada in December with my teenage daughter that I booked back in April. I spoke to Easy jet and for £49 per person each way you can change your destination and flight as long as its within a year from the date the flight was booked. I can cancel my hotel free of charge 2 days before the booking date and get a full refund so thats good. Therefore I am considering changing the flight to Easter to another destination.

DH and I are booked to go on a Nile Cruise and to stay in Luxur, Aswan and Cairo too on 9th January. We’ve decided not to go. It’s a painful decision, as we’ll lose £8000. The Cruise and internal flights had to be paid in full at the time of booking. I knew they were non-refundable. The advice is those areas should be fine, but an Egyptian Police Officer shot a group of tourists, killing two, in Alexandria a couple of weeks ago. I know there will be lots of security, but if a member of the security forces will do that, how can we feel safe? With UK, European and US Government supporting Israel’s actions and 10s of thousands of innocent Palestinians being slaughtered, the situation is very provocative and the knowledge that all of that misery and death was so close, we wouldn’t enjoy the trip even if we weren’t looking over our shoulders all the time.

I’m in Egypt now. Staying in Sharm but we have just done a day trip to Cairo and the Nile. No issues whatsoever.

Absolutely mental to consider losing that amount of money.

Safety over money always

Terrorist attacks come out of the blue though don’t they? There are many Arabs (and others) currently very angry at, and frustrated by the Israeli State’s slaughtering on 10s of thousands (so far) of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. Some of that anger and frustration in an unstable individual, could easily be aimed at Jews and Westerners, whose Governments are cheer leading (at least publicly) Israel’s actions. Losing £8000 is crushing, but money is less important than safety. I hope the rest of your trip is peaceful.

What did you do OP?

I need to make a decision by next week, when our whole balance is due for a Hurghada holiday in February.

If we cancel now then we lose the deposit (which is 1/3 price of the holiday).

Just come back from Luxor and Hurghada and no issues at all, lots of tourists, no evidence of any security concerns.

I wouldn't cancel, if the situation did get serious then you would be covered by insurance.

@Iwillnotdancewiththedevil & @AlexC1991 , how did you both get on?

I have to say I'm a bit 🤔about some of the alarmist talk about Air Defence Systems being on high alert, etc etc.

As a PP said Hurghada is hundreds of miles away from Gaza but it's not in the back end of beyond.

In addition well as being a destination in itself it's on one of the aviation main link routes between places like Europe and Saudi/beyond (have a look at Flight radar) and so things like the radar coverage and coordination between the various air Traffic Authorities is very good to cope with all the overflights.

It's certainly much better than many other parts of the world I suspect many people here have flown over in the past without giving things like "air Defence Systems" being on alert a second thought.....

This, I've been to Cairo and Sharm recently. Egypt relies heavily on tourism and the resorts are a metaphoric million miles away from the atrocities in Gaza and Israel. Of course there's the risk of terrorism anywhere, but logically you'd be at as much risk in London as anywhere N Africa or the middle east.

I've just come back from Hurghada after similar concerns to the OP.

I'm glad we went. We changed our original plans a little, in that ordinarily we would have explored the area more, visited the markets etc. As it was, we stayed in the resort the whole time. We were lucky that there was enough going on in resort (private beach, private marina etc) that for only 7 nights it didn't feel too constricted.

Security to get into the resort was also super tight - ID for the taxi driver to drive into the resort, as well as airport style scanners for all bags entering the hotel and body scanners.

We felt safe the whole time, and worlds away from anything happening. Morally we felt awkward being there, but the alternative was losing all of our money - for a family of 5 that's a lot to lose.

I've often had mixed feelings about Egypt, there are lots of beautiful things about the country and it's great for winter sun and for diving. There are obviously human rights issues and as a foreign women you can be sexually harassed and made to feel uncomfortable. We're off to Sharm in December, and have had some concerns, notwithstanding the humanitarian situation so close at hand.

I take your points until the last one. There are degrees of risk. It’s naive to think that, given Western support for Israel’s slaughter of tens of thousands of innocents in Gaza, most of whom are babies and young children, that the risk if terrorist attacks on Western civilians won’t have increased dramatically 🙄