AIBU to cancel holiday?

[Nostrings457]

Booked to go to Malta in May - holiday balance is due tomorrow (over 6k). Travelling with young children and 1 aduly is aged 65+

Malta has no coronavirus cases currently but who knows what will happen between now and May. I dont want to pay the balance and then risk trying to claim off insurance if we dont go.

I suppose its more a what would you do than aibu?

(I know the risk is so low, influenza kills more people etc.. but i dont want to end up in quarantine with 3 young kids somewhere either)

@isabellarissignol there's a really interesting recent article on that by the National Geographic. Reducing travel would certainly delay the spread of the virus, but travel restrictions are only useful in completely containing a virus if they are deployed globally. I think at the moment it's the delay we need in the UK to slow the rate of infections so that the NHS can cope. That's basically what the Government are saying.

The horse has already bolted. If the government had stopped all flights in from affected areas then I would have been fully supportive of any travel bans. Thousands of people continue to come in and out of this country each day. They advise we don’t go to China/Italy and Iran yet let flights come in from these countries. Not travelling now won’t stop this virus. Unless everybody was banned from travelling which won’t happen.

Therefore unless there’s a travel ban to the place I’m going (with zero cases) I will be going and not losing thousands of pounds.

Perfectly put @Delatron.

I think all countries will advise people to travel less, as travelling at the moment is simply compounding the problem and allowing the virus to spread faster. Each time a new pocket of the virus starts in someone who has travelled and brought it to the UK, it takes Government and NHS resources to trace and treat contacts. It may feel that the horse has bolted but we are still officially in the containment phase where the government is trying to stop the spread, and we need to do what we can not to add to the difficulties for them.

This is about delay - not about eradication. And travel speeds up spread.

There probably will come a time when people lose thousands of £ in all this. I’d be wary of booking new holidays without checking insurance t&c carefully.

Would you not like a little rest Fur? You seem to have been repeatedly posting the same thing for hours now.

What did you decide @Nostrings457 ?

@alsohuman, perhaps you could also take a rest from reading and responding in a non-logical way. I understand that your gut feeling is that this is ridiculous, I'm simply pointing out the current WHO and Government messages about everyone doing what they can to slow the spread of the virus which they say is escalating and is dangerous.

There have been a lot of experts on the radio and TV recently and none of the ones I have heard have talked about a travel ban being desirable. Obviously I haven't heard every expert in the UK and opinion will differ, so maybe some are saying they'd like to see that implemented.

But without exception, they have all said that the best thing we can do is to wash our hands properly. I think that's advice that surely everyone should be willing to follow? Mind you, I've been in 6 different shops this morning that are sold out of hand gel and liquid soap, so if you're not the sort of person who already has a lot of that stuff in the house, we might actually be reaching a point where proper handwashing could actually be difficult for people to do.

I ticked YAUBU for simple reason of its normal to be concerned over this, I also would hate to be stuck for 2 weeks with small children.
But, I think id still pay difference but get in writing if you can the procedure on returns just in case worst happens.

The head of public health in Scotland says it’s business as usual north of the border and will be for the foreseeable future.

Interesting that Scotland has chosen to post that and perhaps not that helpful as UK wide Cobra meeting taking place today.

It does illustrate how the Coronavirus is being treated with a political lens by governments.

My travel insurance definitely doesn't pay out if we cancel because the FCO advice says not to travel . So I second the advice to read the T&C carefully. Has anyone tried taking out insurance in the last few days? I'm considering looking at getting a second policy to cover this eventuality, but I wonder whether the companies have stopped issuing them??

Update though, for those in similar circumstances - it looks like Airbnb might be allowing cancellation without penalty if the FCO advise against travel.

@comictern if the FCO advise against all but essential travel to the area you are going, it is not the travel insurance company that you claim from. The airline (if booked separately) or the company (if booked as a package) refund you. That being said, they will only do so if/when the FCO give the advice against travel.

As an nhs Primary care clinical worker I’m shocked at how many people are panicking so much. Follow advice on both travel and self care from the WHO and FCO only. Don’t listen to the news. We have been through this with SARS and swine flu before. I bet hardly any of you, if any contracted those either. I did, from my role I do, but I’m still here and apart from feeling sorry for myself for several days made a full recovery despite having asthma.
To some degree I believe that all those looking to panic stockpile, cancel holidays and help spread the fear Are secret hypochondriacs who would secretly enjoy being diagnosed with it so they can get attention.

tigerlilly if you are now advocating that people follow the WHO advice after all then you'll know they've advised that over 60s avoid crowded places eg airports, planes, supermarkets, churches etc. So they are advising that they don't travel overseas.

@hasadigaeebowai

I have always maintained follow the advice of the FCO and WHO. Unless expressly told not to travel, then feel free to do so. However, I cannot see anything from WHO saying over 60’s to avoid crowded public areas.

This is the current advice on travel:
In general, evidence shows that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations and may divert resources from other interventions. Furthermore, restrictions may interrupt needed aid and technical support, may disrupt businesses, and may have negative social and economic effects on the affected countries.

People of all ages can be infected by the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.

WHO advises people of all ages to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene.

These same statements are true for normal flu, yet nobody is advised to remain away from busy public areas.

Thanks hangingwithmygnomies. I was originally trying to find out who covered you if you book accommodation direct, when there's no company involved. I hadn't realised that someone like Airbnb still counts as a tour operator.

The WHO have indeed told the over 60s to avoid crowded laces. I have it on a tweet from the director general of the WHO but I seem to have lost the ability to add iamges for some reason. I think I posted it earlier on the thread though

here you go

The WHO website says 'WHO continues to advise against the application of travel or trade restrictions to countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks.'. That is dated 29th February, I can't see anything more recent than that.

And should that be the same over 60s that all still work, a lot of us in crowded places, the same over 60s that the government all deem to be hale and hearty to work until we are 66. Some of which will be bought out of retirement to work in the NHS

comic I'm not sure AirBnB count as a tour operator? I don't know much about them to be honest (I work for mainstream tour operator) If you've booked flights separately to accommodation, if FCO advice advises against travel the airline have to refund/allow you to change your flight but hey don't cover cost of accommodation booked elsewhere. If you've booked flight and accommodation together as a package with one company e.g Expedia/Thomas etc then they have to refund all. Hopefully all will be ok but it is already having such a detrimental affect on the travel industry 😔