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)

@comictern

Your insurance should cover it.

I’m due to go to Copenhagen in Easter holds. Teen DD wants to cancel. At the moment we’re going but watching carefully. If I’d have known we’d never have booked. It’s typical because we rarely go abroad atEaster!

Hols

I wouldn't go. You have a 65+ year old and children and even if they were healthy, quarantine abroad is no place for anybof us, let alone the older member and young.

If FOC change their advice after booking and you have insurance in place you should be fine and get your money back.

I wrote on another thread that my annual “superior” policy with post office DOES NOT cover cancellation following FCO advice not to travel
Nor does it cover cancellation in the event of global pandemic

But if you choose to travel anyway against FCO advice, you won’t be covered while there

Win win for the insurers I think

So do check your policy carefully before making decisions

No wonder people on here are would up about the CV when there are stupid posts like Florida having 150 cases. Honestly, if you can't read the news properly don't post, it's getting silly.

Ssmiler - ours does cover us. We checked the small print earlier this week.

No one can tell you what the situation will be like a month or two from now. Might be better, might be worse. If you were leaving tomorrow, I'd say go. But you need to decide whether to gamble £6k on an unknown scenario. Personally, I wouldn't gamble money I cannot afford to lose.

comic we're exactly the same, we can cancel air bnb a week before & get a full refund, but that depends on the host cancellation policy. On live chat with easyJet this morning, they couldn't/wouldn't say re a refund if travel is advised against, the guy just kept telling me there was no change to the flight & if there was, they'd review and confirm at the time!

It's a tough one. We face the same decision but not so much £ at stake.

The thing is if you cancel and it end up being ok to go away after all, there might be lots of good deals on offer as the travel industry is going to massively suffer from all the uncertainty

I booked travel insurance yesterday for countries not currently affected by the virus. Flights and hotels booked independently.
The policy specifically says that it, and not the airline or hotel, will pay out in the event of cancellation if FCO advice changes after purchase. It may be different if a holiday company or third party provider is involved.

Thanks, I'm off to read my insurance small print...

We have annual insurance with Columbus Direct as they're good for the activity holidays we often go on and it says on their website that they will cover cancellation of future holidays if the coronavirius causes a 'do not travel' FCO advisory, which is good because only yesterday there was a case reported in the town that we're booked to go to in a few weeks.

www.columbusdirect.com/travel/help/coronavirus-faqs/

However I'm not panicking about an isolated case and will almost certainly go on this holiday unless there is a formal 'do not travel' advisory.

Gemma2019 - how do you know that £6k is too much for the op's holiday? Do you know how many people are going or which hotel they are staying at, what the money covers, which airport and airline she's using, etc?

I would cancel on the basis that 6k is way too much to pa to go to Malta.

I'm an ex travel agent and wouldn't spend that on Malta unless it's for about 15 people.

@aragog do you mind me asking who your insurance is with?

When I renew I’d like to make sure I have that cover this time - I Looked at another insurer yesterday but they also excluded it so I will need to be careful

My priority is usually pre existing medical conditions and water sports cover so I had never thought to look about FCO travel advice cover

6k for malta is indeed ridiculous. I love malta, but 6k and its not even high season? Its my go to destination for some cheap sunshine

Well it normally costs us about £8-900 to go to Malta but that's for two people for one week 4* B&B in term time.

If the OPS holiday is more people, more time, a more expensive time of year like the school holidays and is all inclusive I can easily see how it costs that much as each of those factors would significantly add to the cost compared with what we pay.

I'm sure we could go cheaper but we tend to go to the quieter places not the big tourist resorts which makes it more expensive.

@comictern
We have the same situation. Read your policy carefully.
If fco says don't go then Easyjet will (or should) reimburse- flight will be most likely cancelled anyway.
What's a definite grey area is the accommodation reimbursement. Some say that they will be reimburse if flight cancelled.

I would go. I’m not cancelling my ski holiday to Spain in April or May trip to Lanzarote. They’ll probably have less cases than here:

Just be careful on the aeroplane. I’d wipe down all surfaces, constant hand washing and use a gel. I refuse to put my life on hold for what most likely will be a mild illness for most.

I guess the over 65 year old is the worry for you. Maybe they don’t go?

We were due to fly to Tenerife in two weeks time and have cancelled. It’s the idea of being put in isolation over there and not been able to get back to the UK that was my deciding factor. Luckily we have been given a full refund which I’m very thankful for.

Loving all the people saying the OP's being ripped off when she hasn't said how many people are going or how basic/fancy it is .

I wouldn't be booking a holiday staying in a big hotel. Would book flights and maybe a villa where you can come and go as you please

Rather than cancel can you change the date of the holiday so you lose no money?