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)

Why have a go at OP for how much her holiday cost? Youd be appalled at what 12 nights in Greece is costing me 😀
Why can't people realise others like a bit of luxury ?

As I've said previously, we're booked in a cruise in about 7 weeks and Greece at the end of august. Unless there is specific advice from the FCO or the Government or our company cancels we will be going. We have always taken the precautions recommended anyway, and I take anti-bac wipes with me. We are working on the basis that life cannot just stop.

Just bought my tickets to attend a conference in Amsterdam first week in May. Get real. It's not pneumonic plague.

No I’d not hand over £6k atm. Easier as it’s a matter if not proceeding rather than losing a bigger chunk of money.

We are going to Australia via two nights in Singapore next week and am very nervous over airport transmission - and a potential quarantine scenario abroad effectively ruining our holiday! But hey ho we are tied in until or unless the FCO say otherwise. £10k worth of holiday. However from the news right now there are more cases in the UK than there are in Singapore or Australia currently.

But being quarantined in your home town/home is not lke being quarantined abroad.

It's the chaos and disruption this could bring.

My son was travelling back from a school trip to North Italy last Sat evening when lockdown on some towns was announced.
The thought of him being stuck was worrying.

I was once stuck on the Eurostar for 5 hrs in South France as a man was stretchered off and armed police ran up and down the carriages.
It was really scary because we did not know what was happening. No communication in English at all, only announcements in French and no food/drink.
We missed our connections home and the whole episode left me wary, especially with young children in tow.

There really isn't much of a risk difference between travelling on a flight abroad for work and travelling on a flight abroad for leisure.

Apart from lack of choice possibly for work and the fact that you don't have to pay for it with your own money.

Deciding whether to cancel a holiday abroad is not comparable to being an agrophobic!

Deciding whether to cancel a holiday abroad is not comparable to being an agrophobic

I think the point is- the assumed risk of catching CV on holiday is no more increased than catching it in your home town where there could equally be infected individuals. This is all about our perception of risk rather than actual risk.
Unless your holiday was planned in Wuhan, obviously.

We have CV where I live, so my risk of travelling abroad is no greater than my risk of mooching about town here.

Personally I wouldn't because I don't want to be stuck in quarantine in a hotel absolutely reliant on a business for my needs to be met. I am not worried abut the virus but quarantine is a very really prospect - over half of all Chinese citizens have faced some form of quarantine. I won't be travelling atm and I am not by any means a cautious or hysterical person normally and have been to quite a few places that aren't usual travel destinations.

To all those saying you can't avoid your holiday because you've already paid for it - what would you do if you bought a car and then discovered it was a cut and shut and lethal to drive? No way to get the money back. Would you drive it anyway on the basis that you've paid for it so have no choice? Or would you regretfully write the money off?

I think some people have unrealistic expectations of getting through the next few weeks and months with zero financial cost to themselves. There have already been enormous financial costs to many people, businesses and whole countries. Barcelona had invested millions in housing the Mobile World Congress but still cancelled it.

Also, if you've paid already, the money has gone, regardless. Not having the holiday itself might make you miserable but it's not going to make you any poorer than you already are having paid for the holiday.

I wouldn't pay OP. I think the people who say you might pick up a bargain later might be on to something. Cancel now but keep the 6k safe ready to use for a shorter notice booking later? Or do what others have suggested and ask if you can change the dates or have longer to decide?

It's a tad different to driving around in a dangerous car that would undoubtedly injure you and possibly others!

I'm going somewhere with one case in a population of over 209 million. I can cope with the aeroplane, I can cope with the airport and I think I can cope with those odds. I'd be beyond mad to cancel and lose my considerable expenditure on this holiday.

eeyore I get what you're saying, and when it comes down to it I've looked at future trips planned and worked out what I can cancel and what is sunk cost, but because of the lack of very clear information- some of which I guess is unknown - it's hard to decide if losing a holiday deposit is a sensible reaction or an overreaction.

I just feel like our country is still trying to hedge its bets. Not issuing advice not to travel to North Italy for example, but expecting people who do go to self isolate for a fortnight afterwards- not that it appears as if a fortnight is long enough anyway. One of DHs friends has booked a ski trip to Italy - he cannot get the cost back as still going, but work have told him that if he goes then he would have to take the self isolation as unpaid leave. Ok it may turn out in a few weeks to be a real first world dilemma back when we had it good, but either the situation is serious enough to ban travel or it is not.

I know why they aren't issuing travel bans - it would decimate the already financially shaky travel industry- but it's therefore hard to tell how high the genuine risk is.

I'd cancel

I’ve been in 3 supermarkets and in Boots today and all are sold out of hand gel!

Yes, and it's because people are stockpiling. Very selfish.

I know. I just wanted to buy one for each member of my family!

I've been in two supermarkets today and both were also sold out of liquid soap.

DH travels abroad frequently for work - every month so I perceive his exposure to risk of infection to be higher than average. Plus he's an asthmatic and 50+ (more vulnerable demographic). As I said before, it's not the destination (the States normally so not exactly a less developed nation) that I see as the risk but the journey/air travel to get here. I for one, am very much relieved that he won't be travelling overseas for work while this pandemic plays out.

There's a growing list of multi national companies who have effectively issued inter country travel bans - why would they do that since it obviously impacts their bottom line? These commercial currently profitable corporations are being more cautious than the FO guidelines. Think about that...

The UK government is between a rock and a hard place. It's a fine balance not to tank the economy nor panic people AND to maintain public health & safety.

A local secondary school has attracted criticism for not sending children home who have been on a ski trip to Italy over HT. A few had cold/flu symptoms and were in school Mon & Tue before told to self isolate at home after protests by other concerned parents. It has made the local press. Who knows where this will all end?

Thinking about insurance and that companies pay out when FCO say no travel. Announcing no travel worldwide (as corona spreads to pretty much everywhere) could collapse the insurance industry as so many would make a claim.

DH and I are going to Portugal in early May, all paid for so we're going unless the FCO say don't

OP I think it depends on your personal circumstances. I wouldn't worry about Malta but I would worry about going through the airports. PILs have serious chronic lung problems and diabetes and we pop round every week to do stuff for them, take them to appointments etc and if we knew there was a possibility of giving them the virus I don't know how we could do that.

I don't think we should panic but I do think the authorities should tell people that travelling around the world is spreading the virus - if we're serious about stopping it people need to travel less.

But I appreciate that if you've paid a lot of money and have been looking forward to your holiday it is a really hard decision.

We have paid for our April break but would still get a refund for the hotel, just not the flights which luckily were cheap at £40 each.

I've just checked my policy. No mention of 'FCO advice not to travel' in the section on 'circumstances in which we would pay out for cancellation'. I will phone them to double check, but I'm not optimistic.

I wouldn’t go and I would lose the deposit. Personally I would feel anxious about the airport and travel. But if you aren’t an anxious person you would probably be fine to go and enjoy it