Now advising to cancel holidays indefinitely

[NemophilistRebel]

News today is now saying that travel abroad for holidays should be cancelled indefinitely

This is going to be a massive hit on the industry and people in general

Especially those hoping for September or October half term breaks.

We're booked to go to Greece in August (booked last year before all this happened) and I think we'll still be going. Already lots of European countries, such as Austria and Norway and Germany, are announcing they're going to start the process of slowly getting back to normal. That will be us in a month or so, for the sake of the economy.

I think the real dilemma now is where you've paid a deposit, but don't know whether you should pay the rest than hope that the holiday will take place or you'll get a refund! Especially as you now can't get coronavirus cover on travel insurance.

This is where we are at with our holiday booked for August. So far we’ve only paid a low deposit of £200. The remaining deposit of £600 is due next week and the outstanding amount next month. I’d like to cancel now and only lose £200 but think they will probably make me pay the remaining £600 deposit.

We have a big Disney trip planned for the end of July, can’t go any other time apart from July. I’m resigned to the fact we are rebooking first 2021.

I've name changed for this as i want anyone to recognize me.
I live in southern Europe, the town and even region that i live in is purely tourist based, there is no other real industry here. Most residents are resigned to the fact that they work there arse off between April-October and then survive during the winter.
This year it's not happening. I work for a travel company that offers holiday rentals only, we don't get involved in flights, package holidays etc..
We're in a very bad position currently. We've been offering guests the chance to have a credit that last for a year up until their holiday is currently due. If you booked to stay 1st may, it's valid until 1st May 2021 for example. We cannot afford to lose or refund guests deposits, if we do we don't get paid, our owners cannot pay their mortgages, our cleaning staff aren't currently being paid as there is no work, the gardeners are also in the same boat. I've been lucky enough to be paid this month, though it's looking likely that unless the government here step in to help, I'll also lose my job, car, home etc..
The reason we cannot afford to refund guests, some really took the piss and because of these few we're now in the position that we're in. We promised to refund deposits paid etc.. and then had guests also, along side claiming a refund from us, going to the credit card company and putting in a claim, asking for a charge back. We ended up having our credit line frozen as we had so many claims, as a result we had to wait 9 days before we were able to use this again, some guests ended up not only having a refund from us directly, but the credit card company also refunded them. The credit card company then decided to keep back all funds we had in the account, due to the charge back, which we are now struggling and fighting to access.
Not really sure what I'm saying, i just wanted to tell you what it's like from a different prospective

It must be heaven for those people who live near airports.and under flight paths.. The air has been much cleaner for some weeks now, also less booming noise from aircraft.

I have a holiday booked for end of October to America (I booked this back in December so no clue what lay ahead)

Thankfully my balance is not due until the first week of September. Instead of paying it each month I have been putting the money into a savings account and will continue to do so. A decision can then be made, by me or the government or the travel company, depending on what state our nation and the world are in by that point. I will also make a decision based on if my job is still there and secure by the end of summer.

Of course in the grand scheme of things holidays are not that important. And I think booking now for 2020 or even early next year would be risky.

But I don’t think it’s wrong to hold some hope that, after what is ultimately a disaster of a year, people still may be able to go on that dream holiday, have that special away time with their family or friends that a holiday is. And I don’t think it’s wrong to be upset when it all goes tits up.

I wish in many respects that it doesn’t return to normal (travel industry wise) because we can already see our planet improving and damage being undone. I also think it would be amazing to reboost some old holiday destinations here, pour some money into our holiday sights and help our struggling seaside towns that were once thriving holiday spots.

But it will return. Because the country has bounced back from pandemics before, and wars, and times of great uncertainty. And now the genie is out the bottle, you can’t expect the world to stop travelling. Even forgetting us travelling, we all rely on items, materials and food from overseas and will never give up those cheap prices.

That's disgusting that people are trying to cash in on this @someoneherewhoworksintravel. It's terrible and I feel for you. I use a private letting agent in Spain every year. They have been very good but the private apartment I have booked for July is being sold so if we can't go, I can't even re-book it. It's a nightmare for the travel industry and you have my sympathy.

Mamabear, I wasn't attacking you but if I have misunderstood you then I'll apologise. This is what you posted:

WHO in their right mind would think that overseas travel is going to happen anytime soon? Did anybody say that? Hoping for it is not the same. Surely we're all hoping for normality sooner rather than later.

What country is going to welcome foreigners full of virus with open arms? Again, did anybody suggest that?

Anyone with a thread of common sense would wait to book their next holiday abroad. Yes we are all looking forward to go away, especially those of us who had to cancel all Easter, May and Summer breaks. It doesn't mean now is the time to book the next one.
I can't find any post on the thread suggesting that they would, it would be incredibly risky.

We are not even allowed to drive a few miles to the nearest beach, what make people think flying oversea is an alternative? Ditto

What really irritated me about your post was the three smiling faces and your incredulity that people need to ask Mumsnet. That was the 'glee'. Nobody needs to ask Mumsnet anything, or even post on it. The fact that anybody does is probably down to making conversation, loneliness, checking on thoughts/validation. What is not ok about that?

The two posters I was referring to posted about imminent bereavement and potential loss of job. Hardly holiday-seeking and I thought your post was unkind.

@poppadopolis I also live a flight away from my family and fly for work. I still hope there will be fewer flights in the future because the current (well prior to cv) level was unsustainable. We will just have to adjust our expectations, won't we? These dirt cheap flights have only been around relatively recently. We can do without them. In fact, we have to.

Please can someone point me to an article about this? I haven't seen it on the BBC, thank you

1forall74 I live under the route into Heathrow. It's very peaceful now. However when I wake up in the morning it feels eerie and reminds me of the situation. I'll be glad when we hear the planes again.

@flowerstar19 it wasn't reported on the BBC as it's not really new news. I saw it on the Daily Mirror online. Some bored journo with nothing else to write about I suspect.

We have flights and car hire booked with Easyjet for the end of July. Not really sure what to do....

Does anyone think I should cancel our end of July break in the UK? I’m so confused.

I have a holiday booked in the Scottish Highlands for late August. I'm really hoping I can go, but if not the cottage I've booked and some activities I'd also booked (highly subscribed stuff) have both confirmed I can rebook within 12 months without financial penalty. So I'll move it to next May half term. I'd rather go, though.... but we will see.

Cathyandheathcliff - I wouldn't cancel a UK holiday in July at this stage. Hopefully it will go ahead. This is only my personal opinion. I don't work in the travel industry.

My SD works for tui and before they closed they had contacted all customers and rebooking their holidays to next year, all customers up until October x

@flowerstar19 the news was on Sky and LBC this morning

Still all available to see

Thanks all!

@CaroleFuckinBaskin I totally agreed with your comment before it got deleted. Summed things up perfectly!

No they haven’t Twinny

see here

Twinnywinny14, that is not the case at all!
Tui are still claiming all over the internet that their holidays are going ahead for after 16th april. Click on their FB page to see thousands of people who can't get hold of anyone to speak to.
We are supposed to be going in May, we cannot cancel legally and get our money back yet. We cannot rebook as we won't know when we can get holidays off together. Also, the holidays for much later in the year or next year have shot up in price. We briefly looked at postponing till October, we have paid £2000 for a week for 2 in Lanzarote, the price has gone up by £600 !

If it really is true about the "indefinitely" part, that's not actually very helpful or clear.

As with others on this thread, we have a holiday booked (July) and have paid the deposit. The rest of the payment is due later this month. It would be helpful to know whether or not we should pay the remainder.

Poisoning yes it is true about the indefinitely part full statement here I’ve taken a screenshot of the relevant part.

I agree it’s not helped the situation. Can you afford to lose the deposit (assuming you would lose it)? I suppose you have to weigh up how would you feel if you lost it & by some miracle the holiday happened vs paying it all, it not happening & then rebooking for next year or waiting for a refund