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Original poster

No sympathy for people who booked a recent holiday

624 replies

fairparie · 26/07/2020 07:13

Headlines this morning have got me cross. People who are 'devastated' that their holiday to Spain that they booked last week won't go ahead as they can't quarantine on return and lost all their money.
How stupid to book a holiday when you know it is a risk. We were going to go away and had not booked anything as was leaving it till the last minute. . We still could but I would not expect my work to pay for me in quarantine on top of two weeks away. It is understandable if I had booked before the pandemic but why should a firm pay for quarantine for those who knowingly knew it may be a risk.
I have full sympathy for those that booked before the pandemic and at least they will be insured. But c'mon how can you be upset that you have lost your money for a holiday you booked last week and now can't go on due to quarantine?

OP posts:

Arthersleep · 26/07/2020 09:38

People shouldn't be holidaying abroad right now. It is very short sighted. Would you rather lose holiday money than end up unemployed or with austerity measures for years to come? We had a big holiday planned to visit parents/grandparents and for my children to meet their cousins for the first time. It was to mark a special occasion and had been planned for two years. But there is no way that we would go. Instead we will be camping in the rain with our own toilet bucket. It's not what we had planned. Our kids won't see their grandparents for yet another year. But it's the right thing to do. People need to take greater personal responsibility and look ahead. Anyone who has booked at the last minute to holiday in a country with an outbreak, during a pandemic is irresponsible. It feels like a bit of a slap in the face for everyone who has been making big sacrifices.

NewNewt · 26/07/2020 09:38

Doesn't affect me as I am going on holiday in the Uk, by luck more than judgement, but I agree, easy to be smug when you've spent the last 18 weeks doing fuck all and being paid for it. Many of us have not.

Hardbackwriter · 26/07/2020 09:39

@GetOffYourHighHorse

'Some people just love to criticise others making decisions within the current rules. I guess it helps them to feel better than others'

Do I feel 'better' than someone who has booked to go abroad in a global pandemic and is now moaning that they have to quarantine as Spain have seen an spike in cases? Hmm not 'better' per se, just much less surprised.

Anyone going on holiday both UK or abroad, newsflash! You may need to cancel if the area goes into lockdown or you may need to quarantine. Sadly as the government aren't psychic they don't know where and when this will happen.

Your username is one of the most ironic I have ever seen on MN.

iVampire · 26/07/2020 09:39

I think it is possible to be both sympathetic, whist also thinking that it was a known risk they decided to run.

They must have hoped that any future quarantine would not affect them, and that hope has been dashed

It’s a hard way to find out that you were wrong

This risk of quarantine being imposed (at destination or on return here) isn’t so unlikely that you shouldn’t factor it in when you decide where to holiday, or when to visit relatives

jasjas1973 · 26/07/2020 09:42

Raab saying that no one can be punished, financially, for following rules BUT asks employers to act "fairly" there is no Fair in the law. You are either acting within it or breaking it and there is no right to be paid whilst quarantining.
if you are not available to work, your employer has every right to not pay you, esp if you are on a zero hours contract.

3 days ago, the govt said there was "no realistic chance" of any restrictions being imposed on travel to Spain.

Jrobhatch29 · 26/07/2020 09:42

You also don't need to keep adding 'global' to make it sound more dramatic. Pandemic means global!

Alsohuman · 26/07/2020 09:45

What a peach you are, OP.

Monzeitia · 26/07/2020 09:47

What a horrible post; I have been working as a key worker through the pandemic without taken a day off; I was so glad to be able to take a week off in August to go and see my family in Spain who I haven’t see for nearly a year
The Gov told us it was safe, because I don’t work from home or Furlough I can’t quarantine on my return

cattasaurus · 26/07/2020 09:47

To be fair it was a risk they took. The government said air bridges could change if circumstances dictated. I had a conversation with my partner about going abroad I was very much against it for this reason. I wouldn't travel abroad at this time. so whilst I don't gloat about them loosing money it seemed was outside of my risk boundary to book now and they should be refunded by the travel agency. It certainly isn't the government's fault! adults booked a holiday in the middle of a worldwide pandemic knowing things can change.

maddiemookins16mum · 26/07/2020 09:47

A lot of my friends work in the travel industry (overseas package holidays), this is the final nail in the coffin really. Anyone who was hanging on for a last minute booking won’t now.
However, even with 28 years in the travel industry under my belt (lost my job when Monarch collapsed), I would never have booked an overseas holiday at present.
I do though have some sympathy for those who took the risk but can’t help thinking it was a bit silly.

Zany15 · 26/07/2020 09:47

I do feel sorry for those people on holiday at the moment. It's awful when you have been looking forward to something and then it's ruined. I do wonder, though, how many of these people will actually quarantine for 14 days. It is almost impossible for the government to enforce this.

Walkaround · 26/07/2020 09:47

Of course, since local lockdowns are now de rigeur, you could argue that a sudden blanket quarantine rule for anyone returning from absolutely anywhere in Spain and its relatively unaffected islands, is unreasonable. It’s not like the whole of the UK was locked down because of Leicester.

pictish · 26/07/2020 09:48

I feel bad for them. This is a shitstorm.

Dunno where the ‘no sympathy’ stance comes from...sour grapes clearly.

GetOffYourHighHorse · 26/07/2020 09:49

'username is one of the most ironic I have ever seen on MN.'

I like a bit of irony. Thanks for that, erm, contribution .

Kurtain · 26/07/2020 09:51

Your username is one of the most ironic I have ever seen on MN.

🤣🤣

lockdownalli · 26/07/2020 09:51

I don't think this thread went the way OP expected/intended.

I am not affected by this at all but have every sympathy for anyone adversely affected. Life is shitty enough for most at the moment don't you think?

NewNewt · 26/07/2020 09:53

It is the governments fault. They opened up the economy, strongly encouraged peiple to book holidays for this summer and save the tourist industry. They've now been forced to retract that (stupid) advice even though there is no need to at the moment for the spanish islands. We currently have a bigger issue with covid rates and have finally been told to wear masks in shops, takeaways, hairdressers and public transport, yet you can sit in a crowded pub without one, chomp away in a restaurant or run on a treadmill in a gym until you are gasping and exhaling vigorously unmasked. They are incompetent.

Barrychuckle2 · 26/07/2020 09:53

As I said many will simply ignore the quarantine anyway !!!
How on earth do you enforce a 14 day self isolation anyway, are people really going to be taken to court for not answering the knock at the door?

I very much doubt it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kurtain · 26/07/2020 09:53

Thanks for that, erm, contribution

It was certainly more amusing than any of your contributions

wewereliars · 26/07/2020 09:55

Don't think anyone cares if they have your sympathy or not OP

Raimona · 26/07/2020 09:57

Raimona as lovely as that may be, that to me is not a holiday. It's a normal weekend
People’s expectations are too high nowadays. Your granny would have thought herself lucky to get a yearly bus trip to Brighton. It’s just the current generation who think they simply must have holidays.

Oh FFS. I'm a key worker in healthcare and I NEED a bloody holiday
No, you don’t NEED a holiday. You NEED oxygen, food, sleep, warmth - a holiday is a luxury that you WANT but you don’t NEED it. It’s shocking how many people can’t tell the difference between wants and needs. Can you imagine the WW2 soldiers whinging that they don’t want to be in the trenches because they haven’t had their holiday this year?!

Kurtain · 26/07/2020 09:59

The travel companies were no doubt applying a ton of pressure on the government not to apply quarantine rules for the summer . Rightly or wrongly some people have continued to travel throughout lockdown & will do so this summer which does have some economic benefits to the travel industry. Also if people booked but then defer their trips it will still have helped the industry.

FiveShelties · 26/07/2020 09:59

@lockdownalli

I don't think this thread went the way OP expected/intended.

I am not affected by this at all but have every sympathy for anyone adversely affected. Life is shitty enough for most at the moment don't you think?

I think this is exactly how OP intended the thread to go - nothing like a bit of goading to relieve the boredom of not having a holiday to look forward to.

Life is pretty grim for many people and I would hate to get my kicks from gloating at someone losing their holiday/money.

pictish · 26/07/2020 09:59

Raimona what are you on about? Soldiers in the trenches...what?
People are allowed to want or feel like they need a holiday. Bugger off!

BackInTime · 26/07/2020 10:00

I agree OP. While I feel for anyone who has lost money or is disappointed I cannot believe that people who booked did not even consider that there was a risk that this could happen. Just think back to what happened with people suddenly quarantined in their hotel in Tenerife in February and how quickly countries in Europe went into lockdown at short notice with just a few cases. Added to this the fact that our government are incompetent buffoons who cannot be relied on. How could anyone possibly think that a holiday abroad would be a good idea right now?

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