Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Greece and UK talking about semi normal summer holidays

51 replies

Lemons1571 · 18/02/2021 11:51

Wonder how this will go. Can’t see the point in vaccine passports yet, as people can still get infected and transmit to others without knowing. Although I suppose the government could be pretending that transmission is a risk once vaccinated at the moment, to make all of us continue to follow the rules.

Also can’t see many people signing up to a holiday costing several thousands if it relies on negative tests both ways, huge risk of losing all your money (either on a lost holiday, or on quarantine hotels and a fine).

And what about children, none of who will have had a vaccine by the summer? Can no families go without taking the risk of one of them having a positive test?

I suspect the governments will “come up with something” for holidays to Spain / Greece / France. What do you think?

OP posts:
Dontforgetyourbrolly · 18/02/2021 11:55

Hello OP the holiday company I work for are making huge bookings every day , so people are definitely willing to make bookings right now . Also there is no risk of losing all your money , I cant answer for other travel companies though or websites.
I personally will only take bookings from july / August onwards and most of my clients are travelling in 2022
I have my own personal booking to one of the greek islands at the end of july and I am quietly confident about it.

Dontforgetyourbrolly · 18/02/2021 11:57

And as for negative tests both ways , that just might be the way it is moving forward. At the end of last year that was pretty standard for most destinations and we still had many people travelling . For some it wont be do able , but for others they are prepared to do what it takes .

Hoppinggreen · 18/02/2021 11:59

We went to Greece in October
We had to fill in a form before being allowed on the plane in Manchester. You were supposed to do it 48? hours before travel I think online. When we arrived we had to present a bar code to passport control and I was selected for a test- it was quick and easy and as nobody turned up later at the hotel presumably it was negative
On the way home we again had to fill in a form 48? Hours before departure and had to show a barcode on my phone before getting on the plane and on arrival in The Uk
I would happily go again and if allowed we will, we have a place in Spain we would prefer to go to but if we can’t we will be happy with Greece

Original poster
Lemons1571 · 18/02/2021 12:03

I can understand booking for 2022. We should be able to get all adults (and kids?) properly vaccinated by then.
Quite surprised that people are willing to take a chance on 2021 when thousands of pounds are involved! @Dontforgetyourbrolly what do you mean by “no risk of losing all your money”. Do big companies roll the holiday over a year, even if you cancel 24 hours before travel?

OP posts:
Dontforgetyourbrolly · 18/02/2021 12:27

Why would you cancel 24 hours before travel ?
If you mean fco brings in advice against travelling to your destination then yes , you would have the option to move your dates or seek a full refund. That's our policy, I'm afraid I cannot comment on other operators.
Also you must bear in mind not everyone travelling is for a holiday. I have not seen my elderly father who lives in italy since 2019 , so that is one place we are desperate to get to as soon as we can .

Original poster
Lemons1571 · 18/02/2021 12:51

@Dontforgetyourbrolly

Why would you cancel 24 hours before travel ? If you mean fco brings in advice against travelling to your destination then yes , you would have the option to move your dates or seek a full refund. That's our policy, I'm afraid I cannot comment on other operators. Also you must bear in mind not everyone travelling is for a holiday. I have not seen my elderly father who lives in italy since 2019 , so that is one place we are desperate to get to as soon as we can .
If the requirement is to have a test 48 hours before travel, presumably the result would come back about 24 hours before travel. And if someone in the family receives a positive result then no one can go.
OP posts:
newstart1234 · 18/02/2021 12:57

Also, I assume the point of holidaying is to visit sights, shows, beaches, bars, pools etc. If this happens then someone in the party will be at quite a good chance of catching Covid, even if vaccinated. The risk is not being allowed to travel home.

Racoonworld · 18/02/2021 13:06

I don't have a problem with requiring negative tests to travel, better than quarantining for so long after which lot of people struggle to do with work and school. If travel this year and next requires tests then fair enough really.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 18/02/2021 13:09

I’ve put off my Greek holiday until 2022. Partly I’m not quite comfortable but also I don’t want to be too late to book a uk holiday!

CaptainMerica · 18/02/2021 13:09

I'm surprised people are booking. I couldn't get new travel insurance for the holiday (booked in 2019, originally for 2020) that i moved to 2021 that I was happy with. The original insurance didn't cover it for the new dates. There was basic cover, but nothing that would cover me if we couldn't travel because one of us had to isolate. It was far too much money to risk losing, so i moved it again to 2022.

underneaththeash · 18/02/2021 13:13

Most adults will have been vaccinated before July though at least with their first dose, so it's just the kids to worry about and with less covid floating about it should be easier. We're hopefully going to France on 13th August and we'll just not do very much in the week beforehand to mitigate the risk.

Hoppinggreen · 18/02/2021 13:17

@newstart1234

Also, I assume the point of holidaying is to visit sights, shows, beaches, bars, pools etc. If this happens then someone in the party will be at quite a good chance of catching Covid, even if vaccinated. The risk is not being allowed to travel home.
Not necessarily When we are holiday we usually go to a private villa and while we do visit restaurants and the beach that’s all. We avoided crowds even pre Covid
keeponkeepinon · 18/02/2021 13:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StarCat2020 · 18/02/2021 13:18

Surely there is no point in booking an EU holiday until the ban on UK citizens entering the EU is lifted?

NoseinBook3 · 18/02/2021 13:23

I don’t see the problem. We are booked for Egypt in July and hope to go. Me and my husband will have had the vaccination, but not the children obviously. If we get a positive Covid test prior to departure our holiday insurance should kick in. They are doing Covid holiday insurance now.

If we can’t go we can rebook for another time.

The holiday is giving me hope. It makes me feel better. If for whatever reason we can’t go, then it’ll be a bit crap but at this time it’s giving me something to aim for. Keeping me a bit more positive.

Deliaskis · 18/02/2021 13:28

@StarCat2020

Surely there is no point in booking an EU holiday until the ban on UK citizens entering the EU is lifted?
Which ban is that? You can currently travel to a number of EU countries if you have a negative test. We as UK citizens are being told not to travel unless it's for essential purposes, but UK citizens are not banned from entering the EU at all.
Oaktree55 · 18/02/2021 13:30

Pretty certain international travel will be going ahead. They’ll disincentive it though by announcing late so that many book in U.K. Testing/vax will be required and countries may be put on red list at short notice. We’ll still go though, never a better time than when it’s quieter!

StarCat2020 · 18/02/2021 13:31

Which ban is that? You can currently travel to a number of EU countries if you have a negative test
Not unless you meet very specific exemptions.

Deliaskis · 18/02/2021 13:33

@StarCat2020

Which ban is that? You can currently travel to a number of EU countries if you have a negative test Not unless you meet very specific exemptions.
Not for Spain for example:

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements

Some countries have 'only for work' and some have 'only for urgent need' such as funerals etc. but that's only some countries. There is no EU ban.

StarCat2020 · 18/02/2021 13:40

Not for Spain for example: -
Yet the Spanish Embassy website doesn't agree.

It is so wrong that it is hard to get definitive information

www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/LONDRES/en/Consulado/Pages/Visas.aspx

Deliaskis · 18/02/2021 13:40

But there is no 'ban on UK citizens entering the EU', was my point.

StarCat2020 · 18/02/2021 13:44

But there is no 'ban on UK citizens entering the EU', was my point
Every EU country has the same rule but I am not going to post links to all of them.

InterfectoremVulpes · 18/02/2021 13:46

I'm sure that a lot of countries that make a lot of money from tourists will be doing as much as they can to enable tourists to go there. We are hoping to go to Greece in the summer and as soon as we get some indication that overseas travel will be allowed we will look into booking something.

SpencerGregson · 18/02/2021 13:47

I think my concern would be getting a positive test before the journey home. Then what?