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Original poster

AIBU to have no sympathy for people who rushed to book holidays in Portugal...

203 replies

ThursdayWeld · 14/05/2021 10:06

... and are now moaning because Portugal haven't set their travel rules yet?

As soon as the UK announced that Portugal was on the green list, some people booked flights and holidays. Without checking whether Portugal would actually let them in... And now they're whingeing about it in the press!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57107154

OP posts:
Topseyt · 14/05/2021 10:43

I understand people wanting to get away. I understand them maybe feeling slightly mislead by the government. From that point of view I do have some sympathy.

I do think though that booking so quickly was risky because it is jumping the gun. Other countries are still at different stages of emerging from lockdowns, in their vaccine rollout etc.

Booking foreign travel isn't as straightforward as some people seem to think or want at the moment and we are not making any plans as yet.

I do still have sympathy for them though. It has been s monumentally shitty 12 months or more. Especially for those of us who have suffered family crises and deaths during it, whether Covid related or not. I include myself in that category and yes, I would love to get away now. If I got the chance to go tomorrow I'd be seriously tempted, just to escape for a while.

FireworksAndSparklers · 14/05/2021 10:43

YANBU. I have no sympathy for anyone who chooses unnecessarily to sit in an enclosed metal box with a load of randoms in the middle of a pandemic just for a bloody holiday. Honestly, there has been hardship galore over the last year, of course. Not being able to go abroad for a holiday is really not a hardship.

Also, can I just say that I love that Portugal call it a state of national calamity - a truly awesome term!

Temp023 · 14/05/2021 10:45

Well, aren’t you all sensible and wonderful, give yourselves a pat on the back, for goodness sake!

Florelei · 14/05/2021 10:45

I’m a bit meh about it. I desperately want a holiday but I’m not willing to book yet due to the uncertainty. However, whilst I can understand people being disappointed that their breaks have been cancelled, I am struggling to see how this could have come as much of a shock.

It’s a risk you’ve got to be prepared to take. Last year we were out in Spain when they changed the quarantine rules unexpectedly and we had to quarantine do 14 days on our return. It just is what it is.

FireworksAndSparklers · 14/05/2021 10:46

And the 'getting away' thing makes no sense - you can't get away from covid, that's exactly the problem!

We are so bloody entitled - we're so used to living cushy lives with very little in the way of serious threat or restrictions. None of us lived through a war that affected us directly, it's been decades since we had to live through the real threat of nuclear war, we don't have to cope with famine or escaping genocide. I just don't understand why we can't be grateful that the most serious threat in most of our lifetimes has been covid and suck up the restrictions.

User1234123 · 14/05/2021 10:47

I feel sorry for them on the basis that they will be missing out on something, but anyone who booked to go away so soon after the lifting of the restrictions will have known about the risks involved.

There is a difference between someone being frustrated and upset that they can't go away to someone between frustrated and upset that they'll have to shell out £500 to move their flights or to take PCR tests.

What I'm really not liking is the covert schadenfreude going on where people are taking delight in people's inability to travel and the troubles of the travel industry as a whole...

LubaLuca · 14/05/2021 10:47

I am sympathetic. Presumably a lot of these people lack the intelligence to do their own research, so I think the destination countries' restrictions should have been made clearer by the travel agents.

Chloemol · 14/05/2021 10:47

YANBU. I have no sympathy. You would have thought by now that people would have learnt from previous lockdowns, but no it seems not

Why do they assume because a country is on our green list it’s ok to go there, without researching their requirements?

To be honest I would rather stay in this country and spend money into our economy, supporting our tourist economy

Picklesbaby · 14/05/2021 10:48

I laugh because We have ours coming up , only because we rebooked from last year . I expect we will be rebooking again sadly- but I won’t be complaining as if I didn’t expect it . We have close family friends v excited to meet our ds for the first time

osbertthesyrianhamster · 14/05/2021 10:48

What's it to you what others did? Does it make you feel better and morally superior that other people did something you disapprove of? Blowing out your neighbour's candle doesn't make yours shine more brightly.

MargateSands · 14/05/2021 10:49

@Temp023

Well, aren’t you all sensible and wonderful, give yourselves a pat on the back, for goodness sake!
Come on, can anybody who booked a foreign holiday honestly say they did so without at least some expectation there might be a hitch?
Bluntness100 · 14/05/2021 10:49

Honestly I don’t have a lot of sympathy either. I’ve no idea how anyone could live through thr last year and not know it was risky.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 14/05/2021 10:49

@Chloemol

YANBU. I have no sympathy. You would have thought by now that people would have learnt from previous lockdowns, but no it seems not

Why do they assume because a country is on our green list it’s ok to go there, without researching their requirements?

To be honest I would rather stay in this country and spend money into our economy, supporting our tourist economy

With the price gouging that's going on, the fuck I'd spend money here if I can get more for my money elsewhere.
JovialNickname · 14/05/2021 10:51

It's the arrogance prevalent in us Brits isn't it - if the UK permits something then of course we must be allowed to do it! No thought of what the receiving country might permit. It's a more expensive version of the "why don't they have any proper food instead of this foreign muck" holiday attitude.

It must be a bit gutting though and I do feel a bit sorry for them (whilst also thinking it's their own fault)

Bordois · 14/05/2021 10:53

Under normal circumstances, a company taking money from people when it knows that at that point it can't actually provide what you are paying for, would be seen as outrageous. 🤷‍♀️

NewMatress · 14/05/2021 10:56

We've gone from obsessively insisting that we must all do what's needed for the greater good to a real FU attitude. Travel may (or may not) be allowed it it's still against all advice. I can't believe so many people are so determined to have what they want at whatever cost to the population as a whole.

paralysedbyinertia · 14/05/2021 10:56

I think people were a bit stupid not to check. If this was due to a lack of intelligence, then I pity them. In most cases, though, I suspect that it was just due to a lack of due diligence. The pandemic isn't new, so they should have known better and my sympathy is limited.

81Byerley · 14/05/2021 10:57

@Londonmummy00

It should have been made very clear at the announcement that these ‘green list’ countries will have their own rules and to please check before booking a flight/ hotel.

We looked at Singapore briefly (didn’t book) before MIL text it wasn’t letting us in.

People shouldn't need to be babied like that. It's common sense.
user1497207191 · 14/05/2021 10:59

@Londonmummy00

It should have been made very clear at the announcement that these ‘green list’ countries will have their own rules and to please check before booking a flight/ hotel.

We looked at Singapore briefly (didn’t book) before MIL text it wasn’t letting us in.

It was made clear.
starfish4 · 14/05/2021 10:59

A few will have re-booked their holidays abroad after holiday cancellation last year and funds being carried over by tour operator. I do feel sorry for those people.

To anyone else, I don't blame them wanting to have a great time and even planning for it, but it's obvious there's no certainty at the moment. Surely we've all learnt that things can easily change over a three week period in terms of coronavirus. Anyone, whose booked will surely realise it's not 100%. We've booked a few days away in the UK, but even staying here I've made sure we know the consequences re: cancellation due to covid.

Hersetta427 · 14/05/2021 11:06

Its definitely going to change though - the champions league final being moved there will see to that.

Candyfloss99 · 14/05/2021 11:07

No sympathy, though it must be bad to have no common sense I suppose.

MissScotland101 · 14/05/2021 11:07

Some people act like taking a foreign holiday is akin to breathing...

BarbaraofSeville · 14/05/2021 11:11

@Hersetta427

Its definitely going to change though - the champions league final being moved there will see to that.
But the fans travelling to the match will be under very strict restrictions:

There will be two fan zones and from there they will be moved to the stadium and from the stadium to the airport, being in Portugal less than 24 hours

Fuck knows why they couldn't just have it somewhere in the UK.

ItsCokeFFS · 14/05/2021 11:11

The green list was never about where you can "go".

It was always about where you are allowed to travel "from"...but that isn't what people wanted to hear.

Some of the holiday threads are bonkers. Many people seem to assume that it is only the UK who have been having to live with restrictions and the rest of mainand Europe is having a high old time carrying on as normal.

Technically, people can travel to France in a couple of weeks (if they are prepared for all the necessary tests and quarantine on return) Leaving that aside, masks are still compulsory outside - yep, even walking from your car to the supermarket across the car park. We have a 7pm curfew (soon to change to 9pm) and it is not until next week that bars, cafes and restaurants can open for customers outside. They have been closed since the end of October, and a lot of businesses may hold off until they can let people inside - can't remember when that is off the top of my head.

We are in the South West. It is raining. A lot!