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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:
ItsCokeFFS · 14/05/2021 11:12

Sorry, I realise my comment was nothing to do with Portugal, but it is the same principle.

SonnetForSpring · 14/05/2021 11:14

@ItsCokeFFS

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!

Bonkers is the right word for it!
randomlyLostInWales · 14/05/2021 11:14

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57102249

In Wales were allowed holidays abroad but being asked not to go.

We were hoping trips to family in England and possible some tourist sites in London instead of a holiday - everything in UK seems booked up already and very expensive.

AnyFucker · 14/05/2021 11:16

Lots of people just don’t think things through

I have been saying this for weeks (that just cos Boris says we can come back doesn’t mean anyone will let us in)

According to Breakfast telly even Simon Calder (resident travel expert) even went ahead and booked a flight. Bloody daft.

GabsAlot · 14/05/2021 11:17

there was a joke about this last night on mock the week you can come back from these places without any problems but you cant get there because they wont let you in

i thought it was obvious to check their own rules first

Doghead · 14/05/2021 11:18

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

mammmamia · 14/05/2021 11:19

We booked cheap flights to Portugal for August and a cancellable hotel. If by then things haven’t opened up we can change everything. I would never have booked for the 17th.

MissScotland101 · 14/05/2021 11:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn as it quotes a deleted post.

SonnetForSpring · 14/05/2021 11:20

@Doghead

Wow! OP you sound really spiteful and bitter. What's up? Don't you do holidays....or don't you have the confidence or the money to take them.....so you cast your inner despisal on others? You really need to sort those bitter jealous feelings out, it's no good for you.
Wow, projection much.
justasking111 · 14/05/2021 11:22

One of the problems was folks booking flights to Portugal then driving to Spain etc. The EU do not want us with the variants we are spreading, far fewer are vaccinated in those countries. I can see their point. We didn't want the Indian variants ourselves

FireworksAndSparklers · 14/05/2021 11:22

@Doghead

Wow! OP you sound really spiteful and bitter. What's up? Don't you do holidays....or don't you have the confidence or the money to take them.....so you cast your inner despisal on others? You really need to sort those bitter jealous feelings out, it's no good for you.
I don't think it has anything to do with that. It's simply the disbelief that people are so priveleged they think that holidays abroad are a right and that it's acceptable to moan about having them cancelled at the same time as the horrific scenes we're seeing in India and other countries. If you book a holiday abroad in a pandemic you're a) a bit of a twit anyway and b) completely stupid if you don't do so with the full expectation it may not go ahead. That's why there is a lack of sympathy - not jealousy or bitterness, just a larger number of people a million times more deserving of sympathy.
randomlyLostInWales · 14/05/2021 11:25

Some people can afford to write holiday costs off - they're clearly more likely to take risks and book flights earlier just in case thay can but not checking does seem odd - perhaps they assume tourist areas abroad would be desperate for people.

They may still moan because who like to lose money.

BarbaraofSeville · 14/05/2021 11:25

@Doghead

Wow! OP you sound really spiteful and bitter. What's up? Don't you do holidays....or don't you have the confidence or the money to take them.....so you cast your inner despisal on others? You really need to sort those bitter jealous feelings out, it's no good for you.
Meow!

The OP is probably just expecting frustration at people making bonkers decisions and then moaning to the entire world when it bites them on the arse.

BBC Breakfast News, live action version of the Daily Mail sad face for the terminally stupid.

The BBC know what they are doing. They're not raising awareness of the plight of the deceived, they're saying 'look at what this daft sod did'.

EileenGC · 14/05/2021 11:27

Don’t people check the entry requirements of the intended destination country before booking a holiday? I have no sympathy for those who just booked Portugal for the 17th without actually reading Portugal’s restrictions around international travel.

It’s like booking a trip to Zimbabwe or Laos, departing next week, without checking if I’ll need a visa, which type of visa, immunisations, other paperwork, and since 2020 - tests, quarantines and a reason for my trip.

I know prior to Covid we didn’t need to check what Portugal’s entry requirements were, but I assumed people would do such an essential thing before clicking ‘buy’ on a whim? Especially during a pandemic?

If people can’t be bothered to google and inform themselves before booking then no, I don’t have any sympathy for them. The green list is where you can come from, not where you can go.

motherloaded · 14/05/2021 11:28

They were a bit hasty, but surely having all been in the same flipping lockdown, we could have a bit of sympathy?

If I had listened to the scaremongers, I wouldn't have gone abroad on holiday last summer, and it would have been a big mistake not to!
I was a bit better prepared than these people, but still.

Life is shit for everybody at the moment, I do think they should have thought a bit more but I also sympathise.

There are enough people who broke the lockdown consistently, especially at Christmas last year, the ones who tried to respect the rules? It's their own mistake, but come on, anyone who is struggling with being on house arrest or stuck with staycation does get my sympathy.

Atalantea · 14/05/2021 11:28

@MissScotland101

Some people act like taking a foreign holiday is akin to breathing...
shocker - different things are important to different people!
MontysRoseGarden · 14/05/2021 11:29

I think it’s silly trying to book holidays abroad this year

As a retail manager I am so sick of my team booking holiday, then cancelling and trying to move it. I cannot accomadate this. Every day a colleague has a holiday drama and wants special dispensation

I constantly reiterate they will not be paid for isolation time after returning as well,but everyone thinks they can either get away with it and return or just keep messing me about with dates

I’m ready to draw a line in the sand now!!

BarbaraofSeville · 14/05/2021 11:29

@justasking111

One of the problems was folks booking flights to Portugal then driving to Spain etc. The EU do not want us with the variants we are spreading, far fewer are vaccinated in those countries. I can see their point. We didn't want the Indian variants ourselves
Same problem with Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is on the green list. But to go there, or come back from there, you must not have been in Spain any time within the last 10 days or whatever the current restriction is.

Most people who spend more than a day or two in Gib will probably go to Spain. Or they might even be taken there against their will because a good percentage of the flights in get diverted to Malaga due to the weather - the rock causes a lot of wind, that disrupts the airport. Now that would be inconvenient in these times.

megletthesecond · 14/05/2021 11:30

Yanbu. Flying off for a beach holiday is madness this year.

And don't get me started on the Champions league final.

SofiaMichelle · 14/05/2021 11:31

YANBU, OP.

Wait for the 'compensayshun!' sad faces in the tabloids.

moynomore · 14/05/2021 11:32

I've booked Portugal for August but all can be cancelled close to the date. Really can't wait.

motherloaded · 14/05/2021 11:33

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

some people need a break. Shocking.
Maybe they have a busier and more stressful than yours?

TownTalkJewels · 14/05/2021 11:34

Of course it’s unreasonable. All indications from Portugal’s foreign minister were that they would be open to us by the end of May. The indian variant has changed their plans.

Most people will have made refundable plans.

Why so bitter?

MissScotland101 · 14/05/2021 11:34

@motherloaded

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

some people need a break. Shocking.
Maybe they have a busier and more stressful than yours?

We all do but people aren’t doing to die without it, like we would if we couldn’t breathe...this was my point.
MimiDaisy11 · 14/05/2021 11:35

I agree OP it's silly of them to have booked. I really think if you're booking a holiday this year you need to be prepared for it to be cancelled or for new measures to be brought in like quarantine. If you've got money to potentially throw away it might be a risk you want to take. Whereas if it's a sum which is a lot for you then maybe reconsider.

Also, the two options are not to either feel sympathy or smile at others misfortune. You can just think it was clearly not a wise decision from the start and people should have known better. There's no pleasure from it. If anything it's sad they potentially wasted their money.

My own parents have booked a cruise for Australia late in the year. I think while it's months away it's a bit unwise given they have to get there and refunds are only issued if the cruise doesn't go ahead not if you can't get into the country because of restrictions with flights etc. I hope it goes ahead but really they don't deserve that much sympathy if it doesn't work out.