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

[ThursdayWeld]

... 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

@Ninefeettall

No sympathy for anyone travelling abroad this year. In fact I kind of hope it’s a disaster so it puts other people off being so selfish.

Nice!

We all do but people aren’t doing to die without it, like we would if we couldn’t breathe...this was my point.

well, no, but we might as well stay in full lockdown if you go that way. No one is going to die because they can't buy a new tshirt or have a bbq with friends...

I agree with @FireworksAndSparklers.

We would love to have a lovely abroad holiday, we have the money saved from when last years didn’t go ahead. The only sympathy I’ve got is for those in the airline industry/other branches of the international travel industry who aren’t able to work. I have zero sympathy for anyone who thought it was a good idea to travel internationally this year potentially bringing back different variants to this country.

After the fiasco last summer where the government kept changing their minds about where we could go and the rules about isolating when we got home I’m surprised anyone would want to take the risk of that happening again this year.

And the argument some are giving that they have had a shitty year so deserve a holiday abroad! How selfish can you get? We have ALL had a shitty year and unfortunately the ones that have had the shittest year and suffered the most probably can’t afford a holiday anyway.

@BarbaraofSeville Fri 14-May-21 11:11:20
Hersetta427

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

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

Because the UK government wouldn't waive the quarantine requirements for the 2000 strong entourage the fixture would bring with it, so it went to somewhere which wouldn't impose such restrictions.

@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.

What a deranged bizarre post.

I like holidays. I can easily afford to pay for a holiday and lose the money. I have confidence to travel the globe, alone, on business including to very dangerous places.

I still think it's utterly moronic to book a holiday with no more mitigation in place than 'fingers crossed!' and expect that the rules won't change.

@motherloaded

We all do but people aren’t doing to die without it, like we would if we couldn’t breathe...this was my point.

well, no, but we might as well stay in full lockdown if you go that way. No one is going to die because they can't buy a new tshirt or have a bbq with friends...

I think that people should wait until everyone has had their 2 vaccinations and the mask wearing is officially over, and only then should people consider a holiday, I understand why they want one but I don’t condone it.

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.

I do wish we'd managed to do more last summer - but things opened so slow here and we're dependent on public transport.

Last year UK holiday had to be cancelled - as weren't supposed to travel on trains and this year we're too late to book in UK and everything is so expensive.

Next year eldest is 17 so whether they'll still want to holiday with us is anyone guess.

Still daft not to check - but condemning people for wanting to do these things is a bit harsh.

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

That's not at all what I take from the OP. It's simply common sense.
I do holidays, and I can afford holidays, but I completely agree with OP that it's a bit daft to be booking for this year without realising your plans might be scuppered. And then to complain about it is even dafter.

I think it was a bit silly to, but they shouldn’t be complaining about it. If life you take risks, but sometimes the risks don’t pay off.

Nothing wrong with booking optimistically but complaining about it is ridiculous.

@MuddlingMackem. Who? It's a football match between 2 English clubs.

I understand it might be a jolly for bigwigs at UEFA or whatever but, at the risk of stating the obvious, perhaps when in a global pandemic, they could stay at home and watch it on TV like everyone else? .

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.

Nah. It should be common sense that other countries will have their own rules. People should take some responsibility for their own choices and make sure what they want is actually possible. It's pretty basic.

Mark Drakford has sais people in Wales shouldn`t go abroad in 2021 and should holiday in Wales instead. He can bugger off as I have UK breaks planned and 1 booked for England.

"Because the UK government wouldn't waive the quarantine requirements for the 2000 strong entourage the fixture would bring with it, so it went to somewhere which wouldn't impose such restrictions."
And the fans will mix and quite possibly bring back more problems anyway 🙈.

Absolutey NO sympathy.
They knew absolutely that this was a possibility.
Not only that, even if they get to go, they risk putting themselves at risk and their families by interacting with other people from different countries. They then take the risk of bringing it back to the UK .The whole idea of a foreign holiday this year is a huge mistake. It is exactly what caused the virus to spike in September last year. Madness.

Sensible government advice would have followed the 50% rule and been far clearer about how uncertain everything would still be. Spelling it out the risks of booking a holiday very loudly and clearly.

But the timing of advice and news about relaxing restrictions in the UK was not about being informative. It was about making sure that people went to the polls last week feeling upbeat about the government being the bearers of good news.

Sorry - Drakeford; said
Typos

I intend to visit local places and support local businesses as much as I can afford. I do feel very sorry for everyone employed by airlines, but I think poor management/control of international travel has massively increased the mess we are in. Holidays abroad are not essential at this time.

@Temp023

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

Indeed. We booked for September about 6 months ago. If it changes, so be it.

Go on foreign holidays then when cases spike, no complaining that your children can't go to school, shops are closed and wfh is imposed.
No vaccine is 100%
We have new varients.
Not everyone has been vaccinated.
Children are not vaccinated.
It will spread and we will have to have a lockdown.

I’m currently feeling silly for another reason! We had Portugal booked for last July, moved it to this July, payment was due last week and we cancelled as it doesn’t feel safe to go abroad. Now wishing I’d maybe paid and got a refund although I’ve only lost £200. But yes I agree.

@Ninefeettall

No sympathy for anyone travelling abroad this year. In fact I kind of hope it’s a disaster so it puts other people off being so selfish.

Well aren't you a peach

My dps had a holiday booked in Portugal. This was originally booked in 2019 to take place in summer 2020 and then rebooked for this year. Not everyone rushed out to book holidays, some people are still trying to take holidays they booked before covid was even heard of. Dps have now cancelled holiday and got refund but if companies are not allowing this its a lot of money to lose.......

I think the message wasn't made clear. Why bother announcing the green list countries when most of them you can't travel to? Greece and Spain also hoping to be put on the green list but we can't travel there anyway.

No sympathy at all, except for the fact that they are obviously lacking in the brains department. Only a fool would go haring off booking overseas holidays without due diligence at the moment. A fool and his money etc.

Maybe the travel agents should take responsibility. You shouldn't be able to book something that has restrictions or at least be made aware of them.