Stupidly booked a holiday for June

[idiot766]

I feel sick. I truly thought everything was looking so positive with the roadmap and that we would be having a great summer. Stupidly I therefore went ahead and booked a week’s holiday for late June through Airbnb with a host who has a strict cancellation policy (only allows cancellations within 48 hours of booking).

It’s two weeks since I made the booking so there’s no chance of getting my money back (though I think I may be entitled to a 50% refund if I cancel now - I need to double check).

I’m now really worried that we will be going back into lockdown due to the Indian variant and I won’t be able to go on holiday and will lose lots of money.

The reason I booked this place is because it was one of the very few still available in my chosen area - now I see that the cancellation policy is probably the reason why!

What would you do - cancel now to get half your money back or keep the booking in the hope that things will be okay by June?

I’m absolutely kicking myself for being such a complete and utter idiot

Look at it this way, the money is gone whether you go or not so don't worry about it. It will be a shame if you can't go, but the world will keep spinning. You're not an idiot and try to just let this go. There is nothing to be gained by worrying about it.

Well, stop kicking yourself for a start. We all made assumptions, remember how it was at Christmas when almost everyone was a bit disappointed!

Which country is the holiday in, is it overseas? You've at least a chance of getting away, if it's a green list or amber list country. Would you be happy to quarantine at home if you had to?

Were you planning to go by plane, and can you defer or refund the flights?

How long have you got to cancel and get half your money back? If you can hold on for a week or so, the picture may become clearer.

I would cancel tbh.

No country is going to want visitors from the UK if the Indian variant gets out of control, which lets be honest, is likely to happen with your current government in charge.

I have some sympathy OP but ffs, it's been such a shit show in the UK why / how can you believe anything from the government?

I'm in Australia. We've been told our borders aren't likely to open until mid 2022. Our expectations have been set. Yours are so ambiguous.

No, it’s in the UK! So no issues with flights or quarantine or anything like that, thank goodness. I’m just worried that we’ll be plunged back into lockdown again and not allowed to leave our local areas...

I have some sympathy OP but ffs, it's been such a shit show in the UK why / how can you believe anything from the government?

I don’t know - I think I was looking at the vaccination programme and how well it was going. Then schools went back and it didn’t seem to have any noticeable effect on the numbers, which seemed so very positive. You’re right though, it was naive.

What?! You'll be totally fine to go on holiday in the UK next month! Stop worrying and enjoy it. I'm envious!

I’m not sure we will though! All this talk about the Indian variant sounds really worrying. And if cases start rising quickly after the big opening up on Monday, I think we could go into another lockdown - or at least a lockdown life where travel to other areas is banned

@Fourstonesmash I’m not sure that’s the case for Airbnb sadly:

www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jan/17/airbnb-refuses-to-pay-refunds-for-getaways-cancelled-by-covid

I think there might be some localised lockdown-type stuff, but if that happens in the area you're travelling to then holiday accommodation will probably have to close and you'll be entitled to a full refund.

I cannot keep up with all the changes and uncertainty right now and I'm absolutely desperate to get away for a holiday. It's killing me that we can't just have some idea of when things will be normal again

You will probably be able to go, there’s a small possibility that you won’t. This thing is a moving target - best to just accept that we will be living with a degree of uncertainty for the time being. If you can reach a point of acceptance about that, your life is going to easier than if you are constantly looking for certainties and railing against it every time there a set back.

You’re right - I just can’t believe what an idiot I was not to book somewhere with a more flexible cancellation policy.

Don’t blame yourself. You had ministers like Hancock saying it was going to be a ‘Great British Summer’ of holidays...

Don't panic about it now OP. It's out of your control, there's nothing you can do about it either way.
But obviously you can afford to spend the money, as you've spent it. If you don't get to go on the holiday that will be a kick in the teeth but it's not going to plunge you into debt or mean you can't afford food, because if it would then that would have happened even if you could go on the holiday. I really think you're catastrophising.

FWIW I think self catering holidays in the UK will be fine. Travelling abroad may be a different story.

Weve booked for half term which I haven't doubted will happen. At yesterdays press conference he seemed happy enough with tomorrows unlocking but rather dubious about extending it fudther in June.

On your side even if they go back to not hotels, airbnb /self contained accomodation has been allowed for ages now so cant see that going back just yet ( maybe later in the year.....)

It wont help now but for future- we booked with vrbo for easter and made sure we had a 2 week cancellation policy - you coukd adjust a tab to only show you those. We had to cancel as it hapoened and although many cottages were understanding about covid it was clear you could lose it. We cancelled with a month to go.

You'll be fine. Even if we go back a stage to level 2, self contained accommodation was allowed to open.

Don't cancel and just try and put it out of your mind, but yes, always go for free cancellation in future.

Did you book by credit card? Does anyone know if OP would be able to do a chargeback?

The government was always cleared that the steps would be based on data.There are many things that can change before your holidays. You should always booked with possibilities to chance or refund during the pandemic.

You are not an idiot we all want to have a break. The idiots are the ones blaming the government for everything. When more rational people can be objective and have the capability of civil responsibility.

change

If it's UK I think you are being OTT and it's likely that AirBnB will refund you if the area you are going to has a local lockdown and restriction on holiday travel.

Wait it out. It's highly likely you'll get your holiday.

It’s in the UK. It’ll be fine. Overnight stays have been allowed since 12 April, it would be a major roll back if that wasn’t allowed in June.

I think there's about a 90% chance you'll be able to go. Even if it takes off, at the glacial pace the government puts in restrictions they'll probably not have shut self contained holiday accommodation by then anyway.

We've got a cottage in Cornwall booked for first week of June and I think it's pretty likely we'll be able to go.

I think you’ll be able to go too.