Foreign holiday

[wobblyduck]

I know very little about the implications of Brexit on free movement post March next year, so please forgive the naive question and if possible direct me somewhere I can learn more!

We're looking at taking a holiday in Europe 2 weeks after brexit. We would either use the Chunnel or boat to Calais. I've got 2 small children and neither would tolerate very long queues (2 hours+) to check in. Is this a silly idea? Will we need visas?

Storm. Teacup.

I’d book. All will be fine with travel. Absolutely fine.

Nobody knows and nobody can say for sure that you won't need a visa. If I were you and you do decide to book, though, I would go all out for insurance and health protection and so on, with bells on!

UK is a rich country.
Other countries will not want lose us as tourists!

I also think it will be broadly fine though would not risk going anywhere in the first two weeks of April as I imagine whatever the new system is will take a while to implement and in the meantime at best it will mean QUEUES.

However if the pound does tank then it will be extortionately expensive to go anywhere. I am not sure if by booking an all inclusive for next summer you are guaranteeing the price, I wouldn't be surprised if they've written into the Ts and Cs that there might be some kind of possible "Brexit surcharge". Perhaps not, but maybe.

We've got 3 holidays booked for next year after Brexit. Not worried about it all.

Nothing to do with the U.K. being a rich country. And of course the loss of our tourist £ will be big.

But it's the sheer lack of time to negotiate around the Open Skies Agreement that is the problem. Oh and the lack of understanding on the part of our government.

For those who have already booked, how have you got yourself comfortable around the current lack of an Open Skies Agreement?

As I say.
Storm. Teacup.

We will see...

Worth thinking about travel health insurance. EHIC won’t be valid if there is a no deal and current health travel insurance you can buy for visiting EU countries relies that you would first use EHIC and they pick up what’s not covered. So it’s gojng to be a lot more expensive.

Lostandfound - what information do you have which indicates that an Agreement will be in place?

As the Government has no idea what travel will be like post-Brexit, then anyone saying "it will all be fine" or "all planes will be grounded" are just speculating.
Having said that, I understand how frustrating this can be for people, and the fact that those who are supposed to be sorting this out are putting their own political manoeuvres before sorting out the mess they've created, doesn't bode well.

While it might be 'just speculating' if a 'No deal' happens and we crash out on 29 March there is NO transition period and the UK will be pretty much isolated with no planes/ferries etc (easy to see) but no valid insurance of any kind until negotiations START and eventually conclude.
If there is a deal then all details of travel, planes/insurance etc will get resolved, but it may take weeks. Passporting rights for London financial institutions will disappear overnight with a 'no deal', and this affects insurance.

Posted on other thread, but might be useful here:
Passengers risk being turned away from flights after ‘stealth’ change in passport renewal rules
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/passports-brexit-stealth-change-renewal-rules-martin-lewis-a8535346.html

www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45512152

Uk driving license may not be valid in Europe

Nathalie Loiseau, the French Europe minister, has been speaking at a Chatham House event in London this lunchtime. As the Sun’s Steve Hawkes reports, she said planes would be grounded in the event of a no deal Brexit [and ferries and Eurostar wouldn't run either].

France’s Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau repeats that the EU27 are united and they won’t bend the rules just because one state wants to leave

www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2018/sep/13/brexit-no-deal-planning-papes-dominic-raab-takes-swipe-at-john-lewis-saying-firms-should-not-blame-brexit-for-their-own-failings-politics-live#comment-120405350

Since it is a little quiet on here ATM I had a quick look at some papers.The fail article about petrol duty likely to go up and prices rising.
The 'comments' are great for a 'laugh' as it shows the penny really isn't dropping. The OUTRAGE that petrol will go up, but the fact that things might just get a bit (lot) tougher due to Brexit hasn't flickered into their minds yet.

There will be a deal of sorts - even if it is only an agreement to keep on negotiating. This is because it is in no-ones interest for there not to be a deal.

Lot’s of pearl clutching here and in the media.

Yes, but we default to not being a member of Open Skies in March. So even if the agreement is to keep on negotiating, we will still need something THEN.

Honestly, it's like some of you have ever renewed insurance, a passport, or your driver's licence before it actually runs out to make sure you are still covered. Do you just head for the airport with an expired passport shouting, "Tra la la, I'm British, everything will be fine?"

There has to be a deal or no deal. If it’s a no deal we could carry on negotiating but doesn’t help in the meantime when there are no flights.

Having followed the Greek crisis i have less patience for catastophising. It will be 11th hour stuff. There will be a deal or transitional arrangement. I think Europe could do to start thinking of all their poor citizens reliant on uk tourists who wil be scared off booking.

Nobody is suggesting it won't cause problems for the EU countries but they will not be held to ransom by threats from the UK. The Pound will either decline in value (it already has) and /or the austerity in the UK will reduce the demand. The main mechanisms for creating wealth are manufacturing and the services sector (including banking) and without one heck of a climbdown by the UK these will be hit hard. Trading under WTO only is crazy.
Doing deals at the 11th hour will never produce a decent 'deal' for the UK.

Meanwhile - Foreign holidays (or not).

Following yesterday's government papers, which outlined the issues but gave no assessment of the impact of a No Deal Brexit, nor of any possible solutions, I pose the following questions:

From 30th March, UK citizens will require a Schengen Visa in order to travel to the EU. As this visa will need to be obtained in person in advance from the Embassy of a EU country, are the Embassies geared up to do this? Will the Spanish Embassy have 3,000 - 4,000 staff ready to process 13 million applications before the summer? Does the French Embassy have the capacity to handle 10 million applications?

Even assuming that planes, trains and ferries continue to operate (a big assumption in itself) do travellers book their travel and then hope that their visa is processed in time, or do they wait for the visa and then book the travel? What would be the impact on travel companies and tour operators if people stopped booking in advance? How quickly would these companies cease trading due to lack of cash?

Having hopefully got the visa and travel booked, how long will it take to get an International Driving Permit? Only 90 Post Offices are issuing these, so if 7-10 million Permits need to be issued, are these Post Offices geared up to handling 90,000 personal applications a day, every day, for the six months from 1st Feb? How convenient is the nearest issuing Post Office (for example, there are only two POs in Hertfordshire to cover a population of 1.2 million)? How will people react if they travel 30 miles to find that the queue at 10.00 already exceeds the daily capacity of the PO?

Assuming all has gone well so far - at the EU airport, travellers would like to hire a car. How will they do this if UK credit, debit or pre-paid cards no longer work in the EU? (The same situation exists for paying accommodation and restaurant bills). Will travellers need to carry wads of cash? Will it be safe to do so?

For the few posters on here who believe that everything will be alright - what point in time, or what event, would make you think that it might be prudent to wait a while before booking? At what point will those who have already booked three holidays for 2019 begin to be concerned?

Good question Havana.
Supplementary questions, will you be able to get Euro cash in the UK?
Would foreign exchange companies be able to actually exchange cash?
There are a lot of assumptions being made and no real answers.

German friend had to wait at least 2 months before getting a slot for a passport renewal. It's apparently very busy. Doesn't bode well.

@Quietrebel - I guess if they are German they would be renewing a German passport