Oct Half Term and Brexit

[MirrorHope]

We are planning a European trip over Oct half term. Or perhaps not now as worried about Brexit. We would travel Friday 25th to 1st Nov.

Any thoughts? Would you travel? I don't want to spend lots of money then stress the entire holiday about travelling back.

Personally, I won't be booking anything until it's clearer what's likely to happen.

I was thinking of it in the week before. I wouldn't straddle the exit date. Too much potential for chaos.

We want to go away then. But I’d rather be back by 29 October TBH.

DS went on a school trip last month and apparently the passport control for Eurotunnel has got more strict and has longer queues so it looks like this will be the norm now.

It's all getting more expensive. So frustrating - how life could have been different if it wasn't for this stupid vote.

Yes I suppose we should wait or consider outside the EU.

We wanted to do this too OP. We're now thinking of booking something at the very last minute, depending on what's going on.

Yes looking at last minute too now... annoying can't plan

Schools may be closed anyway. Might be wise to get out while you can.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/03/secret-education-report-no-deal-brexit-school-chaos

We're visiting family in Spain then. It's been booked for ages as we decided not to visit last Easter to avoid the last Brexit date

Seems like booking a European holiday is going to be the least of our problems

Well yes unfortunately! In the event of no deal, we’ll no longer be part of the EASA (European Aviation authority) - go to caa.co.uk for further info - and quite simply that could mean no aviation agreements, no flights. We were due to fly a day after the original April exit date & there were numerous threads on this at the time. I spoke to 6 Travel Insurance companies at the time to see if they’d cover us in a no deal no flight situation and back then the answers I got ranged from ‘we’re waiting on developments’ through to ‘probably not’. Luckily for us came the delay but we’ve also got October half term flights booked last Christmas. Our half term in Kent though is the week of the 21st so we will be back pre Brexit. I think you’d be ok if you could bring your flight dates forward a bit?

Still hoping against hope the whole thing gets called off or delayed again but unfortunately under BJ, unlikely!

I wouldn’t risk it.
We were away over the April date and I couldn’t find a straight answer for anything when I tried to find out what might happen (luckily for us it was delayed).

Would mean taking them out of school for 2 days and 2 days extra annual leave for us each from work. Other options are Morocco or Dubai! We have looked into Dubai but it seemed far to go for a week. Also worried about spending so much money if things do get messed up!

Just looked at this again & there has been s mini deal struck in March with Europe to protect flights until March 2020 - have you looked at this? There’s also been some short term deals with the US and a couple of other countries. No idea what’s been arranged with the UAE or Morocco (and personally I think the UAE isn’t too far for a week - Dubai wouldn’t be my first choice though & I used to live there!), I think as a deal of sorts has been struck in all likelihood you will be fine - that’s just my take on it though!

Yes been looking into this now DH and I thinking Cyprus might be fine. Esp as it's a big Brit abroad place - sure coming back will be fine. If not we stay a bit longer eeek!

Where in UAE would you say we should go?

Other ideas welcome!

Dubai is pretty marmite - they’ve bulldozed down a lot of the places I remember & built loads of high rises with the aid of semi slave labour from parts of Asia. Just has no appeal for me but if you like shiny buildings, beaches and shopping it may suit! If you want to do the UAE, I’d do a day or two I’m Dubai & then go on to Fujairah by hired 4 wheel drive (another Emirate). Fujairah is in the mountains & has small hill forts, wadi’s, good beaches and mangroves. There isn’t lots to do there but it’s pretty & far less built up than Dubai. We used to stay at the Sandy Beach hotel - it’s 4 star and you’ll find more expensive & glitzier hotels in Fujairah but it’s a nice base with its own beach, a small island to snorkel round and water sports. Fujairah is a couple of hours drive from Dubai.
If you’ve got the budget, I’d skip the UAE and go to Oman instead as it’s everything Dubai isn’t! Muscat is on the coast, has good hotels and beaches, the souk has more of a historic feel to it and there are lots of outdoorsy activities you can do. It’s also got historic forts and towns. I much prefer it to Dubai but it comes at a cost!

You’ve mentioned Morocco - we went to Marrakech four years ago and it’s a mad, frenetic city. I liked it but my DH hated it! The old town is interesting but a nightmare to navigate so if you are going to do it, get a guide! We split our time between an absolutely gorgeous Riad in the medina with views right across Marrakech & a pretty blah but fine AI with a water park on the outskirts (the Eden Andalou), Again, it’s not going to be everybodies cup of tea but it’s got vibrant colours & an interesting souk full of great stuff. We also went into the Atlas Mountains - you can trek to waterfalls etc and it’s an attractive change to Marrakech!

Hope some of this helps!

I think I'd probably avoid an EU destination if I was going away that week. We avoided booking anything for the Easter holidays, at least in part because we didn't want the stress of worrying about what would happen in the event of Brexit/no deal.

What might be the problem in getting back? I'm trying to think of worst case scenario here

I think you will be ok!.www.abta.com/tips-and-advice/brexit-advice-for-travellers

@SJane48S hope so!!

Based on that info from ABTA it looks like you should be okay. I would book a package that is ABTA/ATOL bonded though, rather than booking individual elements of the trip yourself. That way you'll be covered in case anything unexpected occurs.

Op nealry every past holiday we booked was going to coincide with brexit date.

I was concerned and obviously it didn't happen. But be re assured there are short term measures in place to cover travel _flights, ports etc.

I don't know how we've managed it but we have one holiday ending the week before the CURRENT Brexit date and one commencing 10 days after. At the moment I'm more worried about the potential BA strike but any short delay on Brexit may scupper the second trip.
Going on holiday used to be fun but all the issues at airports is starting to put me off.
Hope you sort something suitable OP.

Thanks everyone we are tempted to book.

So desperate to get away with the kids.