Is anyone booking a holiday for later in the year?

[Swiftier]

Our June holiday was cancelled, the only other time we can go away is December which is good in a way as it’s a while off so gives us plenty of time to see what happens, I’m thinking we can always book a hotel with free cancellation etc. Just wondering really whether anyone is hopeful that fights and holidays etc will be back to normal this calendar year?

Swiftier We plan to go to Australia, our first time, and first holiday abroad since 2012. We initially booked using a cc to protect us against the travel company going into administration (not that we thought it would but a year is a long time) and at the time cv was only being mentioned in china....what a difference a few weeks makes!

The foreign office has today changed its advice and states no foreign travel indefinitely

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/coronavirus-foreign-office-travel-advice-warning-fco-uk-government-a9448986.html%3famp

@Bringer certainly have no plans to go anywhere I would imagine this year .. but at little bleak to suggest that flying somewhere purely for pleasure might not be at some point on the horizon again surely?!

@KoalasandRabbit you are definitely trying to cancel too early ! Wait it out us deffo the best advice and hope it gets cancelled and you are not doing tbh cancelling!

Our Japan trip only got officially cancelled a week ago/ a week before the trip! We got all the money back for flights and the hotels and didn’t even need to go through the travel insurance!

If we had tried to cancel even 2 weeks ago we likely wouldn’t have got anything back or we could have changed the flight but he charged fees!

Wait it out and see what happens with the situation - it’s still to difficult to predict

I'm tempted to book but have decided to wait in the hope of a serious bargain we are planning on a cruise and figure there will be lots of excess capacity. I'm pretty sure I've had c19 so not worried about travelling later in the year but hopefully will get an antibody test at some point before then

@SJaneS48 Oh, it's bleak, for sure. Or at least - it's a major change in lifestyle for many of us. But 'flying purely for pleasure' was always mind-blowingly decadent, when you think about it. I'll be as gutted as anyone if I have to give up my multiple overseas trips every year. But I just can't see us ever getting back to the way things were.

Ps - the introduction of antibody tests will be the gamechanger - if it's turns out half the population has caught it symptom free (as per Oxford model) then travel will be opening up pretty soon, whereas if it's still under 1% of the population then it will require the vaccine, the first of which are entering clinical trials imminently (exh is involved)

The Oxford model ...didn't it give a range and didn't the guys who produced it say that they don't believe the more optimistic scenarios?

Our travel insurance policy will not cover covid related incidents for bookings after 18 March, based on that we'll not book anything this year. I'm tempted to book a us trip for Aug 2021, but its probably prudent to wait.
We've got a cottage in Cornwall booked for May and I expect that will be cancelled, we've just moved a Haven caravan park booking for Easter to Easter 2021.
We've got Disneyland Paris and Eurostar booked for August this year and I think that is unlikely.
I know there are bigger problems than holidays but it would be nice to have something to look forward to. Feel so sorry for people working in the travel and tourism industry.

Currently the antibodies tests aren't working, they aren't sensitive enough to recognize people who haven't been hospitalized. Its also not clear if those who have been mildly ill will have immunity. I was so hopeful they would be a game changer, but less optimistic now.

It's so difficult to know what to do. We have booked accommodation in Florida for Feb 2021, only paid deposit so far so that's ok

But don't know whether to book flights or not. If we don't go then, we can't go for another 2 years so rescheduling is not an option

If we don't book now, will we run the risk of flights being booked up.... but if we do book and the flight is cancelled - will we loose our money..

Completely first world problem compared to others issues but being an NHS frontliner l want something to look forward too!

I've booked for Aug and Nov, booked before all this came out, i'm hopeful for both, more hopeful for November but trying to be optimistic re Aug as i think everyone's economies and the airlines etc will all need all the help they can get.

@Bringer, I agree all our individual circumstances might change significantly, certainly economically . The future’s a bit uncertain for many of us in the medium term career wise so whether we’ll all be able to afford long haul jaunts after this, who knows?! But personally anyway, I’m not writing travelling off as a bit of a decadent luxury. It’s a big world out there and I for one have no plans to fill the rest of my days in the U.K. - just seems depressingly life limiting. Neither do I want DD’s to be little Englanders (much as I love England!) & want them to have a broad cross cultural appreciation of the world. And that’s without going into the big economic & environmental impact (as many protected habitats and wildlife won’t last without us visiting them) us all staying at home will have.

And on a completely honest note, like @FourDecades has just said, Christ knows we all need something to look forward to!

I think there will be variable levels of restrictions for different countries for 12-18 months and that means that some travel will be permissible based on that. I also think that they'll really push through getting the test to confirm who has had it, and for those who have then the restrictions level will be lifted as if you're not going to catch and spread it ( note that is an if) then you'll be allowed out

I reckon that's probably the most likely way this will work out, and we're quite possibly heading back to the days of having to carry and quite possibly show vaccination and/or some form of proof of testing certificate or similar before boarding flights/ferries and again at ports of entry.

To look at this from another angle, I live in China. What do you think are my chances of being able to get over to the UK to visit my parents for Christmas? DD will be 14 months by then and they haven't met her yet

SecretLife As you are related I would have thought the chances were pretty good of being able to meet up at Christmas though I certainly wouldn't be booking anything yet as it's far from certain - wait until things become clearer but DH's family are abroad and I would expect people with very close relations might be able to travel before others though just me speculating. Probably need to consider the risks involved at the time too especially is anyone is in the vulnerable or elderly category and look into how refundable things are if cancelled last minute and what insurance you can get for health etc.

We have a holiday to Greece booked for August still planning on going if we are able

The issue I perceive is that while we may be allowed to travel to countries where the virus is under control, will those countries want foreign visitors? As one of the first preventative measures taken was to close borders it seem likely that any country that gets a grip on the situation will be keen to keep them closed, and any country that hasn’t got a grip will be off limits anyway.

The situation in the USA is spiralling out of control and I can’t see travel being allowed in or out of that country for quite some time.

The issue I perceive is that while we may be allowed to travel to countries where the virus is under control, will those countries want foreign visitors?

..and of course that cuts both ways - Even before the almost total shutdown of air travel there were countries that were very wary or were outright denying entry to anybody who had been through the UK because of the (perceived?) lack of exit controls on passengers boarding flights leaving the UK..

So many things think about.

I wonder if the FCO decision to advise against all but essential travel without an end date will help or hinder insurance or cancellation claims? I’m guessing, for example, you won’t be able to claim for a trip until close to the travel date.

I’ve also seen that some airlines (including BA www.britishairways.com/information/incident/coronavirus/latest-information ) have now put in place free change of date and destination for departures until 31 December now. I imagine they think this may help them get bookings in for later in the year as it means customers will feel there’s less risk as they can delay until 2021 if there’s still disruption.

Interesting to think that travel may be allowed to certain destinations but not others to start with - perhaps travel within Europe will be possible before Europe to the USA routes open for example. Or it could be that if we don’t deal with it we’ll in the UK, we won’t be allowed to visit countries that do have it under control (as with China at the moment and restrictions on visitors). So hard to predict how things will pan out.

Our school said their insurance for school trip said they wouldn't use anything without an end date. Our insurer is currently paying out for imminent (48 hours) departures that are banned but not after that, some insurance is only paying out for country specific bans. I keep getting more and more things through from insurers about what they aren't covering, changing terms and conditions.

That's good BA have done that, nothing for our flights with other airlines yet but not until August. Hotels all refusing to refund - tbf they were non-refundable except one. Quite hard to predict things atm re refunds. On the school Italy trip we lost £285, got £560 back. Think will lose far higher on summer trip especially if airlines go bankrupt / offer credit notes can't use. Can only watch and wait now.

I wouldn’t book anything for this year. We’re looking at summer 2021 for our next holiday.

Even if restrictions are lifted, would you want to get on a plane and potentially get corona while abroad? It would be utterly miserable.

We had our long haul Easter holiday cancelled.

I hoping we might be able to get a last minute med week away in May/June. Just a fly and flop deal for a bit of sun and by last minute I mean leaving the day after we book. I'll see what things look like then.

The other thing to consider of course is insurance, the price might rocket and we'll need travel medical insurance more than ever before.

@blue25 I can’t imagine that we’ll be able to travel until cases are much lower everywhere.

But I’d travel if restrictions are lifted, and would definitely go somewhere if cases at the destination were low - but yes for me that would be something to consider. I’m sure I’d be more reluctant to travel if I was in a vulnerable group.

@KoalasandRabbit hopefully you’ll get some back, potentially even non-refundable hotels will give you money back if they have to close? We had a short weekend booked in the UK at the start of April, it was booked non-refundable but as the hotel closed we did get it back. Fingers crossed for you.

@KenDodd yeah good point about insurance. I imagine the insurance companies are struggling at the moment, and they’ll be very cautious to offer insurance until things have fully settled down.

DS moved to Sydney last year, and we were due to go an see him for a month last week.

We are currently booked to go over to Australia for Christmas, but will have to wait and see.

This morning I have made bookings for the end of March next year, incase Christmas doesn't happen.

Fortunately all airmiles, so I will get a refund if they're cancelled. I hate that this is all happening - and from a selfish point of view - just at the point we are retiring and thinking of travelling more.