Would you travel to Egypt at the moment?

[thegoldensun]

Looking for some thoughts on this.

Am due to travel to Egypt in a couple of weeks, I know all the advice at the moment is that Egypt is safe. However- I am travelling with two young children and concerns around the airspace, potential delays (more worrying about being out there and not being able to fly home!) are really concerning me.

If I wasn’t travelling with young DCs I might be a bit more relaxed. But I am struggling to feel excited about this trip with all that’s happening.

We have booked through Thomas Cook and it appears we can amend the booking for a fee, plus any other fees associated with travelling elsewhere.

Thoughts?

It can smell off to you but it happened. Never met the man before but I'm married to a man who knew him, knew where he worked (worked for same employer but not intelligence) and it was a wedding event. It was a casual conversation about his job. I incorrectly assumed London was a focus and Al Queda etc. He corrected me and said N Africa and the middle East was a risk.

I've had plenty of hols...Iceland, Norway, Spain, Canada, Carribean, Morocco, South Africa, Italy, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia.... In the last 10 yrs. Honestly don't struggle to avoid the middle East. Three foreign hols a year and I don't need the aggravation of unstable politics. Hence no USA!

Thanks for the link..

There's definitely a missmatch somewhere because the Embassy still has it at level 2...no idea why or which is correct.

What a stupid f*+king thing to say. There’s been more terror attacks in the last ten years in the Uk than Egypt.

We are supposed to be going to Sharm el Sheikh on Tuesday 🤦 we haven't decided 100% but are 99% not going. I don't think anything can now change my mind back to the 1% thought but it's hard to push the cancel button so to speak. We are going to lose thousands of pounds, and as selfish and superficial as it is... it hurts (the pocket and the soul dream of a relaxing holiday after the hardest of years (plural) - but then I wouldn't be relaxed even if we arrived safe and sound knowing things could change over the next 10 days in terms of airspace etc and even worse things could possibly happen). I find myself wishing the Foreign Office would change it to 'no go' but then that's selfish as that happening would mean things had become far worse for the Egyptians and so many others. It's just bad timing, bad luck, but ok... things are far worse than bad for many people right now so am just trying to keep that perspective.

On the flip side of that coin, many people are still planning to go and whether that's because they just can't bear to lose their hard-earned money and holiday or whether they're genuinely sure nothing bad will befall them... well, I'm not too sure. You have to trust your own instincts and I think I saw you're now not going but whatever you do I hope you find peace with it and all stay safe and well 💗

Ok. You weren’t there.

There is no way i would take similar trip today. There was even 15 years ago quite a sinister vibe. Anyway, you do you.

And then when you get stuck there, who are you expecting to rescue you? Don’t be so ridiculous. If you value your life over a holiday, then avoid at all costs.

My family are in Egypt right now, with lots of children and having a great time.

15 years ago. But probably worse now.

Im going to Hurghada sunday. Not worried.

15 years ago. But probably worse now.

@zov are you very naive?

@zov i mean obviously you can read. Hopefully. And maybe listen to the news etc? You know that women are treated really quite badly in many areas of the world? ??

You’ve probably gone to sleep. When you wake up respond if you like.

Well, you are missing out!

Why the hell not. You put them in the car without a thought. The chances of being involved in an accident in the car are far worse than what you are currently worrying about. Most times when there is an issue, it's an unpredicted one. If travel isn't restricted then chances of issues are no worse than they were a month ago.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

If there was any danger the foreign Office would have made it a no travel zone and the travel agent wouldn't be sending people there. Go enjoy your holiday

I think it all depends on your attitude to risk. Some people are not one bit bothered and can't understand the wariness of some potential visitors. Others look at the situation in that part of the world now and weigh up the risk based on current reports and FCO advice. Some will go in order not to lose thousands, some won't and will forego the outlay for peace of mind.

Which one are you? I wouldn't travel to any place in ME or adjacent this year anyway. So I am risk averse I suppose, or maybe just sensible!

My risk appetite is certainly a lot lower when travelling with children. I’m already worrying and we haven’t left yet, I know I won’t enjoy the holiday for worry of things escalating and us being stuck out there or worse.

I’ve been there before. I wouldn’t go back for all the tea in china on a normal day let alone now. So no. I wouldn’t.

I have vetoed Egypt this year and we went in October ‘23 after the Palestine/israel conflict escalated. We had a wonderful holiday in Hurgada. I will go again when things calm down. The service is top notch and my teen DDs thought it was wonderful - huge resort with a water park it was bliss. Didn’t get harassed at all and the Egyptians are lovely people. Very German family resort it really was worth the cash.

We are supposed to be travelling to Sharm next week and like others we are probably not going to go now with 3 young children given the current situation. Sadly we will lose almost £5k but I cannot travel that close to a conflict with children i'm just too risk averse. I wish TUI would give me the option of changing in some way but it's my own fault I'm just not brave enough to go. Before this I'd never been able to take my children abroad, they didn't even have passports and this was a one off holiday for them and I'll probably never be able to do it again. I'm reading everyone's opinions online and the newspapers multiple times a day trying to decide what to do but ultimately I'm not well travelled enough and therefore confident enough to take my family there at the moment.

Really sorry to hear this @betty10k

we are booked to go there in Oct half term and I am doubting we will go… I know that is a long way off but I don’t see this dying down anytime soon, or not being fully over anyway. I hope I am wrong.

Sorry to hear this @betty10k, have TUI offered the option to travel elsewhere, even if you have to pay amendment fees?
Thomas Cook aren’t being all too helpful as they’re busy dealing with other people who have cancelled flights, but if we don’t cancel before the 14th March will lose all of our money