Is skiing just not going to happen this year?

[tickingthebox73]

We had Christmas booked skiing in France, which had to be cancelled as my DD's are teens and not yet double vaccinated, although events overtook us and the travel ban came in anyway...

We moved it to Easter, and managed to move the flights, now BA has cancelled the outbound flight - so one the main day for travel for the school Easter Holidays there is only a single 06:45 am flight which is full. We have been rebooked on the Friday at 06:45 when the kids are still at school, and we have no accommodation that night.

Can't get through on the phone.

Hire car is very expensive with cancellation - nearly £1800.

Will have to drive (which would be fine, but a pain), but should we just accept the inevitable and try to get the chalet rebooked/sold on?

Do BA know something we don't (like no one will be travelling?)

It’s already happening! It just seems to take a lot more perseverance and replanning attempts rather than happening in a simple straightforward way like it used to in the times before. I know people currently skiing in Italy and Switzerland. Also people who changed plans in a hurry and got to France early to squeeze in under the travel ban, and many people who have taken their teenagers daily to the pharmacie to qualify for the passe sanitaire so they could still ski. I also know people who also ended up cancelling trips because things changed, bans, someone got covid etc.
If your flight is from or to a smaller airport I guess that can’t help either (all my GVA flights have had only minor changes and there still seem to be many flights a day on my route). It depends how determined you are to ski this season. It’s not just skiing either - my summer and October holidays were both cancelled and I just had to replan for different destinations/times. Bon courage!

My flight is Geneva - there are now barely any flights for the Saturday at the start of the Easter holidays....

I'm normally an adventurous traveller, and had a lot of things (5 holidays) booked pre covid for 2020.

The Christmas holiday is a twice delayed one moved again....we don't have the option of switching resort, and I'm loath to book elsewhere in case the same happens. We also have a pre covid summer holiday that has moved twice. We also have a second holiday to the same resort that is moving as well...

A friend hopped to France on the Friday before the travel ban and her 13yo son then tested positive for covid on his second lateral flow test....so they have been isolating rather than skiing and can't get home until he tests negative.

It's one of my kid's GCSE year so don't have the option of getting stuck anywhere...

It’s rotten luck. You do need the stars to align but its frustrating I agree.
I don’t know what’s happening with the GVA flights but I am looking at GVA flights the week before as we have an early Easter holiday and there are absolutely loads of them. Could they even be full already?

@abricotine

It’s rotten luck. You do need the stars to align but its frustrating I agree. I don’t know what’s happening with the GVA flights but I am looking at GVA flights the week before as we have an early Easter holiday and there are absolutely loads of them. Could they even be full already?

Yes, am being slightly dozy - they have cancelled our perfectly timed 11am flight and there is nothing else available so have put us on 06:45 on the previous day....

I can "see" two flights that they are still selling but can't get on them as its fully flexible business only

The spanish ski resorts are full with excellent conditions I'm there now ;)

I think it's particularly hard for those travelling with teenagers (due to our somewhat haphazard vax policy - am worried it will be the same for younger kids next year!)
I know what you mean - the changes and costs mount up and up and then you wonder if it's really worth the hassle.

Just take the Friday flight and DCs miss one day of school?

It is difficult... and yes, I can see why you might think it’s not worth it. The costs mount up and there is a lot of stress. I do wonder why people make so much effort with so much risk but then I hear people who have made it to their holidays destinations and then I regret not making similar decisions. However.. my cortisol levels are all over the place and I find it difficult to add extra layers of stress.

The French government have hinted at bringing in pass sanitaires only for vaccinated people from mid January which could make things tricky for teens

I am craving time at the sea having not been for 2.5 years now and craving stress free time with family where every conversation doesn’t turn to COVID and people are not eying each other with suspicion, judging their actions, repeating the things that they hear in the media. I hate the fact that France and the UK seem intent on making a bogey man of the enemy across the water. It makes life difficult for British people living in France and I am sure the other way round too. Ireland has also been keen to point at the UK as being the sole source of all Covid coming into Ireland.

I hope life returns to normal soon and we can enjoy travel and company without restrictions.

We’ve booked Spanish Pyrenees, it’s much easier to ski in Spain with dc I think, far fewer restrictions. I was tempted by the Sierra Nevada as it would be cool to ski and then go down to the hot city for apres ski!

@ChateauMargaux the passe vaccinal (subject to being passed) in coming in on 15 Jan, not just a hint! At least second jabs are rolling round for our teens now. But who knows what’s in store re them being required boosters, or passe for younger children when ours once again are largely not being offered vaccinations. We are always playing catch up quite apart from travel restrictions etc.
Quite agree with your sentiments on Franco-British tensions. While it’s not the first time it’s ever been an issue, I think our current leadership (“the clown in charge of the circus”) has much to answer for!

We’ve just been skiing over Christmas, very last minute switch from France to Italy when the travel ban came in. Once there it was completely fine and worth it, but the extra stress and pressure to get all the requirements right did nearly kill me off and I’m not usually like that, but think the short notice change and that it brought our travel dates forward so had very little time to sort things made that worse, but self inflicted!

There is a lot of luck and fate involved in surviving the travel tests at the moment and there is definitely covid in the resorts, where we were it was the first proper week of foreign tourists and the staff and reps were testing positive and quarantining after only a few days

We’ve also just returned from skiing with teens in Italy after a last minute French cancellation. It was incredibly stressful but totally worth it.
For what it’s worth BA changed our 11am flight out to Geneva for a 7am flight too. No idea why. You could look at flying Swiss Air instead.

[quote abricotine]@ChateauMargaux the passe vaccinal (subject to being passed) in coming in on 15 Jan, not just a hint! At least second jabs are rolling round for our teens now. But who knows what’s in store re them being required boosters, or passe for younger children when ours once again are largely not being offered vaccinations. We are always playing catch up quite apart from travel restrictions etc.
Quite agree with your sentiments on Franco-British tensions. While it’s not the first time it’s ever been an issue, I think our current leadership (“the clown in charge of the circus”) has much to answer for![/quote]
@abricotine I have been reading about the changes to the French pass sanitere which are due to come in on 15 January (subject to them being passed).

To me it does not seem clear whether the same rules will apply to tourists (if they open back up). I think common sense says that it will, but I haven't seen it in black and white.

I'm asking because we have a ski trip to France booked for 22 January. My son is 14, has had a single vaccine but is not eligible for his second vaccine until end Feb- so as far as the French are concerned he is unvaccinated.

We are flying into Geneva and could change our plans to ski in Switzerland but our French accommodation are unable to refund us until the day before we travel as they feel optimistic that we will be able to still go. We can afford to book the Swiss accommodation without having received a refund from the French one- but only if we know for definite that a refund will be forthcoming....

I feel that it is blindingly obvious that my son won't be allowed to go, but the chalet company disagree.

It's tough and stressful trying to go anywhere at the moment isn't it OP? We were due to go to Spain for new year, but had to cancel, because we were unable to prove our teen DS is double vaxxed (although he is).

We're also supposed to be going skiing in France the first week of the Easter hols ... I see in the news today though that the French tourism authority is giving Macron a hard time for banning Brits and by early April I sincerely hope things will be better - that we'll be allowed to visit, that the Omicron outbreak will have faded, and that our teens will all be vaxxed and able to prove it. All the stress and the hoops you have to jump through to travel at the moment really take all the pleasure and anticipation out of going anywhere. Between the paperwork and the stress of someone testing positive I'm losing the will to live!

Driving really is ok - we do. Got back last week.

We’re feeling a little more optimistic that we may get away this season.

DH and I have both had boosters and our dc both had their second jabs this weekend.

The biggest thing for us now is the testing to return to the UK. Dc1 is in year 11 so getting stuck somewhere would be far from ideal….

We were supposed to be going to France for half term but with one single vaccinated teen it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a goer even if they do allow UK residents in. Just waiting to see what the chalet will say in response.

The snow is coming this week in Scotland…

I’m wondering about Scandinavia at Easter but we will only book something very last minute.

@Muchtoomuchtodo strong rumours (Paul Charles etc) the test to return is the one being phased out in the next travel review. Fingers crossed!

@abricotine 🤞🏻🤞🏻