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Wishful thinking, but I also doubt it. I've a sneaky feeling that Boris will panic at his advisor's rhetoric and will move the goalposts again, delaying the exit strategy.
Maybe back end of 2021, or early 2022
Mmmm so they’ll take the hit if guests are able to travel, but have to quarantine in hotels on return. I’m not sure I’d believe them.
I think they also have staff that travel back and forth, so they'd get hit with the same costs and wouldn't be able to pass them on to anyone.
But you're right, I don't think any of us would commit if the hotel quarantine restriction HADN'T been lifted.
Frankly I'm sort of hoping enough restrictions stay in place that it makes sense not to go and so that we might stand some sort of a chance of getting flight money back or transferred. I'm on a weird sort of fence where I don't just want to cancel without good reason (letting mates down, losing some flight money) but equally I'd sort of be glad if the whole thing just got postponed or cancelled.
I feel that pain 100%
we've moved our 2020 cyprus booking that was moved to 2021 to sept 2022. Despite the headlines today that something won't happens and travel will again be restricted
I'm still optimistic on this side of the channel. If the vaccination programme goes to plan the pressure will be off the hospitals in Europe and I think we'll be let of the leash again as we were last year. As we approach the first anniversary of the first wave the numbers in hospitals are running at levels below that first wave. Several million people have acquired antibodies, a few million more have been vaccinated and the number is rising, Spring is on its way.
The question is whether the borders will be open to British tourists. Their cash will be very welcome but will they be able to get home without an expensive hotel quarantine? Is Boris prepared to piss people off just to piss of the European tourist industry? Are European countries prepared to forego revenue just to raise a digit to Boris?
Those questions can't be answered at the minute so the answer is to just book the parts of the holiday that are likely to be overbooked and make up the rest as you go along. Book a couple of ferry crossings and leave it at that. There's always accomodation in ski resorts, they've enough beds to cope with the ski season and there are never that many reservations in Summer - a last minute booking in Les Arcs/La Plagne is a cert.
I’ve a sneaky feeling that Boris will panic at his advisor’s rhetoric and will move the goalposts again, delaying the exit strategy.
I've never met the illustrious Mr.Johnson.
From what I hear, he shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Which is an obvious concern, as he's allegedly in charge of an entire nation.
We've got a track day (motorbike) in Jerez at the end of May, which I think will be very touch and go and have re-booked last years trip to Chatel for the end of July, which I'm more optimistic about, time will tell.......
Family (not immediate i should add, I find the idea horrific) have had Cunard cruises postponed from 2020. They get on-board credit for keeping their money invested rather than refunded.
But surely with all these postponed holidays beyond one year, the companies are eventually going to collapse from lack of turnover? Do the Atol things still protect the consumer?
Theres now another additional form to fill out: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/declaration-travel-government-exit-permit-b1813070.html
Little miss cloudnine has the opportunity to compete at a world championships in Denmark on August 1st..
It's one of those opportunities that don't come along all that often. I'm torn between being sensible or just crossing everything and trying to go..
So.. Denmark in August.. yay / nay
Little miss cloudnine has the opportunity to compete at a world championships in Denmark on August 1st..
It’s one of those opportunities that don’t come along all that often. I’m torn between being sensible or just crossing everything and trying to go..So.. Denmark in August.. yay / nay
Yay.
LittleMissMC should have been at Eurogym this July in Iceland, delayed from last year but it's been cancelled. They don't get chances like this too often. Luckily she got to go to Austria in 2019.
August I'd say yes.
I'm thinking about Gibraltar.
Beach and they speak the lingo.
Beach and they speak the lingo.
So does Skegness but not sure I fancy that either....
I'm still waiting on the 27th May. With infection rates and death rates as they are, the fear of me getting the CV19 from a holiday trip has almost turned into something irrelevant in my mind. Sure i MAY get it, but i may get it going to the supermarket here..
My main concern is with the viability of the trip now. Mostly in terms of restricions in terms of finance and freedom i guess. We've sat down and weighed it up, if it costs us £500 more than it was, we'll swallow that cost. But the 10 days isolation we can't accept. All of this assumes of course that on the 17th May that they predict flights will be allowed, they actually are and don't require a vaccination passport.
But it's all still very much unknown for us at the moment, which is kinda irritating. I'd like someone to just "yes/no" and we know we're going or not. But i understand that's not entirely possible.
Doesn't look like the EU will be a great destination this year, somewhat behind the curve in the vaccinations stakes, Italy going back into lockdown due to a third wave.
Remember that at this stage last year the pandemic was only just getting started. With treatments & vaccines now available the tail of the graph should look very different this year.
I read that BBC article this morning. Fair enough if you really want to go abroad this year, but expect the situation and rules to keep changing at short notice, and don't complain if you face a big ladt minute cost and/or inconvenience.
Still not sure what we're doing about our trip yet.
Portugal is looking good on cases etc, but Europe in places, mmmm not so much. Will that move over into Portugal, I dunno yet.
We've got 4 weeks to decide what we're doing both as a family and as a group.
I'm not sure any of the family will be vaccinated, but most of the group have had at least their first jab. But won't have had their 2nd.
I'm still not seeing a massive risk in an infection context, but cost and risk of being stuck is a concern.
but Europe in places, mmmm not so much.
Something of an understatement there!
Europe looks like much of it is heading downhill now.
I’m still not seeing a massive risk in an infection context, but cost and risk of being stuck is a concern.
And totally out of your control. My personal view is that I would only travel if I could afford the time and cost of any mid trip imposition of 2 weeks quarantine. I think it remains a very real risk for the rest of 2021, so I'm not chancing it.
Something of an understatement there!
Europe looks like much of it is heading downhill now.
Bit of a weird one,
France, Germany, Italy, Poland not doing well.
But UK, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Belguim, Sweeden all look to be doing about the same, reletivley well, in terms of new daily infections.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
I'm trying to think why there would be such a disparity but I'm struggling.
I’m trying to think why there would be such a disparity but I’m struggling.
Will it be tied into prevalence of the Kent variant?
Summer holidays overseas are "extremely unlikely" because of the risk of travellers bringing coronavirus variants back to the UK, a scientist on a government advisory body has said.
I'd like to think people wouldn't be so selfish as to go on holiday and risk bringing back a variety that could kill many people just for the sake of some sunshine. But then people 🤷♂️
I think France & Germany are very close to being on the red list by the end of next week. A third wave is predicted in Europe, so with that to manage over the next 2-4 months they'll be very little overseas travel.
csb
Full MemberBut surely with all these postponed holidays beyond one year, the companies are eventually going to collapse from lack of turnover? Do the Atol things still protect the consumer?
I've heard mutterings that some of the holiday protections only work with a booked holiday, not with "store credit" or similar. Can't substantiate it but it's been reported a few times. Apparently it can also cause issues with credit card protection if you've made a purchase then accepted a refund as store credit- the original purchase that was protected can expire. I don't know if either of these are a real problem in these cases but worth checking out.
Posted 2 weeks ago:
I’m still optimistic on this side of the channel. If the vaccination programme goes to plan the pressure will be off the hospitals in Europe and I think we’ll be let of the leash again as we were last year. As we approach the first anniversary of the first wave the numbers in hospitals are running at levels below that first wave. Several million people have acquired antibodies, a few million more have been vaccinated and the number is rising, Spring is on its way.
2 weeks is a long time in politics
I’d like to think people wouldn’t be so selfish as to go on holiday and risk bringing back a variety that could kill many people just for the sake of some sunshine. But then people
Lots of those people on this forum
I’d like to think people wouldn’t be so selfish as to go on holiday and risk bringing back a variety that could kill many people just for the sake of some sunshine
Have you met people? They are chumps.
I guess I'm a selfish chump change g n as I'm considering going
Will it be tied into prevalence of the Kent variant?
But if the 'kent varient' was so bad we'd see bigger spikes in the UK, more so in the south.
There's so much mis-information being spread.. are the UK testing less to massage the figures/ or was the 'kent' varient already prevelant, it just hapened to be first identified in kent? It's endemic, it mutates, and the political bun fight over vaccines was as predicable as sure as the sun sets and rises.
But if the ‘kent varient’ was so bad we’d see bigger spikes in the UK, more so in the south.
Do you not remember the end of December and January?
Doesn’t look good does it….
No. I was sort of hoping to be able to get abroad on a solo trip this year but I've completely knocked that idea on the head, just far too much risk of getting caught up in restrictions or an outbreak that I could bring back here. With UK holiday prices going nuts too I'm resigned to the fact I'll only get day trips in this year with possibly a camping trip or two in while the schools are still in.
Do you not remember the end of December and January?
The spike caused by the self entitled asreshosles who 'deserve' a chrismas /NYE blow out, (private party) you mean?
The spike caused by the self entitled asreshosles who ‘deserve’ a chrismas /NYE blow out, (private party) you mean?
The spike at the end of December was caused by the spread of the Kent variant in the weeks before. The government setting up the Christmas and New Year spread was the icing on the cake.
With UK holiday prices going nuts too I’m resigned to the fact I’ll only get day trips in this year with possibly a camping trip or two in while the schools are still in.
at this point im holding onto hope for late sept or oct - but really as i dont think i can mentally cope with writing off another whole year and having winter to 'look forward' to.
clocks cant change soon enough
As much as I want to get out to the alps, I've just decided to holiday the **** out of the UK instead. Booked my first week away for literally the first day of the scottish lockdown relaxing, and a wee super-cheap 3 dayer the week after.
This would probably be irresponsible super-spreading behaviour except that I would have spent the entire time either riding bikes or reading in hotel rooms and avoiding humans, even if there weren't a virus.
Personally I will not be think of a european holiday this year. I will be staying in Scotland
I’d like to think people wouldn’t be so selfish as to go on holiday and risk bringing back a variety that could kill many people just for the sake of some sunshine. But then people
Lots of those people on this
2 people I know are the most desperate to go abroad & get some sunshine are doctors who have spent the last few months on covid wards.
I doubt we will be going anywhere! but if the government advice is its fine to go away and people follow testing & quarantine rules then what's the problem?
The news about Portugal being off the red list looks good until we find out that self isolation is required on your return.
Similarly if you book and the isolation rules at either end change at short notice it's going to cost. The hotels will correctly point out that it is possible to occupy the reserved rooms the fact that the customer doesn't want to isolate is not their problem. (This cost one of our clients €500 last season when the travel to France rules changed 48 hours before the start).
I'm not bothered about not being able to go abroad this year. I applied a sort-of scorched earth approach in 2016-19 following the Brexit vote, spent a lot (by my standards) of money on travels and got what I most of what I wanted done, done.
What I'm not looking forward to is outdoorsy holiday spots in this country being heaving with more (and a new type of) visitor because they can't go anywhere else. I know they have as much of a right as I do to be there, but it just feels they are infringing on "my" places which I've been frequenting and supporting for many years.
I think I'll be doing a lot of day trips, early starts, and taking time in lieu for working bank holidays.
^^ Since last spring ive found some great little hidden jewels around here in my part of Kent in order to keep away from the majority of people.
As a rule of thumb I won't go anywhere where there is an actual car park unless it's a fair distance (relative terms!) from the nearest town. We've discovered some amazing places looking at OS maps and by just going near places I vaguely remembered as a kid.
Anywhere with a big car park I haven't even bothered with or missed in fact.
People expect to be able to park right next to the nice scenery/ walks so I go where you just have to walk 5 or 10 mins to get there. Amazing how few people will do that!😐
I really want to commit to a staycation and get it planned but there's still too much money on the line if our Euro trip in July goes ahead.
This is where some decisive governance would be appreciated, maybe a sort of rolling 2 month travel ban that gets re-assessed every couple of weeks, at least then there would be a deadline at which point we knew our trip wouldn't be happening
I really want to commit to a staycation and get it planned but there’s still too much money on the line if our Euro trip in July goes ahead.
This is where some decisive governance would be appreciated, maybe a sort of rolling 2 month travel ban that gets re-assessed every couple of weeks, at least then there would be a deadline at which point we knew our trip wouldn’t be happening
Yeah kinda that for me as you may have gathered. But for me and the gang, our decision will be made either way in the next 3 weeks anyhow. I think by the time the 12th April comes and the next announcment from the government arrives we'll be 100% on what's happening. We're due to pay our balance about 4 days before that, but the organiser has told us we don't need to until it's 100% sure, or as 100% as we can be in current circumstances. So only a couple of weeks for us and we've got some certainty.
I'm 60 this year & plan on retiring.
My travel plans were
NC500 motorbike tour with some of my mates in May
Motrcycle trip to the Nordkapp in July
Manx GP / Classic TT week,end of August
Annapurna circuit Nepal October
The only one I can see me achieving this year is the NC500 trip sometime in late Sept/Oct.
At least I'll have plenty of time to do stuff if/When things improve.
One thing I noticed last year was that the local 'honeypots',Yorkshire Dales,Lakes etc were rammed so we stayed away & visited less well known places.I think it will be the same this year.
I hope overseas travel does open up, not because I want to go, because I’m not looking forward to the southwest being overrun with staycationers..
Selfish I know, but that's the way I feel too. It'll be great for local businesses when the tourism trade can restart but there is a point at which the numbers become unsustainable and we just don't have the infrastructure to cope - roads, parking, sites, toilets, waste disposal, shops etc. My biggest fear though is a catastrophic forest fire. There was a feeling we missed a bullet last year. Getting that lucky two years in a row could be too much to ask.
if the government advice is its fine to go away and people follow testing & quarantine rules then what’s the problem?
People aren't following the existing rules being the main problem.
I get the desire for a rolling two month guide to help planning, but if this last year has taught us anything it's that two months can change a lot.
Little Miss Cloudnine has the chance to enter a world championships in Denmark on August 1st..
We've decided to throw caution to the wind and try and get her there.
Flights booked with BA (voucher issued if cancelled), accommodation booked (refundable until a week before the event), Entry fees paid (refundable)... there's also lots of other things we need to book but they can be left last minute.
Its hard if you need to plan. If we leave it nearer the time and travel gets the green light then there probably wont be any accommodation, flight availability may disappear or prices go up.
if the government advice is its fine to go away and people follow testing & quarantine rules then what’s the problem?
Because the UK government advise is based on political considerations not scientific.
By the mid summer last year Scotland got down to virtually zero cases. It was brought back in by cross boarder traffic and international travel.
No one quarantines even when mandated. Testing is rubbish, contact tracing non existant
By the mid summer last year Scotland got down to virtually zero cases. It was brought back in by cross boarder traffic and international travel
So if scotland got down to zero cases again, would you have the borders closed until the rest of the world also got to zero cases again - which will likely never happen?
I'm interested to hear how people who advocate closed borders see this panning out in the long term.
It's becoming clear that there are large parts of society that are behaving as though lockdown has already ended, although general trends for cases, hospitalisations and deaths are down, there are discreet upticks across England. All our hols are UK-based and we can cancel/ move as necessary. Our main summer hols is always Cornwall and I have every sympathy with those that live down there about an overwhelming influx, we book about 18 months in advance and last year tried our hardest to keep away from busier areas and were self-contained in the caravan, but you could see the numbers were up on previous years and we didn't do or visit as we might have in a normal year. Common sense, follow the rules is key but clearly there are those that don't and won't.
By the mid summer last year Scotland got down to virtually zero cases. It was brought back in by cross boarder traffic and international travel
Let's not make this a Scotland Vs UK thing. For most of the summer, the Scotland number of positive tests was hovering around ~60/day, the UK was hovering around 600-700. Coincidentally Scotland is about 1/12th of the UK. You were doing no better than the rest.
It’s becoming clear that there are large parts of society that are behaving as though lockdown has already ended
I'm not sure that's true. The roads are empty at the weekends compared to the week, which implies people are only traveling to get to work (and rush hour is still far from being a rush I've not hit traffic going into London in months).
I see the occasional cycling "club" or group having a kickabout, or people stretching the definiton of meeting one person for coffee outside. But not widespread rule breaking.
Scotland was at/around zero deaths, not cases.
TINAS I have access to real vehicle movement data across the country and graph it every week, lockdown 1 vehicle movements halved, and cameback slowly flattening out in October, there was a minor blip for lockdown 2, an increase in December, a reduction at the start of this lockdown, but less than a third of the reduction we saw first time which has rapidly been eroded to the point we have more vehicle movements now than at any point since the first lockdown and are very close to early March 2020. Spud is correct, this isn't anecdotal, it's data from 10s of millions of reg plate reads a week.
I dunno, I've been driving around Liverpool/Manchester/Lancashire for work the last 3 months filming. In the previous series I've been struggling to get between locations around town, this year I can't recall getting stuck once.
Maybe it's one of those cases where a relatively small percentage reduction in traffic is enough to let it flow properly so the roads feel significantly emptier even though they aren't.
I agree it's nothing like the 1st lockdown, I've got a photo of the M4 looking over J12 taken mid afteronoon on a weekday and there wasn't even a truck in sight!
Traffic from Sw19 into central London (and out in the afternoon) is as bad, if not worse as it was pre-lockdown. Tube and trains may be quiet but the roads aren’t.
Maybe it’s one of those cases where a relatively small percentage reduction in traffic is enough to let it flow properly so the roads feel significantly emptier even though they aren’t.
That’s certainly the case where I am, small reduction in car numbers making a big reduction in queues, the areas where traffic flows it feels the same, but pinch points/junctions expose that it is actually a lot smoother.
Excluding road works I don’t think I’ve had to wait more than one cycle of a traffic light in a year.
Yea, my commutes are either:
Reading - Staines (J11-J4 of the M4) and in previous years a typical morning was 50 minutes min, the worst case was 2 hours! This year it's been 39 minutes every day (although yes there's visually more traffic in 2021 than the 1st lockdown).
Liverpool and Preston to surrounding towns. Especially coming back from setting up at the start of the day (9:00ish, 5:30am was always empty) but it's not crawling like it is in other years.
And the train stations are ghost towns.
Proper announcement on the 12th april, rumours of an ever changing traffic light tier system (I thought we already had that).
All according to the tabloids, who must be loving this whole thing as they have had contradictory articles daily for the last 3 months about foreign holiadys.
So take with a pinch of salt.
I hope overseas travel does open up, not because I want to go, because I’m not looking forward to the southwest being overrun with staycationers..
Yes local plod is expecting a tidalwave of idiots that think that putting an old mattress in a rusty van makes it a camper.
SW tourism similarly worried about morons buying a cheap tent & then leaving it pitched beside some random B road on the moors surrounded by disposable BBQs & beer cans when they leave.
Not looking good if more of this happens
NC500 motorbike tour with some of my mates in May
I wouldn't bother, just tour the west coast and central highlands and leave it at that.
I hope overseas travel does open up, not because I want to go, because I’m not looking forward to the southwest being overrun with staycationers..
Good luck with that..
https://www.devonlive.com/whats-on/whats-on-news/new-companies-aiming-make-torquay-5190393
Woman on R4 this morning bemoaning the fact she might not be able.to go on holiday abroad. 82 and fully jagged so should.be allowed.
Let her go I say, then any illness/death attributable to her I'll go to her house and give her a biography of those she's affected and remind her it was her selfishness.
Spain appears to be open for tourism already, 20km from the border here and the hotels and bars were full of French this weekend, no doubt Easter will be the same. Marvellous - we’ve been confined to the province and even the city limits for months, 14 day incidence is on the rise but apparently it will be business as usual over Easter.
When we’re locked down again later in April it will of course be the fault of teenagers drinking with their mates…
Was hoping to get a quiet Air Bnb on a greek Island in September but I'm not bothering. Too much risk and the point of a holiday is enjoyment and a distraction from the anxiety of normal life.
Will look for something in this country but away from the obvious touristy spots that will be full of ****s.
Will look for something in this country but away from the obvious touristy spots that will be full of ****
Tourists?
£5k fine if you decide to go to an airport - or further - without appropriate reason is being put into law this week effective March 29th.
Essentially, if you go on holiday during a lockdown, thats £5k, plus maybe £1k for a family of 4 for covid testing to get on the planes, then possibly £1750 for 10 days in Slough on Sea on your return.
**** that for a game of soldiers.
Nah, that's more than 4 letters.
I think the missing word is "deer".
dont forget the requirement to be vaccinated, expect our neighbours to refuse to acknowledge the AZ jabs in the ongoing tit4tat of tourism incomes.
"game of soldiers" - actually looking like the only legal way to get out of this place.
£5k fine if you decide to go to an airport – or further – without appropriate reason is being put into law this week effective March 29th.
Except if you're Stanley Johnson. They're really laughing in our faces.
I live in the Welsh Marches, just inside Herefordshire. We started to get more tourists after 2007. All the border towns have been sprouting cafes. Brexit will further increase that, actually it already has with uncertainty holding the £ down. Covid is going to boost tourism even more. Although I voted to remain tourism is up and likely to remain so. Mid price houses are sold out, normally nothing much is sold between November and March. Tourist money being spent in Britain is a net gain and folks fleeing cities may help as long as they aren't all retirees. However nothing kills an area like second homes, just look at the Lakes or Cornwall in Winter.
We never really noticed recessions before as we have always been in one, from here to the coast. There's really good cross country riding round here. The neighbouring county of old Radnorshire is 24% open moorland with the highest density of combined PROW and ORPAS in Britain and it's severely under utilised. Years ago when organising Polaris one the very top guys queried why the Bridleways were marked wrongly. I had to explain that a Bridleway is a legal entity and a track is a track. In the Parks virtually all PROW are tracks due to very heavy usage. Not here.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/23/covid-travel-rules-will-include-stanley-johnson-loophole-for-second-homes/blockquote >That might actually work in my mother's favour. She needs to go to Cyprus to sort out my late father's estate and assess the state of their/her house out there that's been unoccupied since November 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/23/covid-travel-rules-will-include-stanley-johnson-loophole-for-second-homes/blockquote >So we can take it as read that we'll not be hearing a peep about this from 2nd home Nigel Farage.
Looking at the new legislation announced to day the simple solution is to get on the old inter web and book some house viewings in the riding destination of choice. I’m sure the estate agents of Morzine, bourg, alpe d’huez can look forward to a busy summer of viewings and very few sales.
Just another fine example of how utterly bonkers the rules are
Let’s guess how many Tory MPs have second homes overseas then!!
How much support have they announced the aviation sector ??? No, didn’t think so.
Has anyone got a link to the actual proposed legislation regarding fining people £5k if they go abroad without good reason?
I could do with reading the actual law rather than some media outlets interpretation of it.
Couldnt find it from a quick google