Summer Holidays 2021

[Jaguar steve]

Deep Thought said:

Its the fact that - under normal circumstances - you can get away somewhere foreign with pretty much guaranteed decent weather and possibly of a higher standard for usually significantly less than a staycation.

Absolutely the case every time.

We learned this in the late 80's when our kids were toddlers and apart from the occasional weekend away with friends when it's all about the people and not the destination we've not been properly on holiday anywhere in the UK since.

No wandering around trying to find a reasonable meal or queuing up for ages to see some shabby overpriced attraction or sitting in a misted up car waiting for the pouring rain to stop for me.

That's no holiday at all.

[mattyn1]

Email this AM from BA. Was expecting it to say my March 30 holiday to Dominican Republic was cancelled.

But no..... says the flights have been moved from Gatwick south to north terminal.

Not reading too much into this. Still expecting the cancellation shortly.

[Welshbeef]

GT03ROB said:

Welshbeef said:

I was replying to you not him /couldn’t find your initial post.

Drinking doesn’t start until 6pm unless 6 nations days

Thats not true....... you start at 8am when you are on hols with the family!! or that's what you used to tell us!

Anyhow as all the flight routes are getting locked down don't think many people are going anywhere. We have a direct flight to the Maldives still from here, but somehow I think Mrs GT03ROB, will be a bit pissed if while she's under UK lockdown I tell her I'm off to the Maldives for a couple of weeks on my next leave!

That’s not true - I have had a glass of two of cava with breakfast.

[Bill]

Jaguar steve said:

Absolutely the case every time.

We learned this in the late 80's when our kids were toddlers and apart from the occasional weekend away with friends when it's all about the people and not the destination we've not been properly on holiday anywhere in the UK since.

No wandering around trying to find a reasonable meal or queuing up for ages to see some shabby overpriced attraction or sitting in a misted up car waiting for the pouring rain to stop for me.

That's no holiday at all.

It depends what you like for a holiday.

We both get bored lying by a pool/beach, and like getting out walking, climbing, cycling, skiing, surfing etc. We've had holidays at home and abroad and the only ones we've struggled with are the pool based ones where it's too hot.

Although my wife's just reminded me of a holiday in Cornwall when she was heavily pregnant that we gave up on because if the weather and went home to do DIY. But that was because she wasn't up to doing much and there's only so much driving me to the pub to watch me get pissed she was prepared to out up with.

[croyde]

I like booking breaks to have something to look forward to, not just hoping.

Have had 5 breaks cancelled so far since March last year.

Cancellation policies are one thing but you won't get your money back if you decide that the restrictions and/or quarantine situations are unworkable. ie not being able to take 2 extra weeks off work for your one week in the sun.

Add to all this, the place I work for is insisting on 2 weeks stay at home quarantine if you have been abroad. No pay or use holiday pay.

The sack if you have been fibbing and saying that your new tan was from a week in a caravan in Felixstowe.

[Welshbeef]

croyde said:

I like booking breaks to have something to look forward to, not just hoping.

Have had 5 breaks cancelled so far since March last year.

Cancellation policies are one thing but you won't get your money back if you decide that the restrictions and/or quarantine situations are unworkable. ie not being able to take 2 extra weeks off work for your one week in the sun.

Add to all this, the place I work for is insisting on 2 weeks stay at home quarantine if you have been abroad. No pay or use holiday pay.

The sack if you have been fibbing and saying that your new tan was from a week in a caravan in Felixstowe.

Yep the work angle is a real issue - especially for those who cannot work from home.

[PF62]

croyde said:

Add to all this, the place I work for is insisting on 2 weeks stay at home quarantine if you have been abroad. No pay or use holiday pay.

Unless you have agreed to a change of contract to incorporate this, then quite how do they think this is legal?

Either you have been to a country where the law requires you to quarantine, or you have been to a country where the law does not require a quarantine. If it is the latter why on earth is your employer inventing additional rules? And why does it think it can get away with it.

[RammyMP]

Well this morning I’ve booked a week in a holiday cottage at a UK seaside town for early July. At least we’ve now got that to look forward to.

I’ve reserved 2 weeks off work for the end of August if the air corridors open we’ll go to Portugal. I’m considering driving down but I don’t think I could cope with the kids moaning. I priced up the Santander ferry and it was £1300 so it would be the Eurostar.

[Tyre Smoke]

mattyn1 said:

Email this AM from BA. Was expecting it to say my March 30 holiday to Dominican Republic was cancelled.

But no..... says the flights have been moved from Gatwick south to north terminal.

Not reading too much into this. Still expecting the cancellation shortly.

Got the same, except North is now South.

[anonymous-user]

PF62 said:

croyde said:

Add to all this, the place I work for is insisting on 2 weeks stay at home quarantine if you have been abroad. No pay or use holiday pay.

Unless you have agreed to a change of contract to incorporate this, then quite how do they think this is legal?

Either you have been to a country where the law requires you to quarantine, or you have been to a country where the law does not require a quarantine. If it is the latter why on earth is your employer inventing additional rules? And why does it think it can get away with it.

I guess the point is that if someone has gone abroad voluntarily (a holiday) knowing they would have to quarantine and couldn't work for 2 weeks on their return, the company is questioning why they should pay the employee who has put themselves in the position of not being able to work. No idea of the legalities or how it might be covered in the employees contract. Can see there might be moral arguments either way but from an employers perspective it might feel a little onerous to have to pay someone to take 4 weeks off when only half comes from their holiday entitlement.

[PF62]

Roman Rhodes said:

PF62 said:

croyde said:

Add to all this, the place I work for is insisting on 2 weeks stay at home quarantine if you have been abroad. No pay or use holiday pay.

Unless you have agreed to a change of contract to incorporate this, then quite how do they think this is legal?

Either you have been to a country where the law requires you to quarantine, or you have been to a country where the law does not require a quarantine. If it is the latter why on earth is your employer inventing additional rules? And why does it think it can get away with it.

I guess the point is that if someone has gone abroad voluntarily (a holiday) knowing they would have to quarantine and couldn't work for 2 weeks on their return, the company is questioning why they should pay the employee who has put themselves in the position of not being able to work. No idea of the legalities or how it might be covered in the employees contract. Can see there might be moral arguments either way but from an employers perspective it might feel a little onerous to have to pay someone to take 4 weeks off when only half comes from their holiday entitlement.

Perhaps it was the loose language used by croyde.

I wasn’t questioning that someone would have to quarantine if they had traveled to a ‘quarantine on return’ destination and if they can’t work from home they don’t get paid. That was the employee’s choice.

It was the employer insisting the employee stay at home if they had been abroad irrespective of where they had gone.

There are (or certainly were) countries you could travel to and not be required by law to quarantine on return, so how could an employer tell an employee who had been to a ‘non-quarantine on return’ country not to come in for two weeks and they wouldn’t be paid.

I understand that some employers might be unhappy and may also be concerned about reactions from their other employees the overseas holidaying person works with, but that wouldn’t seem to give them the right not to pay the employee who legally can come to work.

[alfabeat]

Well we (www.nisosyachtcharter.com) are still taking lots of bookings for Greek sailing holidays this summer, so at least a proportion of the UK population believes things will be good for travel from May.

If you look at where we were in March 2020 - just going into Lockdown, not knowing what we were dealing with, no hope of a vaccine, no idea how to treat the ill, panic buying. By July 1st, we were operational, and then pretty much fully booked until the end of October.

Compared with where we are today.... vaccination programme storming along, we generally know what we are dealing with, no panic buying, a very strong light at the end of the tunnel - and a general belief that we are on the home straight.

Cases in Greece still remain relatively low, in particular in the Ionian Islands, and there was no evidence that last summers opening up to overseas tourists drastically increased the number of cases. Greece (and other Med countries) are desperate for a summer tourist season.

I think we will be ok from May/June onwards...

[Welshbeef]

I think the U.K. will be fine in July/Aug - sadly we are months ahead of other countries and that will accelerate to the auKs advantage.

So going to another country you could be taking the virus to them or as they are so behind the U.K. the resorts will be shut.
Worst case your in a resort and on day 2 of your two week holiday there they lockdown the hotel so all patrons are held to their hotel room and balcony for the duration.

Or the resort and basically whole country is locked down or a scale of that meaning everything is shut which will be a fairly ribbisj holiday.

Or that while on holiday everything shuts off you suffer inconvenience or costs or hospitalisation due to covid and not covered by your holiday insurance.

[GT03ROB]

alfabeat said:

Well we (www.nisosyachtcharter.com) are still taking lots of bookings for Greek sailing holidays this summer, so at least a proportion of the UK population believes things will be good for travel from May.

If you look at where we were in March 2020 - just going into Lockdown, not knowing what we were dealing with, no hope of a vaccine, no idea how to treat the ill, panic buying. By July 1st, we were operational, and then pretty much fully booked until the end of October.

Compared with where we are today.... vaccination programme storming along, we generally know what we are dealing with, no panic buying, a very strong light at the end of the tunnel - and a general belief that we are on the home straight.

Cases in Greece still remain relatively low, in particular in the Ionian Islands, and there was no evidence that last summers opening up to overseas tourists drastically increased the number of cases. Greece (and other Med countries) are desperate for a summer tourist season.

I think we will be ok from May/June onwards...

Welshbeef said:

I think the U.K. will be fine in July/Aug - sadly we are months ahead of other countries and that will accelerate to the auKs advantage.

So going to another country you could be taking the virus to them or as they are so behind the U.K. the resorts will be shut.
Worst case your in a resort and on day 2 of your two week holiday there they lockdown the hotel so all patrons are held to their hotel room and balcony for the duration.

Or the resort and basically whole country is locked down or a scale of that meaning everything is shut which will be a fairly ribbisj holiday.

Or that while on holiday everything shuts off you suffer inconvenience or costs or hospitalisation due to covid and not covered by your holiday insurance.

2 very opposing views, however I think Welshy maybe closer to the reality.

I've been travelling or at least trying to travel without interruption since this thing kicked off. I am currently experiencing more difficulties & disruption currently than at any time in the past. We had got back to a "normal" in the 2nd half of 2020. A combination of changing entry requirements, BREXIT, new strains has the whole travel game in a spin at present. I am supposed to be traveling in 2 weeks time, but I am struggling to find a routing even.

The industry needs a period of stability so everyone understands what they are dealing with & can make decisions. While it changes week-to-week & day-to-day I'm not sure much confidence is going to return. At the moment there is just too much in play.

[smifffymoto]

My view is that the EU will put pressure on countries like Spain and Greece to stay shut to foreign visiters this summer to protect the EU as a whole from new strains.

[Welshbeef]

smifffymoto said:

My view is that the EU will put pressure on countries like Spain and Greece to stay shut to foreign visiters this summer to protect the EU as a whole from new strains.

It could be (as is the case currently in France) it is EU only permitted to travel around EU.

[omniflow]

Welshbeef said:

It could be (as is the case currently in France) it is EU only permitted to travel around EU.

How about trying the old Mexico -> US trick with a twist.

Ferry to Northern Ireland
Cross the land border there to Eire
Ferry from Eire to France.

Might need some to get some Irish plates made up for your car.

[vaud]

omniflow said:

How about trying the old Mexico -> US trick with a twist.

Ferry to Northern Ireland
Cross the land border there to Eire
Ferry from Eire to France.

Might need some to get some Irish plates made up for your car.

Travelling in Ireland and then into Europe on fake plates would be a high risk game...

[Deep Thought]

Welshbeef said:

I think the U.K. will be fine in July/Aug - sadly we are months ahead of other countries and that will accelerate to the auKs advantage.

So going to another country you could be taking the virus to them or as they are so behind the U.K. the resorts will be shut.
Worst case your in a resort and on day 2 of your two week holiday there they lockdown the hotel so all patrons are held to their hotel room and balcony for the duration.

Or the resort and basically whole country is locked down or a scale of that meaning everything is shut which will be a fairly ribbisj holiday.

Or that while on holiday everything shuts off you suffer inconvenience or costs or hospitalisation due to covid and not covered by your holiday insurance.

I think its an awful lot more likely that IF there was a case of CV19 in a hotel, the person would have already have been isolated with symptoms, and anyone else with symptoms would be asked to isolate also. I cant imagine they'd lock down an entire hotel, but with testing in place they could minimise disruption anyway. Bear in mind also that people will likely only be able to go on production of a negative test.

I dont recall there being massive issues last summer - the vast bulk of people who went away got there and back no issues at all and had a great holiday when they were there. This year we have a much faster testing capability and the vaccine rollout which seems to be storming ahead.

COVID is covered in your travel insurance (assuming you ensure in advance that is part of it). All the package holiday companies are offering it and there is independent cover available also.

I think there will be a relatively small risk of disruption - its down to the individual whether they want to take that risk.

[Bill]

Deep Thought said:

COVID is covered in your travel insurance (assuming you ensure in advance that is part of it). All the package holiday companies are offering it and there is independent cover available also.

Covid illness is covered, isolation/cancellation due to illness is widely covered, but I can't find any policy that will cover you if a lockdown stops you going.