Summer Holidays 2021
Discussion
Lord Marylebone said:
Same here.
In January I estimated that 2021 would be a moving target, a hassle, and a pain in the backside for foreign holidays, so I haven’t even looked or considered anything.
I would rather just write the year off than get involved in this debacle.
Sadly, my decision is turning out to be correct and it will likely be a complete s
t-show until the end of the year, and believe me, I would rather have been totally wrong about all this.
Out of curiosity, what are the options in U.K. ? I had to spend a few summers here a few years back, all I can say it was absolutely miserable and spending the following winter/autumn after having a crap weather/holiday was just not something fruitful.In January I estimated that 2021 would be a moving target, a hassle, and a pain in the backside for foreign holidays, so I haven’t even looked or considered anything.
I would rather just write the year off than get involved in this debacle.
Sadly, my decision is turning out to be correct and it will likely be a complete s
t-show until the end of the year, and believe me, I would rather have been totally wrong about all this.I keep postponing my tickets but can't wait to get out really.
El stovey said:
I’ve seen exactly the same, massive savings outweighing the cost of tests.
The only problem I have is the quarantine for amber destinations in the U.K. which hopefully will be gone soon.
We managed to get out to Rhodes last August during the period where there were no restrictions other than locator forms and it was our best family holiday to date.....despite being last minute, we had cheap as chips BA flights out of Heathrow T5 (30min from us), short stay parking which was cheaper than usual, a nice and easy transit through the airport (god send with an SEN child), a half empty plane each way, same again in RHO, amazing villa which was excellent value, quiet roads and fairly quiet resorts, but with enough things open and enough of buzz to be enjoyable.The only problem I have is the quarantine for amber destinations in the U.K. which hopefully will be gone soon.
ooid said:
Out of curiosity, what are the options in U.K. ? I had to spend a few summers here a few years back, all I can say it was absolutely miserable and spending the following winter/autumn after having a crap weather/holiday was just not something fruitful.
I keep postponing my tickets but can't wait to get out really.
I don't think there are any. I keep postponing my tickets but can't wait to get out really.
Even on the rare occasions when the weather is on your side, the UK is hideously overcrowded and way too expensive for what it offers.
Pre Covid there were 74M passenger movements pa out of the UK and it's a safe assumption many of those would have been people going abroad on holiday. I can't think for one moment UK holiday destinations are going to get better in any way shape or form when those people choose to holiday here instead, all that will happen is prices will shoot up and the queues will get longer and there will be even more gridlock on the roads.
Not for me, thanks.
rustyuk said:
El stovey said:
Harry H said:
Just got back from a couple of weeks in the Canaries and if you can work from home for your 10 days isolation on return I'd say go for it right now. You'll never get a better time to travel.
Airport and flights both ways were empty. From getting off the plane to getting in the car both ways was 20 mins. The resorts were mainly open with enough people to give some atmosphere but all the facilities like sunbeds etc were nice and free.
Yeh, you've got to splash out a bit on pointless testing but the costs of those don't come anywhere near the savings one gets on the deals out there.
Flying out, no tests required. Entry into hotel test free if you're double jabbed. Only thing they check other than the usual going out is you've done your Spanish locator form.
Coming home. You need a test to get on the plane, lateral flow with do. All the doctors/ pharmacies in the resorts are doing them, just walk in, 25E per head, results in 5 mins. You also need to book your 2 and 8 day test back here. £85/head. Once booked and paid for that gives you a reference number to put on UK form. Once all that is complete you get a QR code to show at UK passport control before going through the usual gates.
I'd anticipated massive delays at Stansted but all very quick.
So £220 in test for the two of us against a saving of half priced flights, hotel and car hire. Billy bargain.
I’ve seen exactly the same, massive savings outweighing the cost of tests. Airport and flights both ways were empty. From getting off the plane to getting in the car both ways was 20 mins. The resorts were mainly open with enough people to give some atmosphere but all the facilities like sunbeds etc were nice and free.
Yeh, you've got to splash out a bit on pointless testing but the costs of those don't come anywhere near the savings one gets on the deals out there.
Flying out, no tests required. Entry into hotel test free if you're double jabbed. Only thing they check other than the usual going out is you've done your Spanish locator form.
Coming home. You need a test to get on the plane, lateral flow with do. All the doctors/ pharmacies in the resorts are doing them, just walk in, 25E per head, results in 5 mins. You also need to book your 2 and 8 day test back here. £85/head. Once booked and paid for that gives you a reference number to put on UK form. Once all that is complete you get a QR code to show at UK passport control before going through the usual gates.
I'd anticipated massive delays at Stansted but all very quick.
So £220 in test for the two of us against a saving of half priced flights, hotel and car hire. Billy bargain.
The only problem I have is the quarantine for amber destinations in the U.K. which hopefully will be gone soon.
It's only an excuse if you want it to be.
We (wife and 3 kids) heading out to Greece on the 17th July. All tests booked (£772 for all 5 of us). The only thing that will scupper it is if Greece start requesting UK arrivals to quarantine, although there is no mention of that yet or Greece goes RED. Happy to quarantine for 10 days on return if required.
The prospect of a summer without my Greek sun/food/sail fix, fills me with dread, almost as much as a holiday in the over crowded / over priced UK does!
The prospect of a summer without my Greek sun/food/sail fix, fills me with dread, almost as much as a holiday in the over crowded / over priced UK does!
alfabeat said:
We (wife and 3 kids) heading out to Greece on the 17th July. All tests booked (£772 for all 5 of us). The only thing that will scupper it is if Greece start requesting UK arrivals to quarantine, although there is no mention of that yet or Greece goes RED. Happy to quarantine for 10 days on return if required.
The prospect of a summer without my Greek sun/food/sail fix, fills me with dread, almost as much as a holiday in the over crowded / over priced UK does!
Interesting. I’ve got a Greek holiday booked for 2 adults and 3 kids. I was curious as to what the final price would be for testing. Have you got a LFT booked for the entry into Greece? What about the return flight? LFT locally in Greece?The prospect of a summer without my Greek sun/food/sail fix, fills me with dread, almost as much as a holiday in the over crowded / over priced UK does!
alfabeat said:
We (wife and 3 kids) heading out to Greece on the 17th July. All tests booked (£772 for all 5 of us). The only thing that will scupper it is if Greece start requesting UK arrivals to quarantine, although there is no mention of that yet or Greece goes RED. Happy to quarantine for 10 days on return if required.
The prospect of a summer without my Greek sun/food/sail fix, fills me with dread, almost as much as a holiday in the over crowded / over priced UK does!
You went early on booking the test... I'm holding out until the very last opportunity (perhaps even while we are away) on booking those in the hope the UK drop this silly requirement.The prospect of a summer without my Greek sun/food/sail fix, fills me with dread, almost as much as a holiday in the over crowded / over priced UK does!
DoubleSix said:
You went early on booking the test... I'm holding out until the very last opportunity (perhaps even while we are away) on booking those in the hope the UK drop this silly requirement.
Booked our return tests 24hrs before we were due to come home. Hopeful that the rules would change which they didn't.Pete102 said:
Hearing that here in Switzerland, if youre vaccinated and want a box of LFT kits you now need to pay ?? I came back this morning without a test or quarantine, marvellous
We're travelling back to CH in 2 weeks time. No issues at all then? We'll have had 2 jabs, but it won't be 2 weeks since the 2nd one (if that makes any difference in CH).telford_mike said:
Pete102 said:
Hearing that here in Switzerland, if youre vaccinated and want a box of LFT kits you now need to pay ?? I came back this morning without a test or quarantine, marvellous
We're travelling back to CH in 2 weeks time. No issues at all then? We'll have had 2 jabs, but it won't be 2 weeks since the 2nd one (if that makes any difference in CH).BBC News says:
'The UK government says travellers can use a NHS Covid Pass to prove their vaccination status.
The pass is available in digital or paper format and people can access their own pass two weeks after having a second dose of the vaccine.'
Not sure if this rings true though, as I can access the PDF now, even with just my first jab taken so far...
Edited by DoubleSix on Monday 28th June 18:44
404 Page not found said:
I can't believe Spain and Portugal are now playing silly buggers...having to quarantine on arrival. Well done, that's going to do your tourism industry the world of good...FFS.
If you’re double jabbed or have a negative PCR you don’t have to quarantine to come to Spain Easy enough.
Vasco said:
I decided last winter that I'd give foreign holidays a miss for this year, and stay in the UK for a change. Just so very pleased that I didn't get my hopes up with the thought of foreign climes as I don't think I would have coped very well with all the sudden changes, cancellations etc.
Roll on 2022.
Same for us too. We usually go to the US and got cancelled quite early on last year as Virgin consolidated two flights and ours was the one dropped. Still waited 4 months for the refund but I felt sorry for Virgin.Roll on 2022.
However they blatantly scammed people by flogging super-cheap Upper class seats at the start of this year and I resisted pressure from wife to book them. Now those flights have been cancelled they won't honour the seat level so you have to put a load more money in if you still want to fly Upper.
telford_mike said:
We're travelling back to CH in 2 weeks time. No issues at all then? We'll have had 2 jabs, but it won't be 2 weeks since the 2nd one (if that makes any difference in CH).
Cant see it being a problem, the Swiss guidance doesn’t specially state the two week requirement like some others do.I drove back this time, barring the eurotunnel checks, there were no others at any point.
The latest round of unlocking feels great to be honest, just in time for the summer (now if these nightly thunder storms could stop, that would be lovely)
What's up with the vaccination speed here in U.K? I got my first pfizer in mid may and could not get any 2nd jab yet, had to book and took around the first week of july now online. None of the walk-in centers also offered 2nd jab. A few people I know overseas (Spain, Turkey and inlaws in Australia) they are all double vaccinated already, age range between 35-55
They keep talking about vaccine success in U.K., that success my ass If I kindly put it there... Seriously the last 5 years, has been the biggest st-show U.K. have probably ever seen. I know I'm lucky did not die or suffer from c19, but can't wait to go to mediterranean regions seriously.
They keep talking about vaccine success in U.K., that success my ass If I kindly put it there... Seriously the last 5 years, has been the biggest s
t-show U.K. have probably ever seen. I know I'm lucky did not die or suffer from c19, but can't wait to go to mediterranean regions seriously.I also abandoned any hope of going abroad this summer quite early on. Looking forward to my week in Devon at the end of July - it's the best I can hope for in the circumstances... but I'm still not hopeful that even that will happen.
Cases are going up everywhere in schools. One child gets it and the whole class has to isolate for 10 days. My eldest daughter is at school, my youngest at pre-school and my wife works in a school. Knowing my luck at least one of them will have to isolate for the first week of the summer holidays
Rookie error booking it so soon after schools finish!
Cases are going up everywhere in schools. One child gets it and the whole class has to isolate for 10 days. My eldest daughter is at school, my youngest at pre-school and my wife works in a school. Knowing my luck at least one of them will have to isolate for the first week of the summer holidays
Rookie error booking it so soon after schools finish! ooid said:
What's up with the vaccination speed here in U.K? I got my first pfizer in mid may and could not get any 2nd jab yet, had to book and took around the first week of july now online. None of the walk-in centers also offered 2nd jab. A few people I know overseas (Spain, Turkey and inlaws in Australia) they are all double vaccinated already, age range between 35-55
They keep talking about vaccine success in U.K., that success my ass If I kindly put it there... Seriously the last 5 years, has been the biggest st-show U.K. have probably ever seen. I know I'm lucky did not die or suffer from c19, but can't wait to go to mediterranean regions seriously.
The recommendation, I think, is 8 weeks between the two jabs, so mid May means waiting to mid July for the second jab, hence your "wait/impatience".They keep talking about vaccine success in U.K., that success my ass If I kindly put it there... Seriously the last 5 years, has been the biggest s
t-show U.K. have probably ever seen. I know I'm lucky did not die or suffer from c19, but can't wait to go to mediterranean regions seriously.R.
The Leaper said:
The recommendation, I think, is 8 weeks between the two jabs, so mid May means waiting to mid July for the second jab, hence your "wait/impatience".
R.
In spain, they get johnsons (only one shot enough). In Turkey and Australia, they get pfizer 2nd dose in less than 5 weeks.R.
In Greece, they started to offer 150euros to younger people to get their vaccines sooner. I do not think I'm impatient but we are lagging as usual
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