Holidays are illegal

I wish some sympathy could be shown to those of us who will keep scrupulously to the rules, but are desperate to travel abroad....... to see children and grandchildren we've not seen in 2 years. I'm not attempting to book flights until this country and my destination country say it's OK, but if I'm legally allowed to travel this summer then I shall. Why does it annoy people that others are booking holidays, in the knowledge they may not be able to take them if we're still in lockdown? The lack of empathy for anyone who is finding this harder than you, who may gain something from having hope is so disappointing. Too many "it doesn't bother me, so it shouldn't bother you" sentiments.

2old4this

Well said Alegrias1,
Cornwall made it quite clear on the local news last evening that second home owners and tourists are not welcome, stay at home until we are out of lockdown.
Who wishes to go through another lockdown just for the sake of a few more weeks.

Sadly a friend has told me that some second home owners have already arrived.

The police were on as well talking about fines. Quite a comparison in comments re going to holiday on this thread and the going to second homes thread.

Alegrias1 I assume you are being sarcastic, and to quote John McEnroe, you cannot be serious about Bojo doing his best.

His predecessor's incompetence by ignoring recommendations from 'Operation Cygnus' beggars belief, but this man's actions and inactions have contributed immensely to both the economic and personal harm to people in the UK.

He said in December - "''' it would be inhumane to cancel Christmas!!. The result of which we know, and indeed knew only too well, the additional mortality, and hospitalisations.

He's had almost 12 months to sort out border controls - and it's still not in place! The less said about his chums "Test & Trace" system the better, and then there was all that pretence over the tracking app that was trialled on the Isle of Wight - a complete failure.

PPE - £3 billion worth that the Government have no idea where to find it, or if it's even arrived, or is OK to use - according to the Public Accounts Committee and the NAO.

Wow - such a hapless incompetence would be hard to beat.

No time to read all the posts but, yes, going on holiday is illegal at the moment. However, it is not illegal to hope and book one. By all means book away but don't moan when you can't go or find yourself stranded by a new ruling!

No , just don't book any holidays anywhere . Are people that stupid or really that desperate for a holiday . We are all bit fed up but surely not that bloody stupid .

Surely it is not unreasonable to just forget about going abroad for the foreseeable future. This is an unprecedented crisis we are facing & we all need to act together to get through it.
I would love to go to Greece as usual this year but there are more important things to consider.
If we all just stay at home & put up with it we will get through it much sooner.

Yes, you can at least put down a deposit + book but don't think for until the end of May. It's clear you can't physically go anywhete. Unless you are famous as Rita Ora's jetted off last week to Australia for a work's job/ contract but still has to do the quarantine in that country in a hotel first at her own cost. Which I am sure she can easily afford that though herself. Ha Ha !!

I have booked 3 uk coach holidays for this year. The company I use guarantee a full refund if holiday cancelled due to covid. I woukd not contemplate travelling abroad but see no harm in being prepared for the time when we are able to travel. 2 of the ones I am hoping to go on are ones that were cancelled last year. It is certainly not illegal to book a holiday.

Well, in response to some of the posts above, I think yes there is reason for misunderstanding about what is actually "illegal", as opposed to contrary to the rules.
I try to keep abreast, and am not a rule-breaker, but I couldn't say for sure what is in last year's Coronavirus Act and what are subsequent rules and regulations based on it. I thought international travel was 'illegal', but can't be certain since so many people seem to be getting on and off aeroplanes ? . Travel within the UK I would have said was subject to rules, regulations and guidance, which need to be followed (of course) but which need to change too frequently to be embedded case by case in law.
Words matter, and constantly saying that small things such as a visit to the next town are "illegal" can sound overly dictatorial and certainly breed fear.

Quite right, maddyone, why don’t people read the rules?

Some great sensible posts, some clearly missing the point.
As many have said, traveling anywhere is how the virus will continue to spread and delay better times indefinitely.
Booking is a different thing. However booking anything that may have to be cancelled seems pointless and unnecessarily stressful to me.
Why do so many people think that they won’t catch the virus or spread it? What are the chances of other countries being safe enough to allow overseas travel?
Wouldn’t it be kinder and less stressful to ourselves just to wait until it really is under control?
Why the desperate need to take a “holiday” while it’s still not over?

We’re definitely not booking a holiday again this year, can’t even think about it, but once we’re given the go ahead that we can travel the first place I’ll be going is to visit my sister near Bristol, we live in Yorkshire and haven’t seen them since last March just a couple of weeks before lockdown when they visited for my granddaughters christening. I shan’t have to book to visit her.
Beginning of last year my husband was wanting me to book a holiday and even though we didn’t know what was going to happen I was a bit sceptical in booking so didn’t which I’m pleased about. When lockdown was lifted and we could look after granddaughters we had a fantastic staycation holiday in our back garden. They had so much fun painting, playing in the sand and trampolining along with many other activities we could think off in our back garden. I didn’t have the stress of sanitize hands ? etc and it was so much fun.

I think it’s you who may be confused. Going on holiday is illegal. Booking a holiday is not.

I don't do holidays so none of this bothers me...

I’m not confused. Holidays are illegal. I’m trying to get my money back for a holiday transferred from April last year to the same time this year, but I won’t be booking another. Some people are still hearing what they want to hear. I like the £500pp fine at the airport. They could be told it is a saving against the isolation cost if they’d actually travelled.
Algerias I know many people think THEY could have done it better, especially with hindsight. Luckily for them, they’ll never have to prove it.

We have a holiday forwarded from May last year to May this year, if we are then able to go, we will go, if not we will see if it can be postponed to next year, similarly we have one booked in September. Both in the UK, it would be madness to go abroad this year!!

The fact that no other party would have been better than the current one in coping with the pandemic, is no recommendation. It just highlights the very poor state of public governance in this country in all parties.

Yes, the vaccination programme has been a success and I will give credit where it is due, but otherwise the management of the pandemic has been deplorable.

We had 3 cruises booked for 2020. First lockdown scuppered number 1 just 3 days before we were due to sail. The others disappeared over the horizon in due course. All 3 were rebooked for 2021. One already disappeared 2 in the pipeline. If either of them sails then we will sail with them. If, as seems probable, they don't then we are waiting to see what transpires before making any other arrangements. We have been fortunate, so far, that repayments have gone smoothly and have the fingers crossed that these will all still work out right. Quite a lot of money already tied up but, hopefully, still available to us in one form or another.
Other than that it will just be lovely to be able to cross our border into England again to be able to visit the daughter and GS we were with as first lockdown came into being. It's great to 'see' them over the internet but not the same as being able to touch.
This will all, eventually, come to an end.
Keep well and safe everyone. Get those vaccines into you.

Agree Alegrias!

My daughter complained once "but we haven't had a holiday abroad like our friends" and I found myself starting to feel my "rescuer" kicking in. Then later it occurred to me that when she was young and we lived in NZ we NEVER had an overseas holiday but felt it was more important to ensure they had a good home and we did other fun stuff. I think that the consequences of this disease has thrown up just how societies expectations have changed and how pampered we have become with consumerism and being entertained. Im finding that I am more grateful for what I have and enjoy the simple things such as doing art and noticing beauty around me. interestingly my sister lives in NZ and she also says her grandchildren ask for very little and are quite happy.

I was very disappointed to hear that a Neice in her thirties had been to Dubai over new year. She told me about further sunshine holidays she’s planning for Easter and summer. When I said I doubted that they’d be allowed to go ahead, she seemed very surprised. Some people are living in another reality ......

Well said Alegrias1,
Cornwall made it quite clear on the local news last evening that second home owners and tourists are not welcome, stay at home until we are out of lockdown.
Who wishes to go through another lockdown just for the sake of a few more weeks.

Sadly a friend has told me that some second home owners have already arrived.

I wont be booking any holidays for the foreseeable future as cant afford!

And for the record, I, for one, think BoJo and Co ARE doing as well as anyone who has never dealt with a Pandemic before. Give them some credit for goodness sake! Omg! Can you imagine how the other parties would have handled it!? The end, as they say, would truly be nigh!

When I booked my holiday no government mentioned we would still be in lockdown in March. This has just been announced, thankfully the company let me change to September or I loose 50% can’t cancel these companies are using covid to take advantage of customers