Holidays are illegal

Well, last year we booked holidays, in the hope that when the date came round we would be able to go, when we couldn't we cancelled or moved the booking to another date. What was illegal in doing that?

We are doing exactly the same this year. We are about to book a holiday in Sept/Oct. If things haven't improved by then we will cancel or rebook.

DS has booked this year's holiday already because when surfing holiday options he found nearly every place he looked at was fully booked, so at least he knows that if holidays are possible, he will be able to have one. Leave booking until holidays are sanctioned and you will find there will be nowhere you can go

The holidays will only be illegal if we take them when they are banned.

That's exactly right maddyone, holidays are currently illegal. At this moment in time no one should be contemplating a holiday in the near future.

But, things might change and I'm guessing no one wants to miss out on booking their accommodation.

I said on a different thread that Grant Shapps has wound everyone up unnecessarily today.

crossed thread M0nica.
We have a holiday booked for May and September too, booked at a time when everything seemed more positive.

I can imagine many nice places in the UK are already booked for summer 2021.

I am not confused but I am pretty furious after watching the ITV news just now. They interviewed two women at Heathrow who have just returned from a holiday in Brazil. Their reason? There is nothing going on in the UK!
By all means book ahead and hope for the best but how can people be stopped from going right now?

We have carried forward a holiday from last year, but won’t be going this year either.
It isn’t illegal to book a holiday, just illegal to go, until we get the all clear.

Difficult one. My partner has Spanish residency and we have an apartment on a remote Canary island with almost no COVID cases. I understand that Ryanair is still flying to Tenerife and then is a short BinterMás flight to where we live. My partner can legally fly out as technically she is returning home but I can’t as I did t want to apply for residency. So this would not be a holiday but a repatriation. Illegal or not ??

maddyoneDo what Ireland are doing, issuing €500 fines to people for travelling abroad, 1,500 have been issued since January 11th. They are considering €2000; the Garda issue them at checkpoints to airports and ports. That would stop any confusion.

Oh, fly from Britain to a Canary Island that has almost no COVID cases.

Good idea?

We had a holiday gite booked in France for last September, this was changed to this May but we know we won't be going so will probably move it again.
It's not rocket science, holidays are illegal at the moment. We are in total lockdown and no one should be going anywhere.
I don't understand what the confusion is.

Just can’t bring myself to even think about holidays at the moment, not even in the UK, never mind booking one.

I just want to travel 15miles to Waitrose and shop with my husband.

Peasblossom, thank you, it does seem like a good idea. We are used to spending months apart so it’s not difficult. The problem for us is getting the test 72 hours before flying and being confident of getting the results in time to fly.

We booked a holiday just after Christmas to go to Ibiza for 10 days in June. Obviously since then the government have issued further restrictions. We are just hoping they’ll lift them again - maybe early May? - once all over the age of 50y will have been offered a vaccination.

If the ban still applies we will get a refund from the travel company for flights and hotel. Actually, so far we’ve only paid a deposit now I think about it.

I’m not confused.

We have two holidays, both in England, which were transferred from May and June 2020. If we cannot go we will request a refund. My husband is 75 and cannot guarantee he would want to drive any distance in 2022.

2 booked May and October, if we are able we will go, if it lockdown is still in place we will not, both were discounted, both are refundable so no problem.

Will we be able to go in May,? no idea, but another 2 months of lockdown will see changes.

I don’t think there’s any confusion about the current situation regarding holidays as we all know they are not allowed at the moment.

Regarding later on this year, well I guess we will have to wait until we hear definitely from the government what the situation will be for the summer.

Matt Hancock apparently has booked a family holiday in Cornwall, so he must be optimistic!

Parsley3

I am not confused but I am pretty furious after watching the ITV news just now. They interviewed two women at Heathrow who have just returned from a holiday in Brazil. Their reason? There is nothing going on in the UK!
By all means book ahead and hope for the best but how can people be stopped from going right now?

I saw them Parsley - two stupid women who just wanted to go away on holiday because there's not a lot going on here.
Disgraceful.

Thank you for your responses. At least it seems Gransnetters are not confused, which to be honest is what I expected. I don’t know why anyone is confused really as it seems pretty clear to me. Obviously it’s not clear to everyone though as the media seem to be determined to press the point that it’s confusing.
Last year we cancelled three holidays, in common with many others, but when things quietened down in the summer we decided to try to get away for a few days in September when it’s generally quite quiet. We booked our flights to Kefalonia three weeks before we travelled, and I booked the accommodation about two weeks before we travelled. There was a surfeit of available accommodation and the plane was not fully booked, so I don’t share Monica’s view that there will be nowhere available if it’s left to the last minute. We hadn’t intended to go to Kefalonia last year but we chose it as our destination as the virus was very low there. We will probably do something similar this year, but will wait for it to become legal to travel. I have absolutely no fears that we will not be able to find flights and accommodation, and if we decide to stay in the UK I’m not afraid of not being able to find accommodation. We normally sort out our holidays independently and there always appears to be both accommodation and flights available.

Sorry, I didn't answer the question.
Yes, I understand.
What I don't understand is letting people like those two women returning from a holiday in Brazil back into the country. We should have a quarantine island offshore for selfish people like that.

jaxjacky I agree that a hefty fine at the airport would deter many travellers, especially those like the two women who went to Brazil that a couple of posters have mentioned. I’m seriously not convinced that so many people desperately need to travel as are actually travelling at the moment, I can’t see why urgent business can’t be done via Zoom or other internet communications. Good grief, my son is a barrister and he’s doing trials by Zoom, I’m sure business could be. No need to travel at all. How are New Zealand, Canada, Australia and other countries that have locked their borders managing?

I'm really fed up with all the mixed messages that are put out. At first they were saying that people might be able to have a holiday by July/August. It is obviously up to the individual whether they would want to risk paying for a holiday abroad when there is a chance it might not be able to go ahead. I would be wary of doing that because I've heard of people who had difficulty in getting their money back. However, I thought it might be OK to book a few days or a week in the UK. I think it was on Newsnight tonight that I heard the warning there might not be any holidays allowed at all this year, not even in the UK.

Surely there must be an end to this at some point. Apart from many people feeling they really need a holiday, how will hotels and B&Bs, together with associated businesses, cope with this extended period of massively reduced income? For towns reliant on tourism, this will cause terrible problems.

It will and it does cause awful problems for the tourist industry. Here the situation was exacerbated by bushfires just before the lockdown. Cafes fared a little better by having takeaway food, coffee etc and click and collect systems. We have booked a hol in August but I am getting quite nervous now because of the constant lockdowns and border closures without a moment’s notice. Not even 24 hours sometimes. If you are stuck in a region they make you isolate in a hotel for 2 weeks at your own expense i.e. $3000 per head!

Didn't see news yesterday what happened to the two women .
I'm not booking anything yet I will be happy just to go to coast for a walk near the sea and a meal out .

When you get down to brass tacks, why does everyone insist they need a holiday? Holidays were originally just that - 'holy' 'days'.
Its only relatively recently that we took a week or two at least once a year. My father was a farmer and never had a holiday, he had days off but never left the farm overnight. He was a very happy and fulfilled man.
(And I speak as someone who really loves travel but is content to stay at home for the foreseeable ..... )