Holiday/flight cancellations and refunds ( title updated )

[Sooperstar]

17 minutes ago, The Spy Who Loved Me said:

I’m not sure I understand the mentality; “There’s a global pandemic going on, with borders being opened/closed all the time and on/off quarantine restrictions constantly changing....so I’m just going to pop off abroad for a bit”? 

Depends on individual circumstances. If I go away and have to quarantine when back then I'm fine with that.

[Smack]

29 minutes ago, The Spy Who Loved Me said:

I’m not sure I understand the mentality; “There’s a global pandemic going on, with borders being opened/closed all the time and on/off quarantine restrictions constantly changing....so I’m just going to pop off abroad for a bit”? 

I'm not sure I understand the mentality that it's fine to travel around the UK but crossing a border is out of the question. There's plenty of places where the virus is effectively being controlled, and the chances of catching the virus are at worst the same as the UK. 

 

It's more likely in the coming weeks that people from the UK will struggle to get into these places. 

 

The relaxed approach the UK has to people importing or even exporting the virus is bizarre. Edinburgh Airport has non compulsory temperature screening, you can say no. I've not spotted a thermometer wielder anyway. You're in and out, no checks.

 

Compare that to Greece, where you complete a passenger locator form which has all your contact details, including the address you'll be staying at. If someone on your flight tests positive you will be contacted. An algorithm checks your details and targets tests towards higher risk people, i.e if you've travelled from an area within your country which is a 'hotspot'. It's not much hassle and seems very sensible. 

[XXX]

43 minutes ago, Sooperstar said:

Depends on individual circumstances. If I go away and have to quarantine when back then I'm fine with that.

 

10 minutes ago, Smack said:

I'm not sure I understand the mentality that it's fine to travel around the UK but crossing a border is out of the question. There's plenty of places where the virus is effectively being controlled, and the chances of catching the virus are at worst the same as the UK. 

 

It's more likely in the coming weeks that people from the UK will struggle to get into these places. 

 

The relaxed approach the UK has to people importing or even exporting the virus is bizarre. Edinburgh Airport has non compulsory temperature screening, you can say no. I've not spotted a thermometer wielder anyway. You're in and out, no checks.

 

Compare that to Greece, where you complete a passenger locator form which has all your contact details, including the address you'll be staying at. If someone on your flight tests positive you will be contacted. An algorithm checks your details and targets tests towards higher risk people, i.e if you've travelled from an area within your country which is a 'hotspot'. It's not much hassle and seems very sensible. 

Sounds sensible.

 

Personally, blanket quarantines are annoying, but we have to accept they’re the only way to avoid people slipping through the cracks (and even then, some will) barring devoting significant resources to testing everyone in arrival and having facilities for them to wait.     

[Samuel Camazzola]

8 hours ago, willie wallace said:

Yesterday I was speaking to my son who lives in Amsterdam and we were discussing the possibility of  him bringing the grandkids over.

Just shows how things can change in in just a few hours.

He'll get over soon. 

 

It should be other countries that are more concerned about UK visitors. 

[willie wallace]

7 minutes ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

He'll get over soon. 

 

It should be other countries that are more concerned about UK visitors. 

We could go there.Just can't come back😃

[Samuel Camazzola]

13 minutes ago, willie wallace said:

We could go there.Just can't come back😃

 You could come back if you follow the same process as a Celtic fullback.

 

Some of the rulings are crazy. Balearics and Canaries on the list despite being safer environments than here. 

 

 

[westbow]

Rather than clog things up with another thread, I thought I would ask on here. Anyone looking to book USA next year? I am looking at Florida in July. Either I use or lose postponed EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Hotel bookings. From what I gather, USA probably lifting travel ban after the November election.

[trotter]

35 minutes ago, westbow said:

Rather than clog things up with another thread, I thought I would ask on here. Anyone looking to book USA next year? I am looking at Florida in July. Either I use or lose postponed EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Hotel bookings. From what I gather, USA probably lifting travel ban after the November election.

 

Where did you hear that? According to my immigration lawyer there are no official plans to lift it before the end of the year, especially now that cases seem to be on the rise again. 

[westbow]

Just now, trotter said:

 

Where did you hear that? According to my immigration lawyer there are no official plans to lift it before the end of the year, especially now that cases seem to be on the rise again. 

Anecdotally from UK based Americans. I talk to a few in my line of business. I think the Telegraph did something on it.

[Sooperstar]

1 hour ago, westbow said:

Rather than clog things up with another thread, I thought I would ask on here. Anyone looking to book USA next year? I am looking at Florida in July. Either I use or lose postponed EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Hotel bookings. From what I gather, USA probably lifting travel ban after the November election.

Even if they do, July remains a long time away and things could get worse or better before then. The position in November will not be much to go on.

[davemclaren]

3 hours ago, Sooperstar said:

Even if they do, July remains a long time away and things could get worse or better before then. The position in November will not be much to go on.

It’s a dilemma. Looking to book a trip with friend next July but do we book now or wait a few months to see how things progress? 🤷🏽‍♂️

[Jambo-Jimbo]

26 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

It’s a dilemma. Looking to book a trip with friend next July but do we book now or wait a few months to see how things progress? 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

Personally, I'd wait, can't see prices moving all that much if at all in the meantime, might even be cheaper later on.

[Shanks said no]

5 hours ago, weehammy said:

Not according to percentage of new infections per 100,000.

 

Would be interested to see where Ireland fits in this

 

Edit - source is the Sun, so figures may be inaccurate

Edited August 19, 2020 by The Frenchman Returns

[Shanks said no]

all Europe

Spain                       130.8   
United_Kingdom    21.0   
Italy                          10.3   
Germany                  17.9    
France                      43.2    
Sweden                    39.5   
Belgium                   57.0   
Romania                  87.4    
Netherlands            46.0   
Poland                     25.6   
Portugal                  26.9    
Ireland                     25.4    
Austria                    27.1    
Czechia                  30.0   
Denmark                30.7    
Bulgaria                 35.9   
Norway                  13.6     
Finland                    5.3     
Luxembourg         94.8     
Greece                   24.4    
Croatia                  37.7     
Hungary                 4.3     
Slovakia               10.2    
Lithuania              12.1     
Slovenia               12.8     
Estonia                  8.2     
Iceland                 30.5     
Cyprus                 20.4     
Latvia                     3.9     
Malta                 104.7     
Liechtenstein       20.8     

 

Source - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

[Jambo-Jimbo]

Croatia, Austria & Trinidad & Tobago now on the 14 day quarantine list.

 

Portugal has been removed from the quarantine list, so is now deemed safe to go to.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53854948

[OBE]

1 hour ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

Croatia, Austria & Trinidad & Tobago now on the 14 day quarantine list.

 

Portugal has been removed from the quarantine list, so is now deemed safe to go to.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53854948

 

Can't get the Benny Hill sketches out my heid when I hear Q/tines lifted or imposed. Punters running about daft at 100mph chasing their tails or some bint in stockings & suspenders...

[OBE]

Good news from Ryanair. Refund for departure flight on the 29th July 2020 to Tenerife being paid back into the issuing bank in the next 5 to 7 working days. This may ease a few concerns for Ryanair customers who were due to fly around the same date...

[Samuel Camazzola]

3 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

Croatia, Austria & Trinidad & Tobago now on the 14 day quarantine list.

 

Portugal has been removed from the quarantine list, so is now deemed safe to go to.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53854948

I was hoping Portugal would have remained on the list for a little longer. Due to go in about eight weeks so I'll now be anticipating it be back as a restricted jurisdiction by then then. 

 

Got Tenerife next month therfore I'm a little hopeful they'll come off the list by them. 

[CavySlaveJambo]

On 19/08/2020 at 17:05, westbow said:

Rather than clog things up with another thread, I thought I would ask on here. Anyone looking to book USA next year? I am looking at Florida in July. Either I use or lose postponed EasyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Hotel bookings. From what I gather, USA probably lifting travel ban after the November election.

I have a provisional booking for September 2021 but I  can postpone it as long as I travel before April 2022. 

Edited August 22, 2020 by CavySlaveJambo
Add in year

[Smack]

https://estonianworld.com/life/people-arriving-in-estonia-from-24-countries-will-need-to-self-isolate/

 

People from the UK will have to isolate for 14 days when travelling to Estonia from Monday. 

 

Anyone aware of other countries who have us on their riddled list? 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

6 hours ago, Smack said:

https://estonianworld.com/life/people-arriving-in-estonia-from-24-countries-will-need-to-self-isolate/

 

People from the UK will have to isolate for 14 days when travelling to Estonia from Monday. 

 

Anyone aware of other countries who have us on their riddled list? 

 

Sure I heard Norway had us quarantined as well.

 

That's the thing, if the UK doesn't have countries on our quarantine list, other countries have the UK on their quarantine list.

 

Fewer and fewer places to go to, if you don't want to self isolate for a couple of weeks, not that it's going to bother me, as not going anywhere until this is all over or calmed down.

[Shanks said no]

EU/EEA and the UK	Cases	Deaths	14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100 000	14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths per 100 000
Spain	386054	28838	152.7	0.7
United_Kingdom	324601	41423	22.3	0.2
Italy	258136	35430	13.3	0.4
France	238002	30512	59.8	0.3
Germany	232864	9269	19.6	0.1
Sweden	86068	5810	36.6	0.5
Belgium	81374	9988	56.2	1.0
Romania	77544	3233	87.2	3.0
Netherlands	66034	6191	46.6	0.2
Poland	61181	1951	26.4	0.4
Portugal	55211	1792	26.0	0.4
Ireland	27908	1777	25.8	0.1
Austria	25099	732	35.7	0.1
Czechia	21790	411	33.4	0.2
Denmark	16127	621	29.0	0.1
Bulgaria	15131	539	25.5	1.3
Norway	10197	264	13.7	0.2
Greece	8381	240	27.6	0.3
Croatia	7900	170	57.8	0.3
Finland	7871	334	5.5	0.1
Luxembourg	7704	124	96.3	0.8
Hungary	5133	611	4.9	0.1
Slovakia	3316	33	13.8	0.0
Slovenia	2617	127	17.8	0.3
Lithuania	2594	84	13.0	0.1
Estonia	2265	63	8.9	0.0
Iceland	2058	10	28.9	0.0
Malta	1577	10	121.2	0.2
Cyprus	1417	21	21.0	0.2
Latvia	1333	33	2.3	0.1
Liechtenstein	101	1	31.3	0.0
Total	2037588	180642	0.0	0.0

 

 

Estonia do have very low reported numbers

[Sooperstar]

9 hours ago, The Frenchman Returns said:

EU/EEA and the UK	Cases	Deaths	14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100 000	14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths per 100 000
Spain	386054	28838	152.7	0.7
United_Kingdom	324601	41423	22.3	0.2
Italy	258136	35430	13.3	0.4
France	238002	30512	59.8	0.3
Germany	232864	9269	19.6	0.1
Sweden	86068	5810	36.6	0.5
Belgium	81374	9988	56.2	1.0
Romania	77544	3233	87.2	3.0
Netherlands	66034	6191	46.6	0.2
Poland	61181	1951	26.4	0.4
Portugal	55211	1792	26.0	0.4
Ireland	27908	1777	25.8	0.1
Austria	25099	732	35.7	0.1
Czechia	21790	411	33.4	0.2
Denmark	16127	621	29.0	0.1
Bulgaria	15131	539	25.5	1.3
Norway	10197	264	13.7	0.2
Greece	8381	240	27.6	0.3
Croatia	7900	170	57.8	0.3
Finland	7871	334	5.5	0.1
Luxembourg	7704	124	96.3	0.8
Hungary	5133	611	4.9	0.1
Slovakia	3316	33	13.8	0.0
Slovenia	2617	127	17.8	0.3
Lithuania	2594	84	13.0	0.1
Estonia	2265	63	8.9	0.0
Iceland	2058	10	28.9	0.0
Malta	1577	10	121.2	0.2
Cyprus	1417	21	21.0	0.2
Latvia	1333	33	2.3	0.1
Liechtenstein	101	1	31.3	0.0
Total	2037588	180642	0.0	0.0

 

 

Estonia do have very low reported numbers

Scotland lower at 8.7 I believe.

[Sooperstar]

Jet2 have just cancelled flights to many destinations for the rest of the year. No more overseas trips for me this year.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

2 hours ago, Sooperstar said:

Jet2 have just cancelled flights to many destinations for the rest of the year. No more overseas trips for me this year.

 

Not surprised as the Czech Republic, Switzerland & Jamaica have just been added to the 14 day quarantine list.

Greece was mentioned that it could be next.

 

There can't be many destinations left in Europe where you don't have to quarantine either upon arrival or on return.

[Samuel Camazzola]

5 hours ago, Sooperstar said:

Jet2 have just cancelled flights to many destinations for the rest of the year. No more overseas trips for me this year.

Canary Island flights have been pushed back to 13th pending further FCO updates. I was due to go just before that but will look to see if I can move it back. 

 

They've pulled their full summer programme to the Balearics and look to be boosting the number of flights to Portugal, Turkey etc... 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

45 minutes ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

Canary Island flights have been pushed back to 13th pending further FCO updates. I was due to go just before that but will look to see if I can move it back. 

 

They've pulled their full summer programme to the Balearics and look to be boosting the number of flights to Portugal, Turkey etc... 

 

Basically all the Countries which don't have a 14 day quarantine, which tbh is getting smaller every week.

 

Once Greece, Italy & Turkey are added, there will be next to nowhere left in Europe to go to.

[hughesie27]

39 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Basically all the Countries which don't have a 14 day quarantine, which tbh is getting smaller every week.

 

Once Greece, Italy & Turkey are added, there will be next to nowhere left in Europe to go to.

Turkey and Greece both quite a ways away from reaching the UK threshold. Turkey would need to double its daily cases to be added.

 

Not impossible mind.

[Samuel Camazzola]

37 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Basically all the Countries which don't have a 14 day quarantine, which tbh is getting smaller every week.

 

Once Greece, Italy & Turkey are added, there will be next to nowhere left in Europe to go to.

I'm sure Italy is well within the 'safe zone' for now but things change quickly. To protect the travel industry, they may well start creating a list with regions as opposed to whole countries. 

[hughesie27]

Portugal seems to be on the up again. Chances of them being re-added?

[Jambo-Jimbo]

20 hours ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

I'm sure Italy is well within the 'safe zone' for now but things change quickly. To protect the travel industry, they may well start creating a list with regions as opposed to whole countries. 

 

I'm not so sure that would work tbh.

 

Let's just say that Rome is OK but Venice is on the UK unsafe list.

There would probably be nothing to stop me going from Rome to Venice for a day or two, then fly back to the UK from Rome and say nothing about my little trip to the banned Venice. 

 

If I didn't say anything then the UK authorities would never know I'd been to the banned unsafe Venice.

I just think safe and unsafe regions leaves a lot of possibilities for people to abuse the rules by moving between regions and saying nothing about it.

[hughesie27]

28 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

I'm not so sure that would work tbh.

 

Let's just say that Rome is OK but Venice is on the UK unsafe list.

There would probably be nothing to stop me going from Rome to Venice for a day or two, then fly back to the UK from Rome and say nothing about my little trip to the banned Venice. 

 

If I didn't say anything then the UK authorities would never know I'd been to the banned unsafe Venice.

I just think safe and unsafe regions leaves a lot of possibilities for people to abuse the rules by moving between regions and saying nothing about it.

Same applies to pretty much any land border crossing in Europe. Portugal and Spain for example.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

33 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Same applies to pretty much any land border crossing in Europe. Portugal and Spain for example.

 

Without a doubt, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's already happened, that people have popped over the border to a 'banned country' for a day trip, if they say nothing, who is going to know.

[Samuel Camazzola]

1 hour ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

I'm not so sure that would work tbh.

 

Let's just say that Rome is OK but Venice is on the UK unsafe list.

There would probably be nothing to stop me going from Rome to Venice for a day or two, then fly back to the UK from Rome and say nothing about my little trip to the banned Venice. 

 

If I didn't say anything then the UK authorities would never know I'd been to the banned unsafe Venice.

I just think safe and unsafe regions leaves a lot of possibilities for people to abuse the rules by moving between regions and saying nothing about it.

It was more along the lines of if somewhere like Athens and its surrounding region where deemed a no go, places like Crete could still be accessible. 

 

Similar with Madeira and Portugal, Spain and Tenerife etc... 

[Shanks said no]

 

Regional data is available, but as has been said it depends how much you move about

[Jambo-Jimbo]

43 minutes ago, Samuel Camazzola said:

It was more along the lines of if somewhere like Athens and its surrounding region where deemed a no go, places like Crete could still be accessible. 

 

Similar with Madeira and Portugal, Spain and Tenerife etc... 

 

That I would go for, as it's not as easy as 'just popping over the border' type of thing, you would have to get a flight or a ferry as there is a significant distance between one 'region' to another. 

That I can live with, and Greece is the perfect place for that, indeed I think there are Greek Islands which have had no covid cases at all.

 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

You can now add Hungary to the growing list of countries we can't visit, as the Hungarians are closing their borders to all foreigners from Tuesday 1 September, due to a rapid rise in infections.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/28/hungary-to-close-its-borders-in-bid-to-curb-covid-19-resurgence

 

At the bottom of this article there are some good graphs for each country, remember I mentioned Greece, just take a look at their graph.

Edited August 29, 2020 by Jambo-Jimbo

[Jambo-Jimbo]

193 passengers & crew on a Tui flight from Zante to Cardiff last Tuesday are to self isolate, following 7 people from 3 seperate parties, who were on the flight testing positive for Covid-19.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53966897

 

It was saying on the news that the authorities in Zante just yesterday made face coverings mandatory both indoors and outside, all large gatherings have been banned, restarants can only have a max of 4 people at a table etc etc etc, due to a sharp increase in infections.

[hughesie27]

Portugal now over the 20 cases per 100k threshold and will likely be re-added to the quarantine list.

[Doctor FinnBarr]

10 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

Portugal now over the 20 cases per 100k threshold and will likely be re-added to the quarantine list.

 

Will Lossiemouth still be ok at the end of September mate? Kinda shit you canny get cheap baccy here though.

[hughesie27]

1 minute ago, FinnBarr Saunders said:

 

Will Lossiemouth still be ok at the end of September mate? Kinda shit you canny get cheap baccy here though.

I'm not hearing good things.

[Doctor FinnBarr]

6 minutes ago, hughesie27 said:

I'm not hearing good things.

 

LOL, I'm hearing your a dick mate but I dinnae listen to tittle tattle, lets just get oan wi things, FTH

[Samuel Camazzola]

BBC News - Coronavirus: Quarantine restrictions for travellers from Greece
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53992742

 

Unless the FCO guidance for Greece changes this week, I can see the Scottish Government's decision creating issues with several travellers insurance policies. 

[theshed]

On 08/08/2020 at 21:44, graygo said:

Well I'm just back tonight after 5 days in Gdansk, apart from being an absolutely stunning wee city with more bars and restaurants than you could ever hope for, the Poles (very few other nationalities as far as I could tell) were taking precautions seriously. Face coverings inside, all staff wearing masks and hand sanitiser stations everywhere.

I've been checking the figures for Poland and they're not looking good with a serious spike in cases but it's mainly confined to the South of the country.

Flights were a breeze although wearing a mask from the minute you enter the airport till you leave your destination airport was a bit uncomfortable.

Would I go away again? Too right.

As my holiday this weekend to Vegas is cancelled I was thinking about going to Gdańsk for couple of days next week but flight gets in at 1.30am 

Do you know if I could get a taxi no probs at that time in the morning to get me from airport to hotel and I’m I right in saying it would take 30mins roughly

Thanks

[graygo]

28 minutes ago, theshed said:

As my holiday this weekend to Vegas is cancelled I was thinking about going to Gdańsk for couple of days next week but flight gets in at 1.30am 

Do you know if I could get a taxi no probs at that time in the morning to get me from airport to hotel and I’m I right in saying it would take 30mins roughly

Thanks

I was in Gdansk a couple of weeks ago, no problem getting a taxi at that time and yes 30 mins is about right. We used the freenow taxi app and it was superb. Shows on map where your cab is and was half the price of a "normal" cab. You can ask for a taxi with a screen between you and the driver. Taxi from airport was 35 zloty so about £7.

 

Enjoy Gdansk, we loved it.

 

 

 

[theshed]

40 minutes ago, graygo said:

I was in Gdansk a couple of weeks ago, no problem getting a taxi at that time and yes 30 mins is about right. We used the freenow taxi app and it was superb. Shows on map where your cab is and was half the price of a "normal" cab. You can ask for a taxi with a screen between you and the driver. Taxi from airport was 35 zloty so about £7.

 

Enjoy Gdansk, we loved it.

 

 

 

£7 for 30 mins taxi ride 😱

£7 as soon as you get in one here 😂

 

Thanks for the advice 

[graygo]

3 minutes ago, theshed said:

£7 for 30 mins taxi ride 😱

£7 as soon as you get in one here 😂

 

Thanks for the advice 

 

Aye, use the app though.  We got a taxi back from Sopot and it was the same.

[indianajones]

I'm away just now and had an email yesterday stating my return flight to Edinburgh had been cancelled. It's in almost three weeks time! 

 

Contacted the airline and they have managed to get me home. Both departure and arrival airport changes which is a bit of a nightmare but just glad it's sorted. 

 

I asked the guy if it's covid related and he just said that SAS are suspending all Edinburgh flights. Maybe they know something we don't? 

 

[Dazo]

Well after around 2 weeks after our Ryanair return flight landed insurance money in the bag. I’ll happily pay extra to avoid that airline in the future. 

[graygo]

4 minutes ago, Dazo said:

Well after around 2 weeks after our Ryanair return flight landed insurance money in the bag. I’ll happily pay extra to avoid that airline in the future. 

Looks like a decent result to me.