No quarantine on returning from Amber countries coming soon

Ascot went ahead with crowds of people. Football went ahead with crowds of people. I’ll be just as safe, if not safer in my isolated villa in Zakinthos than at Ascot or a football. I’ve been fully vaccinated and I take care. I’ll be fine and highly unlikely to bring anything back with me. I’m happy to self isolate if necessary when we get back.

I'm a bit confused. My understanding is that the need to get insurance is from when you book the holiday - not just before you go. So how long ago was the holiday booked? before covid was know about ? or if covid was a known factor then insurance which incl cancellation due to covid should have been taken out. Then a refund would have been given. It sounds harsh but it appears you broke the contract by cancelling - rather than speaking to the travel agent or the holiday company - so no refund is likely.

Must be mad holidaying in this country first you have to sit in traffic for hours, then overcrowded and overpriced seaside towns, accomodation that is priced out of most people’s budget, and to top it all its cold and wet, o can’t wait for sunshine and sangria

I agree that the sensible choice would not be to book a holiday during the pandemic but there will be people, like myself, who booked a holiday quite some time before it's arrival. In my case that was in May 2019 for May 2020 with the result that the May 2020 booking was carried forward to 2021 and now again to 2022.

It depends where you’re going. We’ve booked a cottage on a farm in Somerset for a week. It’s quite isolated, only the farm and two holiday cottages, surrounded by countryside. Equally, our holiday in Zakinthos is not in a big hotel full of people, but an isolated holiday home, in a vineyard. I wouldn’t dream of going on a cruise or in a holiday hotel this year, you just have to consider where you can holiday reasonably safely. Plus we’re both double vaccinated and we both had Covid in the winter. I’m not worried at all about our holidays.

Like many others we booked our holiday in 2019 long before either we or the insurance companies had heard of the pandemic. Last year was put off to this year, we have had to defer now to 2022 as we couldn't hang on to see what will be announced on June 28th. It is the travel insurance that is the issue, when we renewed it obviously CV-19 wasn't covered. I suspect we could actually have gone now if FCO advice changes next month, which would mean we could get insurance, but there are limits as to how much uncertainty you can live with
Enjoy your holidays Maddy0ne, they sound lovely!

ExD

Oh dear, they moved the goalposts again.
Did you pay by card? Can you explore that route for a cash refund?
It'll be refunded to your card meaning you will have a card loaded with that amount, so you will have £xxx to spend on card bills until its used up.
So no actual cash in your pocket.

Right at the very beginning, I remember the PM and the scientists saying things could change suddenly. Did not anyone listen.

I think anyone planning a new holiday(or an old one pushed back) needs to be awards that rules can change in an instant.

This was always true, but now it happens

Thank you B9exchange I’m sure we will enjoy both holidays, but we are guaranteed to have lovely summer weather in Zakinthos in late September, which always makes me feel better.
Summerlove you’re right of course, but Zakinthos is already in amber, and so we’re quite happy to self isolate at home when we return if it’s still necessary. If it went to red, we would cancel. However I think there’s little chance of that happening, as the Greeks are aiming to fully vaccinate their island populations by this summer. I also checked on the insurance situation and there are five Greek islands where you are able to get holiday insurance, and Zakinthos is one of them. I’ve done my homework as far as possible, nothing in life is ever certain.