What now for my foreign trip?

Mahon, Menorca (C) Eileen Kersey

Travel is way under our radar right now as it is for the majority of people who are staying home as much as possible. All but essential travel is not advised or possible during the current covid-19 pandemic but what if you already have a holiday booked?

In the UK one huge travel firm, TUI, is regularly updating it's travel advice and presumably many other travel companies are also. However that company is offering an admin fee free switch - if you have a scheduled vacation before a particular date you can reschedule without an admin fee though if the new holiday is more costly you will be charged the difference.

But before you jump in feet first there are some points to consider.

When did you book your upcoming holiday?
It seems that a pertinent cut off date is either March 16 or March 18. My travel insurance has already stated that it will honour any refunds for holidays booked before March 18. As they rightly point out, at that time customers had no idea what was about to happen. We actually booked ours in late October shortly after our 2019 last minute vacation.

When will this current crisis end?
Right now not one person knows how or when this crisis will end. With that in mind how can re-book to a future date?

Now for the important point.
If you reschedule your holiday and it is still impossible will you lose out because you changed the date? As there are cut off dates in place now what will happen to your rebooked holiday? Will it be classed as brand new?

For us there are other considerations specific for us. They include when our passports are due to expire, changes in holiday insurance due to age, our age as we are older and the old chestnut BRexit!

A lot will depend who you booked with, whether it was a package holiday or flight only deal and more. It may also depend how much money you stand to lose and if you can take such a hit.

There is a line of thinking that travel and holidays will happen again once this crisis ends. So many possible destinations rely heavily on tourism.

But we are all individuals and what may be viable for a young family may not suit a retired couple.

Whatever happens though if you cancel your holiday before the foreign office advise against travel you will lose any monies paid.

So it seems patience is the answer at least for now.

More
The essential coronavirus travel advice you need to know
Coronavirus outbreak Q&A: advice for travellers

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