August 2021 Planning - Will we get there?

[jojo_3596]

Originally Posted by M3ben05

lots of doom and gloom here today

For me it comes down to two factors -

1. can we reduce the infection numbers in time
2. will airlines cancel august flights in anticipation of restrictions not being lifted

On the first point, the extra few weeks of 'lockdown' coupled with the uptake % of the vaccines should give us a good chance of this. The government and media have been busy pushing out scare stories so the vaccine uptake is high and the eligibility age is coming down week by week. In a month it's feasible to think that the vast majority of 18+ will have been offered their first dose.

On the second point, the airlines will fly the second they are able to, however short the notice period is. After the carnage of the last 18 months I honestly can't imagine a scenario where they will willingly not take paying customers once they have the green light. It was an easy decision for them to cancel in advance up to this point but now progress is being made (joint taskforce, discussions at a high level etc) I can see them wanting to hold onto the bookings until the very last minute.

Just my thoughts on a monday afternoon, we're not dead yet

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I agree with this. Selfish though it may sound, for those of us hoping to get away in the summer- this recent extension of the restrictions is more likely to allow that to happen imho.
I also feel that airlines will move heaven and earth to get us on those flights if the borders open again. Our TA has talked in the past about arranging last minute trips etc/ putting us on indirect flights etc. I really cant see the airlines just saying ' oh, that's a shame- we could have started flying next week but we'll try again in 5 weeks time. I'm expecting to see further pressure being applied by the airlines if there is no noise in the next two weeks.

If US/UK Travel opens up- the airlines will be breaking their necks to get us there!

[Twinniemum]

I'm so pleased to have this thread to read and help ease my mind knowing so many others are in the same boat as each other and we all have the same feelings.

I saw my family at my brothers BBQ on Saturday, so all 14 of us who are due to be on this holiday in August. For the first time this year, my nephews, 21 and 18 were admitting defeat, discussing the fact we're unlikely to go and up until last week, they were so so positive. It's such a shame.

But we all agreed we're sticking with it for now as we feel there's nothing to lose. We have a back up in our villa contract that if we're unable to travel the owners will fully refund us, but I will try insurance first as I don't want our villa owners to lose out, our package is with Virgin Holidays for the flights, car hire and universal hotel so they'll either cancel us or we, hopefully, be lucky enough to go.

The uncertainty lies with what we will do if it is cancelled, as I fear moving to next year we will be out priced for the summer. We already paid up to move from last year. I'm going to ask VH what the deal will be with regards to moving again and what costs that will incur, gives us somewhere to start I guess.

I'm also unsure about the need for tests still, if things do open up and the costs of those are still sky-high. We had thought back in May that there would be a high chance the testing would be removed, but its too much of a money maker for the Governments buddies it seems!

I'm still hoping... but feel now we're resigned to not going x

[act1980]

Even though I'm feeling pessimistic I've decided that I'm still going to book some ADR's

[sprocket]

Even if they announced tomorrow the plan to allow August travel, then many of the airlines will still be cancelling a lot of flights unless they are near capacity. They will be wanting to maximise revenue and if the planes are currently not flying, why bring them back into operation for less than full journeys if they can consolidate them.
Basically I can see a lot of flight times changing once we are allowed to go.

Still, I feel that people are mad even thinking about August and now even September. After 15 months of seeing what happens after a lockdown. People jet of to Europe, or more recently Portugal and then have to rush back with days notice. How could you relax knowing that at a few days notice you have to rush to the airport and get a flight home and if you have only been away a few days, you could loose thousands. Insurance may or may not cover you, and might some only cover flights/hotels, not park tickets etc.
We are not talking about a few hundred pound disposable trip to Portugal.

Or you could arrive and get a positive test and have to isolate.

Originally Posted by act1980

I just worry that in a couple more weeks if the government haven't given us any information regarding travel that flights are going to start getting cancelled

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[pretty_lucky]

Originally Posted by Latics

Sad to see the title changed. I for one am remaining positive that by August we will be going.

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Lol - I thought it was a different thread!

[Bellasmummy]

Originally Posted by Bellasmummy

We're flying into Miami and BA are currently operating both flights so I don't think my flights will be cancelled.

Its good in that they'll not need any notice for those flights to go ahead so I can literally take it to the wire.

I'm putting together a list of all my cancellation dates so that I know how late I can leave everything.

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I will need to cancel Discovery Cove by 13th July to get a refund but I can wait until 2nd August for everything else.

We're due to fly 7th August so realistically we'll have made a decision (or have it made for us) a week before.

So thats 7 weeks to go - thats a long time to feel like this but what have we got to lose?

[DisneyYoda]

Originally Posted by Kat11

Have you got some latest stats DisneyYoda? I’m just wondering if other countries numbers are still going down. I know our numbers will be right up but if we can get them down in time and a few counties go green then it would be nice to be a head of the game for (possibly) a sneaky week away somewhere even if it’s not the US.

Thank you.

Kat

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Hi Kat…I didn’t do an update last Friday, apart from joking that we are up and everyone else down!

That’s not far from the truth. But I do remember seeing USA rate flattening out rather than falling.

I’ll do another update this Friday. See where we are before the next traffic light update next week. 🤞

[Alohomora]

Originally Posted by Bellasmummy

I will need to cancel Discovery Cove by 13th July to get a refund but I can wait until 2nd August for everything else.

We're due to fly 7th August so realistically we'll have made a decision (or have it made for us) a week before.

So thats 7 weeks to go - thats a long time to feel like this but what have we got to lose?

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We are flying on the same date. I am thinking about Discovery Cove and watching the days move on 😒 I just hope I don't forget to cancel 🙄🤣

[moosha]

Despite still being 50/50 on whether we’ll go in August, just had a chat with DH and we decided to book a back-up flight for October half term just in case travel opens up in September or October instead of in time for the summer holidays.

BA have been great throughout and we’ve always gone with them so we were happy to book flight and car for £200 deposit. Prices were a lot lower than I expected too after hearing so many horror stories about quotes for 2022. It was less than £3500 for four of us with a large group W car, LHR to MCO.

If we go in October rather than August we’ll do a week at Universal having done that twice in February half term and really enjoyed it. Not going to look at accommodation yet while I get my head around this very quick decision, I’ll give it a few days.

If August happens we’ll cancel the back-up and see if BA will give us a voucher for the £200 (can’t hurt to try) but if not we’ll accept the £200 loss. Rather that than do nothing now and then either be priced out or find everything fully booked if they announce travel recommences from late September or early October (for example) later down the line.

If August doesn’t happen, this will be cancellation number three since the start of the pandemic and with DD1 taking GCSEs next year we are more limited as to when we can travel for the next year. Christmas holidays (mocks) are out and both our girls are at different schools with different Easter holidays next year, so next August is our only option for 2022. So if we can get there for a week in October if this August falls through, I’ll be very grateful. And we’ll move our big August trip to next year when (surely) international travel will be back to normal .

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by jojo_3596

I agree with this. Selfish though it may sound, for those of us hoping to get away in the summer- this recent extension of the restrictions is more likely to allow that to happen imho.
I also feel that airlines will move heaven and earth to get us on those flights if the borders open again. Our TA has talked in the past about arranging last minute trips etc/ putting us on indirect flights etc. I really cant see the airlines just saying ' oh, that's a shame- we could have started flying next week but we'll try again in 5 weeks time. I'm expecting to see further pressure being applied by the airlines if there is no noise in the next two weeks.

If US/UK Travel opens up- the airlines will be breaking their necks to get us there!

See more...

I would disagree with this. Its another month of airlines grounded which we can't afford, lots of crew were ready to get back to work but we're now all going back to furlough. Airlines also need to start contributing toward furlough from July which is another expense that they don't need, and STILL over a year later...no government financial help.

Airlines need time to plan schedules, notify crew to return to work and amend all the crews schedules too. Plus lots of flights cancelled as not enough passengers flying on them. Sometimes its cheaper to not bother flying.

If the government do not update the industry until a few days before flights start in August, the airlines & unions have agreements in place as to how much notice crew need to recieve before returning to work so it might already be mid august before most airlines have everything in place to property restart operations.

The government need to update the travel industry ASAP or summer will be lost...probably along with some airlines themselves