Do you disapprove of people who are planning an overseas holiday this summer?

[Elpenor]

I regularly read an air miles / loyalty points blog / forum whose primary audience is London-based bankers who do (did) a lot of business travel. I’m definitely not one of them but the blog is useful as it highlights ways to exploit loyalty points promotions etc so occasionally I can get a free flight or hotel room from my own very modest travels.

Anyway, most of the commenters on the blog are forever agitating for restrictions to be ended, as they’re desperate to travel first class - usually to Dubai / Maldives etc - and stay in 5-star hotels etc, some of the comments are along the lines of covid is over-hyped etc. This is a group of people who are largely all wfh and can insulate themselves quite well from the impact due to income

I feel it’s totally the wrong approach, and it shows a lot about our modern selfish society.

For clarity I’m talking about leisure holidays, not mercy visits for funerals / care etc

 

[Winot]

We are booked to go abroad but on a junkable flight (can reuse till end April 2022). We won’t go unless the country is on the green list.

(#pollfail)

 

[platinumsage]

It’s easy to criticise other people but I’d hazard a guess and say there is basically no one who is holding off from going on holiday abroad for purely altruistic reasons, there’s inevitably going to be a personal element of fear and/or desire to avoid restrictions. Consequently I’m not sure it’s right to demonise those who do want to go abroad.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I think it's a bit pointless to judge people who are behaving within the rules tbh. If allowed to go then people will, if that's a problem then that's a government issue as far as I'm concerned. All this 'you can go, but you shouldn't' stuff is just ridiculous.

 

[Elpenor]

We are booked to go abroad but on a junkable flight (can reuse till end April 2022). We won’t go unless the country is on the green list.

(#pollfail

I think that was what I meant the third option to be, not very easy to do on phone

It’s easy to criticise other people but I’d hazard a guess and say there is basically no one who is holding off from going on holiday abroad for purely altruistic reasons, there’s inevitably going to be a personal element of fear and/or desire to avoid restrictions. Consequently I’m not sure it’s right to demonise those who do want to go abroad.

I wasn’t intending those who want to go abroad to be demonised, my target was those who seem to want to be able to do it right now at any cost and looking for loopholes. I’ve certainly got places I want to visit but they’re parked for a few years.

 

[Chilli.s]

I wish I could afford a holiday aboard but that money is going to be earmarked for other bills. I hope my finances can cope with the inevitable shrinking in the worlds economy and allow me some kind of retirement.

 

[chilango]

We're booked to go to France, but tbh I don't anticipate it happening.

 

[Spymaster]

The poll question requires an opposite response to the the thread title.

It irritates my sense of order

 

[Yossarian]

As long as the travellers are fully vaccinated it's not an issue I'd lose a lot sleep over - they're definitely not in the same league as the shitheads who took holidays overseas when Britain was a COVID hotspot and the Alpha variant was emerging.

 

[High Voltage]

I've answered option 3 - I'd like a holiday . . . but option

I'm firmly of the opinion that anyone booking a holiday in the next twelve months is being a bit optimistic, I'm not thinking of a holiday, probably, until 2022 or later (bear in mind that both me and Mrs Voltz are hitting 60 this year and we were hoping to do a "big" holiday . . . that'll just have to shelved for the time being though

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

I'd love to go visit my mum and some old friends I haven't seen for ages but can't see it happening this summer, maybe around shitemass but not even sure of that.
Somehow the poll won't let me vote.

 

[kebabking]

Personally, I take the view that anyone going abroad just for a holiday in the current circumstances of rapidly emerging variants, a not fantastically competent government, and a lottery in of restrictions upon their return is a magic mix of selfish and idiotic.

I enjoy holidays in Greece, or Portugal, or Italy as much as anyone in else, but the idea that it's not really a holiday of you stay in the UK is a stupid one - if you can't have a beach holiday in Dorset, or Cornwall, or Pembrokeshire, or a walking holiday in the Dales, Lakes, Galloway in or Snowdonia, or a city holiday in Edinburgh, or Manchester, Bristol or Norwich then there's (to be blunt) something wrong with you, not anything lacking in the astonishingly beautiful and varied country in which we live.

For me, potentially exposing yourself to new variants and then bringing in them back is as selfish and harmful to others - and should be as socially unacceptable - as drink-driving.

The risks to the traveller of local lockdown, illness, and restrictions upon return are the same as those as those involved in going swimming, at night, off the coast of South Africa, dressed as a seal: the the richly deserved wages of stupidity.

(Anyone who goes on holiday to Dubai should be shot, entirely regardless of whether there's a pandemic on...).

 

[strung out]

As long as the travellers are fully vaccinated it's not an issue I'd lose a lot sleep over - they're definitely not in the same league as the shitheads who took holidays overseas when Britain was a COVID hotspot and the Alpha variant was emerging.

 

[maomao]

I don't really blame people for doing what they are able to do but I dislike hearing that people 'deserve' a holiday. Normally just for not having had a holiday for a bit. Part of this is envy because I haven't had a proper holiday in seven years but I do generally dislike hearing that people 'deserve' things without having done anything particularly special to deserve them.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I don't really blame people for doing what they are able to do but I dislike hearing that people 'deserve' a holiday. Normally just for not having had a holiday for a bit. Part of this is envy because I haven't had a proper holiday in seven years but I do generally dislike hearing that people 'deserve' things without having done anything particularly special to deserve them.

I too find the notion of "deserving" a holiday abroad quite peculiar. Why? Why does anyone "deserve" that?
And I also find it bizarre that people can't just wait. I know it's been a pretty shitty time lately but just wait. I guess it's like people who buy loads of stuff on credit because they can't handle waiting and saving up for something.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

We are booked to go abroad but on a junkable flight (can reuse till end April 2022). We won’t go unless the country is on the green list.

(#pollfail)

100% this.

Not bothered about quarantine etc., but the costs for tests for the five of us is over £1000 and whist we have the money it seems like it could be better spent elsewhere and not wasted on a few Covid tests.

 

[Supine]

I’m ok with people following the rules booking holidays. I don’t have any sympathy for people troubled by rule changes though because there is a global pandemic. Foreign travel should be minimised and risk accepted if the desire to go is that strong.

 

[chilango]

In our case it was planned and arranged pre-Covid (apart from ferry bookings) and we've just left it there as there has been little to be gained from officially cancelling.

I've never really believed it will go ahead, despite the occasional moment of optimism, and we'll likely just defer 'til better times.

 

[bimble]

I’m not going anywhere until it feels like there’s as close to zero as possible chance of ending up in a quarantine hotel somewhere near Luton run by a mate of Matt Hancock’s upon my return, eating stale crackers for 2 weeks. Am really scared of that.

 

[Glitter]

I’d love to book one but haven’t because of the uncertainty. I neither want to lose money nor live in uncertain hope until the last minute. If I could guarantee we could go I would go.

I was one of the people who was fortunate enough to go last year too. Our flights had been booked for 12 months and we weighed it up and went. As it happens quarantine upon return was announced once we were there so that is what we did. We knew it was a possibility, we are fortunate enough to have circumstances that allowed it and it was totally worth it.

 

[xenon]

It seems a bit daft, as the likelyhood of hassle seems quite high but that's all really.

Although I can't stand the usual lazy media people crying at the airport, moaning about delays, tropes. Holiday travel misery headlines etc. In previous years due to industiral action.

And my sympathy is a bit limited for those who give it all, my holiday's ruined cos the rules changed complaints.

 

[tony.c]

I don't go anywhere in the summer anyway. I like the long days here, and the weather is usually ok. I do usually go on a long haul holiday in January/February to escape the cold and dark.
I booked to go to Cuba in January after Johnson said Covid would be over by Christmas, last August. I should have known better than to believe anything he said.
When we went into lockdown again in January my booking was cancelled and I got a full refund from the travel company, but lost the £50 it cost for visa.

I won't be booking any holiday again until I know it is definitely going to go ahead, and any requirements are not too difficult.
I'm still hoping I might get away next winter, but not holding my breath.

I can understand why people who face the daily work grind for most of the year would want to go away for a break and some sun - especially if they are from Scotland or up North where the weather is worse. But they must take into account they might have problems.

 

[LDC]

Split between completely understanding people wanting a holiday away after the last 18 months and feeling fine with them booking a trip away to a green list country, while on the other hand thinking people going abroad during a global pandemic are either selfish, idiots, or a combination of both.

Either way zero sympathy for all the moaning when things change and they get a bit stuck or end up having to rush back, to the point of thinking they should be made to walk home from wherever they are to teach them a lesson. And the fucking media pushing cameras in people's faces at airports cajoling some sob story out of them about disaster holidays and the little angel's lives being ruined need shooting.

I do think we need to re-appraise our relationship to easy and frequent foreign travel, but I know that's neither popular nor going to be easy. (And not likely to happen.)

 

[StoneRoad]

Normally, when I have time / money to do so, I take my holiday in the UK - usually in the form of shorter breaks [ie mid-week weekends].

Planning to continue this style anyway, especially now, as I don't want to have the covid related hassle over travelling.
Also, I want to support the UK tourism industry.

Personally, I think some of the people agitating for overseas leisure travel, who then get "caught out" by rule changes and complain about that situation need to take a look at themselves and the circumstances ...

If I had the money / time to spare for overseas travel, personally, I would want to wait until as much as possible of the whole world has had the jabs and covid-19 has become a non-problem.

 

[miss direct]

Yes, I will judge anyone* travelling just because they want to, without a reason such as visiting family or other necessities. There are wonderful places in the UK to go to, and the narrative of "I deserve a holiday" (especially if this is followed by "I've worked all through this") and "can't wait to get off this shitty island" has really annoyed me. Selfish and holiday obsessed.

* with a few exceptions

 

[Johnny Doe]

We've got a holiday to Tenerife booked at the end of August and will go if it's on the green list at that point. If not we'll move it on a year. We were over there last Xmas and had to come home early due to change in rules, which is something you just have to accept is possible at the moment.

 

[rekil]

I watched Korean pandemic disaster fillum The Flu and a robust approach is taken towards people in infected zones and especially foreign holiday booking chancers but the most drastic treatment is reserved for those who use the word "staycation".

Spoiler

 

[Johnny Doe]

Yes, I will judge anyone travelling just because they want to, without a reason such as visiting family or other necessities. There are wonderful places in the UK to go to, and the narrative of "I deserve a holiday" (especially if this is followed by "I've worked all through this") and "can't wait to get off this shitty island" has really annoyed me. Selfish and holiday obsessed.

Individual circumstances are more nuanced that that. I already know that summer will be a long haul, my autistic boy will be up hours before anything is open, and my 6 year old is hyper-intelligent and needs stimulating from 6am until 9pm, or just goes nuts. The chance of a week or two where the weather is guaranteed to be good enough for them to play in a pool all day, is the only respite we'll get. We don't have anyone else who can handle them, no-one who even babysits., now the lady who could has got a full time job.

I've had both jabs and if allowed we'll be away at the end of August. If we can't, we can't, but I won't feel bad if we can

 

[T & P]

Even if the country in question were on the amber list, if the people travelling observe the quarantine rules, no problem at all. Far less risk to the rest of us than the countless twats who refuse to wear a mask in shops or in public transport.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Why is there amber anyway? Surely red and green is all that is needed? Typical Johnson to have a go/don’t go option.