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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 2, 2020 13:52:23 GMT
Just had an email saying our fortnight to Kefalonia is cancelled.
The papers are full of stories today that all the major airlines and TCs have cancelled all holidays to Greece.
See you in 2021.
The only (very, very minor) hope is that this is a last throw of the dice bargaining chip from the TCs, after the Greek government’s decision to ban the U.K. for another fortnight.
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Post by balddave on Jul 2, 2020 14:20:04 GMT
People on FB posting their August holidays cancelled by TUI, various dates and departure airports.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 2, 2020 14:25:12 GMT
It’s absolutely crazy.
The TCs are there to make money.
The Greeks want the money.
The Greeks let in 29 countries, some of whom had new cases running it 10 per million per day.
The U.K. have 13 per million per day and falling.
It appears to be a very arbitrary line drawn by the Greek government, though I understand they had to draw it somewhere.
And surely, if the Greeks said on the 15th that they were reopening to the U.K., as appears quite possible, why have the TCs cancelled the rest of July and all of August?
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 3, 2020 12:13:51 GMT
Now the dust has settled, there does seem to be some hope.
After the announcement about the ban being extended to the 15th, a lot of people with holidays booked across Greece heard they'd been cancelled. Newspapers announced 'all flights to Greece cancelled'.
However, it looks like some flights and holidays are not cancelled.
I was due to visit Kefalonia with my family (me, SWMBO, and our 2 kids) and SWMBO's mate and her daughter. We've now decided to take a full refund, with a view to going next year.
This leaves us free for this year, and some Skiathos holidays appear to be still running.
We're considering possibilities.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 3, 2020 21:53:35 GMT
In the words of William Shakespeare, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
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Post by dennisn on Jul 4, 2020 6:34:45 GMT
(could be a spelling mistake). No, I’m sure it couldn’t. If it could, I’d be deleting it and handing out a detention - my personal attitude, I don’t want this forum going the way of Facebook.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 4, 2020 8:15:52 GMT
SIR! Kindly amend this year’s list.
😀
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 4, 2020 14:42:55 GMT
(could be a spelling mistake). No, I’m sure it couldn’t. If it could, I’d be deleting it and handing out a detention - my personal attitude, I don’t want this forum going the way of Facebook. My apologies, Dennis. No offence intended - post amended. So, here's the story. As per the first part of this thread, our holiday to Kefalonia was cancelled. Immediately after the announcement from Greece that the ban on Brits was to be extended to the 15th July, many people (including ourselves) received emails saying their holidays were cancelled; not just between 1st & 15th July, but far later on into August. Simultaneously, the papers ran with stories that the TCs had cancelled all flights & holidays to Greece. Not good. But once the dust had settled, a number of people received emails asking them to finish paying the balance on their Greek holiday. And at TUI and Jet2's site, whilst a number of holidays (like ours) had disappeared, others remained. We looked for another holiday from TUI to Kefalonia, and there were quite a few but, bizarrely, only from Birmingham airport. Anyway, we were due to go as a group of two families - me, SWMBO, and our 2 kids + SWMBO's mate and her daughter, 6 of us altogether. The other family didn't want to go anywhere else this year, so we're cancelling Kefalonia for a full refund, or sliding it to next year. We still want to go there together. But me & Me Julie both fancied somewhere this year. Skiathos VERY much on the cards. My first thought was to look at somewhere like Sunset Studios. Reasonable price, but Julie wasn't so keen. Our holiday to Kefalonia was going to cost us c.£2.8k, and we wanted something roughly in that range. At TUI, the Palace came up as recommended, but with a price of something like £10k. They only had an executive suite available. I wasn't thinking of going there anyway, but it was fun to see the price. Anyway, we went on to Jet2, and they were offering the Palace with a free child place. Ten days for c.£2.8k, from 2nd August. They have several room standards on offer, and that was the basic. My gut feeling is, given that Greece is so quiet, and the TCs are putting very good offers on, that the hotel will be half empty and we'll be upgraded as soon as we arrive. If not, we may be able to pay to upgrade. If we can't, well, so what. Similar to when I went last September, it's a 5 star hotel, with a breakfast thrown in, for the price of a basic self-catering apartment. What's not to like. Of course, now it's up to the Greeks to decide to let us back in on the 15th. They update every fortnight, so if the answer is no then, there's still the 29th, though I suspect Jet2 may want more notice. Who knows. So, there we go. The Yorkshire Mouth, hopefully back on Skiathos, sooner than expected. If it happens I won't be able to post video slideshows like I did last time, at least not while I'm away. But I'll try to keep the holiday feedback section updated. It's more likely to be just beach/pool/taverna, as the kids won't want to be dragged to forts and monasteries in the early-August heat. Best wishes everyone.
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Post by balddave on Jul 4, 2020 15:24:44 GMT
It will be great to get some honest feedback from someone actually in Skiathos, on some sites many that are not there seem to think they know the situation chapter and verse.
It will certainly be a different experience, I guess substantially quieter than normal.
One thing I think you can guarantee is the normal friendly welcome in shops, tavernas etc.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 5, 2020 15:12:15 GMT
It will be great to get some honest feedback from someone actually in Skiathos, on some sites many that are not there seem to think they know the situation chapter and verse. It will certainly be a different experience, I guess substantially quieter than normal. One thing I think you can guarantee is the normal friendly welcome in shops, tavernas etc. I can only hope I get the opportunity to do that. I'm starting to make a provisional 'to do' list. As I say, having the family going, I'm a tad more limited in my own freedom to do ass I like (they may not want to), and the suitability of certain activities (Kastro in early-mid August doesn't look likely). I'm particularly keen on the White View, as it was closed last September/October. Sunsets are on the horizon (I'm here all week ) on the White View (if it's open) and Eleni. Between 2nd & 12th August this year they're between 20:36 and 20:26. I'd love lunch on the Bourtzi again, but not sure if this will be possible. The water taxis had stopped running last autumn too, so I hope they're on. And, I'm going for a real beer-off. I've only every rally drunk Mythos, or Fix or Alfa if Mythos wasn't available. I'm going to be comparing these three a tad more rigorously this time out. It's a hard life.
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Post by dennisn on Jul 5, 2020 15:33:36 GMT
It's more likely to be just beach/pool/taverna, as the kids won't want to be dragged to forts and monasteries in the early-August heat. Best wishes everyone. Huh. You don't beat your kids often enough or hard enough. Spare the rods and spoil the childs. I bet you even buy them ice creams and give them pocket money! Although to be fair, with your musical taste, they need compensation.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 6, 2020 6:30:18 GMT
One of my greatest achievements is ensuring Freya’s first musical love was for Buddy Holly.
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Post by dennisn on Jul 6, 2020 6:38:46 GMT
And nobody reported it to Child Protection Services?
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Post by kevb on Jul 9, 2020 19:41:37 GMT
Because TUI have been pushing packages (partly by overpricing their flight only prices)they have been tied to some hotels. Now some of the hotels have decided they are not going to open this season because they don't think they can turn enough profit on whats left of the season, TUI have thrown in the towel and cancelled some holidays entirely rather than try to organise alternative accommodation. Some people are now rebooking with alternate companies like Jet2 and Easyjet who look more likely to be delivering the flights they have advertised, though some will not start until Aug 1st. From some reports on facebook a lot of people have only found out by checking their booking management pages that their flights are off, they have not been directly contacted by TUI which is poor customer service in my view.
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Post by cariad23 on Jul 10, 2020 8:01:36 GMT
i think we have to remember the travel companies have never faced this situation before,so have no precedent.They also have limited staff to ring thousands customers.Add the fact if theres a spike greece may put a stop to british travel again which would leave them with airline staff to pay etc,they are struggling. Ive noticed a big mindshift in the last few days at work too, at first it was nhs wonderful, your doing a great job etc, now its i want an appointment NOW! why cant you write me a letter to say i shouldnt go back to work.etc Leicester in lockdown (not my village) people demanding to come in etc It would be alot easier if travel companies made a clear decision now and put it in the press. Mind you days after it was on TA all flights cancelled from Newcastle, Bristol etc people saying not heard anything about newcastle flights for july /august anyone heard anything. I am sure no one reads previous posts only obssesed with their holiday ..rant over
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