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Post by dennisn on Jul 10, 2020 10:32:44 GMT
One problem on FaceBook is everybody only putting their own point. It needs clarity. If only people would post specific information and nothing else, we could see the true picture.
For example
1 My holiday has been cancelled. 2 I am with TUI/Jet2/Whoever. 3 I am on a package/flight only.
4 Flying from Manchester/wherever. 5 For 1/2 weeks/days. 6.Day and Dates start and finish.
7 Accommodation name.
This is because there is a lot of confusion. Some people have been cancelled and some haven't. My theory is that TUI have cancelled SOME accommodation contracts. They have also cancelled SOME flights. What the criteria are for cancellations by TUI I don't know (e.g. which gives them most profit, flight or accommodation?). In my opinion, no hotels etc have said they are not opening voluntarily - I believe it's because of being compelled by various factors. For instance, didn't the Greek government say any hotels etc which open must only open maximum of 50% of their accommodation? I've heard that owners will have to arrange for a private doctor to be "on tap". Opening for half or less of the season will require the same effort as opening for the full season. That would make some places simply not cost effective.
FaceBook needs some brave soul to put that up and for participants to stick to not muddying the issue by posting that they're sure the price of Mythos will still be the same, but cat food is costing a bomb and does anybody know if Parga has umbrellas and sunbeds and when's Happy Hour in Thessalonika and there's been a spike in the virus in Morocco - so it ain't gonna happen, not on FaceBook! We could do it here and say that ANY digressions will be ruthlessly pruned/moderated out, but from past experience of similar situations, I doubt if we would get enough participation to give a decent result (several people on FB are not posting here).
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 10, 2020 10:53:44 GMT
Largely agreed.
I do know the Bourtzi has said they've decided to close, and I've heard a few others saying something similar. I'd have thought they'd say if it were the TC who'd forced them.
My theory is this. The transfer bus picks you up from the airport and runs all the way to Koukounaries, dropping people off along the way. Al those people were on your plane.
Now, if half the hotels close down, your transfer bus will be half empty, which means the plane will have been half empty, and not economically viable. And I think that's why they've cancelled holidays.
I could be wrong, but I don't see any of these companies throwing money away by cancelling holidays which would have made them money.
Maybe the hotels staying open are those who traditionally have visitors from other countries like Germany, and/or those who do a lot of business direct for DIY holidays.
We'll know more about some of this as the season goes on, but some of it we'll never know.
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Post by balddave on Jul 10, 2020 11:06:44 GMT
Good post Dennis, you could add FB posts from people stating, ‘ we should be there now, missing our Greek family, should be heading to xyz beach, our 2nd home etc, etc.
We have all dealt with the situation in our own way, some aired on the side of caution and rebooked for next year, others like myself have taken a calculated risk and hope to visit this year, personal circumstance determines individual choices, and who is anybody else to judge.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 10, 2020 11:40:46 GMT
So here it is. This is the acid test as to whether it's going to work or not. metro.co.uk/2020/07/09/cases-rise-greece-days-before-reopens-british-tourists-12966853/Yesterday there were 33 news cases in Greece, with 24 of them foreign tourists. But that doesn't make it 'shut up shop' time - this isn't unexpected, it was always going to happen. It's a question of whether they can locate and isolate as necessary. If they can, then they'll carry on. If they can't, they'll close for business. The interesting thing to see would be where those tourists are from. If they're largely and/or disproportionately from a particular country or countries, it'll be those places that get the cold shoulder.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 10, 2020 11:45:47 GMT
Good post Dennis, you could add FB posts from people stating, ‘ we should be there now, missing our Greek family, should be heading to xyz beach, our 2nd home etc, etc. We have all dealt with the situation in our own way, some aired on the side of caution and rebooked for next year, others like myself have taken a calculated risk and hope to visit this year, personal circumstance determines individual choices, and who is anybody else to judge. Dave, I completely agree. What I don't like is the very passive-aggressive tone of some posts. "I'm not going because I couldn't live with myself if I brought it to the island", which clearly means "How dare you risk the islanders health for your holiday. You selfish scumbag!"There's a lot of it about. You're right about personal circumstances. If I were a tad older, or if I'd had a health scare, I may have taken a different decision. As it is, at 55 I'm on the edge of age starting to become a factor. But ultimately, I've balanced my average day at home with an average day on Skiathos, and I think there won't be any increased risk for me. Indeed, it may well be reduced.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 10, 2020 15:38:33 GMT
You couldn’t make it up.
We renewed kids passports online this weekend. It appears they might not be back in time.
We have the option of moving the holiday to later in August. Don’t know what to do.
Fast track applications in the passports are suspended at the moment. It might restart, but who knows when.
Oh, bother! And that’s strong language.
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Post by kevb on Jul 10, 2020 17:57:02 GMT
I'm not sure what they are really saying in that Metro article, it smacks of lazy journalism. Are they saying there are people arriving with symptoms or that people are giving positive antibody test results back? if the latter then there will be a lot of these, anyone who has had some contact with the virus but are not infectious or carrying the virus will give a positive antibody test. The article is too vague to make sensible conclusions from.
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Post by balddave on Jul 11, 2020 7:37:44 GMT
Our friends had their TUI flight from Manchester on 9th September cancelled yesterday, no alternative offered, but got full refund. They’re hoping to book jet2 for the same date.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 11, 2020 14:20:17 GMT
I could use 'industrial' language, but to honest, I enjoy the drama.
Right, here's an update on the story so far.
My family (2 adults + 2 kids, 10 & 12) booked a holiday with SWMBO's mate, and her daughter (14) to Kefalonia.
Cancelled by TUI, so moved to next year.
My family re-book a holiday on Skiathos (Palace, 10 days, 2nd August). Good deal, one free child place.
Mate & daughter decide to join us at Koukounaries, but she gets no free child place (onlu one adult, and the daughter is 14 anyway), so the Palace looks expensive. So, they've booked a holiday with the same flights, but at Muses.
Then we have the passport debacle. It doesn't look like the kids' renewals will be here on time. 90 minutes on hold on the phone to Jet2 yesterday, no answer.
I finally got through to Jet2 this morning. If we swap the holiday now, it costs us £75 each. If we let the clock tick down to less than 15 days (next Saturday) that doubles to £150 each, so £600 altogether. OUCH! We don't want to take that hit. And the chances of us knowing for sure during the next week that we'll get our passports on time are very slim.
So, we've looked again. We can go to the Palace, same free child place, 14 nights on 23rd August, same price as the day holiday we booked. However, the flight lands back home in Manchester on Sunday night at midnight, then we have to get back to Huddy, and I get up at 5:45 on Monday morning for the first day back at work. No way.
Fortunately, and I've never seen this before, they're doing 12 nights. It's a bit cheaper, to the point where it pretty much covers the £75 each transfer fee.
Now this is where it gets complicated. SWMBO has a brainwave. The mate's 14 year old effectively counts as an adult. If we move one of our kids into their room, we get a second free child place. We've punched it in at Jet2's site, and it works.
I have the email address of the very helpful lass at Jet2, and we've put this to her, and she thinks it's doable. It'll turn out as a 12 day holiday in August at the Palace for just £650 each!
She's ringing us at 9:00am tomorrow to move the holiday.
WOO-HOO!
The only thing now is the chance the passports don't get here by the 23rd, but that'll be 7 weeks from when we applied, so we'd be very unlucky indeed.
I'll keep you posted.
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Post by balddave on Jul 11, 2020 14:55:43 GMT
You will have earned your holiday if only due to stress caused by logistics of it all
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 11, 2020 15:38:18 GMT
Just two more steps - to complete the transfer tomorrow, then for the bleeping passports to arrive.
Once booked, they will then either arrive within a couple of days, or 48 hours before we go.
Well, it keeps things interesting.
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Post by bvrc on Jul 11, 2020 15:41:07 GMT
I sincerely hope those passports arrive in the next day or two and the lead up to your holiday is stress-free, bar the dreaded packing. But passports tucked in the hand luggage! The last time I sent off for a passport renewal, I posted it off on a Thursday, so I guess it arrived on the Friday sometime - I received my new passport back on the Saturday morning - super quick! I’d imagine you’d settle for less efficiency this time, but asap would be good 👍
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 12, 2020 12:03:56 GMT
Holiday booked.
Now it’s just down to the passports.
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Post by katet on Jul 15, 2020 15:27:06 GMT
YM - see you and your gang in the Agustera, then! Glad you got it sorted.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Jul 30, 2020 10:28:46 GMT
Freya's passport was sent yesterday morning and has just arrived. Theo's passport was sent this morning, so should arrive tomorrow or Saturday. Now it's just waiting and sweating to see if new cases in the UK (and/or my particular local authority) start to rise, and Greece closes its borders to us, or we ban travel. Or if Greece's cases start to rise, and they shut up shop. It's going to be a very long 24 days. We're in a position where, if Greece went bad while we were there, quarantine for 14 days on return wouldn't be a disaster (that's likely to be reduced to only 10 days soon anyway). SWMBO has already been told she can work from home, and that's likely for me. If I couldn't, I'd more than likely still be paid, and finally, even if I wasn't paid, the financial hit of those few days would be relatively small. And so now my mind turns to a name for my thread in the Feedback section.
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