Covid and travel discussion

After reading the horror stories about long waits for renewing passports,I decided to renew early. It took 7 days including New Year.
 
bavarian blue said:
After reading the horror stories about long waits for renewing passports,I decided to renew early. It took 7 days including New Year.
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I'm in a bit of a conundrum for mine.
It expires July 2023 but Brexit (the gift that keeps on giving....) means its redundant by end of January 2023.

Got trips away in March and at the end of April into the early May bank holiday, which as above my current passport is fine for.
I was then going to renew it in May, with plenty of time before my next holiday which is end of August (and by when I definitely need a new passport in hand)

I've since managed to shoehorn in a little break to Kotor in Montenegro, towards the end of June.

So I'm unsure if to renew it now and early, which should ensure it's back with me by 19th March, but then I'm not getting the max value out of my current one.
Or, do I renew it early May and hope it returns by 26th June.....just under an 8 week window.
Or renew it end of June after Montenegro and hope it returns by end of August....also about an 8 week window but in the middle of summer.

Either way it will probably be fine, but I am conscious that renewals can sometimes take a lot longer in the build up and during summer, and there could be a hell of a lot more renewals this year given a lot of people haven't travelled for 2 years and so haven't needed to act on expired or expiring documents.

Might do some digging on the fast track options and take a punt on the 8 week window in summer.
 
feedthegoat27 said:
I'm in a bit of a conundrum for mine.
It expires July 2023 but Brexit (the gift that keeps on giving....) means its redundant by end of January 2023.

Got trips away in March and at the end of April into the early May bank holiday, which as above my current passport is fine for.
I was then going to renew it in May, with plenty of time before my next holiday which is end of August (and by when I definitely need a new passport in hand)

I've since managed to shoehorn in a little break to Kotor in Montenegro, towards the end of June.

So I'm unsure if to renew it now and early, which should ensure it's back with me by 19th March, but then I'm not getting the max value out of my current one.
Or, do I renew it early May and hope it returns by 26th June.....just under an 8 week window.
Or renew it end of June after Montenegro and hope it returns by end of August....also about an 8 week window but in the middle of summer.

Either way it will probably be fine, but I am conscious that renewals can sometimes take a lot longer in the build up and during summer, and there could be a hell of a lot more renewals this year given a lot of people haven't travelled for 2 years and so haven't needed to act on expired or expiring documents.

Might do some digging on the fast track options and take a punt on the 8 week window in summer.
Click to expand...
It’s always been 6 months before expiry date.
 
andyhinch said:
It’s always been 6 months before expiry date.
Click to expand...

www.mirror.co.uk

Brits warned to check their passports ahead of travel as expiry rules changed

According to new government advice, passengers wanting to travel to any European country must check their passport is valid for at least three months from departure day
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk

We're subject to 3rd country rules for travel to Europe, now we are out of the EU.
So anyone with a 10.5 year passport like me loses additional validity.
 
feedthegoat27 said:
I'm in a bit of a conundrum for mine.
It expires July 2023 but Brexit (the gift that keeps on giving....) means its redundant by end of January 2023.

Got trips away in March and at the end of April into the early May bank holiday, which as above my current passport is fine for.
I was then going to renew it in May, with plenty of time before my next holiday which is end of August (and by when I definitely need a new passport in hand)

I've since managed to shoehorn in a little break to Kotor in Montenegro, towards the end of June.

So I'm unsure if to renew it now and early, which should ensure it's back with me by 19th March, but then I'm not getting the max value out of my current one.
Or, do I renew it early May and hope it returns by 26th June.....just under an 8 week window.
Or renew it end of June after Montenegro and hope it returns by end of August....also about an 8 week window but in the middle of summer.

Either way it will probably be fine, but I am conscious that renewals can sometimes take a lot longer in the build up and during summer, and there could be a hell of a lot more renewals this year given a lot of people haven't travelled for 2 years and so haven't needed to act on expired or expiring documents.

Might do some digging on the fast track options and take a punt on the 8 week window in summer.
Click to expand...
I had a similar conundrum, it was pissing me of I was losing 2 months of validity by renewing 'early' - until I realised those two months were worth about £1.26. Probably worth foregoing £1.26 for the peace of mind!
 
bluesmith said:
I had a similar conundrum, it was pissing me of I was losing 2 months of validity by renewing 'early' - until I realised those two months were worth about £1.26. Probably worth foregoing £1.26 for the peace of mind!
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Haha when you put it like that....

I've had pretty good value out of this current passport too.
Probably wise to renew it now, in the calm before the storm of Spring and Summer.
 
I lost 9 months on mine , but was it really 9 months.? I'm good to go now ,just need to find a country to let me in.
 
Apparently it's sunshine Saturday today..holiday bookings up 180%..cmon blues where you off on ya jollys
 
Booked Lanzarote last night after the cup game for June, went to the same hotel in November, AI adults only, came in at £1.3k or so Inc insurance & airport parking for us both.

Looking forward to hopefully having less hassle fucking about with tests and warmer in the evenings too.

Would have preferred to go to our 'normal' hotel in Rhodes but factoring in food/drink etc with it being room only sadly took it to over £2k.
 
Reminded of the old idiom that one mans loss is another mans gain and although I feel sorry for jet2 and Tui during these challenging times there are some amazing deals doing the rounds Right Now.

I'm trying not to think of capitalizing but more assisting our tour operators on their heady road to recovery. I'm led to belief that the holiday companies prebook and pay for their accomodation from the hoteliers for the full season so need to cover their flights to stay abreast.

Re post #3,347 and so I decided to take the plunge to the Balearics but instead of three weeks, booked it for a month which was further reduced to £279 including flights baggage and transfers for a 4* apartment.

I also today booked the Dorm through Jet2 who are having a Blazing Sale. The blazing sale can be booked in conjunction with any other offers like their regular ton off vouchers for holidays pacjages or 15% for flight only. The Benidorm jolly is self catering in a Melia gaff 3* with flights, transfers and 32kilo of luggage for a week @£120

Also seen a 7 night all inclusive in Callete De Fuste for £290pp and lots of flight only with Jet2 for £60 return to the Canaries, which unlike Scruffy O'Leary include a 10kilo bag each. Also Jet2 will not seperate you on purpose if you do not pre book a seat and where possible sit you together like the class act that they are.

I see Ryanair are offering flights for a fiver and a tenner but when you factor in the 10kilo bags and then have to pay to sit together they work out far more expensive than Tui or Jet2. Plus they have a piss poor record at customer service and seem unable or probably unwilling to follow legal or industry guidlines for refunds. An abomination of a company and one that in the past we used regular but will not anymore.

You make your bed and you lie in it and I have made mental note of all the companies in addition to Ryanair that during pandemic have not played the game fairly such as Teletext Loveholidays and Lastminute.
 
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Two Gun Bob said:
Reminded of the old idiom that one mans loss is another mans gain and although I feel sorry for jet2 and Tui during these challenging times there are some amazing deals doing the rounds Right Now.

I'm trying not to think of capitalizing but more assisting our tour operators on their heady road to recovery. I'm led to belief that the holiday companies prebook and pay for their accomodation from the hoteliers for the full season so need to cover their flights to stay abreast.

Re post #3,347 and so I decided to take the plunge to the Balearics but instead of three weeks, booked it for a month which was further reduced to £279 including flights baggage and transfers for a 4* apartment.

I also today booked the Dorm through Jet2 who are having a Blazing Sale. The blazing sale can be booked in conjunction with any other offers like their regular ton off vouchers for holidays pacjages or 15% for flight only. The Benidorm jolly is self catering in a Melia gaff 3* with flights, transfers and 32kilo of luggage for a week @£120

Also seen a 7 night all inclusive in Callete De Fuste for £290pp and lots of flight only with Jet2 for £60 return to the Canaries, which unlike Scruffy O'Leary include a 10kilo bag each. Also Jet2 will not seperate you on purpose if you do not pre book a seat and where possible sit you together like the class act that they are.

I see Ryanair are offering flights for a fiver and a tenner but when you factor in the 10kilo bags and then have to pay to sit together they work out far more expensive than Tui or Jet2. Plus they have a piss poor record at customer service and seem unable or probably unwilling to follow legal or industry guidlines for refunds. An abomination of a company and one that in the past we used regular but will not anymore.

You make your bed and you lie in it and I have made mental note of all the companies in addition to Ryanair that during pandemic have not played the game fairly such as Teletext Loveholidays and Lastminute.
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What's the Jet 2 blazing sale? Best I can see is £50pp off. Cheers.
 
''I'm led to belief that the holiday companies prebook and pay for their accomodation from the hoteliers for the full season so need to cover their flights to stay abreast''

This might apply to some specialist accommodation types but it's quite the opposite for most hotels.
Generally speaking, tour ops won't actually pay for the hotels until the guests have returned home.
TUI are notorious for not coughing up until weeks after the event, but they have the contracts to do so.

You might recall when Thomas Cook went bust and a hotel in Tunisia tried to lock some guests in....this was because Thomas Cook was another company that didn't pay until after the event, and the hotel owners knew that with their demise they were never going to see that money owed to them.

Tour ops will get room allocations but particularly in this climate won't be financial liable for them until people have travelled, as late cancellations will continue to be a thing throughout the year.
 
As cases of Omicron grow here and elsewhere the gamble continues to be on your destination not here - Germany and France have similar rates as here so its gonna be hard for them justifying no entry from the UK coz of Omicron but not sure about other popular destinations. Every booking will have a caveat plus your holiday experience will depend on whats open when you get there - places are shutting bars and restaurants early that sort of thing. You may be better on the Isle of Wight than the Island of Majorca if you want to go out for the whole evening.
 
splinter said:
Apparently it's sunshine Saturday today..holiday bookings up 180%..cmon blues where you off on ya jollys
Click to expand...

Today I am going to take the plunge on a trip to Rome in June.

The wife takes the summer holidays off and I can roam work so going to summer in the south of France this year.

Munich beer festival already booked with the lads.

That’ll do me for this year.
 
bluethrunthru said:
As cases of Omicron grow here and elsewhere the gamble continues to be on your destination not here - Germany and France have similar rates as here so its gonna be hard for them justifying no entry from the UK coz of Omicron but not sure about other popular destinations. Every booking will have a caveat plus your holiday experience will depend on whats open when you get there - places are shutting bars and restaurants early that sort of thing. You may be better on the Isle of Wight than the Island of Majorca if you want to go out for the whole evening.
Click to expand...

Med destinations will be fine this summer.
 
Hopefully booking Sunny Beach for a week - 10 days for the start of June and again in September as wanting to have a good look around the resort with a view to buying an apartment there (5 or six weeks holiday each year for the next 9 years and then retire there),
 
law74 said:
Hopefully booking Sunny Beach for a week - 10 days for the start of June and again in September as wanting to have a good look around the resort with a view to buying an apartment there (5 or six weeks holiday each year for the next 9 years and then retire there),
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Friend of mine has a couple of places out there and spends a lot of time there. Also arranges transfers from the airport to sunny beach
 
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