Coronavirus (2021) thread

[Blue Llama]

So Spain is different from every other EU country where you can stay for 90 days in any 180 day period, so two lots of 90 days in a year, with 90 days between them?

No, your right. I just couldnt be bothered going into too much detail. It was easier to focus on the 90 days.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

And the income tax?
I can apply for a long stay visa to stay at my French gaffe for up to a year without paying income tax.

 

[cleavers]

Iceland have brought in tougher measures from midnight tonight after 200-300 infections of the "British" variant in the last week, including schools closed until after easter.

Meanwhile at the volcanic eruption site, there seems to be a volcano "festival" ongoing, with hundreds still there at 21:00, in the snow and dark. They've pretty much had to close a road to become a car park nearby, well as near as you can drive anyway, there have reportedly been thousands of visitors during today.

 

[PragueBlue]

And the income tax?
I can apply for a long stay visa to stay at my French gaffe for up to a year without paying income tax.

I know it's off the thread topic but just out of interest, how does that work? I thought tax was payable if you stay in France over 183 days in a year.

I only ask as we looked into spending a couple of years there (pre-Brexit) and that's what we were told by a tax advisor there.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

all my contributions to this thread are based on the assumption you are not working.
as a recipient of a UK pension with no other income I am not subject to French income tax,
It is taxed in the UK.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Booking the holiday of a lifetime or bucket list trip for this summer? Yep, daft.

Eyeing up a cheap (relative to individuals circumstances) week or 2 in the sun after the 12 months we've endured? Not daft.

Whilst nothing is risk free, booking it responsibly with a reputable package tour operator/agency is about as ring-fenced as it gets; they have a lot more responsibility to provide you with a good experience so they ain't gonna take you away to anywhere ''unsafe'', as they are bound by FCDO advice.
Likewise they won't take you to anywhere whereby you had to quarantine on arrival, and generally speaking they offer a free amendment if your destination required home isolation on return (should the FCDO not be advising against travel)

On that note, avoid like the plague the likes of Loveholidays and Onthebeach, or indeed anyone not a member of ABTA.

We're clearly not gonna 100% agree so it seems churlish to continue. I absolutely understand why people would have zero interest in booking a holiday right now. I also understand completely why some people are choosing to take a punt and hoping for the best. Sometimes the deals are too tempting when market demand is low. Fortune favours the brave occasionally.

Like everything in life though, horses for courses.

PS I'm not telling you how many trips I have booked this year cos daft wouldn't even come close ;)

Fair enough - if you're happy with the risks. IMO there's a high chance the holidays will be cancelled and you just have to hope in that case that you get your money back sooner rather than later. As I say, it took me 6 months which as it happens was OK, I could afford it. So it was annoying (strike that, infuriating) rather than anything else. Others may be less fortunate. Of course if the operator goes bust - hardly an unlikely eventuality given the strain they are all under - then you're in the lap of the gods with an ABTA claim and god knows how long that would take.

FWIW, I will just mention that the credit card companies are fuck all use in such circumstances as well. I paid £1,000 deposit on one card and the £1,500 balance on another (don't know why, just did). I tried to claim off both of them and after 10 weeks of chasing, they both refused, saying that since Sovereign were offering me a credit note (which was fuck all use when you cannot go anywhere!) they were not prepared to refund me. So I was stuck with no holiday, no money and Sovereign point blank refusing to give me my money back. They only coughed up when I threatened them with legal action.... which TBH is a hollow threat because the small claims courts are so backed up there is no chance of getting your money through that route for like years anyway.

But if anyone is desperate and happy with such risks, knock yourselves out.

 

[feedthegoat27]

Fair enough - if you're happy with the risks. IMO there's a high chance the holidays will be cancelled and you just have to hope in that case that you get your money back sooner rather than later. As I say, it took me 6 months which as it happens was OK, I could afford it. So it was annoying (strike that, infuriating) rather than anything else. Others may be less fortunate. Of course if the operator goes bust - hardly an unlikely eventuality given the strain they are all under - then you're in the lap of the gods with an ABTA claim and god knows how long that would take.

FWIW, I will just mention that the credit card companies are fuck all use in such circumstances as well. I paid £1,000 deposit on one card and the £1,500 balance on another (don't know why, just did). I tried to claim off both of them and after 10 weeks of chasing, they both refused, saying that since Sovereign were offering me a credit note (which was fuck all use when you cannot go anywhere!) they were not prepared to refund me. So I was stuck with no holiday, no money and Sovereign point blank refusing to give me my money back. They only coughed up when I threatened them with legal action.... which TBH is a hollow threat because the small claims courts are so backed up there is no chance of getting your money through that route for like years anyway.

But if anyone is desperate and happy with such risks, knock yourselves out.

Were Sovereign offering you a Refund Credit Note (RCN) or just an informal company credit/voucher for their cancellation?

If it's the former (which a lot of tour operators did last year and some continue to do) that is why the credit card companies will have refused the refund I imagine, as a RCN does entitle the holder to a cash refund albeit further down the line.
In theory you then could have claimed the refund twice; once from your credit cards and again upon expiry of the RCN (I'm not for one second suggesting you would do that btw)

Someone tried to do this with us/me regarding a £5k cancelled holiday that involved a RCN initially.
It failed at the first hurdle but the intention was there to get a double refund.

If Sovereign only offered the voucher and not the ABTA backed RCN then yeah your credit card companies really should've been more help.

If your flight inclusive package holiday tour operator goes bust then any claim would be through the ATOL scheme...rumours are that pot is running pretty low after the collapse of Thomas Cook, and hasn't had much chance to refill the coffers given all the disruption last year.

 

[M18CTID]

And the reason for pubs, football matches and festivals in the uk is?

What, have all those said they’re definitely having mandatory proof of vaccine to guarantee entry?

 

[M18CTID]

Makes for a cool story, but again tell me why Andalusia, a place heavily reliant on British tourism, would suspend the only chance they have of normality this summer for some weird political battle between the EU and the UK? It turns out there were three deaths in Spain where they were worried if there was a correlation with the vaccine. With the other stories around Europe they took a few days, did more tests, did autopsis on the three bodies and concluded that there was no correlation between the deaths and the vaccines, so the rollout continues. In a few days they'll be back up to speed.

I'm not naive enough to think that everything about covid isn't politicized from one side to the other but I draw the line at the thought that individual regions in a country like Spain would purposefully dent their future so that the EU can save face. They are on their arse, they need tourists and that is the be all and end all.

Hasn't it already been explained that perhaps Spain just followed suit as a matter of course when Germany and France suspended so weren't necessarily doing it as much for political reasons as those other countries?

I'm loathe to say how much the trashing of the AZ vaccine across Europe is down to the EU getting arsey and using deflection tactics to take the spotlight away from their poor performance so far but one thing I do know is that @Chippy_boy can't be accused of being a Brexiteer and having an agenda against the EU because he was one of the staunchest Remainers on this forum.

 

[ayrshire_blue]