HOLIDAYMAKERS URGED NOT TO GO UNCOVERED
TRAVEL firms have said it is “critical” that people take out travel insurance following the Government’s green list announcement this week. A little hope was restored for eager holiday-makers this week as the UK Government revealed some countries will be included in its green list for quarantine-free travel from May 17.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps unveiled details of new travel rules at a coronavirus briefing on Friday.
However, initially just 12 countries will be quarantine-free with many popular European destinations not yet on the list. Travellers to countries rated green will not need to isolate on their return, but they will need to take a Covid-19 test before and after their trip.
Since the Government’s green list announcement was made, travel firms said they have experienced the “best day” for holiday sales in months.
Tui, the UK’s largest holiday company, spoke of seeing a rise in customer demand in the wake of the announcement, particularly for trips to Portugal.
A spokeswoman said: “We’ve had the best day of sales for summer 2021 holidays since the initial road map announcement in February. Sixty per cent of all holidays sold yesterday were to Portugal.”
The firm said new flights and extra holidays have been added for people who want to “get away as quickly as possible”.
Thomas Cook also said holidays to Portugal have been its “number one seller” since the announcement.
Hays Travel, the UK’s largest independent travel agent, said the earlier speculation around the announcement prompted its “busiest” week since the pandemic began.
Dame Irene Hays, chair of Hays Travel, said: “This week, Hays Travel branches all over the UK have been at their busiest since the pandemic began, helping our customers to book a holiday for when and where it’s safe to do so. More customers are now booking for this year to make sure they don’t miss out on choice or price.”
Even though the announcement was welcome news for many people, especially those desperate to travel abroad, there are still some things you need to know about while making plans to travel to green list countries.
There are still some risks you could end up stuck in a different country if you chose to travel, which is explained briefly in a section of the green list information.
One paragraph reads: “You will need to take a pre-departure Covid-19 test within 72 hours of your return journey to the UK. Anyone testing positive prior to travel will not be permitted to travel back into the UK, will be required to follow local rules for isolation – you could incur additional costs during this period.”
This is quite a critical point as you could still find you’re not allowed back into the UK – even from a green list country – and unless you have insurance which covers you, you might have to fork out for a hotel for another 10 to 14 days.
When asked about this, travel firm Thomas Cook said the information is critical, and means ensuring people are covered by travel insurance is more important now than ever.
Head of PR and brand at Thomas Cook David Child said: “Travel insurance generally covers that. If you contracted Covid when you were on holiday you would be covered for any medical assistance including your flight and hotel costs associated with that.
“It’s absolutely critical that you take out travel insurance at the moment. Most policies include Covid in their cover.”
Mr Child compared contracting the virus abroad to, for example, breaking a leg. If this happened while you visited a
green list country travel insurance would cover you.
A UK spokesperson for Tui added: “We’re delighted that travel can resume from May 17 to a number of destinations. We understand that the new traffic light system and testing requirements may make customers feel uncertain about travelling, so to offer continued flexibility and reassurance, we have extended our free changes policy to include bookings up to the end of October.
“Any extra costs associated with Covid19 that wouldn’t be covered by regular travel insurance will be taken care of with our free Covid-19 Protection, this includes any hotel quarantine costs whilst overseas. We look forward to taking holiday makers away again soon and will continue to work closely with the Government to ensure this is done safely.”