Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks

Feb 23, 2009
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A few of the airlines are letting u change ur flights at no extra charge within 12 months if ur leaving before April 30

If it continues to get worse I assume you will be able to do the same thing and re book later on

The way things are going I don’t see this getting anywhere near better within 3 months

Personally I’m not worried about the virus but if I can’t go out and drink, go to amusement parks, sporting games, landmarks what is the actual point of risking going
Yes me too. I have no real virus concerns at this stage, my concerns are entirely around travel/quarantine/access restrictions.
 

revo333

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 7, 2018
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Any advice? Not sure whether to keep booking things with free cancellation where possible, or to basically cancel the trip in the next month and try and get as much $ back as I can. But then the fear is I do all that, and by July things are okay and travel is fine.

If I was you I would wait until the end of April before considering to cancel your holiday.
 

Minidisc MD

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Nov 29, 2019
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have flights dropped that much yet? do people see the price dropping much for say July-ish?

I've got couches in the UK, or should I say settees, so i'm fine sitting indoors drinking cans and hanging out for three months. I can't see us Australians ever being completely disallowed into Great Britain.

are people worried about stopovers? would Dubai or Bangkok enforce a quarantine there even if you're only in a terminal for two hours? would landing in London mean you have to quarantine? and does that mean sitting in a room for two weeks or does it mean I can go and sit in a house with other people who have it?
 

Great8

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Apr 19, 2015
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have flights dropped that much yet? do people see the price dropping much for say July-ish?

I've got couches in the UK, or should I say settees, so i'm fine sitting indoors drinking cans and hanging out for three months. I can't see us Australians ever being completely disallowed into Great Britain.

are people worried about stopovers? would Dubai or Bangkok enforce a quarantine there even if you're only in a terminal for two hours? would landing in London mean you have to quarantine? and does that mean sitting in a room for two weeks or does it mean I can go and sit in a house with other people who have it?
Depends, some countries have banned transits through certain areas. Really hard to tell where this is going to end up. I’ve just come back from work in Singapore and upcoming work trips to China have been cancelled weeks ago. We had a 3 week short trip to Italy planned for mid April but that has been canned. Still got flights booked for the UK in July so we will have to wait and see I guess
 

Minidisc MD

Cancelled
Nov 29, 2019
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Depends, some countries have banned transits through certain areas. Really hard to tell where this is going to end up. I’ve just come back from work in Singapore and upcoming work trips to China have been cancelled weeks ago. We had a 3 week short trip to Italy planned for mid April but that has been canned. Still got flights booked for the UK in July so we will have to wait and see I guess
get any money back for the Italy trip?
 

Great8

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get any money back for the Italy trip?
I had booked very little of the accommodation as we tend to do it on the fly but the bookings we had at Hilton and Accor properties were all refunded, a couple of smaller properties booked directly we paid a small cancellation fee. Hertz coughed up our rental car fees no issues. We had award flights in business class with Emirates on the way over and first class on the way home booked with Qantas points. We were given several options including cancelling, changing dates or changing destination. We cancelled without penalty and all points back in account. Relatively painless and very little out of pocket thankfully
 
Feb 23, 2009
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I haven't cancelled yet, (departing 22 July), I know it's very likely not happening, but it's still at least 14 weeks away so I figure I have plenty of time.
I also feel like closer to the time I'll be in a better place to contact the airlines and hotels, insurance and such about my options as I feel now the answer will be it's too far away and they don't know yet.
 

wadistance

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Sep 17, 2011
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Always better to wait I think. At the moment, things are looking up over here to be honest - not sure if travel bans will be lifted yet, but I can definitely see businesses being fully open and life back to normal within the borders.
 
Aug 16, 2009
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I haven't cancelled yet, (departing 22 July), I know it's very likely not happening, but it's still at least 14 weeks away so I figure I have plenty of time.
I also feel like closer to the time I'll be in a better place to contact the airlines and hotels, insurance and such about my options as I feel now the answer will be it's too far away and they don't know yet.

Hang off on cancelling as long as you can.
We had travel and accomodation booked and in each case the provider was forced by restrictions to cancel our bookings. Much easier to get money or credits when they do the cancelling.
The one flight we cancelled ourselves we are still fighting to get our money back.
Travel insurance was no help whatsoever, basically said it’s a pandemic , you’re not covered.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 

Great8

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Apr 19, 2015
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Always better to wait I think. At the moment, things are looking up over here to be honest - not sure if travel bans will be lifted yet, but I can definitely see businesses being fully open and life back to normal within the borders.
International flights aren’t going to kick off until October at the earliest IMO and some in the industry don’t see many destinations opening up until next year.
Definitely wouldn’t cancel anything though, wait for the airline to cancel it and you should have no issues getting refunded or rebooking
 

raskolnikov

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Recently spent 4 months in Eastern Europe. Spent a fair bit of time along black sea coasts of Bulgaria and Romania.

I could talk all day but Ill only mention a few places along there. The best thing about this area is that there were no Aussies, it actually felt like you were on a holiday unlike most Touristy destinations in Europe. We are a plague.

The first would be Sunny Beach Bulgaria. Sunny beach is a resort town that pops up in the middle of nowhere that is for the wild hearted. If you like to have a bit of a party head here, its similar to Bangla road Patong but with more class and a great variety of people from all over Europe. I got here from Istanbul by bus and you drive for hours without seeing much except green grass then it jumps out at you and your mind is blown. Not much to do hear in terms of sights or history, just beach and good times. Nothing better than partying all night and finishing up with a swim in the therapeutic Black Sea while the sun rises over the horizon.

A short bus ride up the coast is Varna. I only spent a couple of days in Varna but it is a pretty classy town. Sweet bar scene and some great restaurants. Its a pretty historical place with plenty to do and learn about Bulgarian history. Not a necessity but if your working your way up its worth a stopover. From there you can catch a bus up to Constanta which is on the Romanian side. Constanta is also a resort town with beaches and high rises but I found the architecture and history interesting. Crazy nightlife to. Didn't get up to Odessa, my guess it would be pretty similar. Headed inland to Bucharest after this which I loved. Old town Bucharest is pretty and at night I have never seen a guy to girl ratio quiet like it, it was literally 1:4. It was like Christmas came early. The Romanian girls are really approachable and I had many a great nights there :D

Also went to the greatest and cheapest beer hall in Bucharest. I cant get enough of Bulgaria and Romania.

Romanian drivers are without doubt the worst ive ever seen. Hired a car to drive to Serbia and have never felt so scared in my life.

Happy to let you know about Belgrade, Sarajevo or any others. Dont bother with Ukraine,out of the way and much less to do.


Agree wholeheartedly with Bulgaria and Romania being great countries. I especially loved Brasov and Sighisoara in Romania.

Disagree wholeheartedly with Ukraine not being worth a visit. Kiev, Lviv and Odessa are all great cities. Could easily have spent a week in each. Chernobyl is worth a visit too. Fascinating.

When this pandemic is over I'll be taking long service leave and spending 3 months in Europe.
 
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