Family holidays, will we get there or will airlines not fly, will we risk being stranded if situation worsens?

Going all inclusive so I’ve nothing really to pay for once there. But will take more cash than normal. Can’t see cc cards being readily accepted.

I’m sure the media frenzy will clear it all up.

I think the current plan is to sink it as punishment.

Tbh I can see the EU given Greece more money, more time and dragging out the debt to even higher levels.

Politicans like to sweep big problems under carpets

We should blame the Greeks for living beyond their means and being soo bloody blind to their fate that they created though.

You’ll be fine

Take plenty of cash and keep it safe.

Note that there may well be delayed/cancelled flights.

Enjoy the sun, run up a massive tab at the resort and when the bill comes in tell them that your debt is everyone’s problem. 😉

Or just go and enjoy the Greek hospitality and weather. Credit cards and debit cards will be accepted as normal just don’t rely on being able to use a cash machine. Take extra sterling as necessary.

That’s not how the potential situation was being described on Radio 4 the other day. When a retailer accepts a card for payment then they are relying upon their merchant bank to reimburse them for the amount of credit accepted. If the banks have gone to pot then you can see smaller retailers not wanting to take that risk.

Cash is king.

Just be aware your hotel may try to charge you again despite you having already paid. I’m sure thats happened before.

we’re going in less than 2 weeks too, havent paid much attention to the situation really, try not to read/watch too much news. im aware of it tho and we’re thinking we’ll just take cash and if we do need a card hope itll all be fine.
i wasnt aware of any potential problems with flights tho, so that may be a concern :-/

we’re off to zante, where you going mate?

run up a massive tab at the resort and when the bill comes in tell them that your debt is everyone’s problem.

Thats utterly childish. Only someone who thought they were owed a living and thinks everyone else should pay for them thinks like that.

Crete in 8 days for team Duckman.

or be telling a joke Hora?

Take the opportunity to indulge in some good old-fashioned rioting. Look… you get to set fire to Audi’s!! Who wouldn’t enjoy that!! 😀

bbc are forecasting hotels and travel co`s going bust and throwing tourists out of hotels, unless youre got a package holiday,then the travel co will feed and sleep you, hopefully.

So check your travel insurance carefully as to what is covered, and keep the UK consulate contact details to hand.

Credit cards and debit cards will be accepted as normal

Was in Crete last week, many places not keen on taking cards. When we checked out of hotel we had a small bill to settle. Strangely they were unable to process any of the 3 cards we tried to use.

invest in one of the rapid extraction balloon type things for each member of the family. if it all goes pete tong just send up the balloon and wait for the C130.

So check your travel insurance carefully as to what is covered, and keep the UK consulate contact details to hand.

top advice

if you haven’t bought travel insurance yet, spend properly on good insurance and read the exclusions

take printed copies of the proof of payments for flights, hotels, car hire etc

take euros and sterling as backup (even if it goes straight back into the bank account after the holiday it’s better to have it than not)

If you’ve got a hire car, a real, physical road map might be useful.

I was there years ago during some previous rounds of badness, and the roads all got blocked by protesting farmers and we ended up on some looong detours through dirt tracks to get anywhere.

Going to Kos in 2 1/2 weeks.

Not even concerned to be honest. Was exactly the same position when we went to Zante last year, and you wouldnt have even know there was a crisis while you were out there.

They will get more cash again

Friend of mine from work has just come back from one of the islands. Said you wouldn’t even know there was an issue.
Might be different on the mainland or in cities away from the tourist money though…

We should blame the Greeks for living beyond their means and being soo bloody blind to their fate that they created though.

Yep, every last one of them….I’ll let my BIL know….seeing how his Salary has dropped from 1500 to just short of 900 euros over the last couple of years

It’s very difficult for him to live, let alone above his means….anyways, maybe in a few weeks any savings he has managed to put aside will be converted in to a useless currency…that’s something else to look forward to.

Thats utterly childish. Only someone who thought they were owed a living and thinks everyone else should pay for them thinks like that.

Joke all you want, there is a hell of a lot of normal people who have been getting on with the lives all above board who are now facing a very bleak future all because they had the audacity to be born in a certain country.

Maybe you might want to joke about all the Syrians too, who have had to flee their country…I mean, surely it must be all their own fault?

As for the OP, see how the situation is just before, it might be worth having a bit of extra cash…just in case they put restrictions on withdrawals from the ATM’s.

If they did fall out of the Euro, you’d still be able to use the Euro, many places although they have an official currency will accept Euro’s or dollars.

If there is any civil unrest, it will be downtown Athens.

My only suggestion from holiday makers, make sure you get receipts and make sure the receipts show that if you’ve bought booze that it’s been entered into the till with 23% VAT (although, double check that just in case 🙂 ) I’ve not lived in the country for 3 years and maybe rates may have changed.

Unfortunately there are still some places that try a fast one, they need to be embarrassed to do things above board.

Oh and try and find traditional taverna’s…some of the best food ever…FACT!

I was back from Mykonos on friday, you would not know any trouble is on the horizon. Everything working as normal, but the test will be in weeks to come.
Regardless of the current situation always wise to use cash as some places never take cards anyway and atms just like in the uk are often non operational.
i take clarity credit cards and fairfx top up cards as backup and use cash.
If you are all inclusive i doubt you have anything to worry about.. get out for some meals man.
Some places in greece live on tourisim, the last thing they will want is to not have any tourists no matter what state the country is in or what currency you will be using.

hora – Member

We should blame the Greeks for living beyond their means and being soo bloody blind to their fate that they created though.

Especially the ones that weren’t born.

Take enough cash to cover all your spending.
Insure your holiday.

Joke all you want, there is a hell of a lot of normal people who have been getting on with the lives all above board who are now facing a very bleak future all because they had the audacity to be born in a certain country.

Maybe you might want to joke about all the Syrians too, who have had to flee their country…I mean, surely it must be all their own fault?

Whoever you want to blame for this, the (previous) Greek Government etc- none dare make the cuts deeper and sooner. The people were on the streets- remember? Yes there will be those that dutifully worked hard, suffered and paid taxes. Just like when any recession hit the likes of the UK.

I’ll let my BIL know

– so what about my friends in Germany? What I don’t agree with is when Greece does default it can and will impact badly on the German people.

As for your bizarre sideswipe regarding Syria? No I blame the US and the UK on this one. Their default ‘we don’t like Arab strongmen’ and secret arming etc. Yet another FUBAR by politicians.

You might need one of these:

hora – Member

– so what about my friends in Germany? What I don’t agree with is when Greece does default it can and will impact badly on the German people.

So why is it you’re so happy to blame the greeks, but not to blame the germans (and others) for lending money they shouldn’t have?

Whoever you want to blame for this, the (previous) Greek Government etc- none dare make the cuts deeper and sooner. The people were on the streets- remember? Yes there will be those that dutifully worked hard, suffered and paid taxes. Just like when any recession hit the likes of the UK.

I don’t blame and make the sweeping judgments…others have taken on that role.

When you’ve seen, witnessed, lived with what’s going on, then perhaps I might give your remarks some credence.

As for recession, I’ve lived through a couple, anything the UK has had in the past 30 years pales into insignificance compared to what’s happening in the Southern European countries, unemployment around 50% within the young, 25% generally….pretty impressive figures. When Brits leave their country it’s because we want to. 1000’s of highly educated Greeks have had to leave. Think it would be closer to the mark to label it a depression, rather than recession.

As for your German friends….Germany is benefiting from a)influx in skilled cheap labour (I’ve actually had to listen to some smug ones saying how it’s a win win situation…..how people having to leave their home land and family behind is a win win situation is beyond me), also low currency which makes all those lovely products for export cheaper….The Major states knew Greece wasn’t eligible, but from the very start they bent and manipulated the rules….and then they wonder why things aren’t rosy…those without blame may point their fingers.

Up until now, Greece hasn’t missed a single payment….they at least have the balls to stand up and say it’s a non fixable problem with the current set up and things need to change. They have had Austerity for the past 6 years…things have gone from bad to f’ing awful.

I can’t understand why the German state is taxing it’s people so much…people are falling over-themselves to buy German bonds, one of the few “safe havens” in Europe. That very cheap finance is being lent out to the other countries at significantly higher rates of interest…profit being made there.

The situation in Greece has taken 30-35 years to get to this point, that’s not something that you are going to reverse overnight, or even within a year or two…..add to that an economy that continues to shrink…not really much of a chance for significant change. The IMF/ECB now know this, but they won’t admit that they all made a pigs ear of this from the very beginning.

The comment about Syria and Sidewipe, not a sidewipe…just pointing out that flippant comments about very serious issues affecting people and their lives through no fault of their own show’s very little compassion. For sure, they aren’t all Angels, but then there’s good and bad in every walk of life.

But also, as you’ve brought it up, perhaps a trip to central Greece would be a good idea, so you can understand how things really are… Not only is the country suffering the worst economic situation that has not been seen since the 2nd World War and the Civil War, they have a massive influx of people fleeing Syria and the like. It’s rather a lot to contend with.

Greece and Italy catch the brunt of the refugees fleeing from Africa as well, and the northern European states aren’t exactly blameless in the problems over there in their former colonies.

I wouldn’t blame the Greeks and Italians for handing refugees a warm coat and a few euros and putting them on the train north.

I wouldn’t blame the English and for handing refugees a warm coat and a few euros and putting them on the train north.

@gowlinglad, we don’t underestimate the hardship. However you have a country with unionisation of numerous induistries and unsustainably high wages. These wages where paid by Greece using borrowing. Average wages in comparable countries like Bulgaria, Slovakia or Turkey are much lower. Its totally wrong for the Greeks to compare themselves and their economy to Portugal or Spain.

Huge numbers of Greeks left for Australia, US etc for a better life in the last 50 years. A little but more of that spirit for those remaining at home would serve Greece well.

Greeks are suffering as pensions, wages and the entire economy was a fantasy, smoke and mirrors. Of course staandards of living have been cut as they where a fantasy before. The rest of the eurozone is fed up with paying the bills. The Greeks talk of a referendum and democarcy I think they’d get a wake up call if the rest of Europe had a vote on whether to bail them out. Opinion polls said 80% of Germans don’t want to give Greece any more money. You can imagine what the Portugeuse, Slovaks etc think

If the Greeks had actually demonstrated they where making some progress in reforming their businesses, cutting corruption and collecting taxes due they would be finding the negotiations more straightforward.

Whatever the Greeks think the EU/eurozone has done them a favour so far by avoiding bankruptcy and an exit from the euro and the EU

I can’t understand why the German state is taxing it’s people so much…

Germany also has a massively over inflated public sector that is just as cushy (if not more so in places) than the Greek one.

as soon as you are made an employee of the state you can’t be fired easily (you really have to **** up in order to lose your job… more likely you’ll be moved to a different dept.) and you have a job for life (well not life as you can jack it in early on a pension that is tagged at inflation plus x%). and don’t worry about having to work a full week either. lots of public offices are only open to the public two or three days a week and even then only until 12 midday. one workshop is use is next to the social office. the number of empty offices by 2pm massively out numbers those with lights on.

this song kinda sums up my view to German state employees.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJDlnA2zuY[/video]

i take clarity credit cards and fairfx top up cards as backup and use cash.

ive got a clarity, is the fairfx about the same? is it used the same as a credit card over there, so if the shops/tavernas are cash only it still wouldnt work?

Take enough cash to cover all your spending.
Insure your holiday.

yep, will take around £700ish in euros for 7 days, maybe a little more. as for insurance, are they all much of a muchness? or do you reckon some will be putting in clauses for the ‘greek situation’ to cover themselves?

thanks

EDIT: with taking cash in mind, i put in a search on google and came up with this result on exchange rates. clarity card top.
am i right in thinking this is only for using the card abroad, i cant get hold of physical euros over here first with it?
or can i order euros to take through my card?

Well we’ve arrived and presently there is no signs of any problems apart from there did appear to be quite a few shops closed. In my all Inc bubble I doubt I’ll notice. We have booked into a local restaurant for a meal can’t be that bad as there is a 3 day wait.

Thanks for the update- we’re off to Kefalonia in a week-and-half. If you have any issues / tips please let us know!

Interesting to know what its like on the ground, as the news can make things seem worse than they are; some news sites are claiming places are now closing as they can’t pay suppliers or employees