We have just renewed our annual insurance with Yellow Jersey, specifically asked over COVID 19 medical costs and its not covered as of yet. I did a lot of ringing round the ones that give good MTB cover as Abigale was planning on disappearing on an Alps tour once the FO guidelines are lifted. Shes decided its a risk willing to take to salvage her Summer
Non would give any cover so stuck with what we know
This is the wording that's been added
GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
The following exclusions apply to the whole of this policy
We will not pay for claims arising directly or indirectly from:
For any policy issued from 23:59 on 13 March 2020, there will be
no cover provided for any claim directly or indirectly caused by,
arising or resulting from, or in connection with: Coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) or any mutation of the disease.
Not good but I suppose understandable from an underwriting point of view
I’ve just googled, and Ryanair have just launched an airline called Malta Air. I imagine it’s them rather than national carrier Air Malta.
The biggest issue for me is if it’s possible to get insurance to cover COVID-19 related medical costs.
This is the biggest barrier to me going anywhere abroad this year. It's not so much if I get ill, more if the area I'm in gets put into an emergency lockdown - could just be the hotel I'm in to the province/region. The costs of dealing with that would be uninsured and could run into possibly thousands of pounds. I stress enough worrying about having to face my boss if I come back from the Alps inujured and that's with insurance, sod going somewhere and having a big potential cost hanging over my head for something I'll have no control over!
I’ve just googled, and Ryanair have just launched an airline called Malta Air. I imagine it’s them rather than national carrier Air Malta.
Lol, yes, blame my laziness, I did (briefly) wonder why a Maltese airline would be flying between Scotland and France...
I’ve just googled, and Ryanair have just launched an airline called Malta Air. I imagine it’s them rather than national carrier Air Malta.
Probably to do with Malta being (allegedly) the most corrupt country in Europe.
Confirmation of the excluded quarantine countries
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53283375
And FCO clearance
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-countries-and-territories-exempt-from-advice-against-all-but-essential-international-travel
Just bought Eurostar tickets for next weekend!
That is good news, now to put tentative plans for a roadtrip into gear...
Main obstacle is the travel insurance issue but that seems to be only wrt covid and not the expected cover for bike-related injuries i.e. broken bones etc, but this just means being super-careful socially and as i'm planning on camping that should be manageable.
"The mountains are calling, and i must answer..."
We've bitten the bullet, and booked for Belgium next weekend. It had been planned for a year, and it didnt look like it was going to happen.
A Sportive on Saturday, and if the weather is good, some Road classic sections on the Sunday around Roubaix and Gerardsbergen.
No problem at all booking a B&B for De Panne, loads of choice, the tunnel has gone up by £50 since last weekend, which I would think is due to demand. I can see next Saturday being busy in the tunnel.
On the chunnel Tuesday! Just need to sort some travel insurance now for a 9 month trip in our motorhome.
just cancelled my Eurotunnel for Saturday. Was planning on a week’s riding in Morzine, but its just not worth the hassle or risk in my opinion. Too many variables with local lockdowns, travel insurance, getting the contagion!
I’m sure we could go this summer, but we’ve talked it to death and just don’t want to – too many unknowns, and an expensive exercise only to find its crap.
These are exactly the reasons we cancelled our Spain trip
These are exactly the reasons we cancelled our Spain trip
+1. Although pressure at work almost brought me to tears this week, and 10 days somewhere warm with no access to it is sorely in need.
On the chunnel Tuesday! Just need to sort some travel insurance now for a 9 month trip in our motorhome.
Epic! Good luck and have fun.
After Easyjet cancelled our LGW - Paphos flights on the 14th we've changed them to Luton - Paphos flights on the 18th. I just hope the Cypriots will let us in...
So we have flights booked to Malaga in two weeks time and now the restrictions are lifted we are having a debate about whether to go. Kids are keen, adults less so. We'll be in a house so fairly isolated so the only real concern is the flights and the chances of catching the virus on them. We can also stay in the house all summer if required so getting stuck out there isn't an issue either. So what's the consensus on the chances of catching the virus on the flight? I'd rather avoid it if possible but don't want to do the kids out of their holiday as a result of my own worries about the virus.
I'm not convinced anyone really knows mate. I wouldn't go personally, but I can see why some people may.
I think that in England it's thought that about 1 in 1800 people have the virus (might be even lower that that now) , so assuming 250 people on a flight (which is probably not the case at the moment as most flights won't be full) you need to take 8 packed flights to be on the same flight as 1 infected person, statistically speaking.
One in 8 flights from uk will have a virus carrier on it apparently
I'm in Manchester Airport airside t3 now, it's fairly dead, not many people about, all bars and restaurants are closed, whsmith and boots is open.
There was a queue for Ryanair checkin as usual, but security was quick and easy.
Ive managed to reserve seats on my EJ flight on an entire row that only has 4 seats (2+2) so my family will take the whole row. We will board last, wear masks the entire flight, sanitise our individual seat areas so minimising risks as much as possible. Cabin airflow once onboard in actually very good (high flow, top to bottom, HEPA filters for any recirculated air).
The flight I'm on (manchester to majorca) is approx 60% full.
Everyone being well behaved so far.
After Easyjet cancelled our LGW – Paphos flights on the 14th we’ve changed them to Luton – Paphos flights on the 18th. I just hope the Cypriots will let us in…
All signs are currently pointing to "No!"
The rumours coming out of Cyprus (locals my parents know and the dive centres I contacted) are all saying 1st August.
Might be booking something to Gran Canaria as soon as Easyjet cancel the flights, which is unfortunate as we hadn't budgeted on paying for accomodation and it's going to eat into my coil fund.
So we got to majorca last night, we have our own place so no risks with getting stuck out here if things get locked down again etc, but I figured this might be useful info to some of you.
Wearing a mask for 5 hours straight while travelling is not pleasant, no surprise there, so get to the airport as late as you dare to avoid wearing it for any longer than necessary.
Manchester Airport t3 was pretty quiet, all bars restaurants and shops are shut except for whsmith and boots.
Ryanair flight was 60% full, and people were quite well behaved, Ryanair are serving food and drink during the flight as usual.
Palma airport was busier that I expected, it felt about as busy as the May day Bank Holiday weekend is usually, but everything was slick with no significant queues. You go through passport control as usual, then further along there are another set of desks where you hand your completed entry form in, or scan the qr code if you completed the form online, then they check your temperature with an infrared thermometer. It took about 30 secs to get through these extra checks.
We got in at about 9pm last night and went straight to the local bar, they'd laid the tables out with at least 1.5 m distance, it wasn't very busy, just us and a few locals. But aside from th4 fact it was quieter than usual because of a lack of tourists, it all was pretty normal.
Were in quite a quiet part of the island anyway, so it's not hugely different to usual. I'd imagine the bigger resorts are ghost towns with everything shut.
I suspect if you go self catered to a place/town that isn't focused 100% on catering to tourists it will largely all just seem the same as usual. I bet the tourist resorts are not pleasant, but then they weren't that nice to start with. But I reckon that will change as European and UK school summer hols start in earnest in a few weeks.
thanks for the info julians
my flights for the (now cancelled) benicassim festival are outbound on Thursday.
no idea what to expect on arrival
booking parking is proving more difficult than ever, hire cars appear either fully booked or not open, no response from my usual taxi company....
There didn't seem to be any issue with hire cars or taxis in majorca.
I just used my usual hire car company, and there was the usual queues at all the others.
The taxi rank outside the airport had plenty of cars waiting.
What do we think the risks are for a self drive trip to the Alps, via the Euro tunnel (stay in cars) to a sole occupancy apartment? All the activities we would do would be outside. Lunch would always be picnic or in the apartment. Evening meal would be at the apartment, or maybe, takeaway pizza.
I have looked at, and registered with the French supermarket for click and collect, so that would eliminate the need to visit the supermarket.
I think the risks are minimal, maybe lower than at home, where the kids will want to play with local friends, and we will feel under a bit of pressure to interact with others locally or even family further afield.
@TroutWrestler - sounds like a decent plan.
Can you get insurance that covers covid-related medical costs? That's the kicker for me at the moment.
You could take all the precautions and still end up in a french ITU ward with a bill to look forward to.
Risk of it happening is likely to be tiny, but the impact if it did happen would be huge.
It's a bit the wrong side of the risk appetite line for me still.
You could take all the precautions and still end up in a french ITU ward with a bill to look forward to.
In Europe you shouldn't face any big medical bills as long as you have your ehic card and you don't accidentally go to a private hospital. Think ehic covers 80% of the hospital bill in france
I have an annual policy that predates Covid, but will check the policy.
Our old annual policy covered us. We have just renewed and the new one doesn't. We did a lot of ringing around and not surprisingly couldn't find new one that covered us.
If and when we want to go with the camper its a decision we will have to make.
Youngest daughter has decided to go on her Alps trip as it covers everything else she needs now the FO have changed the status.
@TroutWrestler we are doing similar and have decided that we are going to go now that FCO advice has changed our insurance covers us for medical expenses if needed due to covid etc. We are heading to southern Alps in a very quiet area and can be self sufficient. Obviously going has its risks but then that will always be there now whether at home or away so I'd rather try and make the most of it 😁
I figured this might be useful info to some of you.
Good info thanks.
Just booked two of my girls onto a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Majorca on the 27th to stay at their friends place for a week.
I didn't know about the online form.... I'll let them know.
I looked into this yesterday. Our annual policy (Nationwide) doesn't cover anything to do with Coronavirus - no cancellation, no medical, nothing.
There are a bunch of policies that you can buy online that do cover for medical bills. I am not to worried about cancellation as I can cancel the bookings for no penalty up until the day I go.
I am waiting for quarantine clarity, being a Scottish resident.
Anyone see any Covid-related reasons not to book July 2021 flights with Ryanair?
I assume they will only get more expensive, and it’s pretty much as far out as it is possible to book, plus we know refunds from Ryanair are possible, however painful and protracted.
I would be guessing that the prices would be expensive at the moment and may come down - plenty of people will be rearranging/rebooking their current flights to next year as well as unleashed lockdown fever so no reason for any of the budget airlines to be discounting just yet.
After spending 2.5hours listening to Easyjet's hold music today I have a satisfactory outcome to my upcoming flight issue so I'm now debating if we should head off to a hotel in Gran Canaria or Tenerife in two weeks time.
I'm having a pretty shit time at the moment for reasons I'm not in a place I feel I can discuss with internet strangers and I could really do with a break having worked the whole way through the lockdown but I'm not convinced the holidays will actually go ahead yet so I'm reluctant to tie up yet more money that could be better spent on my bike.
I’m now debating if we should head off to a hotel in Gran Canaria or Tenerife in two weeks time.
I can't speak directly about tenerife or gran canaria, but you should probably check that other bars restaurants etc are open in the place you are going to unless you are totally happy to rely solely on the hotel.
In mallorca currently, the towns that are 100% reliant on package hols are Completely closed, its only places that have locals and private apartment/villa owners that have bars and restaurants open. However There is talk in the local press of hotels starting to open in the next couple of weeks.
I've just been for a run through magaluf, the place is like a ghost town, there's a couple of tourists wondering about, but everything is shut, it's like a scene from a zombie apocalypse film. But where we are a few miles round the coast everything is open as usual.
I've been pushing for AI, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. The wife wants to save money and go B&B or HB, but IME that's not cheaper in the long run.
Ibiza is also a possibility but I guess the situation is the same there. Mind you, one of the hotels we were interested in in San Antonio sold out yesterday while we were trying to decide which one to go for.
I looked into this yesterday. Our annual policy (Nationwide) doesn’t cover anything to do with Coronavirus – no cancellation, no medical, nothing.
Bummer! Thats probably knackered our camping trip to Spain then.....
Check what you insurance says.
I get 'free' travel insurance through my work AXA PPP private healthcare.
Reading this thread I got worried so logged into their site to check and they say I am covered (whether the policy was started before or after COVID). It's all down to the UK FO advice with them.
Thats all for medical.
Any post March bookings don't cover cancellation
Breakfasted in France this morning after a smooth trip through the chunnel. A few days milling about along the coast on the sandy beaches with the dog then off to the Alps for a month! So glad to be out of the uk and only a month after we originally planned.
just checked the travel insurance, as booking before march i am covered.
Normally i would stop overnight at a hotel in Troyes on the way down to the alps, anyone have any idea of anything i should be aware of doing this in the current climate?
Does this sound right? Had an Easter booking in a French Accor-group hotel. Non-flexi, 150€.
Cancelled and given voucher as per French govt ordonnance (can claim a refund but only on expiry of the voucher after 18mths).
Thought about going in a couple of weeks so emailed the hotel and got the reply:
We get availability for this stay but you can only use the voucher for the flexible price of 182.40€
Sods. Asked them to show me the T&Cs where this was mentioned, no reply yet...
This is from the Nationwide FAQ's:
//www.nationwide.co.uk/support/travel/important-travel-information#9">Am I covered for medical expenses if I catch coronavirus while on holiday?
You’ll be covered for medical expenses, and related reasonable additional travel expenses if:
You’re not travelling against Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice
You’re not travelling against your doctor’s advice
You opened your account, and booked your trip before 18 March 2020
Which means I'll need alternative insurance if I want to be covered for CV19 medical as I booked my Spain trip after 18th March.
Anyone know of any that cover CV19 for medical and aren't silly expensive for a family of four???
The FM has given the go ahead for France. We will be driving, going by tunnel as this reduces ferry-mingling risk. Overnight hotel on way to Alps. 1 week house rental, then 1 week ski appt. rental. We will be biking, climbing, via ferrataing, swimming in lakes and eating ice cream. The jury is out on eating out. I have registered with Intermarche for click and collect to avoid supermarket shopping.
Overnight hotel on way back, tunnel back to UK, and currently no quarantine. The Department that we are going to has had 18 deaths total.
The most dangerous part of the journey will be driving through England.
Nationwide travel insurance does not cover us. A one-off policy from Moneysupermarket cost less than £35 for a family of 4.
Not anxious, not apprehensive, but not fully relaxed either. Will dynamically risk assess. I want to avoid being inside with anyone that isn't family. We have a suitable supply of masks if req.
I actually can't remember the last time I ate out inside a building in France during the summer. Outside dining, if plenty of space, may be on the cards.
