Will you travel? [Mod Note in Post #1 - Travel Discussion Only! Megathread]

mikekerry

For Forks Sake wrote: »

He's the Minister for Foreign Affairs, it's literally his job.

Plenty of people jobs involve travelling but they are doing meetings by zoom at the moment.
The issue is the government are restricting people from travelling > 5k but the same people are getting on planes themselves.
Do you not see the contradiction with this and the example it sets?
They should for the period that these heavy restrictions are in place be staying in the country themselves to set an example.
If they can't do this how can they expect people to follow their lead?

mikekerry

mikekerry wrote: »

The issue is the government are restricting people from travelling > 5k but the same people are getting on planes themselves.

And another that doesnt understand the restrictions

mikekerry

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

And another that doesnt understand the restrictions

I'm well aware of the restrictions but you obviously haven't been able to understand the point I was making

Theboinkmaster

I booked 2 weeks in Portugal end of July and I'll still be going.

Happy to pay €250 fine on the way to the airport, but something tells me travel fines won't exist by the summer.

Allinall

DulchieLaois wrote: »

The government tells us that we need to sacrifice in order to protect....so I think MM needs to do the same , otherwise, I am going to my own thing if I see the leaders of the country using some BS as a publicity stunt.

Why do you think MM not going to America would be a sacrifice?

naughtysmurf

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

I booked 2 weeks in Portugal end of July and I'll still be going.

Happy to pay €250 fine on the way to the airport, but something tells me travel fines won't exist by the summer.

Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the last restriction to be removed,

Donald Trump

mikekerry wrote: »

Plenty of people jobs involve travelling but they are doing meetings by zoom at the moment.
The issue is the government are restricting people from travelling > 5k but the same people are getting on planes themselves.
Do you not see the contradiction with this and the example it sets?
They should for the period that these heavy restrictions are in place be staying in the country themselves to set an example.
If they can't do this how can they expect people to follow their lead?

Well, you see, there is an order of priority when you are keeping numbers travelling to a minimum

Simon Coveney going to Turkey to represent the state's interests unfortunately is a higher priority that your heading to turkey to sit on the beach or haggle with local gold sellers would be.


I often wonder about the people who imply such nonsensical equivalences - between government ministers doing their jobs and their own holidays. If they had a heart attack in the morning would they refuse to call the ambulance because the hospital is more than 5km away and they would begrudge the ambulance driver being allowed to travel more than 5km when they aren't allowed to. (yes yes, I know that is for exercise....but it appears to be the logic of a lot of those complaining)

Theboinkmaster

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the last restriction to be removed,

No of course not - last restriction removed will be opening wet pubs, nightclubs, concerts, indoor sport crowd events etc.

The 5km limit will be gone around May IMO.

Donald Trump

Allinall wrote: »

Why do you think MM not going to America would be a sacrifice?

UK published a report there over the last few days that ranked Irish diplomatic influence as joint number one in the world (with Israel). It was mainly based on the British getting a bit of a land when the Irish diplomats were able to get in first to prevent the UK from controlling the narrative in the US of the impact of Brexit plans on the GFA which led to the UK having to climb down during those negotiations.


The report advised the UK diplomatic service to try to start replicating some of what the Irish do in terms of fostering links, particularly among diaspora and people with ancestry from here.


Why would people want to jeopardise those kinds of advantages just because they are bitter they can't go to the Canaries for a few months? The trip to DC is a work trip. Yes, there would normally be receptions etc. but those won't be taking part this year.

mel123

An update for anyone who might be in the same boat with aerlingus and flights. I had flights booked for this month to Lanzarote from going way back. I was holding off till the last minute changing the dates on them. Today they cancelled the flight coming home (i had two separate bookings) so i was also able to get a refund for my outgoing flight. Looks like after this weekend they are cancelling all flights to/from any of the canary islands for at least a month.

faceman

pjohnson wrote: »

Yeah I wouldnt be putting much faith in what O'Leary says. Aer Lingus will do the responsible/majority Airlines thing

Unless they are legally required to do it, they won’t. Back when I used to have produce the vaccine certificate for entry to African countries, it was checked by immigration, not the airlines. (And I flew BA, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France)

Vast majority of airlines won’t be doing this now either, unless directed to by governments

faceman

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

No of course not - last restriction removed will be opening wet pubs, nightclubs, concerts, indoor sport crowd events etc.

The 5km limit will be gone around May IMO.

I think he meant the international travel restriction will be last to be removed

Donald Trump

mel123 wrote: »

An update for anyone who might be in the same boat with aerlingus and flights. I had flights booked for this month to Lanzarote from going way back. I was holding off till the last minute changing the dates on them. Today they cancelled the flight coming home (i had two separate bookings) so i was also able to get a refund for my outgoing flight. Looks like after this weekend they are cancelling all flights to/from any of the canary islands for at least a month.

You are lucky that you were able to get it on separate bookings!

If you had booked with another airline you probably would have just had to change the other leg.

Just a tip to people to be aware of the advantage of booking multiple legs on the same ticket.

Of course one disadvantage during normal times is that if you have to rebook one of the legs in normal circumstances, you often get charged the higher price on the other leg (if booked on the same ticket and it has increased since)

HeidiHeidi

Allinall wrote: »

Why do you think MM not going to America would be a sacrifice?

Because it's a jolly/holiday/session - everyone knows that! Duh!! :rolleyes:


(Hint - it's not)

Micky 32

Here’s my take on what might happen with international travel. It’s only an opinion.

Take the USA and Ireland for example. If the USA completes their vaccination program and Ireland completes theirs a travel corridor may open between the 2 countries. It may be subject to proof of vaccination along with a test beforehand. Also provided you weren’t in any other country beforehand that might be on the USA ban list due to their vaccination program not completed etc.

The same may apply to other destinations.

daydorunrun

Looks like Aer Lingus has pulled the plug on Gran Canaria and Lanzarote- well either that or all dates are sold out! I'm guessing its the former?

Golfman64

daydorunrun wrote: »

Looks like Aer Lingus has pulled the plug on Gran Canaria and Lanzarote- well either that or all dates are sold out! I'm guessing its the former?

Sad as it is, I can't see any level of International flights until May at the earliest, which is going to be devastating for many working in industries reliant on this.

In reality I can also envisage a scenario where we are slowest to restart. I am sure there will be many EU countries up and running for the summer tourist season but a strong possibility the government here will abandon the aviation sector once more to satisfy the noisy restrictions mob who are completely unaffected by this.

CruelSummer

I don't understand why people are not being allowed to dream of a European holiday this summer. Sure it's 50/50 on whether it might happen. If the U.K. allow it, I'm gone. Not listening to the tribalism here again this summer. Mutations and Variants are the main issue that could scupper everything. But if the curves are down across Europe and mass vaccination has taken place. What's the problem with inter EU travel? Especially as there's also a traffic light system, and PCR test options. It will also be summer and more people outdoors. People here really need a good dose of Vitiman D.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Enjoy Dubai. I have lived in this amazing city for 9 years now. The malls, restaurants, beaches and tourist attractions are all open and life is almost fully normal. None of the doom and death and morbidity that you hear from Ireland, which is rapidly reverting to the Peig archetype.

You are actually freer in Dubai (an autocratic monarchy) now than you are in Ireland. The people here are being cared for and vaccinated en masse.

I have learned that if ever there is a biological or environmental crisis in Ireland in the future, relying on the Irish state to assist citizens and lead them out of it would be sheer folly.

I'm not sure I would be depending on Dubai to care for people either.
I'm doubtful it's their altruistic nature that has them 'caring ' for people

mikekerry

CruelSummer wrote: »

I don't understand why people are not being allowed to dream of a European holiday this summer. Sure it's 50/50 on whether it might happen. If the U.K. allow it, I'm gone. Not listening to the tribalism here again this summer. Mutations and Variants are the main issue that could scupper everything. But if the curves are down across Europe and mass vaccination has taken place. What's the problem with inter EU travel? Especially as there's also a traffic light system, and PCR test options. It will also be summer and more people outdoors. People here really need a good dose of Vitiman D.

No dreams of happy sun holidays allowed in this country!
Tony and co wouldn't be happy with that.
We need to keep the doom , gloom and generally misery up!

BringBackMick

I will travel to my wife and kids in Poland in June for 4 weeks, hopefully by July the quarantine limits here are reduced

Red Silurian

Last word now taking about mandatory quarantine, that could be a deal breaker for many foreign holidays this year

The point was also made that the Spanish and British variants of the virus didn't come in on the South Westerly wind

Sam Hain

Can more people post about trips to Lanzarote?

CruelSummer

colmtheperson wrote: »

Last word now taking about mandatory quarantine, that could be a deal breaker for many foreign holidays this year

The point was also made that the Spanish and British variants of the virus didn't come in on the South Westerly wind

What a waste of taxpayers money it would be. There were many outbreaks in the Melbourne ‘quarantine’ hotels that led to them being locked down for months in their winter just as we are, despite their ‘zero Covid’ policy. I also don’t agree with destroying our airline industry as we’re an island in the EU that relies heavily on foreign direct investment. Covid didn’t come in on a wind, but our money doesn’t grow on trees either.

Golfman64

colmtheperson wrote: »

Last word now taking about mandatory quarantine, that could be a deal breaker for many foreign holidays this year

The point was also made that the Spanish and British variants of the virus didn't come in on the South Westerly wind

Equally they weren’t spread by the planes that landed!

At the end of the day, it’s down to personal responsibility. Combined with a significant portion of the ‘at risk’ categories vaccinated by June, there is no reason we cannot have a safe travel season this summer, just like last.

Marty Bird

daydorunrun wrote: »

Looks like Aer Lingus has pulled the plug on Gran Canaria and Lanzarote- well either that or all dates are sold out! I'm guessing its the former?

For what dates? Had a quick look in June/July and it’s a full schedule not one date is sold out.

faceman

Blows my mind that there were approx 10,000 positive cases of covid in Ireland last week

There is no mandatory quarantine of any of those people or their close contacts. No checks by anyone. God knows how many close contacts those 10,000 people had. 20,000? 30,000?

Approx 1% of cases relate to travel. All travellers are legally required to produce a negative PCR test on arrival. How many people travelling in to Ireland at the moment? 7,000 a week? Of which 1% will test positive? (Probably less now given the test requirement)

The public mob wants mandatory hotel stays for all travellers for 14 days yet remains silent on the positive cases and close contacts.

scouserstation

CruelSummer wrote: »

I don't understand why people are not being allowed to dream of a European holiday this summer. Sure it's 50/50 on whether it might happen. If the U.K. allow it, I'm gone. Not listening to the tribalism here again this summer. Mutations and Variants are the main issue that could scupper everything. But if the curves are down across Europe and mass vaccination has taken place. What's the problem with inter EU travel? Especially as there's also a traffic light system, and PCR test options. It will also be summer and more people outdoors. PEOPLE HERE REALLY NEED A GOOD DOSE OF VITAMIN D.

Maybe this could be used as a reason to travel, going abroad for health reasons is considered essential travel so a vitamin D test that shows a low blood level could be sufficient enough

Red Silurian

CruelSummer wrote: »

What a waste of taxpayers money it would be. There were many outbreaks in the Melbourne ‘quarantine’ hotels that led to them being locked down for months in their winter just as we are, despite their ‘zero Covid’ policy. I also don’t agree with destroying our airline industry as we’re an island in the EU that relies heavily on foreign direct investment. Covid didn’t come in on a wind, but our money doesn’t grow on trees either.

Easy way out of that is to force the people coming in to pay for their quarantine, then it costs the taxpayer zero

Money doesn't grow on trees but as it stands (through the pup and wage subsidy schemes) the coffers are hemorrhaging money, I'd say their thinking is that it's cheaper to bail out the airlines and open the economy than bail out the economy and let the airlines look after themselves

daydorunrun

Marty Bird wrote: »

For what dates? Had a quick look in June/July and it’s a full schedule not one date is sold out.

Was just looking at the next few weeks. Was over there and was going to extend but heard rumours of them suspending the route.