DAVIDH

However, you can get around it by opening a new "incognito" window and copying the link to that

From my experience in the travel industry as an agent, I'm sure they are. Perhaps Haven are amenable to refund to Hoseasons, Perhaps they're not. Haven will still be paying for the upkeep of their infrastructure, all of which would have been financed by customer deposits and balances, so they will be suffering a short-fall in revenue. If you were in that position and only had a finite amount of money to refund, would you give it back to your own direct customers and make other creditors wait? Travel agents are complaining bitterly at the moment that they cannot get refunds for their customers from the big operators, even though these same operators are refunding direct customers. It makes them look bad, but they are not actually holding the money. It's not beyond imagination that an operator is going to try to preserve it's own reputation ahead of it's third parties.

I'm guessing it's because Hoseasons (for example) are agents and not owners, so in many instances, the money will already have been passed on to the third party...boatyard, holiday park, cottage owner, other holiday operators. If you're Haven for example, you receive the money from the customer, and it's yours to use or refund. They're not agents and don't need to pass it on to anyone. The Covid 19 statement on Hoseasons website. setting out the position for those with bookings can be found here: https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/covid-19?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200316 HOS Partnership News Weekly Offers&ecrmid=bf0f0c3725623a7dcebe6f415d567dd2&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hoseasons.co.uk%2Fcovid-19 It may be just my computer, but when i click on it, the page doesn't launch properly. It seems to be a Chrome problem. However, you can get around it by opening a new "incognito" window and copying the link to that, or using another browser.

Hoseasons are by no means alone, in refusing or making it difficult to get refunds: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/04/uks-biggest-airlines-and-holiday-providers-breaking-the-law-over-cancellation-refunds/

Assuming it's a flight, plus one other element booking, and you were issued with an ATOL certificate with the confirmation. Accommodation only or flight only are not covered by ATOL.

I think a time is coming when damage to the economy will be weighed against the health of the nation. Not in a cynical way, but having to consider the cost to the UK in terms of additional borrowing, which will signal future austerity (it will be called something different this time) to pay back the loans. This will result in more ongoing deaths due to health inequality and deprivation caused by austerity - that word again. I was no fan of George Osbourne whilst he was chancellor, believing that his appliance of austerity was for more than paying back the loans, but on Question Time this week, you had to see the logic of his argument, that spending in times of crisis is essential, but eventually, it has to be paid back in some way, be that austerity or raising taxes, or a mixture of both. Just another observation for those who watched Question Time. It was interesting that everyone on the panel (including Osbourne) agreed that the reason for the crash in 2008, was that the banks had to be rescued. Yet, through the next 10 to 12 years, the Labour party did nothing to fight back the narrative proposed, that it was their disastrous handling of the economy that caused it. Never trust a politician is telling the truth!

That bit was only meant to be light-hearted. Don't let it stop you reading why it's so difficult to find suitable treatments for this disease.

Bit of a hard read, but very illuminating. If ever the government wanted to scare people into staying away from the Coronavirus, they should widely publish this document from a USA hospital doctor. https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/what-we-dont-know-about-covid-19

This is the point. It seems the UK will be one of the last western countries to come out of lockdown, and eventually be regarded as "safe". If, as a minister in some country like Spain Greece or Italy, you had resided over much pain in order to free your country from the grip of Coronavirus, would you open the borders to countries such as the UK, which was still in the grip of it? As Andy says, it's not where we want to go, it's who will have us. This is unlikely to change for as long as there is no widely available vaccine. As such, I think domestic tourism is likely to do well this year - IF WE ARE ALLOWED TO TRAVEL OUT BEFORE THE END OF THE SUMMER. The interview with Michael O'Leary makes me smile too, as he says the likes of Alitalia, Lufthansa and Air France get state subsidies while Ryanair and BA don't. Wasn't our government always sighing that it couldn't put state aid into ailing UK companies because of EU rules? Still now that we have left (or in transition anyway) that will all change!

Just for clarity. Every holidaymaker that was owed money by Thomas Cook, was paid in full. Everybody who was held hostage by their hotel on the day of collapse, had their bills paid or refunded. Everybody who was left stranded abroad, was brought home without having to pay for the journey. The ATOL scheme applies to all those operators that sell flight plus holidays out of the UK, or they shouldn't be trading. If the government guaranteed the RCN in the same way, I'm sure there would be less company wind-ups.

Take a booking for say a city break to Dubai. The travel industry (cannot say for sure with boating companies) collects the money as either a deposit and/or full payment. They pay the airlines at the time of booking. So in this case, BA or Emirates. They will pay the hotels at around 4 weeks before departure. They will have set terms with both the airlines and the hotels regarding what happens if the holiday cannot be taken. So in theory, both would refund the money back to the travel company for transmission to the customer. No fee being taken by any party in doing so. However, just as the tour operator is being pressed by it's customers to issue a refund, the airlines and hotels are also being pressed. All parties hold on to their money because to do otherwise would probably send them out of business. So the operators are not holding the money in most cases, and are trying, like the customer, to get money from those it has paid. You will have read what dire state the airlines are in. They collect money for future travel and use that to pay for the aircraft leases. You wouldn't expect them to collect the money, then go out and lease aircraft would you? The point regarding fuel surcharges I'm not sure about as I cannot remember fuel surcharges being applied for many a year, and when they were, they had to be approved by ABTA, which said if they rose my more than 2%, the customer had the right to cancel with a full refund.

You and me of course Fred, in the form of income tax and VAT (amongst others). That's why limiting the liability now makes sense.

I'm not sure the government is in any position to do this. Perhaps we need to remember that, as I said earlier, the government as such, has no money. To obtain money, it taxes people/businesses. we all want the government to pay for this, that and the other, but all that means will be paying more tax. When this is over, we shall look back at what we have called "austerity budgets" with wistful smiles thinking "We never had it so good" Cutbacks will abound, tax will soar and the standard of living will drop through the floor. Those are the likely outcomes of this pandemic to some extent or other. This will not just be in the UK, it will have to be the case in any country which has been economically affected by the virus. I don't disagree with any of that MM. I was just making the point that the support for the credit notes would be self-financing in that it would be much cheaper than lost tax revenues from both the companies, and their employees, which winding up would precipitate. Plus the government would then have to support all those made redundant until they can find other jobs. It was the government that said they want to keep as many enterprises trading as possible, so that the recovery (when it comes) is faster avoiding a recession that drags out over many months.

There was a talk on Radio 5 live with Nicky Campbell, following the "judgement". I have to say that most callers were pragmatic, understanding the situation might be made much worse if a high proportion of those owed money, went for a cash refund. The worry, as has already been said, is that credit notes are not much use if the company concerned ceases to trade. This in turn might start a stampede to get refunds. The government has been pressed for 8 week now, BY ABTA on underwriting the ATOL scheme so that these refund credit note holders would be safe in such events, but has been notably silent. The ATOL fund was virtually wiped out with the Thomas Cook demise. ATOL does not cover (generally) boating holidays, but surely anyone can see that the losses to the tax payer would be much higher if companies were allowed to fail because of this, in terms of tax generation and the subsequent benefits the those made redundant would now have to claim. The government needs to stop sitting on it's hands on this, and come out in support of those businesses by guaranteeing the validity of these refund credit notes.

Many at Hoseasons are furloughed, as they are in most companies. The government paying 80% of their wages is the only way to keep the company afloat. Those staff are not allowed to work so there are logically, less staff to take the calls, process the ammendments and cancellations etc. Certain marketing people I deal with are doing that job now, so please don't assume they are just circling the wagons. I can't agree that because they have got bigger, they no longer care what their customer base is saying. As Andy says, all travel companies are having a terrible time trying to survive, and in the same circumstances of having less staff on hand to help. Hoseasons are not just a Broads boating company, they market the Thames, the Canals and overseas, so the loss of such a large holiday area as the Broads, would not be good news to them, as it would weaken their offering as the holiday afloat specialist. Overall it would damage their reputation as an accommodation only provider of boats, lodges, cottages and holiday parks. They will not take it lightly. I am a member of a travel agency Facebook page and I can assure you, these delays are reported across all companies and airlines. Nobody is just taking the money and running for the hills. Regarding the perceived power Hoseasons has over the boatyards, I wonder if it's now more the other way around, at least as far as the Broads is concerned. The yards it represents, in the main, have on-line reservations systems and have had the capability to accept bookings for some years now. Richardsons, NBD, and Barnes Brinkcraft are all sizeable concerns, the loss of any of which would devalue Hoseason's Broads offering. Can you not imagine a scenario where Richardsons for example, would have dictated it's terms of trading with Hoseasons, rather than the other way around? You don't think Richardsons will be on the same commission terms as Silverline for example?

Aww. Now you've spoilt it. I was believing it up until reading the above!

Excellent idea to relive a future trip RS2021. Almost Back to the Future. Keep it up. Loving the images.

Great footage Andy. Just makes you want to be back out there.

Agree with much of this Andy. I started off being blindly loyal to the government's methods of managing the crisis, but am dismayed at the sometimes seemingly inept decisions being made. Your quote of what Boris said in February chimes very much with the allegations being made about a decision to go for herd immunity, with all the deaths that would have brought. This policy has been denied by the government. We were aware that transmission from human to human was being reported in China. We all watched in horror in January at what was happening in Wuhan. Why did we not order the personal protection equipment we needed then. We had carried out a "practice" pandemic alert in 2017 and the lessons were there to be learned. We stopped the testing of suspected Covid 19 patients mid March, when the WHO consistently say testing is the only way out of a lockdown ,apart from the development of a vaccine. Thousands of stranded UK citizens are due to fly home from India next week, but we are doing nothing to quarantine or even test them. The swab tests have been slow to set up. We are around 21,000 per day where Matt Hancock has promised 100,000 by the end of the month. Some of these testing stations are up to two hours drive away from those that need them. Then there is the scandal of care workers not having these tests or any protective equipment, and therefore spreading the virus to residents of care homes. How must relatives who have mothers or fathers in these homes feel right now? I know these are unprecedented times, and the government is learning as it goes along. I can forgive them for taking a wrong direction. Their handling of the impacts on the economy, and the preservation of jobs, has been spot on, However, I just feel now that announcements are being made in a reactive, not proactive fashion. Each time a fresh outcry hits the media, they come out with a policy to appease. It happened with testing, with PPE and with the care sector, where they were told they would become a brand that the UK would love as much as the NHS. Great words but none of it shields the staff or the residents. I've heard the statements that there is enough PPE and that it's logistics, that testing the anti-body tests, is ongoing etc, etc, but as we stand here today, very little has changed. I'm sure everyone in government making these decisions feels every death, but I also suspect a certain amount of blame deflection is going on, so that we don't hear the truth and apportion blame.

Latest from the Government: UK government: Do not book summer holidays Downing St has said that government guidelines and official foreign office advice "do not allow for people going on holiday". The prime minister's spokesman said that travelling within the UK for holidays was "not something which the current guidelines allow for" and Foreign Office advice "continues to be that you should go abroad for essential travel only". Earlier Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested people should not book summer holidays for later this year. When asked to confirm this by a journalist from the East of England at the daily briefing today, Sharma pointedly did not answer the question and just changed the subject. Again, no clarity.

Thanks for the mention here Ian. As a Leeds United fan, it is of course a great loss to us, as would Peter Bonetti's have been to Chelsea fans. They were different times back then with lots of hard men around as you say. It says much about the situation we are all in that we can talk positively about "opposition" players instead of them being slated on social media. He was (as was Peter) someones husband, brother uncle, grandad etc. The thought of losing a member of our family in these horrible circumstances is somewhere all of us fear to tread.

You might get cramp if you swim straight after a meal at the White Horse.....guessing that's why you would have gone there

Never seen this before. I came across it looking at a Google map of Neatishead. It looks very well attended. You book it for months or one off, and the pool is yours for a half hour session. and it's only a short walk from the moorings. https://www.swiminabarn.co.uk/

A drone?

Carol, it may be that your new hosts can just flick a switch to apply the certificate and make it https. Some offer it for free - others don't.