The International Contingent

[John the Moth]

4 hours ago, sirjonnyp said:

I finally got around to calling Cathay to move my flights. I booked directly with them in January, so their website led me to believe that I could just defer my tickets for a year (their cut off date was 30 June 2021, so pretty good timing) so initially asked to move the tickets back to the same dates next year. After what seemed like an eternity I was told that I couldn't move my flights any later than October due to my type of ticket so instead I have ended up with a refund, which was my least preferred option due to probably having to pay more for flights next year.

How is everyone else getting on with recouping / rebooking?

Flight booked directly with Emirates and cancelled by them.

They’re holding the booking, with no fees or price change, for 2 years so I just phone to rebook new tickets.

Or so they say....

[sirjonnyp]

That's decent, thought I was going to get the same with Cathay (albeit only for one year) as I had booked directly with them but wasn't the case, guess you might want to check to be on the safe side, if you haven't already. 

[kalifire]

Pretty sure you'd have to have paid the difference in fares anyway if it's more next year.

My bank has raised the dispute with the merchant's bank and I have to wait up to 30 days for that investigation to be completed.

[Calvin Klein]

For anybody abroad that cannot watch the BBC iPlayer, I've found everything is available to download on torrent from TorrentGalaxy. Super high quality. 
Everything from last year is also there.

[Suprefan]

So has anyone even rebooked their trip to the uk for the festival, or just holding out for concrete news? Been in a 2 week battle with Virgin Atlantic and theyre trying to give me the run around on booking the same trip while doubling the price. Truly a shame for an airline that prides itself on customer service.

[John the Moth]

2 hours ago, Suprefan said:

So has anyone even rebooked their trip to the uk for the festival, or just holding out for concrete news? Been in a 2 week battle with Virgin Atlantic and theyre trying to give me the run around on booking the same trip while doubling the price. Truly a shame for an airline that prides itself on customer service.

Not rebooked, something needs to drastically changed or I’m out. Current situation is that when I return home I’ll have to quarantine for 2 weeks, and being self employed I’ll have no income PLUS I’ll have to pay for the quarantine out of my own pocket.

I simply can’t afford it 😭

[Calvin Klein]

2 hours ago, Suprefan said:

So has anyone even rebooked their trip to the uk for the festival, or just holding out for concrete news? Been in a 2 week battle with Virgin Atlantic and theyre trying to give me the run around on booking the same trip while doubling the price. Truly a shame for an airline that prides itself on customer service.

Still holding on. I can rebook for anytime in 2021 as long as I do it before November. But I have no idea what to do. If Glastonbury is off I don't see much of a reason to go to Spain in June (my flight is to Madrid).

Our peso keeps being devaluated, inflation doesn't seem to be controlled anytime soon, so each month everything becomes more expensive (as does a potential Glastonbury).

Everything is too uncertain to make a decision now. 
 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Calvin Klein

[Suprefan]

Yeah, its a tough position. If only airlines would straight up honor trips booked and do away with the change fees instead of making it a temporary thing.

[assorted]

6 hours ago, Suprefan said:

So has anyone even rebooked their trip to the uk for the festival, or just holding out for concrete news? Been in a 2 week battle with Virgin Atlantic and theyre trying to give me the run around on booking the same trip while doubling the price. Truly a shame for an airline that prides itself on customer service.

Have not rebooked. They gave me a travel voucher (British Airways) I haven’t checked when I have to use it by but Glasto dates are literally triple what I paid and what the voucher is for. Also I don’t have enough confidence Glastonbury is happening but even if it was I’m pretty confident the airfare will go down by a lot before next June. 

[John the Moth]

3 minutes ago, Suprefan said:

Yeah, its a tough position. If only airlines would straight up honor trips booked and do away with the change fees instead of making it a temporary thing.

Emirates have done just that, I have 2 years to rebook (from date of original booking, so June), no fees or price change. So no complaints there, as long as they practice what they preach.

But, if I ask for refund there’s cancellation fee.

[Mash2]

Holding off.....We got full refunds on our Delta flights going this year from the US but were given vouchers for our return TAP flights from Portugal (was going to do a week post Glastonbury in Portugal).  The TAP vouchers are actually worth 20% more than the original flights but they run out a week before Glastonbury 2021 dates.  Haven't decided if we would use them and just switch our trip to Portugal to happen before Glastonbury next year.

All of that is moot right now until we see what is happening with the virus/festival and international traveling.  I'm not booking anything until things clear up enough to trust that the trip is actually going to work....even if that means paying more this time around.

[Suprefan]

On 8/18/2020 at 5:35 PM, John the Moth said:

Emirates have done just that, I have 2 years to rebook (from date of original booking, so June), no fees or price change. So no complaints there, as long as they practice what they preach.

But, if I ask for refund there’s cancellation fee.

If only I booked through Emirates. Maybe Ill check next time around.

 

and yeah, leaning on getting a refund now to have some flexibility. I have an expedia credit that I used on a hotel booking in the uk but I got that back so that gives me a little boost in seeing what kind of fares I can look at. I kinda think there will be deals over the holidays as usual because if nobody is booking international travel, why would prices stay as high as they are ya know. It cant last either, its just a temporary bump til things settle. 

[Mark H]

Haven’t rebooked. Singapore Airlines refunded ours fares from NZ in full so we can just pay cash if the planets align and we can make it next year.
 

I’m not optimistic though, even if the festival goes ahead. The requirement for us to pay close to NZ $10k in quarantine costs for our family upon our return, in addition to airfares that will have gone up drastically will be prohibitive.

[Suprefan]

So, what say you? With a vaccine slowly rolling out what is changing on any decisions from anyone coming from outside the country? And should we expect glasto to have policies in place that specify for anyone coming from outside the uk or we just have to adhere to the government protocols? Travel plans are going to get dicey soon and im sure flight prices and such will climb again. I wish I knew there would be a guarantee that I will get the vaccine within the next 3 or 4 months and just pull the trigger now to rebook everything.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Suprefan

[sirjonnyp]

My current thinking is that even if the festival does go ahead, it's unlikely that I'll be able to make it. There's too many things up in the air.

The vaccine won't be rolled out in Australia until March at the earliest, and I'm hardly likely to be at the front of the queue. Will airlines require a vaccine to travel? Probably not, but a combination of negative tests might get you on the flight. The UK government may impose a similar restriction, although that seems unlikely. Australia is on the travel corridor list, so if things stay the way they are, the 14 day iso won't be necessary. 

There is the possibility that once back in the UK in June I could get the vaccine there. It's way too early in the vaccine rollout to even speculate about that, but by June will demand have died down, especially for private appointments? Will the festival require proof of vaccine / negative tests? Probably. 

Then it comes to getting back in to Australia. There are currently 10,000s of Australians stuck abroad due to the limit on numbers entering the country that the Government has imposed. Even if I were able to get a vaccine while back in the UK, would the vaccine mean I get to skip the queue? If I weren't to get the vaccine, I would have to join the line of people trying to get back in to Australia. And finally, once you get back in to Australia, there is a mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine that you have to pay just over £1500 for. As vaccines aren't 100 per cent effective, does that mean that you still have to go in to the quarro?

While I am fully committed to trying to get home next June, it just doesn't seem possible unless there's some miracle rollout of the vaccine. 

[Mash2]

From the US, I think its also very much up in the air.  They are telling us that everyone that wants to get vaccinated will be able to in the "Spring".  I'd basically have to have the first shot by the middle of May (or J&J gets their 1 shot vaccine approved and then I could go into June).  I'm not sure that I believe that will happen given the current state of things. If I can't get the vaccine, not sure that I would get on a plane for an 8 hr international flight. 

Assuming that I can get the vaccine.......The second hurdle will be getting into the UK and passing any restrictions that the UK places on travel from the US. Will they allow entry without a record of the Vaccine? Would I need to quarantine on arrival?  The third hurdle would be Glastonbury. Would they accept a US vaccine record? Would I need to get tested in the UK?

So...I'm going....If I can get a vaccine, and If the UK is allowing Americans into the country, and if the UK doesn't impose a long quarantine on arrival, and if I can do whatever Glastonbury requires to enter the festival.

Hope springs eternal but that seems like a long shot bet. Put it this way, if they gave me the option to swap my ticket for a 2022 ticket, I would jump on that offer. As it stands, I'm still putting off any travel reservations that forces me to commit more money until we go through a few more months and I see how the vaccine roll out goes.

[MetaKate]

I'm feeling pretty anxious about it but 100% want to go. 

Calgary where I am is entering another lockdown. Vaccinations won't be available for me until July likely.

It really depends on restrictions. If I'm allowed to go on a negative test, and allowed into the festival, then I'll be there. It is really going to depend what's in place. Then coming back to Canada I'll probably still have to do 2 weeks of quarentine, but probably worth it even if I do. 

Im trying to stay hopeful. 

[eFestivals]

6 hours ago, Mash2 said:

The second hurdle will be getting into the UK and passing any restrictions that the UK places on travel from the US. Will they allow entry without a record of the Vaccine? Would I need to quarantine on arrival?

the worst you can expect from the UK is to have to quarantine on arrival - but it's the cheapie version, where you can pick the location (rather than be forced into a expensive quarantine system).

As we've not had anything stricter than that so far it's very unlikely we'll have something stricter than that as things improve.

[SwedgeAntilles]

Yeah, would echo with the above. Obviously I'm closer to the UK than you guys but I have the same concerns as you guys in terms of vaccine rollout here (and my being to the back of the queue). 

I have been thinking about the option of coming home to get a vaccine, I'm still registered to a doctors in Scotland so it could be an option. Am at least lucky enough that I know flights won't shoot up in price too much between now and then so I can wait a couple of months before deciding. 

[kalifire]

Have to agree with all that @sirjonnyp posted. If Australia rolled out the vaccine now like the UK is doing, I'd have more confidence. But even with our much lower population, expecting the most vulnerable groups to be vaccinated in three months in a tall ask, and I'd need to book my flight much earlier than that anyway.

I'll book the time off work and set aside funds just in case a last minute dash becomes possible, but I'm not hopeful. By June, I'm fairly confident Australian residents will be able to travel to countries who have COVID under reasonable control (the UK would have to qualify), and I highly doubt we'd need to quarantine on arrival.

But I don't think vaccination in Australia will be advanced enough for the very strict rules to be avoided, even if travelling back in July. Any quarantine I have to pay for on my return is an instant deal breaker.

I'm with @Mash2 - if the option was there to roll my ticket on to 2022, I'd take it without hesitation. I hope they offer that.

[eFestivals]

8 minutes ago, kalifire said:

I'm with @Mash2 - if the option was there to roll my ticket on to 2022, I'd take it without hesitation. I hope they offer that.

it might be worth dropping the office an email, as that's something which might not have occurred to them to offer.

I think they'd be keen to offer it as I suspect there's extra worries about people from overseas, and it might help sooth a few nerves.

[Crazyfool01]

Just out of interest ...along with most numbers things that are Glastonbury related  its probably hard to tell  but what sort of numbers of International Travellers do we think attend the festival ? I agree with @eFestivals its definately worth popping off an email to the festival about rolling over the tickets though .... I would think it wouldn't do them any harm as long as the tickets can get resold to others  Its probably worth doing soon whilst things should be in a quieter phase .... @MetaKate just seen that the Pfizer vacine has just been approved for Canada so hopefully there is a little hope there .... Good luck to all on here CF 

[assorted]

21 hours ago, Suprefan said:

So, what say you? With a vaccine slowly rolling out what is changing on any decisions from anyone coming from outside the country? And should we expect glasto to have policies in place that specify for anyone coming from outside the uk or we just have to adhere to the government protocols? Travel plans are going to get dicey soon and im sure flight prices and such will climb again. I wish I knew there would be a guarantee that I will get the vaccine within the next 3 or 4 months and just pull the trigger now to rebook everything.

Nothing changed for me. I have hotels (before and after) and a car booked around the festival dates. Those are refundable. I have money for a flight in BA's "travel bank" that they claim will expire Spring 2022 (grrr).

If Glastonbury makes an announcement in January (expected) saying the festival is 100% going ahead (I think unlikely) then I will buy my flight and hope for the best. If they say something in between cancelled and 100% going ahead... I'm not sure what I'll do - I'll probably keep putting off buying a plane ticket until April and ticket payment day when I figure they will have to really decide. I personally don't believe it's going ahead but I'm going to go through the motions hoping it will regardless as long as the festival expresses confidence.

Government protocols are another issue and another factor I would have to consider. I doubt I could attend, nor could anyone in my group, if we had to, let's say, self-isolate in the UK for 14 days before.

 

[Suprefan]

9 hours ago, eFestivals said:

it might be worth dropping the office an email, as that's something which might not have occurred to them to offer.

I think they'd be keen to offer it as I suspect there's extra worries about people from overseas, and it might help sooth a few nerves.

But how much of a window would they grant to make that decision? Will they give us a line up before that time and just extend that period before theres a resale? And at this point the uk policy for entering the country thats on their restricted list is 5 day isolation if you test negative when you pass customs. So at best a lot of people will have to add a week to their trip just to be safe. I mean if the u.s got off their list then I would be that concerned. Gonna take a couple months of numbers going down for that to be a reality and thats not looking likely til next month after the x mas spike happens. 
 

what do you think if they only gave international ticket holders that option and everyone thats in the uk is safe and sound? Or is that big if a gamble knowing that theres a decent contingent of older attendees that are vulnerable and whats to say that entire group of people will be vaccinated by June anyway.

 

and yeah, what’s to say I couldnt enter the uk and pay to get the vaccine if that was an option? Obviously thats a loophole lots of people might exploit but I mean, when in Rome.

[John the Moth]

Latest from NZ is that travel bubbles with Australia and Cook Islands, neither with community covid transmission, are still ‘up to 3 1/2 months away’.

Dreams of Glasto 2021 are all but crushed, regardless of whether the festival is on or not 😭