Weston Super Saint

Me either, but I'm sure Shurlie will be along any minute to enlighten us with his brilliance as those were his words - it was pure coincidence that your link had the quote in it that I referenced.

Lol. One quote from that article : That'll be those usual suspects again, reducing a complex illness with a range of outcomes to the risk of dying. That meddlesome bunch really can't be helped!

Then we clearly have a lot of 'insane' people in this country with their complacency

Lol. So you're emphasising your point using Thomas Cook's terms and conditions! The same Thomas Cook that ceased trading in September 2019! Even so, let's pretend for a minute that the t's & c's for an insolvent company are still valid, they state : Pretty clear, right, the closer to the holiday date that you cancel your holiday, the less money you get back. But wait, what's that, your cancellation insurance will cover the losses, I mean, you do have cancellation insurance don't you? You know, fairly standard insurance policies which cover : Oh, look at that, it even has 'your destination becoming unsafe' as an explicit reason when the insurance will pay out. So when the FCO state you shouldn't go somewhere, your holiday company will pay out - providing they are ABTA or ATOL members - or, if you've decided to use a company who isn't a member or you've decided to book your own holiday, then your travel insurance cancellation policy will cover the losses of 'unforeseen circumstances'. Fancy that, there really are several reasons why you 'should' receive a refund after all.

The 'usual suspects' of course, being Sir David Spiegelhalter. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/crunching-numbers-real-risks-dying-covid-19/ Not entirely sure what the actions of 'most health experts' have got to do with the overwhelming majority of the British public, given that they are the ones that are exhibiting complacency and this spreading the disease.

People are complacent because they've finally figured out that the chance of actually dying from the virus is ridiculously small - even more so for the under 30's - and only really starts to be significant from about 75 onwards. Apparently the risk of dying for most people is about the same as taking a 250 mile drive. Pretty insignificant for the vast majority of the country and deemed to be 'acceptable'.

Perhaps you're just being deliberately belligerent rather than the alternative that you really are thick as pig shit

All of which would be covered by insurance which would be legally bound to pay out if / when the FCO issued travel advice not to go to a country!

No doubt you'll be staying in a caravan Looking forward to your feedback about your British holiday after you've experienced gridlocked Britain - expecially if you're heading to the South West!

Again, 'struggling to get a refund' is not the same as 'legally entitled to a refund'. It may just take longer.

This is simply not true! If your holiday was cancelled by the airline / holiday company due to Government restrictions on travel then you were legally entitled to a refund - I understand that some company's like Ryanair have tried to avoid paying refunds but that doesn't mean you don't have a legal right to one! If, on the other hand, YOU cancelled your holiday (whether or not this was due to Government restrictions), then you have no right to a refund. The simple answer is / was to wait for your holiday provider to cancel - or, as in some cases, materially change the aspects of the holiday which again would mean you were entitled to a full refund (re-booking is/was also available for anyone choosing to do so).

Lol, this making things up on the fly stance that the Government is taking isn't working out particularly well! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53602362 So you can't have a BBQ in the garden with your family (if they live in seperate houses) on what is forecast to be one of the hottest weekends of the year, but you CAN go to the pub with potentially hundreds of strangers! A cynical person might suggest this stance is aimed at making sure the tills keep ringing! But..... That's only if you and your family live up North. If you live in Manchester and your family live in Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton etc, fill your boots!

Welcome to the new 'normal'

The original point was expanded with subsequent posts. HTH, do try to keep up.

All of them?

Nothing special about ABTA at all. Your original question asked 'why' people should get their money back. I've given an answer to that question based on ABTA rules and FCO advice. If anyone is booking a holiday that is not covered by ABTA or ATOL, then there is absolutely no reason why they should be given a refund, more fool them for not wanting that extra protection!

To be fair, you can only get it in Tescos from last Friday when masks were made compulsory - except if you don't have one, then that's fine because you have money, right and they want your money! Luckily, before last week it was only in gyms and swimming pools and they were closed. They're open now so it's moved out and gone into the shops! Makes perfect sense!

Of course it does, I've never claimed otherwise. My point - I'll spell it out once more for the hard of thinking - is that Spain have been making noises about Boris turning the toursim tap off, thus reducing their income (I know the reason behind this is Covid, but the point is that the money from tourism will dry up). My next point was about the EU negotiators and their ability to negotiate on behalf of ALL EU nations. For example, Spain does not rely SOLELY on tourism from the UK - granted, that does help their economy, hence why they aren't happy about the tourism tap being turned off - but they also EXPORT to the UK. You know, the kind of thing that negotiators would want to make sure they get right with things like, I don't know, maybe trade deals? Then the Spanish can continue selling us cars, car parts, fruits, nuts, vegetables, machinery etc etc, ensuring they achieve best value for their economy. https://tradingeconomics.com/spain/exports/united-kingdom To sum it up - for those that do not have an ability to make any sort of 'logic leap' - whilst Spain are not happy about the tourism tap being turned off by Boris (once more, I am fully aware of the reason this is happening, but in this scenario it is purely coincidental and could be caused by any number of other reasons like nuclear disaster, terrorism, flood, famine etc), perhaps the fact that it CAN happen would prompt the Spanish (and potentially other countries in the EU) to 'give the EU negotiators a nudge' to ensure that they are getting the best deal possible for them and not just what Brussels wants. Please do continue to wave your hand when you don't understand simple concepts as I'm always happy to spell them out for our more simple minded members.

No. I was linking a travel ban to Spain and the subsequent loss of trade / income and Brexit negotiations. You're the one who got all melodramatic about Covid and deaths.

Apparently not - unless you've been to mainland Spain! https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/07/27/gibraltar-travellers-will-not-be-quarantined-in-uk-provided-they-havent-been-in-spain/ Presumably it's becuase the virus can't negotiate the tricky border between Spain and Gib!

Is the answer, because those are the rules for ABTA members? Not really sure what your argument is. The venues may well be open and operating in Spain (or any other country), but if the FCO is saying do not travel there, then ABTA members have to honour that and refund customers who have bookings but cannot travel because they are told not to! Seems pretty simple to me and a perfectly good answer to why you should get your money back!

To some....

Jesus wept! Did you notice the title of this thread? What were you expecting, a post on the intricacies of cream cake baking?

I'm sure we've got people here who would jump at the chance to do this.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53568610

One thing's for sure, if you do travel to Spain and catch the virus after the FCO have stated you shouldn't go there, then your insurance will be invalid. Fingers crossed if that happens you don't end up in a Spanish hospital as the bills will rack up pretty quickly!