Wish EU were here: Will Brexit bring any travel benefits at all?
Simon Calder answers your questions on the pros and cons of EU departure and the spread of coronavirus
Q You have written extensively about travel and Brexit, and I get the strong impression that you disapprove of the decision to leave the EU. But now Brexit is done, surely you must be able to come up with some benefits for travellers, as well as what you would see as disadvantages?
Please try.
Megan D
A I am trying really hard. The one consumer benefit I can come up with is this: on trips to Europe from 2021 (nothing changes before then), we will be able to buy genuine duty-free goods. What happens now on trips to the European Union is that people are invited to buy duty-paid goods from shops at ports and airports that sometimes describe themselves as duty-free.
The potential discount from next year is achieved by avoiding the 20 per cent VAT on expensive items such as cameras, phones and the like. On spirits and tobacco the tax and duty saving will be much more (typically 80-90 per cent), though don’t expect anything like that amount to be deducted from the price.
Even this concession comes at a cost, because strict customs limits will come in for travellers arriving from Europe. At present there are no limits for goods from EU countries. From 1 January 2021, the government says that travellers can bring in one litre of spirits, four litres of wine and 16 litres of beer, as well as 200 cigarettes, free of duty. Other goods to the value of £390 can also be brought back through UK customs without payment.
Some people may regard the restoration of duty-free as a worthwhile benefit in exchange for losing the following: freedom of movement in the EU; free access to healthcare in Europe; red-tape-free motoring; obligatory free mobile-phone roaming; access to e-visas for St Petersburg and “open skies” – with all the benefits that travellers derive from barrier-free aviation.
Personally, though, I don’t.
Q We are travelling as a family, with two children aged 10 and 15, to Bangkok for two weeks in April. We are very worried about this. Do you think we should cancel our trip? If we cancel before Saturday we will lose £800, but if we leave it any later we will lose a lot more money. We have been planning this trip for a year and, although disappointed, we want to keep safe.
Alison C
A Your trip sounds an excellent way to spend the Easter holiday, and your children will doubtless enjoy their cultural immersion, while at the same time being friendly and fascinating, in a city in Asia. Besides Bangkok, I suggest you build in a day trip or two by rail out of the Thai capital to see more dimensions of this fascinating country. I recommend rail rather than road to reduce one of the biggest risks to travellers in Thailand: the carnage on the roads.
Regarding other threats: you have plenty of time to talk to your GP or a travel medicine specialist about the advisability of tetanus, hepatitis A and B, Japanese encephalitis, rabies and typhoid jabs. Since you will be city-based, I imagine the health professional will recommend a fairly light touch.
Be aware also that Thailand is experiencing a drought that has led to some seawater entering the freshwater supply.
The Foreign Office says: “Salty water can affect people in higher-risk groups, such as those with kidney disease. If you are concerned about the risks to your personal health, you should drink bottled water and/or get medical advice.” The Foreign Office also warns: “Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Thailand.”
From my perspective, as a risk-averse traveller, these are the dangers that I would focus on. The fact that a handful of cases of a nasty virus have been identified in a city of 8 million people would not figure in my risk assessment. Of course things may change as the Wuhan coronavirus saga evolves, but in the highly unlikely event that the Foreign Office advises against travel you could expect a refund. So I urge you to continue with your excellent plan.
Q I travel to Thailand a lot. I’m hoping to go again February. Do you think flights will drop in price because of the virus in China? From what I am hearing, the Chinese and Indian tourists are staying away from Thailand due to the coronavirus. A friend there told me that a hotel she used to work in is already putting staff on leave with no pay. She said I should wait a week because she says flight prices will drop. My preferred route is Manchester via Doha to Bangkok on Qatar Airways. What do you think?
Adam F
A I am glad to hear someone being positive about travel to Asia; most of the correspondence I am getting at the moment is from people worried about going to the region and wanting to cancel. But I am on your side: I believe that it’s important to continue to visit Asia, with the benefits it confers both on the host community and the tourist. And the shrewd traveller will be rewarded with good deals, as the beleaguered airlines and hotels begin to cut prices in a bid to attract customers.
I think your friend is right to advise waiting, for two reasons. The first is that there is plenty of room for further cuts: outbound on 11 February for a fortnight, Qatar Airways is selling your preferred routing for £645 return, and I think that could fall further. The lowest flight prices I can see from the UK are around the £350 return mark from Heathrow, but that is on Air China via Beijing – which may not appeal. Ditto China Eastern via Shanghai, which is below £400 return. But Royal Brunei via its hub in Borneo may appeal at about £400.
The second reason for delaying a purchase is that I can see no reason to commit more than a few days ahead, which minimises the exposure to big changes in the progress of the virus. Once the scare subsides, expect a wide range of excellent deals aimed at the “first returners”, as China and its neighbours set about welcoming us back to Asia.
Q Four of us are booked to fly out to Hong Kong on 14 February, stay for 48 hours and then take an 11-day cruise to Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, from where we fly back on 29 February.
We are all fraught with worry that we are travelling into a disaster zone because of the coronavirus. British Airways, our airline, has already announced that anyone flying to Hong Kong up to 23 February can cancel and get a refund. But that doesn’t seem to apply to our flight back from Singapore on 29 February.
Some cruise lines have already announced cancellations of cruises from China. Norwegian, with whom we are cruising, has said “no cancellations yet” – even though Hong Kong is essentially China. Can we cancel and get a full refund? It was all booked as a package with Atol cover, and we paid on credit card.
Name supplied
A I empathise with the stress you are feeling but I am afraid it is still way too early to say if Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam are going to be significantly affected by Wuhan coronavirus. Therefore your travel agent is perfectly entitled to say “normal terms apply” until something changes.
Were the Foreign Office to warn against travel to the entire east Asian region (which I think unlikely) then the holiday company must provide a full refund. That’s because you have wisely booked a package holiday rather than separate flight and cruise. Likewise, if the cruise is cancelled (as increasingly many are at present in Asia) you will get all your money back. But otherwise, you will lose some or all of your money if you decide not to travel.
The fact that an airline is offering flight-only passengers flexibility is not relevant, except possibly in seeking to extract a refund from the travel firm. And if the services as booked are being provided, then paying by credit card does not make any difference – “Section 75” protection comes into effect if the merchant fails to deliver.
Finally, were I fortunate enough to be travelling to those alluring destinations, I would be cautious about a wide range of risks – from road safety to mosquito bites (dengue fever and other insect-borne diseases are a problem in both Thailand and Vietnam). To protect against the coronavirus, I would practise standard traveller hygiene: washing hands frequently, eating meat only if I have seen it being thoroughly cooked, and avoiding people who look ill.
Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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