Can I postpone my Krakow flight until later in the year?

Simon Calder answers your questions on booking trips to Poland and France, and whether you’ll be left high and dry if you pay for a package holiday

The Cloth Hall in the Polish city’s Old Town (iStock)

Q I have easyJet flights to Krakow booked for 17 March. Do you think they might allow me to change them for a future date?

Caroline P

A Your booking is two months to the day before the earliest possible date that international travel for non-essential reasons will be permitted from England. All leisure travel within and beyond the UK is illegal until further notice. The roadmap to recovery says the government “will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May”.

In these circumstances, many airlines have cancelled the vast majority of flights to and from the UK up to and including 16 May. But there is nothing to stop carriers continuing to operate international services; some people still need to fly for essential reasons. I very much doubt your flight will be going ahead. But even it does, easyJet will go beyond its statutory obligation and offer you a voucher.

Note, however, that it is not a voucher entitling you to a future trip to Poland’s most enticing city; it will be to the value of your existing booking. For a mid-March trip to Krakow, evidently booked months ahead, I imagine you paid £60 or less. Over the midsummer weekend, the lowest easyJet fare from London Gatwick to Krakow is £93 return. In contrast, Ryanair from London Stansted to the city is just £60 return. So you might prefer to get a cash refund and take advantage of the flexibility to change airline (or even destination).

If that is the case, then two elements must align: at least one of the flights, outbound or inbound, must be cancelled; and you must have paid for the 17 March booking with a card rather than a voucher. So if you rebooked the trip from last year, it may well be that you have surrendered your right to your money back. I hope you will get to Krakow some time this year, and early summer looks ideal.

It would be nice to finally fulfil our Provence booking this year (iStock)

Q Could I ask your thoughts on the likelihood of France being open to tourists by 10 July 2021? We have the same villa booked as last year in Provence and would drive down to avoid air travel. Basically, we would love to go this year, but they can move it to 2022.

Name supplied

A Coincidentally, 10 July was the day that France – and dozens of other European countries – opened up for visitors in 2020, and I was delighted to fly to Nice for some Cote d’Azur sunshine, cuisine and indulgence. The date marked the removal, after 33 days, of the UK’s curious blanket ban on all arrivals from overseas, in the shape of mandatory quarantine.

Many months on, how different things are. The Brexit transition phase has ended, which leaves travellers from the UK out in the cold.

All arrivals in France from countries outside the EU have been banned since the end of January – “except for compelling reasons,” which I am afraid does not include your holiday.

Anyone who does qualify for travel to France must undergo a Covid test less than 72 hours before departure, and sign a sworn statement certifying they have no symptoms of Covid-19 infection nor contact with anyone confirmed as having Covid-19 in the 14 days prior to their journey.

But 19 weeks remain before your trip, and in that time I expect a great deal to change. Much depends on the trajectory of coronavirus infection rates on both sides of the Channel, with the added dimension of European Union recommendations to member states.

Currently I rate your chances of being able to travel without onerous restrictions outbound or inbound as at least 80 per cent.

One aspect of your trip, though, concerns me. By driving around 700 miles each way to or from the south of France, you will be drastically increasing your risk of being involved in an accident. There are likely to be many daily flights between the UK and Nice in the summer, and in your position I would take a two-hour hop rather than a long-distance drive.

Reputable holiday companies won’t let you lose your money completely (AFP/ Getty)

Q You say booking a package holiday is risk-free. But for most places, you need a PCR test just before travel for entry. What if you or someone in your group tests positive? You can’t travel. Then I guess you lose your holiday and your money?

Name supplied

A Fortunately among reputable holiday companies this is not the case. Tui, Britain’s biggest holiday company, tells me: “If a customer is not able to travel due to contracting Covid-19 at the time of their departure, they will be able to change their holiday without charge. The free amend can be extended to all of those on the same booking.”

Jet2, the second-largest travel firm, says: “If a customer can no longer travel as one of their party members has coronavirus at the time of the trip, they can amend their booking to a later date without having to pay an admin fee.”

Note that this applies regardless of whether the positive test has come about in response to the requirement at the destination, or simply as a result of an NHS test.

British Airways allows flight-only passengers to cancel their planned trip for a voucher at any time up to the close of check-in.

Agreed, the ability to postpone a trip free of charge (though possibly with an additional cost if the new holiday is more expensive) is not as gold-plated as a full cash refund. But I think the travel firms are behaving fairly and going beyond their legal obligation: in normal times, illness just before departure would probably trigger cancellation with either zero or minuscule refund and be a matter for travel insurance.

One further option, though, which I regret holiday companies often fail to mention: under the Package Travel Regulations a holidaymaker who cannot travel has the right to transfer the trip to someone who can use it for a nominal fee – usually £50 or so. So if the other participants have not been in contact with the newly discovered carrier, then the spare place can be filled at short notice by a friend or family member, allowing the trip to continue for the others.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder