andymcdonnell

Looking for some advice from anyone in the know / on the ground.

As part of the £999 CW sale a couple of months back, I put a deposit down on CPT for 2 weeks in Jan. I also hedged my bets because I wasn’t sure if SA would be open so also put a deposit on MEX (and 5 nights in CUN) & snagged an avios upgrade to F.

Over the weekend I saw that cases in the western cape have rocketed and while I’ve no fear of getting the virus (or if I do I believe I’m healthy enough to fight it), I’m afraid that;
a) If we go, a lot of our activities will be curtailed due to restrictions such as bars being closed, wine tasting rooms closed etc
b) If we decide to ditch MEX/CUN and pay the balance on SA, we could fail the PCR test and have no holiday & be down a couple of grand.

I’ve seen limited up to date information on the situation in Mexico but it seems less restrictive than South Africa. Should I just write off SA, apply for a FTV and go to Mexico? I’ve never been before & while South Africa would be my first choice, I’d be very happy to go to Mexico

Any advice from those with an insight would be great.

T8191

Have a look here ... https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afri...long-time.html Loads of local expert input!

Not a promising scenario, even if you can cross the ZA Border. We should be in Franschhoek today, but that trip died a couple of months ago.

Tdgraves

You haven’t mentioned the need to quarantine on your return, so I assume that this is not an issue. What about travelling against FCDO advice? Given the number of cases in South America, I cannot see the UK government opening up a corridor any time soon. The issue with RSA is that HMG have largely ignored Africa until the last corridor changes AND they haven’t had their second wave yet, so again I don’t hold out much hope. This is from someone with flights to JNB booked for the last two weeks of Jan. However, my £999 CW plan B was to somewhere that was (and still is open) to UK travellers (SEZ). Much as it pains me to say, I think we will be missing safari number two due to COVID and relaxing on the beach instead....

mikeyfly

As others have noted, I wouldn’t rely on either of these and have a plan C. I wouldn’t fancy falling ill in either of these two if travelling against government advice, I’ve got my first CPT in March on the £999. Imagine that’ll be another voucher for the collection, because I can’t quarantine on return

T8191

Insurance hugely pertinent. Travelling against FCDO Advice automatically invalidates our travel insurance, as we were forcefully reminded a couple of months ago.

modularmayhem

Personally, in your position i would go with MEX/CUN. The chances of further restrictions in SA are very high.

andymcdonnell

Thanks for the quick responses.

In terms of quarantine upon return, I’m based in DUB & our policy is a PCR test 5 days after return which if you’re clear then you just go about your business.

I fully understand the insurance issue, I’ll have to look into it.

I’m edging towards MEX but is there somewhere else I’m missing that is actually viable? (I’m not really one for sitting by the beach/pool so SEZ is out)

FlyerGill

I have a flight to JNB booked for 23rd Dec with Emirates. They include Covid insurance.

wijibintheair

Am in Cape Town at the moment, been in SA for just over a month now. It is as beautiful as ever. In general everyone is behaving, wearing masks etc. You cannot enter a shop without having your hands sanitised and often your temperature taken.

There has been a spike in COVID cases, starting in the Eastern Cape and now having reached Cape Town. However,the government seems very hesitant to introduce very strict measures at this stage, who knows going forward though.

Re the insurance we bought through battleface who offer insurance to countries that are not “fco approved”

mikeyfly

...... Dubai

konagirl2

With the SA option, "we could fail the PCR test and have no holiday & be down a couple of grand", I thought the whole point of BA's book with confidence is you can request a FTV voucher up until check in closes. So if your PCR test came back positive then you just put the money on credit?

Yes if you can get insurance to either to cover possible medical costs and are willing to self-insure the other risks (quarantine, usual luggage issues etc) then the risks for both are very similar.

If you chose Cape Town for the food and wine then yes I think because restrictions are likely to get tighter first I would say reconsider. The increase in cases around Port Elizabeth is spreading into the 'Garden Route' districts and therefore over Christmas and New Year and the school holidays, it will hit Cape Town. The restrictions are generally on alcohol sales, restaurants and gatherings. I go to SA for different reasons (wildlife and big open remoteness!) so I hope to go at the beginning of February, PCR test permitting, and I can be flexible with where we end up (if Port Elizabeth is still in dire straits, we'll do something from Johannesburg for example), so I am optimistic we'll get there and I know we'll have a great time there - but we aren't focusing on the food and drink aspect.

EuropeanPete

I'm hopefully off to Thailand in January, but Mexico or Cape Town were my fall-backs. I decided that Mexico was more likely to have lockdown issues/ actual serious Covid risk, particularly given that it's "winter" there in January vs. summer in Cape Town in Jan and Feb. Obviously others may come to different conclusions, but I spent quite a bit of time looking into both destinations just a few weeks ago.

mikeyfly

Thailand is very very restrictive for tourists unless you have any of the exemptions, unlikely to change by next month?

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...y-requirements

govid

Which i made with an ex colleague from imperial college!

Unfortunately i cant post the link here because im new to the forum, but you can find me on twitter (@govid_epi).

We basically created a model that allows users to estimate the risk of intense transmission in future travel destinations. It's totally free.

Hopefully it's useful to you - and we'd also love your feedback!

govid

Which i made with an ex colleague from imperial college!

Unfortunately i cant post the link here because im new to the forum, but you can find me on twitter (@govid_epi).

We basically created a model that allows users to estimate the risk of intense transmission in future travel destinations. It's totally free.

Hopefully it's useful to you - and we'd also love your feedback!