The wanderlust is great, but the corona pandemic makes planning your vacation difficult.
What must be taken into account when booking the trip?
People are longing
to go
on vacation
again in 2021 despite Corona *
.
When it comes to
travel,
many hope
for the summer.
When
booking
the
trip
, however, there are a few things to consider.
Frankfurt - After a good year of
Corona
with
home office
, short-time work and all the restrictions that the
pandemic
brings with it, the desire to travel in 2021 is still great.
Regardless of whether it is a cruise, road trip, flight or hiking
vacation
, many people long for a
vacation
.
But what
should you
watch out
for
when
planning your vacation
?
And when is the right time
to book
a
trip
?
Questions that, in view of the unpredictable situation, preoccupy many travel enthusiasts.
Last year, many people stayed
at home
because of
travel warnings
and safety instructions from the Federal Foreign Office.
The temptation to book a vacation is correspondingly great.
But there are still at least partial travel warnings for many countries.
In addition to numerous
long-distance destinations, this
also includes the most popular holiday destinations for Germans that could actually be reached by
car
without any problems
:
Spain
,
Italy
,
Croatia
.
Nevertheless, the hopes of many rest on the fact that
travel
will
be possible again
in the
summer of 2021
, when the incidence values fall and the corona vaccination program *
will be more advanced.
Even if a large proportion of the people in
Germany
prefer holiday destinations in their own country, there are a few things to consider.
Vacation despite Corona: What should you watch out for when booking your trip?
Because no matter where the
trip is
going, a certain flexibility and security are the decisive criteria for many when booking.
Because nobody wants to take the risk of having
paid for
an expensive
vacation
and not being able to take it due to the pandemic developments.
When booking
,
interested parties should pay attention
to the possibility of being able to cancel free of charge.
This is possible with organizers of
package tours
in some offers until shortly before the start of the trip.
However, in order to further minimize the risk, numerous
tour operators
such as
TUI
offer
so-called flex prices.
These usually include a surcharge, which is based on the total travel price, and in return offer the possibility of canceling the trip without giving reasons up to, for example, 14 days before departure.
Trends in travel planning 2021 |
Share in 10,000 respondents |
---|---|
Short break |
28 percent |
Last minute booking |
41.8 percent |
Early booking with special offers |
18 percent |
No booking for the time being |
24 percent |
Source: survey by onePoll / edreamsodigeo.com |
Free cancellation: package tour or individual vacation in times of Corona?
But be careful: even with package tour providers, free
cancellation is
not always possible.
Users of the online platforms and travel catalogs should therefore familiarize themselves very carefully with the respective offer and observe the cancellation conditions and the general terms and conditions.
In addition, some tour operators sometimes have different conditions for different forms of travel.
For
cruises
therefore different rules may apply as for
air travel
or
holiday
with rental car and hotel.
In principle,
however, the following also
applies to
package tours
: As a
rule,
cancellation
is always possible free of charge if there are
special circumstances
in the
destination area
or if the trip is only impaired or impossible to carry out.
A strong indication of such a situation is, for example, if the Federal Foreign Office has
issued
a
travel warning
for the booked destination area.
However, this does not apply in the event that the authority only publishes travel and safety information.
Vacation in times of the corona pandemic: what should you watch out for when you travel individually?
In the case of
individual
trips, the procedure looks more complex anyway.
It is best for the holidaymakers to negotiate their own cancellation conditions.
This is recommended by the ADAC.
With all parties involved in the planning or implementation of the
trip
.
For example, with the landlord of a holiday home, the provider of a rental car or the airline.
As a rule, the following applies: “Can the providers
perform their service, there is no entitlement to a free
cancellation,
”says the ADAC.
However, due to
Corona
, smaller providers are
often more flexible with regard to the conditions.
In the case of individual agreements, travelers should have these confirmed in writing.
As the newspaper “Die Welt” reports, the fees for cancellation on the part of the accommodations are also set on the largest hotel booking portal “booking.com”.
However, at a higher price level, free
cancellation
up to two days before
arrival is
often
included.
Vacation 2021: Before traveling, deal with possible restrictions due to Corona
In general, many tourist providers attract visitors with early bird offers and discounts at the beginning of the year.
However, the ADAC recommends always
weighing
the savings of the offer against the possible
cancellation
costs.
Especially when the travelers
get an uneasy feeling
about entering
the destination area
shortly before the start of the
trip
due to the corona situation, the additional price when
booking can
be worthwhile.
Travelers should also deal
with various corona-related restrictions on entering and leaving the country
before they
go on holiday
.
For example, about possible
corona tests
and
quarantine
.
It is also possible that due to the
local
pandemic
, not all offers can be used.
For example, pool facilities or wellness areas can be closed.
(Yannick Wenig) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.