Many Britons have cancelled their holidays following uncertainty over whether the UK will remove more countries from the UK “air bridge” list. So far, Spain, the Balearics and the Canary Islands are the only countries to have been removed from the list after being given the green light back in June. There have since been reports to suggest that more countries could be removed from the list after a spike in coronavirus cases.
Spain was removed from the UK’s quarantine exemption list after localised spikes in the regions of Catalonia, Aragon and Navarra.
TravelSupermarket has found that since the FCO’s change in advice, searches via the site for holidays to Spain from the UK have dipped by a whopping 80 percent.
But instead of travellers avoiding travel altogether, it seems holidaymakers are instead looking at different destinations.
Travel Expert from TravelSupermarket Emma Coulthurst said that she has seen searchers looking to destinations such as Greece, Turkey, Italy, Malta and Croatia.
READ MORE: Greece holidays: FCO issues major face mask update
She said: “My advice would be that if you’re looking for a holiday, packages give you that gold plated protection.
“If the FCO advice was to change to non-essential travel, then you are entitled to your money back for the package within 14 days. Check worldometer or a similar site for Covid levels.
“The low Covid levels in Greece, Turkey and Italy are why the countries are proving popular destinations for UK holidaymakers to compare package holiday prices to.”
For those looking for even more protection for their money, the travel expert said to book on a credit card and get travel insurance.
She continued: “Book on a credit card for the extra consumer protection which it provides.
“Make sure you have travel insurance; there are many insurers now back in the market offering cost effective comprehensive policies and most will cover you for medical care if you were to contract Covid while abroad – every single policy comparable via TravelSupermarket covers this.
“It is also possible to find cover for the event of you getting Covid before your holiday and not being able to travel.
“And if you do decide to go down the DIY route, be aware of the T’s and C’s which you are signing up to; for example, with Ryanair, to benefit from no change fees, you need to change your flight within a week of travel and within two weeks of travel for easyJet.
“You can still change your flight after that but you will incur change fees.”
One of the cheap packages on offer includes seven nights in Corfu for £242 per person from Stansted for two adults and two school-age children.
Another includes seven nights in Kavos for two adults for £116 per person.
