Can my trip continue when Greece goes into lockdown?

Q Greece goes into lockdown today. I am a tourist currently on the island of Crete. What will this mean for the rest of my stay? The hotel doesn't seem sure whether they will remain open.

Keith O’B

 A From 6am, Greece is in a second lockdown until 30 November 2020. Most indoor facilities such as shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, gyms, cinemas, theatres, hairdressers and spas are closed.

The Greek tourism authorities insist that holidays can continue more or less as normal, saying: “Most restaurants, tavernas, fast food outlets, bars and cafes offer a delivery and takeaway service.

“Hotels will remain open and guests can order in their breakfast, lunch or dinner.”

If your hotel fails to comply, there will doubtless be other places to stay. November is a very low season in Crete, even in a normal year.

A more immediate issue is the accompanying ban on non-essential movements outside of your accommodation. Essential movements are defined as leaving or venturing out for medical reasons (eg visiting a doctor or a pharmacy), shopping for essentials, going to the bank (only if the transaction is not possible online) or physical exercise outdoors.

You need to “self-certify” by writing a note explaining your reason for being outside, and show it to the authorities when requested. Face coverings must be worn in outdoor public and communal spaces as well as indoor locations.

You can leave the area you are in to “return to your residence“, ie heading for the airport and flying home. But please double-check whether your flight is going ahead as planned.

Airlines flying to and from the UK are cancelling hundreds of departures because of the second English lockdown, and some have said that this weekend will be the last chance to get home for many passengers. That is an exaggeration: under European air passengers’ rights rules if an airline cancels your flight it is required to provide an alternative trip home, even if that means buying a ticket on another carrier. But the number of options is shrinking by the day and you should ensure you have an escape plan.

And one final piece of bureaucracy: you are required to complete the UK Passenger Locator Form within 48 hours of your homeward flight.

Q We are due to fly away on holiday on Friday 6 November. We like to start our holiday early so we have booked a hotel at Heathrow two days earlier, on Wednesday 4 November. Will we be told to return home because of the no-travel order?

Also, we are going to a quarantine-free location. But do you think the “air corridor” system will be abolished as part of the second lockdown, and we will be required to self-isolate?

Name supplied

A For most residents of England, the holiday rule between Thursday 5 November and Wednesday 2 December is clear: you cannot start one. Much else is far from clear – including, can you start one before that? The government has so far declined to respond to my enquiries, so instead I am relying on the fact that Britain’s biggest holiday company, Tui, is pressing ahead with overseas departures scheduled up to and including today.

Tui and other holiday companies are cancelling trips from Thursday onwards, but the fact that you are departing from Heathrow indicates that you are on a scheduled flight, which is likely to go ahead.

In terms of the Heathrow stay: since you can demonstrate you made the booking before Saturday’s surprise announcement of the second lockdown and ban on holidays, I believe there is no reason for you to be turfed out of your room early. So you can stay until the morning of 6 November (observing, of course, all the new rules that come into force from one minute past midnight on Thursday).

What happens next is the sort of case that lawyers revel in: is your subsequent overseas trip part of the same holiday as the stay at Heathrow? If it is, then you can argue that your holiday commenced today and, since you are entitled to complete it, you can legitimately continue with your flight. The legal position will be strengthened if you can show that the whole trip, including the Heathrow stay, was bought in a single transaction; otherwise, you may be able to advance the same argument if you booked the airport overnight at the same time as the international trip.

I stress I am not eager to find loopholes: I urge everyone to observe all the rules on coronavirus. I am simply trying to interpret opaque rules. The fact that you are going to a quarantine-free location indicates you are most unlikely to be at risk abroad. On which subject: the “travel corridors” arrangements for people arriving in the UK remain unaffected.

Q A member of my family has been taken seriously ill in Spain and I would like to fly out and see her in hospital as soon as I can. But I live in England and cannot tell if, under the new lockdown rules, I’m allowed to make the journey. Can you advise?

Name supplied

A Since the government announced the second lockdown for England last Saturday, it has been less than clear about the exemptions for which travel is allowed. Everyone knows that work (if you cannot do so from home) and education are allowed. But what else? I have been trying to nail that down since the original announcement.

The phrase the government has used is “other legally permitted reasons” – and published a few examples, notable shopping, exercise and medical appointments.

I have repeatedly asked the government for clarification of what constitutes a “legally permitted reason” without any response. So I am having to rely upon interpreting the legislation, which rejoices in the name of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No 4) Regulations 2020.

It says you cannot leave your home except when it is “necessary for certain purposes”. Having studied all the rules, it appears to me that “Exception 4 (e) (ii)” gives clarity for the sad situation you find yourself in.

You are legally allowed “to visit a person receiving treatment in a hospital or staying in a hospice or care home” if you are a close family member of that person. (It would not, though, be allowed if she were at home in Spain rather than in hospital, except in what is called in the legislation a “death bed visit”.)

The law does not stipulate any limit to how far you may travel to see that person, and you would therefore be free to travel directly to the airport and board a flight to Spain. I do not expect that you will encounter any checks along the way, but were you to do so I suggest you keep a copy of my response and invite the official to consult the appropriate legislation.

You will of course need to observe all the rules in Spain, and (unless you are going to the Canary Islands) self-isolate for two weeks when you return to the UK.

Q Airbnb appears not to be issuing refunds for bookings that will now be affected by the second lockdown. When the government was insisting there would not be a second lockdown, I booked a stay in London. Obviously it would now be illegal for me to travel to London for this, so I need to cancel. The company has offered only half of my money back, which seems unfair: to uphold the booking I would have to break the law. Is there anything I can do?

Name supplied

A Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has taken the consumer’s side when a contract is “frustrated” – ie it cannot be carried out – because of government restrictions. The authority says: “For most consumer contracts, the CMA would expect a consumer to be offered a full refund where … a consumer is prevented from receiving any goods or services, because, for example, lockdown laws in the UK or abroad have made it illegal to receive or use the goods or services.” That covers your situation. But the CMA qualifies its view, saying: “Ultimately only a court can decide how the law applies in each circumstance.”

In contrast, Airbnb believes its hosts can legitimately decline to provide full refunds for coronavirus-related cancellations. Bookings made before mid-March can be cancelled without penalty under the firm’s “extenuating circumstances policy”. But for bookings made from mid-March onwards, of which yours is clearly one, the policy specifically excludes coronavirus travel restrictions. The reason: “Covid-19 and its consequences are no longer unforeseen or unexpected.”

You, in turn, can argue that, with the government firmly set against a second lockdown right up until last Friday, it was indeed “unforeseen or unexpected” that less than 24 hours later all leisure travel within England would be banned from 5 November to 2 December and that your trip would be effectively cancelled.

So what are your options? Crucially, Airbnb stresses that its role (in return for a substantial fee, typically around 15 per cent of the transaction) is simply to provide a platform on which you and the host can agree a contract. So any dispute is between you and the host.

You could instigate legal action to recover the other half of your cash, but that would require stumping up more money with no guarantee of success. In your position I would instead inform the host that you are waiting to see what legal precedent is set; if the courts decide in favour of the consumer, you will claim the full amount. The host may then offer instead a postponement which, I imagine, might be the best solution for both parties.

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