Brits Face Up to 1000% Price Hikes as They Scramble to Leave France
On Thursday night the UK government decided to take France off the safe travel list after the country reported a sharp rise in coronavirus infections. That is an understandable move to keep a country from experiencing a new wave of coronavirus cases.
The problem is that the ban goes into effect on 4am on Saturday, less than two days after the announcement. That means that over 400,000 Britons are now scrambling to make travel arrangements to return to the UK before restrictions requiring them to self-isolate for two weeks are implemented. At least this gives them a bit more time than the way in which quarantine was imposed on travelers from Spain. That was only a six hours notice.
Britons Face with 1000% Airfare Price Increase
Booking travel last minute is often expensive. But Britons now are facing limited and incredibly expensive options to get back home. Airlines, ferries and the Eurostar have been branded “shameless” for “cashing in on desperate hard-working Brits” by experts as thousands race to cut holidays short, The Sun reports.
A look at prices from some budget airlines, show an increase of more than 1000% compared to the following week. A Ryanair flight from Nantes, France to Edinburgh on Friday night costs about £250 ($327), while a week later than same flight would cost about $28. British Airways is also hiking prices as much as 700% compared to the following week, and some other airlines are charging double or triple.
Travelers now have to shell out extra money and cut their vacations short. Some airlines are letting them change flights with no extra fees, but they would still have to pay the price difference.
Conclusion
These are tough decisions, and there are many things to think about when a government takes such drastic steps. But giving citizens a two day, or six hour advance notice to get back home, is extreme. Besides the expensive travel options, people are also missing out on a vacations that they probably planned ahead, and saved for.
These are also times when you should look at the actions of these companies that take advantage of a desperate situation.
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Nothing like a little friendly profiteering during a pandemic.
Great – another several weeks of sob stories in the media from families that gambled and lost. If you travel during the most severe pandemic of the last century, you get no sympathy if your plans go awry.
Can we vote on the most pathetic sob story? My money is on the large working-class family who was taking a “trip of a lifetime” that now can’t afford to get home and now are begging on the streets in a foreign land.