What does the Greece situation mean for your holiday? guardian.

Jill Insley guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 May 2012     As Greece's exit from the eurozone becomes more probable, we look at what it means for your travel plans   You are about to go on holiday, your bags are packed and the children at the front door waiting to leave for the airport. Then you hear that the country you are departing for has crashed out of the eurozone. Some experts think this scenario is highly likely, predicting a 75% probability of Greece exiting the euro within the next 18 months. We asked travel expert Bob Atkinson of Travelsupermarket.com what this could mean for your holiday. Will I still be able to go on holiday? Yes, unless the airspace and all the hotels are closed. The issue will be around how your tour operator interacts with the hoteliers in Greece, and what the terms of their contracts say. They should all have plans in place that will allow you to continue with your holiday. Will I have to pay any more for the trip? Possibly. If you have booked an Atol-backed package the tour operator has to absorb any extra costs – be they transportation costs, taxes or anything else that pushes up the price – worth up to 2% of the value of your holiday. It also has to absorb all increases if you are due to depart within 30 days of the cost arising. But if the increase is between 2% and 10% of the holiday's value, and occurs more than 30 days before you leave, it can pass the cost on to you. If the rise is more than 10% of the cost of your holiday the operator must offer you the option of paying the extra, switching to a different holiday or having a full refund. If you have booked the different parts of your holiday independently and are not covered by Atol you will have to stump up any difference in price yourself. What happens if the accommodation I booked has gone bust? Again, if you have booked an Atol-covered package your tour operator is obliged to organise alternative accommodation, or if there is no immediate alternative a holiday on a different date or a full refund. If you have booked independently you may still be covered provided you paid by credit card and the deposit was £100 or more, you paid by Visa or Mastercard debit card (and can do a charge back), or have travel insurance which includes end supplier failure in its cover. What do I do about spending money? Even when the decision is made for a country to drop out of the euro, it will take some time for it to be put into practice. Euros could continue to be accepted as legal tender for several weeks, but their value may be different to that in other eurozone countries. Many people are considering buying euros now because the exchange rate against sterling has dropped to a three-and-a-half-year low. However, if you have booked to go to Greece it may be worth holding off until the last minute: if the country does drop out of the euro it may be that Greek retailers prefer to trade in US dollars or sterling. Unless the whole banking system goes into meltdown you are also likely to be able to use credit and debit cards, although it's impossible to say which currency your transactions will be made in until it actually happens. What happens if Greece goes on strike? You can buy travel insurance which includes cover against costs incurred if there is a strike, but for this to be valid you must buy it before a strike is announced. If your travel insurance does not include strike cover and the strike starts while you are on holiday, how you fare will depend on the type of holiday you have booked. Atol-protected customers will be completely covered, but if you have booked independently it will depend on your airline as to whether you receive any help. Good luck to those who book with Ryanair. I have a holiday home. What does this mean for me? The same currency exchange movement that has made it favourable for Brits to buy euros has made it costly to sell eurozone holiday homes: at the beginning of the year you could expect to get 83.5p for your euro, but this is now only worth 79.8p, says the retail foreign exchange broker Forex Club. If you can sell at all, that is. The value of property in Greece has plummeted, with one estate agent, Nightingales, saying prices have dropped by 25% on some properties as a result of the ongoing economic and political crisis. If you have been renting out your property and keep a balance in a Greek bank account, this is also likely to lose value if Greece drops out of the euro. However, some owners are prosaic about the crisis. One who prefers to remain anonymous says: "I've never regarded the property as an investment – it's a home where the family can spend time together." His view is that the crisis will pass. In the meantime there are plenty of good opportunities for any cash-rich Brits on the look out for an island idyll.

Jill Insley guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 May 2012     As Greece's exit from the eurozone becomes more probable, we look at what it means for your travel plans   You are about to go on holiday, your bags are packed and the children at the front door waiting to leave for the airport. Then you hear that the country you are departing for has crashed out of the eurozone. Some experts think this scenario is highly likely, predicting a 75% probability of Greece exiting the euro within the next 18 months. We asked travel expert Bob Atkinson of Travelsupermarket.com what this could mean for your holiday. Will I still be able to go on holiday? Yes, unless the airspace and all the hotels are closed. The issue will be around how your tour operator interacts with the hoteliers in Greece, and what the terms of their contracts say. They should all have plans in place that will allow you to continue with your holiday. Will I have to pay any more for the trip? Possibly. If you have booked an Atol-backed package the tour operator has to absorb any extra costs – be they transportation costs, taxes or anything else that pushes up the price – worth up to 2% of the value of your holiday. It also has to absorb all increases if you are due to depart within 30 days of the cost arising. But if the increase is between 2% and 10% of the holiday's value, and occurs more than 30 days before you leave, it can pass the cost on to you. If the rise is more than 10% of the cost of your holiday the operator must offer you the option of paying the extra, switching to a different holiday or having a full refund. If you have booked the different parts of your holiday independently and are not covered by Atol you will have to stump up any difference in price yourself. What happens if the accommodation I booked has gone bust? Again, if you have booked an Atol-covered package your tour operator is obliged to organise alternative accommodation, or if there is no immediate alternative a holiday on a different date or a full refund. If you have booked independently you may still be covered provided you paid by credit card and the deposit was £100 or more, you paid by Visa or Mastercard debit card (and can do a charge back), or have travel insurance which includes end supplier failure in its cover. What do I do about spending money? Even when the decision is made for a country to drop out of the euro, it will take some time for it to be put into practice. Euros could continue to be accepted as legal tender for several weeks, but their value may be different to that in other eurozone countries. Many people are considering buying euros now because the exchange rate against sterling has dropped to a three-and-a-half-year low. However, if you have booked to go to Greece it may be worth holding off until the last minute: if the country does drop out of the euro it may be that Greek retailers prefer to trade in US dollars or sterling. Unless the whole banking system goes into meltdown you are also likely to be able to use credit and debit cards, although it's impossible to say which currency your transactions will be made in until it actually happens. What happens if Greece goes on strike? You can buy travel insurance which includes cover against costs incurred if there is a strike, but for this to be valid you must buy it before a strike is announced. If your travel insurance does not include strike cover and the strike starts while you are on holiday, how you fare will depend on the type of holiday you have booked. Atol-protected customers will be completely covered, but if you have booked independently it will depend on your airline as to whether you receive any help. Good luck to those who book with Ryanair. I have a holiday home. What does this mean for me? The same currency exchange movement that has made it favourable for Brits to buy euros has made it costly to sell eurozone holiday homes: at the beginning of the year you could expect to get 83.5p for your euro, but this is now only worth 79.8p, says the retail foreign exchange broker Forex Club. If you can sell at all, that is. The value of property in Greece has plummeted, with one estate agent, Nightingales, saying prices have dropped by 25% on some properties as a result of the ongoing economic and political crisis. If you have been renting out your property and keep a balance in a Greek bank account, this is also likely to lose value if Greece drops out of the euro. However, some owners are prosaic about the crisis. One who prefers to remain anonymous says: "I've never regarded the property as an investment – it's a home where the family can spend time together." His view is that the crisis will pass. In the meantime there are plenty of good opportunities for any cash-rich Brits on the look out for an island idyll.