I usually book my own flights and hotel, but this year the hotel asked for payment in full by December for an August booking. I declined their kind offer and booked through an ABTA member, at least my money should be safe!!

We're going to Corfu in August and have only been asked to pay the deposit. The balance isn't due until we arrive- Now I've never had a deal like that abroad before. Maybe it's because I've never booked direct with the hotel before but I'm certainly not complaining

Same here - but I have paid on arrival for many short breaks booked independantly. I think that this summer's holiday is probably the first fortnight's holiday that I've booked DIY.

I booked through my hubbys work scheme to get a discount , was only asked to pay deposit but i paid most of it off , so remainder is due in May it is a Thomas Cook holiday going to Zante

We have a holiday house in Greece and are not sure how to prepare for the possibility of a sudden Greek default whilst we are there. e.g If the banks closed for some time like they did when Argentina defaulted, because the Euro is no longer their currency, how do we pay for food, petrol etc? Do we take a variety of currencies? Any ideas?

I was wondering about that too.......but if Greece does default back to the drachma, logically thinking, there will have to be a changeover period where you will be able to use euro's and drachma....just as it was when the euro came into being.
Kath

This is a can of worms! I don't think anyone really knows what will happen except someone somewhere will make money from it! Euro banknotes have a code on them that denotes which country they are from, so If I've got any Greek ones I'm changing them. Unfortunately the Greeks were less than honest when applying to join the Euro and as a result Cyprus now has a big problem, how can a small country be expected to provide unquestioned support, in the form of loans, to its larger neighbour when barely surviving itself. Last time I was in Cyprus 3 years ago, rep on coach from airport said to people sitting in front of us that economic downturn would bite the following year and the Cypriots would have only themselves to blame. Their housing market has slumped, prices had already increased when they joined the Euro, restaurants/bars are closing, tourism numbers are down so some surviving bars/restaurants have hiked up prices to survive. And it's everyone's fault but theirs. Yes, the Greeks are proud and very likeable people, but the blame stops with them and they should channel their efforts into restoring Greece to the great country it used to be.

Returning to the drachma may be the best option, but let's hope that the Greek people themselves learn from this disaster.

I have been all over Greece over the years and it has become horrendously expensive over the last few years - compared to the Drachma years. Last year visited Corfu, previous year Koufanissi - which is so remote it takes 7 hours on the supercat to get to and the year before that Paros/Naxos - the prices were high on all the islands.

I have a friend who lives in Athens and I go Island hopping with her or on holiday with my husband and we have discussed the issues over and over and part of the problem (a huge part) is the politicians, part is the oridinary people (riding the gravy train) and part is the tax system and the avoidance of paying tax by the rich. There is no one reason and there is no one outcome if they do leave the Euro.

However, NONE of the Greeks I have known over the years ever wanted the Euro - knowing it would make things more expensive and most now believe they should leave and have 1 or 2 years pain now rather than the 50 years of pain staying in the Euro will cause. I think it will be more like 10-20 years but I don't blame them for wanting out asap.

Greece will leave the Euro and other Southern European countries will probably follow too, it should have happened 2 years ago and we could all have started to move forward then. In any event I think their may be further serious political unrest, the banks going bust and hyper inflation to start with, with things, then hopefully starting to calm down and I do think Greek prices will then go down in as they try to attract tourists - this is their one true cash cow!

In any event this year we are going to our favourite place in Turkey - Turunc and we have heard prices are starting to drop there. Also the price of the holiday was good!

I feel sorry for Greece, a country I love and her people but the EU has gone way beyond its original remit, driven by some member countries political desires - but we won't go there. Do I feel sorry for the richer EU countries now, who are paying of their Southern neighbours? No they allowed the Southern European countries to join the Euro even though their fiscal houses were not in order.

Thank god we kept the pound! Won't say we told you so ....... as this gives certain countries more reasons to hate us Euro sceptics!

Anyway I will go to Greece again and support the people/economy as long as it is safe to do so. We are so lucky in the UK, in that we will avoid, in part some of the fall out and Sterling is looked on as a safe bet!

Greece once one of the poorest countries in Europe will be so again - a true Greek Tragedy.

Simon Calder on Daybreak this morning giving advice to those going to Greece on their holidays .

I've just watched that now Llindy. Basically what Simon Calder is saying that it's a good year to go to Greece. The currency will still be the euro in the summer, so we can go out and get them. It's best to get the lesser notes though e.g. 10, 20 euro so you won't be needing lots of notes for change. If for example you pay for something with a 50 euro note you may get change with some notes that have that big stamp over them, which means they'll be worth slightly less than the 'normal' euro.

They say it's highly unlikely any unrest will spread much further than Athens but I didn't quite catch what was said about strikes etc. I'll still be keeping my eye on the news before I get my euros.

There is some informative reading here for anybody going to Greece this year. it's about half way down this page http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10806248

Shirley he didn't say much about strikes , but i think they might just be at Athens . He did say the American Embassy is advising any American tourists to be careful because of rioting in two areas of Athens and that Embassy officials have been warned not to go to these areas after dark . i will take Simons advice when picking my euro's up this weekend and ask for small nominations and perhaps take more sterling with me aswell .

part of the problem (a huge part) is the politicians, part is the oridinary people (riding the gravy train) and part is the tax system and the avoidance of paying tax by the rich.

All the above would still have applied even if Greece had stayed out of the Euro zone. Cretan farmers would have still have been exaggerating the amount of land they had given over to olive trees (only stopped when the bureaucrats in Brussels noticed that the amount of land they were subsidising olive production on exceeded the total land mass of the island!), every man and his dog would still have been evading paying their taxes (not just the rich) just as they were before they joined the EU and the Euro Zone, the Greek political system would still have been the haven of cronysim it has been for decades. Greece is going bankrupt for exactly the same reason as anybody does - they were spending more than they were earning right across the board. Do that and it doesn't matter which currency you use - you go bankrupt and have to face the pain.

As for the Euro putting the prices up - well I haven't noticed my bills staying the same even though I'm paying them in £s. During the same time that prices have been going up in the Euro zone so have prices here in this country. And especially so in the last 12 months. I would estimate that my 'weekly shop' is now 20% higher than it was 2 years ago and I haven't changed my shopping habits in the sense of going more upmarket with what I buy - far from it, I've now become much cannier. Lord knows what I'd be paying if I wasn't being much more careful and shopping around.

What's happening in Greece now is what happened in Argentina a short while back - and if they hadn't been in the Euro zone there would have been no EU bail out for the Greek banks. The odds are they'd have been in an even worse state with the ordinary citizen ahving to cough up the cash as happened here but I doubt that the Greek economy could have sustained it. It's more likely that their banks would crashed completely.

Yes, it will be chaos of they are forced out of the Euro zone but I'm not convinced that Greece would have been in any better state now if it had retained the Drachma. And we'd have still had the same worries about the effect on our holidays there. Any country which shows the willingness to play the game of brinksmanship to the extent that some of the political parties are doing at the moment is potentially heading for disaster. What really worries me at the moment is the idea that the new elections really could be won by a party that thinks it it can refuse to carry out the austerity measures required by the EU and yet still have its economy bailed out by the EU. Trying to call Angela Merkel's bluff seems to me to be a very risky strategy! Especially when it's your only strategy. Never say to a banker 'You can't afford to bankrupt me' - that's a bluff that only they get away with as we know to our cost here with the likes of Northern Rock and RBS

SM

SM

Greece debt crisis: Q&A for holidaymakers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9269744/Greece-debt-crisis-QandA-for-holidaymakers.html

David

Operators prepare for Greece exiting eurozone

TUI has revealed it has put contingency measures in place in case Greece exits the eurozone, which is now looking increasingly likely.

While refusing to reveal what those measures were, a TUI spokeswoman hinted the operator could shift capacity away from the Greek islands if the situation in the country worsens following next month's elections.

She said: "We cannot predict what is going to happen, however, the inherent flexibility in our business model gives us the ability to move capacity dependent on where our customers want to go, for example, last year we moved capacity away from North Africa due to the Arab Spring."

The International Monetary Fund warned European leaders yesterday that they should prepared for Greece's exit from the single currency, which head of the IMF Christine Lagarde conceeded was likely to be "quite messy".

There are reports the Greeks are already pulling their euros out of banks, with a reported €700m withdrawn on Monday alone.

UK tour operators are keeping a very close eye on the situation in Greece, where voters have rejected a political party that had agreed to austerity measures in return for two bailouts by the IMF. A second round of elections will be held next month after days of coalition talks failed to produce agreement on a new government.

European leaders are threatening to cut off funding for Greece unless the new government imposes the cuts, which analysts believe would mean effective bankruptcy for the country and its exit from the eurozone

Some analysts believe the country could descend into chaos as the Greek currency would become worthless, but Thomas Cook said there would be positives as well as negatives for the travel industry if Greece left the Euro. However, the operator refused to expand beyond saying that the country remained popular and "great value" for holidaymakers.

"We're working with our suppliers and closely monitoring the evolving situation in Athens," said its spokesman.

A TUI spokeswoman said: "Greece remains a popular destination for our customers and we anticipate that it will remain so. We have contingency plans in place should the country exit the eurozone and we continue to work with our Greek suppliers and hotel partners as we keep a very close eye on the situation".

Referring to recent demonstrations of political unrest in Athens, TUI said there was no indication this would spread to areas visited by its clients. " The comfort and well-being of our customers is of paramount importance to us," she said. " In the unlikely event that civil unrest does break out near our resorts, we have tried and tested procedures for ensuring that our customers are looked after."

Sunvil managing director Noel Josephides said bookings had definitely slowed since the Greek elections, which failed to form a new government. He said Sunvil sales were 12% down since the elections, although the operator has cut 7% capacity, mainly in May.

However, Josephides said it was certain that holidays to Greece would be cheaper if Greece returned to the drachma. "This is a definite, as clients' spending money will go further," he said.

With permission from Travelmole 16 May

Hi We are going to Greece (Crete) next week, also having booked an island hopping holiday in September. Having listened to all the hoo ha about the Greeks and the Euro, I am not particulary bothered, as Simon Calder says "Greece will still be there whatever happens" It will be months before things get sorted (if at all). One thing that interested me though, was his reference to the country code letter on all euro notes prefixing the number. I have been trying no end of websites to try and find a list of all euro countries and the relevant code letters, with no success. So. I will ask all you knowledgable people on HT. Can anyone help?

Ta
Tony

Doh it takes a woman! my OH had a look and in 5 minutes found what I had been looking for all morning. I am now suitably chastised and hanging my head in shame. So sorry to have bothered you.

I have read somewhere that it makes no difference what code is on the notes as all euros will be equal unless they get stamped over in Greece. Even if you wanted to avoid the Greek coded ones, how would you be able to do it? If the notes you are given in exchange for sterling have that code on them, I doubt the TA would send them back and re-order the ones we want.

Agents reassured over Greek crisis

Agents are being reassured that it's still safe to sell holidays to Greece despite fears of the country leaving the euro and of further civil unrest.

But as the country's problems intensify, ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer has issued advice to agents and operators about how to deal with enquiries from worried customers.

"Their two main concerns will be the financial impact of Greece leaving the Euro and safety," he said.

"No one knows exactly what would happen if, and that still is an if, Greece left the Euro, however it is likely there would be a transition period when holidaymakers would still be able to pay with Euros in bars and restaurants."

Tanzer said agents should recommend that consumers do not rely on plastic and take plenty of cash with them as issues could arise with using credit and debit cards at Greek banks.

On the issue of civil unrest, he said there was no indication that holidaymakers will be affected.

"To date, demonstrations that we have seen on TV have been sporadic and limited to parts of central Athens and the second largest city Thessaloniki, neither of which are visited in significant numbers by UK holidaymakers," he said.

"The vast majority of UK holidaymakers fly directly into the Greek islands which have not seen any unrest. I'm absolutely sure that this year, as ever, people travelling to Greece will be welcomed by the Greeks and their well known hospitality."

Meanwhile a spokeswoman for Thomson and First Choice said both operators were monitoring the situation closely and claimed sales to Greece had not been impacted.

"Thomson and First Choice have very close working relationships with our hoteliers and suppliers in Greece, and so we are well placed to deal with any eventuality or change in situation," she said.

"Although there has been a lot of media attention on Greece this week, calls from customers enquiring about their holidays there have been minimal and sales have not been impacted."

Unless the Foreign and Commonwealth Office changes its advice to the Greek Islands, the operators" usual booking conditions will apply, she added.

With permission from Travelmole

I agree, Greece might well be more settled outside the Euro Zone, but then the strain would be on Spain and Portugal who also have weak Euro economies and how much would British banks lose in defaulted Greek loans. I think that the whole scenario is a nightmare, expecially as Greece is again without an elected government.