Egypt Dilema

gazpacho_uk

I have tagged this onto another "Egypt" thread, but thought I should really post it in its own right ......

The balance for our holiday to Sharm is due in two week’s time (holiday is end of July). Because of the Government advice, the travel agent is saying it is safe to travel and they will not consider assisting us in changing to an alternative destination without losing the £1200 we have already paid.
Gut instinct tells me to pay the balance, hope the troubles dissipate after the May elections in Egypt and try to enjoy the holiday without too many excursions away from the hotel complex!
Alternatively, I could forgo the £1200 deposit and think of the "safety" issue and book elsewhere

Any advice or help is much appreciated as are any reports from people who have recently returned from Sharm

InsideInsurance

I dont think that there has ever been advice not to travel to Sharm. Its whole existence is tourism and so it is heavily insulated from the different challenges that other parts of the country have had.

I have been to Egypt many times, though Sharm only once, and several times has been during "troubles", though never against FCO advice. All the times I have never had any problems, occasionally higher visibility of the army/ armed police but that was it outside of central Cairo

zaax

I suspect that the FCO advice might change before you go as its getting worse. When they do you should get your money back.

[Deleted User]

gazpacho_uk wrote: »

I have tagged this onto another "Egypt" thread, but thought I should really post it in its own right ......

The balance for our holiday to Sharm is due in two week’s time (holiday is end of July). Because of the Government advice, the travel agent is saying it is safe to travel and they will not consider assisting us in changing to an alternative destination without losing the £1200 we have already paid.
Gut instinct tells me to pay the balance, hope the troubles dissipate after the May elections in Egypt and try to enjoy the holiday without too many excursions away from the hotel complex!
Alternatively, I could forgo the £1200 deposit and think of the "safety" issue and book elsewhere

Any advice or help is much appreciated as are any reports from people who have recently returned from Sharm

Unfortunately this is one of those occasions where the decision will ultimately come down to you.
There are those on here who would say Sharm is completely safe and others,myself included, who believe there is an increased danger of terrorist attack.
The key word here is increased.Sharm and the rest of the resorts are not dangerous per se but there is obviously some danger otherwise British security personnel ( SAS probably ) wouldn't have been down there recently assessing the risk.
Of course even if there is a terrorist attack the chances of you being caught up in are not entirely predictable - more like bad luck.
With a £1200 deposit already paid I think your gut instinct is probably right but, as you say,exercise caution.
Enjoy !

pattycake

I returned last week from El Gouna which is just outside Hurghada not near to Sharm. It was just business as usual other than the fact that the airport was quieter than we have ever seen it.

I am booked to return to Egypt in June - although again to the Hurghada area. I will be very disappointed if we cannot go because of Government advice. However, in those circumstances the tour operator would be obliged to refund our money or help to find a suitable alternative holiday.

MrsAckroyd

We went to Sharm in August last year when there was conflict in Egypt & you'd never have imagined there was trouble in the country. We went out in sharm at night & also did a quad biking trip with no problems. Most of the trouble is around Cairo, which is a good 9 hours away. I'd definitely recommend going, in fact we're going to be spending Christmas there this year!

HTH

dwsjarcmcd

I'm just back from Sharm and as stated above, it is very much business as usual. There was a little evidence of increased security at 1 hotel but the troubles elsewhere in Egypt had zero impact on us, or our holiday.


Would I go again - definitely (but to a different hotel but that's another story!)

stephb34

Who have you booked with, if it someone like Thomas Cook - proper package holiday, if you are still only in deposit stages you can change holiday at a cost of £50 per person per change up to a max of £150pp, check their t+cs it doesn't go into cancellation charges until either 84 or 70 days ( can't remember which off the top of my head) If its not a true package it might not be possible to change it.

hollie.weimeraner

I got back from Nabq last week. As dwsjarcmcd stated there is increased security everywhere. We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday. The only thing that spoilt any of it was wondering if the FCO advice would change on the run up to it (obviously it didn't).

It's a personal choice, my only comment is that I will not be booking a holiday in Sharm again until the country stabilises, simply because I don't want the uncertainty of the holiday being changed at short notice due to FCO advice.

InsideInsurance

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

It's a personal choice, my only comment is that I will not be booking a holiday in Sharm again until the country stabilises, simply because I don't want the uncertainty of the holiday being changed at short notice due to FCO advice.

When has the country ever been stable? First time I went was in the 90s when "terrorists" had been opening fire on tourist buses and each time since then there has been some trouble in some part of the country at the time.

Unfortunately its not a stable place and unlikely to become one any time soon. Whilst Sharm is just a beach and not a great one in my opinion there is no where like the rest of the country in the world and so you go to see a wonder and take your chances or write it off

hollie.weimeraner

InsideInsurance wrote: »

When has the country ever been stable? First time I went was in the 90s when "terrorists" had been opening fire on tourist buses and each time since then there has been some trouble in some part of the country at the time.

Unfortunately its not a stable place and unlikely to become one any time soon. Whilst Sharm is just a beach and not a great one in my opinion there is no where like the rest of the country in the world and so you go to see a wonder and take your chances or write it off

I meant stable for Egypt, although there was always a risk (especially in the 1990's). For the past 10 or 12 years it was generally quite a stable country (for the Middle east anyway) until the advent of the Arab Spring and the subsequent events in Cairo.