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Just be patient and wait for the staycation / seacation announcement bounce.

Just wait for the staycation / seacation announcement bounce.

Heavy demand for ‘staycation’ sailings sent P&O Cruises online systems into meltdown as the cruises went on sale this morning.

The line suffered “technical issues” until about lunchtime on Monday (March 22), although travel agents reported they have not had difficulty making bookings on the series of summer coastal cruises by the ships Britannia and Iona.

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “An unprecedented demand for our UK coastal cruises has caused technical issues with our website booking system.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/technical-issues-hit-po-cruises-as-staycation-cruise-bookings-open

That’s pretty much my logic here. I accept foreign holidays in most of Europe are unlikely, but that doesn’t mean that the good ship Saga won’t be cruising in some form this summer. Either staycation cruises or sailings to selected green light destinations (I’m thinking Greece, Cyprus, Canaries etc). I think there will be plenty of takers even if you can’t disembark.

Worst case scenario with no sailings, we also know that Saga shouldn’t have any problems surviving further delays in resuming travel due to the revenue from the wonderful insurance arm continuing to flow in. In other words, whichever way you look at it this looks like a good longer term hold.

Also expecting positive results in April because as Banbury has pointed out on a number of occasions, they have already written boat loads of goodwill down, so further write downs are unlikely.

Good luck everyone and bon voyage.

Hahaha. What a great analogy.

Backed the truck up at 340. Well done to everyone who took part in this limited time cut price sale.

Good to have you back on board, Toffee. I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

Solly Atwell's our solicitor? Bloody hell, Del... he's more bent than the villains!

The final shape of the government’s plan will still depend on what other countries demand in terms of passenger documentation proving vaccination or testing.

Another key concern is the price of testing, with struggling operators hesitant to pick up the cost. Several large holiday companies are looking at ways to set up testing in resorts, with some including tests in the package holiday cost.

A PCR test, which is seen to be more accurate than the more rapid lateral flow test, can cost between £150 and £250 on the open market, according to test distributor Katalyst Laboratories. British Airways has launched £33 antigen testing kits for its customers, who are overseen via a video call with a health adviser.

“As well as theoretically possible, travel must also be practically manageable, as well as affordable,” said Glyn Jones, chief executive of Southend airport on the fringes of London.

Despite the uncertainty over the reopening of travel, holiday bookings have steadily increased this year.

Thomas Cook, the online travel agent, said it was treating Greece, Turkey and Cyprus as “open” countries and that bookings for Greece had spiked after it announced this month it would welcome UK tourists.

A similar declaration from Turkey on Tuesday prompted the country to go from being Thomas Cook’s third most booked destination to its first, while Tui said that bookings for Turkey were up 25 per cent on 2019’s levels following the announcement.

Several countries including Turkey, Greece and Spain, whose economies are heavily reliant on tourism, have already declared that they want British holidaymakers this summer. They have proposed requirements of either proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test for anyone wanting to holiday there. Other countries such as Kenya, Mexico, Morocco and parts of the Caribbean are already open to foreigners.

One proposal on the table is to carry out pilot schemes with those countries with high vaccination rates, such as the US, Singapore and Israel.

The relaxation is likely to see an end to the current “declaration to travel” forms under which people can only travel if they meet certain criteria, such as critical jobs or health emergencies. An end to the hotel quarantine scheme is also being discussed, according to those involved in the talks.

The travel industry is hopeful ministers will open up to at least a handful of popular holiday destinations this summer, although executives are wary this is susceptible to the emergence of new variants of Covid-19 and reliant on vaccination rates in Europe.

The airline industry is lobbying for passengers travelling to the safest green countries to be able to travel without restrictions, with even pre-departure testing waived.

It argues that the current system of manual checks on passenger documents will be unworkable when travel restarts at scale and is pushing for the introduction of digital certification to show passengers have been tested or vaccinated against coronavirus to prevent bottlenecks at the border.

Queues in the arrival halls at London’s Heathrow airport have stretched as long as seven hours in recent weeks, unions said, despite a sharp reduction in the number of inbound flights.

Ministers are drawing up plans for a new “traffic light” system for foreign travel this summer with tougher restrictions on more risky “red” countries and easier passage to “green” destinations with higher vaccination rates.

But as the hard-hit travel sector is enjoying a flood of bookings for summer sun destinations, Whitehall departments remain at odds over how rapidly to lift the ban on most overseas trips.

Some scientific advisers are keen to maintain tough restrictions far beyond the proposed date of May 17 for international travel to resume.

France this week introduced new lockdowns and Germany faces exponential growth in coronavirus infections.

Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, is said to be particularly nervous about the consequences of lifting restrictions too quickly.

A study for Public Health England this week that has not yet been peer reviewed found that a significant number of holidaymakers returned to the UK from the Mediterranean last summer carrying the virus.

Mike Tildesley, a member of the government’s Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that international travel was unlikely “for the average holiday-maker” because of the risk of introducing new coronavirus variants to the UK.

“I think we are running a real risk if we do start to have lots of people going overseas in July, for instance, and August because of the potential for bringing more of these new variants back into the country,” he said.

Members of the global travel task force, assembled by the government this year and featuring civil servants and industry executives, are set to deliver their report by April 12 setting out how and when overseas travel can resume. They are working up plans for the new traffic light system similar to the one used before all but the most essential trips abroad were banned at the start of the latest lockdown in January.

Yet ministers have not yet decided the extent to which people visiting countries designated as green would need to take Covid-19 tests, fill in forms or even self-isolate on return.

“The health lobby is keen to make sure you have self-isolation and managed quarantine until mass testing can be implemented,” said one person on the task force calls.

One official said: “Self-isolation can’t be ruled out. It is all part of the conversations taking place.”

Ministers are keen to design a system that can be flexible enough to adjust to changes in infection and vaccination rates in different countries.

Scared of holding high quality like Glaxo at 12? No way. Scary was holding Cineworld at 40 p last year.

The Barclays had a dip on what seemed like reasonable earnings and then it went on a bull run. I’m hoping for a similar bounce here.

I’m not too big on the charts, but I noticed it’s now dipped below the 12 month moving average for the first time in a while.

Personally, I think current fair value is probably between 360 and 380. Anything below 360 and I’m going to start stacking up again. Hoping for a return to 600 within 6 months.

Long live the king aka Mr Haan Man.

Just bought £20K worth. Looks oversold to me. Expected earnings per share of 24 to 27 p? Not bad considering we’re just coming out of a global pandemic.

That’s a PE ratio of about 8 by my calculation. If we see a return to pre covid levels of profit this year then we are looking at a forward PE of less than 5. Very cheap for a decent quality company IMHO.

We'll be singing... when we're winning... we'll be singing...
I get knocked down... but I get up again... you're never gonna keep me down...

Are you looking at current PE or forward PE? GOG can’t be 25 on forward PE surely.

Positive update this morning in the RNS. Not sure why we’re seeing a small pull back. I’ve used it as an opportunity to top up further. The sun is starting to shine on this undervalued telecoms giant.

Everything seems to be lining up nicely for this company for once. I’d be surprised if the news from Ofcom tomorrow isn’t positive.

There must surely be pressure on Ofcom from the government to unleash BT. Who else is going to fulfil the governments ambitions for rapid full fibre rollout in the UK? I rest my case.

This is beginning to look like it will slowly drift down again until nearer to results day perhaps. Doesn't appear to be any significant news likely before then. The daily volumes traded have completely dropped off. Just when you think you're on the home straight, the news starts filling up with stories about the EU blocking vaccine exports etc.

Due to the current situation in Europe, I still can't see foreign holidays taking place this year. I don't see why Saga Staycation and/or Saga Stay On Board cruises can't work though. The last time I went on a cruise I stayed on board for most of the time anyway.