International Beatleweek 2020
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Ticket Packages go on sale to the general public on Dec. 12th.
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1992
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Out of the blue, the company that handles ticket sales for Roag Best's Magical Beatles Museum credited my Amex for the 2 tickets I bought for Aug. 27th! Messaged Roag on FB and asked what's going on - was Beatleweek cancelled? He didn't know anything about it and is checking on it. Still have my fingers crossed that Beatleweek will happen and we won't have to cancel our trip.
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Although nothing can be for certain, it does seem that here in the UK pubs, clubs,restaurants,music venues etc will remin closed until the end of the year at the earliest. As far as easing 'lockdown' restrictions are concerned, any venue / activity that actively encourages people to gather in small spaces will be the last to have their restrictions lifted. But who knows, the government will be under pressure to get the economy moving again.
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Reading about International Beatleweek reminds me of the Beatles conventions I enjoyed in the 70s and 80s. The first one I attended was in 1976 in Norwich, a beautiful city in Eastern England. Liverpool at that time hadn't woken up to the tourism potential of all things Beatles. The last convention I went to was at Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel in 1986. Things had mushroomed by then, and now the city recognises the legacy of their famous sons.
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CANCELLED!!
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Nancy R wrote:
CANCELLED!!
I thought of you Nancy when I first read the news on Facebook this morning. You and many others must be so disappointed but given how things are here in the UK there was never much chance of it going ahead.
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Kestrel wrote:
I thought of you Nancy when I first read the news on Facebook this morning. You and many others must be so disappointed but given how things are here in the UK there was never much chance of it going ahead.
Roag Best had just recently given me some hope that it might still go on. But I'm not surprised it won't. Now comes the hassle of trying to get refunds or vouchers on the hotels and the flights - I paid in points on Delta. I know they will reschedule without penalty, but you can't book a flight more than 10 months in advance! I'm going to call them late tonight to try to get it figured out. P.S. We also bought travel insurance.
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Nancy R wrote:
Roag Best had just recently given me some hope that it might still go on. But I'm not surprised it won't. Now comes the hassle of trying to get refunds or vouchers on the hotels and the flights - We also bought travel insurance.
I think Roag was being a tad optimistic there. Just imagine being stuck in Liverpool at the end of August with nowhere open that you can go for something to eat and drink. The Government has always maintained that pubs and restaurants will be the very last to open when the full lockdown restrictions are lifted. Well done for not trying to cut costs by not buying travel insurance. At times like this its such a blessing. Hopefully you'll get all (or most) of your money back, quickly and easily.
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Well one bit of good news: IHG (which owns Holiday Inn) extended their refund date to Aug. 31, 2020, and even though our reservation was for 6 nights, with the last night being Sept. 1st, we were able to get vouchers for all the nights! They said it might take 90 days to get an email with the voucher. Don't know if it will be for 6 nights, or the amount we paid in £s. Now they need to extend it to Sept. 30th so we can get a voucher for our London stay (Sept. 2-6)
I just pray that by Aug. 2021 there will be a vaccine and BeatleWeek can return!
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Nancy R wrote:
Well one bit of good news: IHG (which owns Holiday Inn) extended their refund date to Aug. 31, 2020, and even though our reservation was for 6 nights, with the last night being Sept. 1st, we were able to get vouchers for all the nights!
I just pray that by Aug. 2021 there will be a vaccine and BeatleWeek can return!
Your news is certainly getting better all the time.
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My news had just gotten even better! We were able to change our 2020 dates for our U.K. trip to 2021 with AIG (Travel Guard) We were planning to go to Beatleweek in Liverpool first, then 5 nights in London, but depending on how it works out with Delta (using Sky Miles I got back from cancelled trip) we may end up 1st in London and have to revise our dates again! AND, amazingly, IHG just changed their policy on refunds Sept. 1, so we just got refunded the entire amount we had pre-paid for our Holiday Inns in both cities!! Because the exchange rate is higher now, we got back more $ than we paid because I paid in £s using my Amex (no charge to change £ to $ with them) We are ecstatic because they had been telling us we could cancel, but had to use the reservations by Mar. 31, 2021 - no good to us since we only want to go back in Aug. when Beatleweek is! They said we could sell the reservations (that was a long shot, so we probably would have each lost about $900 without the refunds!)
Also, finally got refunded the £s we had paid to Virgin Atlantic for taxes, fees, etc. on one of our flights (they are Delta partner)
Got a call today on my cellphone from a super nice Englishman who was calling from London (I was expecting the call any day) to get my credit card info to refund what we had paid for tickets to Windsor Castle! Now all we need is the refund for the London Travelcards (I mailed them back per their request)Then in about a month the flights will open up for August and will see what's available then. Flight times we want are already sold out for July 2021!!
I did book a different hotel in Liverpool - found out from a Liverpool tour guide friend of mine that it used to be Lewis's Dept. Store where Paul briefly worked! This hotel room has a full kitchen, A/C, and free wi-fi. Free cancellation and no deposit required. Plus, it is cheaper than the Holiday Inn and closer to the Adelphi where the convention is. It is still close walking distance to Mathew St. and the Cavern. And the HI didn't have even a small fridge or anything.
Needless to say, we are over the moon!