Traveling During COVID-19
I didn’t intend to write a post detailing my travel experience during COVID-19 but as I was posting to social media during my trip, I received a lot of questions about my experience. If you absolutely must fly right now, I hope you find this info helpful but given we still don’t know so much about the virus, it’s pretty risky to be on an airplane so proceed with your own discretion. I flew on Delta Airlines from JFK to RNO with a layover in SLC both directions toward the end of June. Therefore, the bulk of this information is my direct experience with that airline and those specific airports. I have received some anecdotes from others about their experiences and have included those as well! In regard to my decision to travel when I did, I already had a trip planned home (originally was going from Reno to Montana for the Fourth of July and then back to NYC but with everything going on decided to just go home to visit my family and cut out the Montana part) and it came at a time that I felt was appropriate for me to go. I made all my arrangements about a week before I left because luckily Delta is still being super flexible with changing flights around. I also was very careful when I was home and only saw family and went out minimally.
After my experience I’m not ready to hop on a plane again any time soon, especially given everything is spiking again, so it raises a lot of questions for me about how I’m going to get home for the holidays. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it (it’s not too crazy to drive from NYC to Reno, right…??!). Let me know if you have any additional comments or questions below!
BEFORE YOU GO
Make sure you check the airport restrictions for your departure airport and destination airport. Every city and state seems to be doing different things so it’s best to just check everything to make sure you’re compliant. I think I read at some point certain airports/states were requiring proof of a negative COVID test so definitely make sure you check things out so you don’t get caught off guard! I highly suggest checking both the state/county/city websites as well as the airport websites and keep up with the news while you’re away because things are changing quickly. For example, I had been home for 6 days when Governor Cuomo announced the first round of travel restrictions to NYC and then Nevada was added to the list the day after I returned.
WHAT TO PACK
It’s become second nature for me to make sure if I’m leaving the apartment for more than just a quick errand/grocery run that I have a pack of Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer and an extra mask. I highly suggest you pack the same and pack more than you think you’ll need. A worse case scenario would be running out of wipes when you desperately need them or having your mask break (or just get sweaty). Most airlines are providing masks if you need one but I just err on the side of being safe rather than sorry.
Also, SNACKS. I can’t stress this enough. Everything I experienced and all the feedback I’ve gotten from others is that it’s very hit or miss as to what’s open in the airport and a lot of the airlines are not serving very hearty food options right now (more on that below).
WHAT TO EXPECT
At JFK – security was fine on the front end with lots of social distancing markers, but frustrating after going though the scanner because people were taking their time getting their bags off the belt so there was a lot of crowding around. Not unmanageable, but I hadn’t been around more than 3 other people at that point so it stressed me out a bit. It truly felt gross to touch the bins because I’m curious how often they’re being cleaned. I made sure to wipe down ALL of my stuff and JFK had hand sanitizer and wipes available which was really nice. There were only two food places open in Terminal 4 – Camden Food Co. and McDonald’s. I got in line for Camden to get a sandwich and part way through realized the woman making sandwiches was not wearing a mask. And was calling out the orders over the sandwich station. I totally panicked, put everything back and went to McDonald’s because I was so grossed out.
Delta boarded the plane from rear to front and they called about 13 rows at a time leaving JFK but at every other airport they were only calling about 3 rows at a time. People sort of did a good job distancing and getting on the plane. They were very adamant about requiring masks before you scanned your boarding pass and also asked that people keep them on unless they’re eating or drinking. Most people complied.
They handed out a Purell wipe to everyone getting on, in addition to the own sanitation between flights. They gave out snack bags part way through the flight – biscuit cookies, Cheez-its and bottle of water with another single serve packet of liquid Purell. They also had all of the middle seats blocked off which truly was a blessing because the extra space really put me at ease.
In Salt Lake City there were a lot more food options and it honestly felt like coronavirus did not exist to the general public. Restaurant/food service staff was very good about masks and cleaning but everyone else was going about business as usual. I also appreciated that the main restaurant in Terminal 1 had removed the tops of stools, blocked off tables and only made the menus available by scanning a QR code so it was fully digital.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Wearing a mask was actually easier than I expected. Annoying yes, but easy because the air on the plane is so dry it didn’t get gross like I thought it would. I did however pack a million extras just in case I needed to switch it out frequently and I ordered the disposable blue ones specifically for traveling because I could only imagine how gross my re-usable cloth ones might get.
Like I mentioned above, I don’t know if I’ll take another flight anytime soon. I just felt uneasy the entire time knowing how risky it was being in an enclosed space for such an extended period of time. But unless I want to spend 4-5 days driving home, I’m not sure I’ll have an option if I want to see my family (which I know a lot of people are choosing not to do).
When I do fly again, I will 1000% fly Delta because of how well they handled everything. Between the enforcement of masks, the Purell wipes, the cute snack packs, blocking out the middle seats and just general love for their customer service they will remain my airline of choice.
COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
I asked my IG community for any feedback they or friends had on their experience and here are some notes on that:
- Others also had great experience with Delta, Southwest and JetBlue (mainly the middle seat thing). American Airlines, not so much (both them and United recently announced they will start selling middle seats – aka packing flights full if they can).
- Most other airports have limited food available and are fairly dead (STL, LGA, JFK). Two airports that were noted as pretty crowded and also with a lot open were CLT and ATL.
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