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Coronavirus Impact on Travel

idigTexas

By idigTexas
in Food and Travel

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Hank_Hill
Hank_Hill

Pulling for Trump to get the corona personally. That rotted sack of potatoes has to have near HIV level immunity. 

Doug E. Fresh
Doug E. Fresh

Yep, heading over in a little over 12 hours. Lived there before (and in Scotland) from ‘05 to ‘11 so am a naturalized citizen with dual passports. It’s been a goal to get back for many years and that’

VABuckeye
VABuckeye

I've been thinking about typing this all day.  Well, here I go.   We like to brag about the "greatest generation" and shit on other generations.  Here is our chance to do what they did.  Mak

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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7829

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, justhookit said:

Where did you see that? I mean yeah, if you’ve got a Canadian or European passport, a negative test within 48hours of arrival, and can get on what they estimate to be 5 flights a week starting Aug1. 

They also just had their highest daily case total yesterday. CR as we know it isn’t happening till next year.

;Yeah, sounds like a big problem with Nicaraguans coming across the border for medical care.

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justhookit

justhookit 4206

Posted
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10 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

;Yeah, sounds like a big problem with Nicaraguans coming across the border for medical care.

That’s not their only problem. If you do the math they have way, way more cases than what they are reporting. They re-opened at the same time as Texas and have a curve that looks exactly like ours. Their positivity test rate is nuts.

 

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AAF4C502-B517-4AA4-BC70-E6F8C03C4F15.png

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midtown

midtown 3354

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Well I finally gave up on my Oct SE Asia trip.  Simply too many barriers and no way are they letting Americans into any of my planned places.   I had cancel date on a hotel in early August so I just pulled the cord on all of it. 

AA gave me my flight points back instantly with no fee. 

Delta gave me an ecredit for the entire amount including seat upgrades.

Chase has already put back my hotel points from Ha Noi.

AMEX in process for Luang Prabang hotel.

Agoda canceled Vientiane hotel.

The only thing I am waiting on is Vietnam Air who canceled my flight from Ha Noi to Luang Prabang almost two months ago and is telling me 4 months for a credit.   What bullshit.

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Mo Horn

Mo Horn 8937

Posted
Posted

Sad day in the MO Horn household. I've been holding out canceling our Italy trip in September, hoping for a miracle. Finally relented and canceled the flights today. American was great. It took less than a minute to get our miles reinstated and money back on our credit card. I've e-mailed all our accommodations and one tour we booked asking about our options. I'm guessing we'll get vouchers for future visits. 

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wild_turkey

wild_turkey 3296

Posted
Posted
Just got back from a road trip to Telluride.  I would say 98% mask usage, even on trails.  People are taking it seriously in Colorado.  It's nice to see.

Telluride is great. Probably our second favorite place on Earth and we almost went there last month when we thought our St. Barth trip would be nixed. We’ve had 2 different sets of friends who went in June and said it was fine during Covid.
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106886

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, gyroprotagonist said:

saw an article where Americans are using a loophole (saying they are driving to Alaska) to get past the mounties at the Canadian border.   I guess Canada cannot legally stop that.  kinda genius, mostly asshole. 

A bunch of them are getting busted, though.  And making it harder on the Americans trying to head there who do have a legal right to be there.

I never imagined we'd be such an unwelcome pariah nation.  Sigh.

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gyroprotagonist

gyroprotagonist 2597

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27 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I bet several nations and/or groups are taking a look at our response and updating contingency plans for a biological attack on us

we could have the cure sitting available at every CVS in the nation and it would just take a facebook post to dissuade some people not to take it. 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106886

Posted
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Sigh.  Heading to San Antonio this evening to put the daughter on an early morning flight tomorrow to Montreal to go back to school (COVID has so jacked with flight schedules, the only flights that get her to Canada during the daytime depart from SAT).

Montreal is her home now -- she has an apartment, a lease, the whole deal.  And most of her similarly situated peers have been allowed back in as they've returned, but there are some vagaries to the process and the randomness of your customs agent.  People on a student visa CAN meet the "essential purpose" requirement to enter Canada, and showing that it is your residence helps close the deal, but there's always some risk of bureaucratic nightmare.  And of course, once she clears customs, she has to get in a car, head straight to her place, and quarantine for 14 days.

And we don't know when we'll see her again.  Who knows what the travel restrictions will be in the coming months/year.   So, I'm an anxious as hell dad, being supportive and helping her make sure she has all her paperwork, but on this one....she's on her own, into some real uncertain shit.  Welcome to adulthood in the time of COVID, kiddo.

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Gatorubet

Gatorubet 30711

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Sigh.  Heading to San Antonio this evening to put the daughter on an early morning flight tomorrow to Montreal to go back to school (COVID has so jacked with flight schedules, the only flights that get her to Canada during the daytime depart from SAT).
Montreal is her home now -- she has an apartment, a lease, the whole deal.  And most of her similarly situated peers have been allowed back in as they've returned, but there are some vagaries to the process and the randomness of your customs agent.  People on a student visa CAN meet the "essential purpose" requirement to enter Canada, and showing that it is your residence helps close the deal, but there's always some risk of bureaucratic nightmare.  And of course, once she clears customs, she has to get in a car, head straight to her place, and quarantine for 14 days.
And we don't know when we'll see her again.  Who knows what the travel restrictions will be in the coming months/year.   So, I'm an anxious as hell dad, being supportive and helping her make sure she has all her paperwork, but on this one....she's on her own, into some real uncertain shit.  Welcome to adulthood in the time of COVID, kiddo.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106886

Posted
Posted

Bleh....and speak of the devil (and not unexpected), US-Canada restrictions renewed for another month:

Quote

OTTAWA -- Canadian and U.S. officials have agreed to keep the border between the two countries closed to non-essential travel for another month. This comes as both countries are still working to stop the spread of COVID-19, and as tensions continue to flare between Canadians and prospective American visitors.

The current extension of the cross-border agreement expires on August 21, though as the spread of COVID-19 continues in both countries, the restrictions on recreational travel will remain in place until at least Sept. 21. The ban on discretionary travel was first introduced in March and has been extended each month since.

“We are extending the reciprocal restrictions at the Canada-US border for another 30 days, till Sept. 21, 2020. We will continue to do what’s necessary to keep our communities safe,” tweeted Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.  

Our full expectation is that this will continue through at least year-end.  Maybe they'll work out some way that you can travel more freely with a negative COVID test result or something, but that hasn't happened yet.  So, may be that she doesn't come home for Xmas.  The really, really cool thing is that in her friend group, which is about half foreign (US, French, scandinavian) and half Canadian, the Canadians have all said that if the expats have to spend Christmas in Montreal, they'll stay and spend it with them as well.  Good people, doing good things, so that's nice.

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21477

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Bleh....and speak of the devil (and not unexpected), US-Canada restrictions renewed for another month:

Our full expectation is that this will continue through at least year-end.  Maybe they'll work out some way that you can travel more freely with a negative COVID test result or something, but that hasn't happened yet.  So, may be that she doesn't come home for Xmas.  The really, really cool thing is that in her friend group, which is about half foreign (US, French, scandinavian) and half Canadian, the Canadians have all said that if the expats have to spend Christmas in Montreal, they'll stay and spend it with them as well.  Good people, doing good things, so that's nice.

The Scandinavian coeds are welcome to spend the holidays at my place.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106886

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Posted
2 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

The Scandinavian coeds are welcome to spend the holidays at my place.

One of them is an Icelandic dude who regularly drinks raw cod liver oil and eats moss.  They're an odd bunch.  Good luck stocking your pantry.

And she very much wants her Norwegian exchange sister to visit her this fall, before her military service starts, but that doesn't seem likely.  And yes, the Norwegians are all quite striking.

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Doug E. Fresh

Doug E. Fresh 452

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Sigh.  Heading to San Antonio this evening to put the daughter on an early morning flight tomorrow to Montreal to go back to school (COVID has so jacked with flight schedules, the only flights that get her to Canada during the daytime depart from SAT).

Montreal is her home now -- she has an apartment, a lease, the whole deal.  And most of her similarly situated peers have been allowed back in as they've returned, but there are some vagaries to the process and the randomness of your customs agent.  People on a student visa CAN meet the "essential purpose" requirement to enter Canada, and showing that it is your residence helps close the deal, but there's always some risk of bureaucratic nightmare.  And of course, once she clears customs, she has to get in a car, head straight to her place, and quarantine for 14 days.

And we don't know when we'll see her again.  Who knows what the travel restrictions will be in the coming months/year.   So, I'm an anxious as hell dad, being supportive and helping her make sure she has all her paperwork, but on this one....she's on her own, into some real uncertain shit.  Welcome to adulthood in the time of COVID, kiddo.

I get the stress of it all, Brisket.  My wife and I are moving back to London in one month, and I don't know when I will get to come back to Houston again.  My Dad is 80, in decent health, but I might not see him again. We spent this week together in Galveston, and it was awesome. But it's been hard as shit these last few months to get the move done.  While going back to London is what we always wanted to do, it's so much more difficult in a Covid environment.  We aren't getting the normal closure we would expect by seeing friends and family before we go and getting to hit all our favorite bars and restaurants.  

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DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14647

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Posted
One of them is an Icelandic dude who regularly drinks raw cod liver oil and eats moss.  They're an odd bunch.  Good luck stocking your pantry.
And she very much wants her Norwegian exchange sister to visit her this fall, before her military service starts, but that doesn't seem likely.  And yes, the Norwegians are all quite striking.

Pics of Norwegian exchange sister?
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mdmost

mdmost 43999

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We took a short trip down to Mason, TX to lay in the Llano River for a few days. Wife has always wanted to stay in an Airstream so she found one on AirBnB that wasn't bad. We wanted to do a small trip before what we thought was the start of school, now pushed back to September 8.  Kids had a great time in the river. At night, it was so dark that we could see a ton of the meteor shower on Wednesday evening. I can't honestly say if I've seen more stars than looking up that evening. It was so clear and free a light pollution that we could see the Milky Way. We also went over to the area where the Eckert Bat Cave was an watched the bats stream out at sunset. It was really great to see. We had wanted to do something bigger like Cloudcroft, New Mexico but you'd have to quarantine there. We're going to try for New Mexico around Spring Break time. 

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Doug E. Fresh

Doug E. Fresh 452

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6 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Not seeing the problem.

Two things - 1) not going to be easy if I have to do a two week quarantine every time I return to London.  2) not going to risk flying back and forth multiple times a year until this stuff settles down.

The UK quarantine is legit.  You have to submit your address before you depart, and then there is a high likelihood the police will check on you once or twice, especially coming from the US.  The fine is about $4k if you are not home when they come by.  It's not like the "encouraged" quarantines that have been done in the US as it is taken much more seriously over there.

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zman13

zman13 184

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Posted

Anyone making plans for a summer vacation in June 2021?

Right now, airfares are still very cheap for June. Considering a trip but it would be dependent on countries being open to US travelers (seems likely by June) and a vaccine that won't turn me into a zombie.

 

 

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utee94

utee94 16080

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1 hour ago, zman13 said:

Anyone making plans for a summer vacation in June 2021?

Right now, airfares are still very cheap for June. Considering a trip but it would be dependent on countries being open to US travelers (seems likely by June) and a vaccine that won't turn me into a zombie.

 

 

Yeah we were supposed to go for the Euro2020 this past June, so we're just going to push all of our plans to 2021.  Budapest, Croatia, and Greece are on the itinerary.  Hopefully things will be better by then.

 

 

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Bartles

Bartles 769

Posted
Posted

I'm sure a bunch of folks here have flown, but I haven't seen much discussion, so here's a brief, boring report from my first flights since late February. Short trip, American from Philly to Charlotte and back, both flights fairly full. I paid for 1st class since it was work and the fare was what coach used to be for the same trip.

The top line thought is, this is risky but if people follow the rules, it should work. I didn't see any blatant mask violations. Both airports are well equipped with plexiglass barriers, and the low level of flights creates lots of open gates to distance while you wait for boarding.

What can't be controlled: people will bunch together in the TSA line, and again when it's time to board (the latter is kind of moot, because you'll be sharing a plane with them anyway). Kids will be kids, loud talkers will talk loud, salesman types will try to start conversations, humans have to use the bathroom sometimes.

So a good deal of COVID avoidance is simply luck. I haven't read about plane outbreaks, but then again I don't think any effort is made to contact trace fliers. I'm probably driving anything under 8-9 hours for a while. Curious what other travelers here are thinking...

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Ghost of LL

Ghost of LL 15698

Posted
Posted
I'm sure a bunch of folks here have flown, but I haven't seen much discussion, so here's a brief, boring report from my first flights since late February. Short trip, American from Philly to Charlotte and back, both flights fairly full. I paid for 1st class since it was work and the fare was what coach used to be for the same trip.
The top line thought is, this is risky but if people follow the rules, it should work. I didn't see any blatant mask violations. Both airports are well equipped with plexiglass barriers, and the low level of flights creates lots of open gates to distance while you wait for boarding.
What can't be controlled: people will bunch together in the TSA line, and again when it's time to board (the latter is kind of moot, because you'll be sharing a plane with them anyway). Kids will be kids, loud talkers will talk loud, salesman types will try to start conversations, humans have to use the bathroom sometimes.
So a good deal of COVID avoidance is simply luck. I haven't read about plane outbreaks, but then again I don't think any effort is made to contact trace fliers. I'm probably driving anything under 8-9 hours for a while. Curious what other travelers here are thinking...

I’m interested to see how it goes. I’m flying to Cancun next week on WN (so open middle seats). Will report back.


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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 46163

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Flew southwest to the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago. After the initial weirdness of the first 10 minutes, it was actually fairly enjoyable. I was with my wife so we had an entire row to ourselves. Boarding goes way faster since there are a third fewer people. All the flights are on time, if not early. 
 

I’m not rushing to fly again, but southwest is doing it right. 

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DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14647

Posted
Posted
Flew southwest to the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago. After the initial weirdness of the first 10 minutes, it was actually fairly enjoyable. I was with my wife so we had an entire row to ourselves. Boarding goes way faster since there are a third fewer people. All the flights are on time, if not early. 

 

I’m not rushing to fly again, but southwest is doing it right. 

I flew to Boston this summer and have a golf trip planned to Oregon in November. I ponied up the extra $ for first class. I would not fly on a full plane in coach right now.

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wild_turkey

wild_turkey 3296

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Posted

I flew SWA from DAL-LAS in June, then I flew AA from DFW-SJU in July. My experiences were similar to those mentioned above. Nearly empty airports, planes 40-60% full, good mask usage, very little in flight activity by the crew and passengers. I think the airports, airlines, and passengers are doing it as well as can be expected. I think the overall risk is fairly low for young and healthy people, but obviously not zero risk and not a good idea for high-risk people to fly if they don’t absolutely have to.


And I also flew Tradewind from SJU-SBH but that’s a bit different and all 8 passengers on those flights had a negative Covid test prior to departure.

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Zepol87

Zepol87 9341

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, bluto said:

Flew dfw to Denver yesterday on AA... 100% full flight despite there being a couple dozen open seats to choose from when I booked 24 hours before take off ($150 r/t). Besides being packed, nothing to report on.

Flying out to Vegas for work tomorrow on SWA. Hopefully it is not full just cause I don't want to cramp with mofos 

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