I had a flight booked on Aer Lingus back in April. They offered an option for a voucher if were canceling travel and I did opt for that. But several months went by and there was no sign of a voucher. No way for contacting them about this either.
Read an article that you could file a complaint with the dept of transportation about issues with foreign airlines. The article provided a very convenient link and the form only needed information about my flight - so I filled this in a couple of months ago. Got email from the dept a month later saying they were forwarding my complaint to the airline to respond.
Two weeks later, I have my voucher !! I doubt that this would have come through if I hadn’t complained.
I have a friend who is flying to San Francisco to stay with her daughter and nearly one year old granddaughter for Christmas and New Year’s. She will mask and shield on her travels. I do understand her wanting to do this - she lost her son to an accidental fentanyl overdose early in the summer. No way should she be alone at the holidays.
D was just approved for a study abroad trip to Morocco in May (obviously this could change depending on Covid). H and I put off a trip to Portugal due to Covid, so now we are considering a possible reschedule with a long weekend side trip to see her in Morocco. We’ve never been to either and welcome any information CCers might have. I did have a loose itinerary for Portugal, though this new twist would require me to reverse the original plan so we are in the souther portion of the country at the end of our trip.
I have had to fly a few times. I flew United once but all other times was on Delta. Hands down Delta did a much better job. The United flight was full and I was extremely uncomfortable. Delta was skipping middle seats and some full rows. Flying is not something I will be doing simply for pleasure anytime soon, but I have informed my clients that we will only use airlines that are skipping seats, etc. regardless if the cost is higher.
Note: Not endorsing Delta or knocking United for anything other than their covid policies. Simply sharing my experience since those are the only two I’ve flown since covid.
I don’t think airline will go back to not selling seats. Their research shows that the air is replaced every 2 minutes in a plane, and that it doesn’t matter if there is a person in the middle seat 3 inches from you or across the aisle at 20 inches (two people sitting in the aisle seats may be closer than a person in the window seat and an aisle seat). They don’t feel it is safer to have fewer passengers.
If you want the middle seat empty, you’ll have to buy it.
When Jet Blue went from 70% to 85% capacity in early Dec., with plans for 100% in January, they offered a full refund if your cancellation was related to the capacity changes. For us, it truly was, and we cancelled that day. My daughter was coming for 6 weeks but she isn’t flying at all now.
One option on Jet Blue is the Mint suite, which is a full row with a seat that can fully recline and door, with partitions. Other airlines may have similar seats.
I don’t think any of the planes exchange air every two minutes. I have read 3-6 minutes. If anyone can provide documentation that Delta’s air exchange is every two minutes, I would love to see it.
I think another issue right now is the disinfectant itself, which may be toxic for some. I know that would prevent me from flying right now.
More information on that incident. It was a UA flight (UA591) from Orlando (MCO) to Los Angeles (LAX). The passenger who died was with his wife (and perhaps other family members) and reportedly, according to his wife, had breathing difficulty, lost his taste and smell, and tested positive for COVID, before the flight. The flight was diverted to New Orlean about 2 hours into the flight as the passenger stopped breathing.
Why would anyone knowingly get on a flight with COVID. That’s just criminal!!
On that note, I will be flying next week. I have gone to paid testing 3 times now to keep checking myself and I have a final test 3 days before the flight that is required by Hawaii before I can even board the plane.
Our recent travel to Oahu was a success. Followed every bit of instructions… registering, testing, getting our QR codes - all worked. Every person on the plane wore a mask. Masks were everywhere, and distancing on the beach was easy. Ate out more than we normally do to support the local restaurants. If we get Covid now, it will not be due to that travel, ‘cause that was in a distant past. We returned more than 14 days ago. Next year trips - booked, thanks to Russell Wilson’s 4 TDs scored last Sunday.
Getting very nervous. We have flight reservations for mid January. Not for pleasure. Not for family gatherings. Due to a combination of job/family we have a home & apartment about 2400 miles apart. No non-stop flights available. I’d drive if I could, but that’s out during the winter months over multiple mountain passes.
We’re trying to convince ourselves it should be ok. Planes should be safe (or so they say). It is the before and after we need to watch. Stay away from people. Wear masks. No mass transit. We’re hoping mid- January should not be nearly as crowded after the holidays.
It certainly won’t be nearly as crowded in mid-January, but make sure you check your flights a few days before to see what how many seats (and what seats) are still available on those flights. If they’re crowded, make changes if you can. Almost all airlines have waived change fees (and all major domestic airlines have waived them “permanently”).
My husband and I both had our first vaccine last week, with the second due January 20th. My daughter just asked if we would feel comfortable flying to her for a week in March. Our granddaughter will be on spring break from daycare, and D and SIL could use a hand with childcare while they WFH.
We have airline credit from last spring, and airfare is cheap for the dates we would want to fly on Southwest. Unfortunately, SWA is not leaving the center seat empty, but we are thinking with the vaccine, and wearing a mask and face shield, just maybe it would be ok. Their home is too far to drive due to my PTO; don’t want to use 4 total days for traveling. It may be wishful thinking to think I will be comfortable to fly, but we may book and see what it is like the beginning of March. We can always cancel the flight again if need be.
At least it is something to look forward to, even if it ends up not happening.
