We couldn’t pass up the Southwest 50% off sale and booked a flight in October to Chicago for our anniversary (36 years). It’s been six years since we moved, and five years since we were there. Hopefully they’ll get their computer systems figured out by then. And yes, when going to a beach vacation, I always took one suit in my carryon. Won’t need that for Chicago in October.
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I’m flying to SF this week, my first flight in 1.5 years. JetBlue. I hope they still serve drinks.
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I was reading an experience of a recent traveller to Bermuda. The person was fully vaccinated and tested negative (PCR) before getting on the plane to fly there. Bermuda also requires additional PCR tests every couple days while visiting. The person was negative on their next PCR test upon arrival. Unfortunately someone on the plane ride to Bermuda, presumably within two rows of them on the plane as that constitutes a close contact, tested positive once arriving in Bermuda. Apparently the vaccinated individual that still tested negative is now having to quarantine for 14 days and may or may not be required to leave the island as soon as possible or may have to wait out the quarantine. Still to be determined by the Bermuda government and yesterday and today are holidays there so who knows.
Just food for thought for those vaccinated but wanting to travel. You might do all the right things but still get tripped up by someone else. Make sure you have travel insurance that covers these particular incidents.
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SW does not serve alcohol, only coke, diet coke, sprite, and water.
I’m pulling the trigger tonight on a trip to Amsterdam in early August. Maybe third time will be the charm???
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Looks good right now!
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We had a Canadian Rockies tour rescheduled from last September to this September. We are praying that Canada opens its borders by then. As of now, the closing was recently extended until July 21. Vaccination has finally ramped up in Canada, but we’ll see.
Funny how this time last year we were praying it would be cancelled (of course it was). One year later, fully vaccinated, we’re now hoping that it DOES run.
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We have a road trip planned for the next two weeks. Staying in big resort hotels with two of our kids. Everyone totally vaccinated. Lots of outdoor activities. But lots of restaurant dining. I’m reading about the Delta variant and now feeling like we will still need to mask up when indoors. Kind of depressing me.
There have been variants in the U.S. for months and the vaccine is handling those just fine. There’s little indication Delta will be any different, for the vaccinated. Now, if Delta results in a significant increase in illness for the unvaccinated, then you might see masking restrictions etc… reemerge. As a vaccinated traveler, it does not cause me any great anxiety.
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Summary of information on B.1.617.2 / Delta variant:
- Rapidly spreading and replacing other variants.
- More transmissible.
- May cause different symptoms.
- May be more likely to require hospitalization.
- Full vaccination is only slightly less effective, but one dose of two dose vaccines is much less effective.
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It seems JetBlue serves wine and beer. Mostly, I’m hoping for a calm trip and no fights over masks,
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MA, a state of almost 5 million people with a very high percentage of adults vaccinated, is still recording roughly 50 new COVID cases per day. It is reported that this is due to the variants being spread by the unvaxxed to other unvaxxed people. As mentioned, the vaccines are handling the variants just fine. I hope we get to herd immunity at some point—it’s just going to take a while waiting for all the unvaccinated people to catch COVID and build up antibodies.
Yeah, this probably belongs in the COVID thread, but that thread has become a horror show, to be honest.
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We have 7ish million folks here in WA and still get 300-500 Covid positive tests a day. Creeping closer to that 70% of 12 and over getting at least one shot… The good thing is that the areas with the highest population density are also the areas with the highest vaccine levels. Our airport (SEA) is getting busy! When we flew last weekend, the waiting areas were packed. TSA lines were not super busy. San Jose, (SJC) which was our destination, was like a ghost town. No uptick in business travel yet.
I have recently flown via SEA, PHX, LAX, etc. All of them felt as full as ever. PHX was an absolute sea of humanity as far as the eye could see. I was glad they required masks in airports, Covid or any other crud! Flights were pretty full.
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I am writing from Tel Aviv. Israel is not quite ready for tourists tbh. A non citizen wanting to come has to show a good reason to visit and proof of health insurance that would cover Covid. The government will only take up your case two weeks in advance, long after you bought your tickets. (probably)It is like you have to get a visa to come, which Americans did not need before.
Before getting on the flight to Israel, you need a fresh enough PCR test (that nasal swab). Before leaving the airport in Israel, you need another PCR. (Just the test, not the results). Then you can either quarantine for ten (I think) days or get a blood test and show you have antibodies. Israel won’t accept a CDC vax card (or NHI one either, just its own vax cards)
It is a pretty good plan I think. Allows for travel but protects the destination country. However, things do not always go as smoothly as planned. For example, in my case a clerk typed in my email address wrong and I did not get my permission to leave quarantine as soon as it was ready. I waited two days instead of the six hours I could have waited if the error had not occurred. You might have read in the paper that last Friday the airport was overwhelmed with travelers eager to get home before sundown and the folks in charge just waived the PCR requirement. Thousands of untested people came into the country. There is backlash against that decision now.
And now there is a surge in cases from the delta variant. School kids are getting sick and some vaxxed adults are getting sick. Masks and restrictions could be coming back. We will see how this affects my flight home.
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Stay as safe and well as you can @Lizardly !
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Thank you for the report, @Lizardly. At one point I was planning a trip to Israel with my daughter who, as a new second-year medical student, has the longest time off this summer that she’ll have for years and years. The recent war put an end to that plan but I talked to my dear Israeli friends last week and they are optimistic. Hoping that you can enjoy the rest of your trip.
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A third thing that we don’t know about the Delta variant is whether or not the (inevitable) increase in breakthrough cases with it (after full vaccination) will cause more longhauler effects among the breakthrough cases of those fully vaccinated.
Unfortunately, the CDC is not interested in tracking any breakthrough cases unless there is hospitalization or death.
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For whatever reason, there seems to be relatively little attention to long haul issues generally other than a plethora of anecdotes.
With breakthrough infections being uncommon, there seems to be no information on whether those may result in long haul issues.
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I’m glad we’re keeping our summer travels in the US TBH. We’re still really looking forward to our Amtrak trip, esp since we’ve never done before and we thrive on “new.” Not much else in the US would have been totally new unless we went to Alaska. I’m sure we could have found smaller places we haven’t been, but the train into a city we haven’t seen - saw areas around it - is almost totally new.
But we’re at the stage now where I really want to be making Feb reservations somewhere in the Caribbean - not sure where, but many places are getting booked for weeks at a time, so if we want the whole month, we need to act soon. I wish I knew what Covid’s variants were going to do.