Family member flew recently. Their plane was not allowed to disembark for about 90 min. upon arrival. Flight attendants told passengers it was due to lightening in the area (there were pop-up thunderstorms that evening), but passengers were arriving from other planes, so we thought that odd. We were in the airport waiting before security, so I asked at the ticket counter. They did not know, so I asked a security guard. He shared it was more likely due to the severe personnel shortage, and not having enough staff to work the jetways in a timely manner.
Due to Covid, I was also concerned about passengers sitting on the enclosed plane for 90 min. and if the HEPA filters are fully utlilized in those circumstances.
Most major domestic airlines now fully refund/change award tickets booked with miles/points. But there’re some caveats. For example, AA’s cheapest Web Special can only be cancelled (but not changed). UA requires cancellation 30 days prior to departure to avoid any fee, etc. These policies also apply to their partner award tickets.
Airlines use a few different (third party) reservation systems (a few small foreign airlines use their own). Each of these reservation system generates its own confirmation. Some airlines automatically give you both sets of confirmation numbers if you book an award ticket on its partner airlines and the two airlines use different reservation systems, but most don’t (in which case you’d have to call to get the confirmation code for its partner airlines).
I second the suggestion by @JustaMom to check out the Cruise Critic message forums. We are long time cruisers. We have two cruises booked in 2022, one in July to the British Isles and one in October to Canada/New England. We’re trying not to get too emotionally invested in the idea of going and our deposits are refundable. Another thing we’re doing differently is that for the first time we used the cruise air for our July cruise. We have always booked our own air in the past, but this time we didn’t want to pay or use points now when the future is so uncertain. By using the cruise air we were able to reserve flights without needing to pay until the final payment for the cruise is due, so if we decide to cancel the cruise we can easily cancel the air as well.
This is true, I am fortunate to live near a SW hub so I can often get non-stop flights, but not always. It’s always good to have options. I do check Google Flights to see what airlines fly the route I’m looking for to pick the best one for my situation.
I would not be very comfortable sharing a condo with other people especially with seeing the little ones afterwards. I guess if everybody got tested before and afterwards I might consider it, but I think it would be fine to skip it.
I am on the fence about going to a wedding in a low vax, low masking area. It will be an outside wedding, but wondering how many people will want to hug and breathe on me!
I am full on back to travel with masks. I flew last week, will fly Thanksgiving, go to Disney is December, ski in January and really take my chances with a cruise in January as well. Both kids are in college, so they always have a Covid risk. Our window to do things with them is closing fast, so we are planning as many things as we can! I was a little surprised my D21 wanted to go on a cruise- but I think having a guy sit next to her in class one day and test positive the next and her not get Covid convinced her that the vaccine and masks work.
If I had to be around kids too young to vaccinate- it would be a whole different story. I admit I am a little nervous about the cruise, but am hopeful it will go well.
I should be packing now for a group bike trip in Vermont. There are 17 of us, plus 2 guides. We had to sent our vaccine cards or negative COVID tests, and they’ve told us to bring masks for when we need them. Apparently in Vermont numbers are pretty good.
In February we are planning to go to Hawaii. There aren’t a lot of “must dos” for us, other than sunsets and time on the beach, so we are hopeful it will be a fun trip, even if some things aren’t yet open. We did pay quite a bit for rental cars (2 islands).
I WOULD NOT consider going on a cruise right now.
In Switzerland now and it’s fantastic. Our tour had to be vaccinated to get into the country so when we are together masks are optional. When inside we have to sometimes show a Covid pass. It’s all been very easy to navigate. We are fortunate to have had such great weather so we can easily eat outside. Our tour director said overall they lost about 10% when the Swiss changed the rule to full vaccination. Think 12 groups over 6 weeks. So glad we are here!
Love Switzerland. My company has an office there. one of the last places I went in Feb2020. They have this dessert, which is meringue with cream. Also the Lindt factory . OMG.
That’s where D wants to honeymoon. Just got married but didn’t try to plan overseas travel right now plus is a teacher so needs to wait for summer. She plans to get started on name change stuff so can apply for new passport ASAP. Don’t know if next summer will be possible at this point.
Spent 3 days in Lucerne on our own after our Rhine river cruise. It was mid-October, but we spent all 3 days outside because the weather was amazing—we had rain in some form on almost every day of the 8 day cruise, but nothing but sunshine in Lucerne!!
I just booked a night at Niagara Falls in early Oct. It will be DIL’s first time there. It’ll be my first time ever staying on the American side instead of the Canadian. The “kids” said it sounded like too much of a hassle to cross the border, so such is life.
The good thing is I personally think the American side is the better side to see the falls from if one only gets to choose one. You don’t get the direct “across the river” view of the American falls or the tunnels behind Horseshoe, but you get Goat Island with its fantastic views of the river and being literally right next to the falls (Cave of the Winds) plus being in between the falls. The boat goes from either side, so no major difference there.
I’m going to miss our usual Poutine place though (Smokes). I guess I’ll have to figure out where to eat on the US side. Haven’t done that before either.
I just booked two trips for early next year - Ecuador and Iceland. Excited about both. Prices were super low. I plan to take a couple more international in the latter part of the year as well.
We pretty much have decided to forgo Chicago this year - we bought Southwest tickets in June (i.e. pre Delta) for a late October anniversary visit, thinking we could do a normal nostalgic visit to the city we lived in or near for 40 years. We feel it would be reasonably safe and we could do most of what we like - but there would be limits, like we don’t want to do indoor dining yet. Since we can wait and go in the spring, that seems to be the choice.
So - alternate plans are for a driving trip within a few hours and staying a few nights. Right now there are two proposals, either of which would be fine with me.
One would be up to Pasadena - we went to the Rose Parade several years ago when we lived in Chicagoland. So this would allow us to revisit a few places and investigate some others. And not be around hundreds of thousands of people.
The other is Palm Springs/ Joshua Tree, and I think my husband is leaning in this direction. It all sounds really interesting, the only caveat being that I can only do so much hiking before my feet give out. So we’d have to carefully curate the visit.
Staying in California allows us tons of options in fine outdoor dining.
Anyone know how Hawaii is these days in regard to Covid. Last I knew, the governor was telling people to stay home. I would love to go out in December.
You would be perfectly fine in December IMO. A good friend is now vacationing in Honolulu and loves it. No issues with getting vaccination status verified to get pre-travel clearance, and all restaurants are asking for proof to dine in.
Highly recommend Palm Springs in October. There is plenty of hiking, but you can make it as leisurely or as strenuous as you want. The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is great BTW.
My daughter was there last weekend. Said it was very slow (a normal slow season) but the workers said they expect it to pick up again soon.
Only issue they had was a restaurant she really wanted to try had a sign “Gone Fishing” and they couldn’t go the next day, and when they tried again there was still no fish. She didn’t have any other issues. They are outdoor people and most activities were outdoors, like going to the volcano, a coffee plantation, surf lessons, walking to the beach, a boat trip.
There is plenty of hiking, but you can make it as leisurely or as strenuous as you want. The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is great BTW.