I requested cc refund when I made the cancellation of our fall trip. I do not think we will be traveling this year. Maybe… a trip to Hawaii but we will see.
We changed United tickets to come home 4 days earlier than originally planned. The crooks charged us $16 each for the change. I know it’s not a lot, but come on. They said “no change fee”.
We just cancelled our yearly Florida trip for the 4th…way too many cases there now.
Yeah, I guess my advice is for those of us who can’t afford first class tickets so I probably skimmed over that part of your post.
I flew first class once in my life - when I was 11 and our family got upgraded due to weather cancelling our first flight. My mom and dad were pissed that my sister and I didn’t partake of all the extra food offered. We were both super tired (overnight flight) and just slept.
I’ve priced first class once in a while, but I always come to the conclusion I’d prefer 4 trips to one first class trip. There were also many years of our lives that we couldn’t afford 4 flying trips (or one first class). Southwest is our usual domestic airline. They don’t even offer first class.
We’re contemplating travel from AZ to Palo Alto CA to pack up son’s dorm room (been sitting unoccupied since March). Considering options: Fly, rent car, move to storage. Drive from AZ bring stuff home. Thoughts?
I would drive and bring the stuff home. It can be done almost completely contactless staying well away from any other human being not in your household.
I second driving and bringing stuff home. He is done with college, right?
I’m leaning towards driving too, but not sure we could drive it in one day. May require a stop ad mid-point. We’re investigating hotel stays. Thoughts on hotel safely?
Delta is sticking to the 60% rule. on my last flight they were asking for 2 volunteers to give up their seats.
He’s “supposed” to continue grad school (masters) in the fall, but if it’s all remote then staying home is an option.
I’ve flown first class several times, usually due to voluntarily getting bumped to later flights. Sometimes I’ve gotten first class tickets when my dad lets me use his American points and they’re not any more points than coach! I just reserved first class from Minneapolis to Maine because I had enough credit card points to pay for the difference.
The ONE TIME I actually paid for first class was flying from Johannesburg to Qatar. I have long legs and it’s very uncomfortable to get squished in coach for that long a flight. I told myself it was my birthday present that year. 
(and yes, it was worth it. Wow. Qatar Airways does things right.)
@Rivet2000 , could you stay in the dorm? That’s what we did when we moved my son out in May. It was allowed (per the college) for one night. Or if not, I have heard that you can ask to have a hotel room that hasn’t been booked in 48 hours, and some larger/nicer hotel chains might be doing this automatically. You have to take their word for it, though.
Flying and moving it to storage just “kicks the can down the road”…you still have to get the stuff home, it sounds like. Or will the grad school be at the same school? Another option is to hire movers to move his stuff into storage remotely, if this is the case.
IMO (others may disagree), flying vs driving is adding a much higher virus risk…to me, driving, even when dashing into rest stops for bathrooms seems more safe than sitting in a plane or gate area for prolonged amounts of time.
I just read that American Airlines is going to sell its seats to capacity. No more empty middle seat.
@TS0104 Grad school will be at same school. Staying in dorm not an option as we need to sign up for a 3 hr slot to move out (although I will ask - could’nt hurt). Only 2 people allowed to carry stuff and only 3 rooms can be moving out per floor per time slot (to minimize density).
Leaning towards driving.
They didn’t empty middle seats when I flew this week. There were hardly any empty seats anywhere. They didn’t empty their middle seats last time I flew in mid May, either. They never intended to middle seats empty as far as I know. They allowed middle seat passengers to move if there were empty seats available elsewhere when I flew in May. That was about it as far as middle seats go.
My thoughts are that you want to avoid breathing in another person’s breath for minutes (don’t worry about seconds).
It isn’t just any exposure to the virus, but viral load (time, exposure, viral load) are important factors re: acquiring an infection. (Source: TWIV).
I think wearing masks, attention to frequent hand washing, and being cautious about breathing in another’s breath for minutes and you’ll be FINE.
Good luck!
Thanks all…
I read that both American and United are operating full flights now.
D’s university finally announced they are canceling the commencement ceremony which had been postponed to August. I had to pay for the hotel room a year ago May. They had already moved the reservation for everyone when commencement was delayed. I was afraid they would offer only a credit when I called to cancel, but they cheerfully said they would refund the entire cost, which was substantial since it was a nice room and we were staying for several days. So it feels like a windfall! It will make up for some of the costs we’ll probably have to eat in connection with our canceled European trip.
I love Qatar Airways - even for coach. Doha’s airport is my absolute favorite place for a layover. Someday I want to take a little bit of time and explore Qatar. We haven’t had the chance yet.