Is the United credit transferable/ Probably not… but ya nevah know… If they are trying to fill planes at the last minute then… who knows. One can dream…
United vouchers are not transferable.
For those who have been taking more frequent flying trips…were these discretionary trips or essential. Just curious.
American Airlines
No quarantine yet. She’s in the northeast and we are in Michigan. Her boyfriend works in health care and so would take a test before they would fly. I think they are going off the information they had when their original flights were canceled, back in March.
They reopened flying for about two months now. So far, we haven’t heard any outbreaks on board. The Delta flight with three infected doesn’t seem to have transmitted to other passengers. Most hot spots are from bars and parties. I think people are overly cautious about flying. I feel ok about flying as far as middle seats remain empty.
Just wonder down the road… who knows. Stranger things have happened…
I shouldn’t have said overly cautious. I should have just said I don’t consider air travel more risky than some other activities we engage in.
My business travel, which was frequent, stopped in early March. I’ve taken 1 vacation trip before Memorial Day which went fine- short, nonstop Southwest flight with a light load to a place with hardly any cases of COVID.
I just canceled a trip to USVI/St. John for next week due to the current landscape both in the states and on the island. There are just too many uncertainties. Rescheduled, sadly, for next May.
I am still planning a trip to Colorado in late August where, again, a non-stop Southwest flight and driving to a smaller resort town that empties out a lot anyway in late August when the Texans and Californians leave. We feel OK about that trip. If one of us were to get sick we could keep the rent car and drive home, or, get medical care back in Denver or Colorado Springs. We are older, but very fit and in good health.
I also consider travel a risk I’m willing to take- in certain situations. The things we like to do on these trips that we have/had planned don’t involve bars and groups of people. We mainly engage in outside activities and know how to do the food and restaurants at these places.
Possible November trip depending on what my daughter and her fiance decide about their wedding plans, which are scrapped for the original plan in New Orleans.
I am not concerned about flying. What I am concerned about is inability to plan ahead. With the virus situation being unpredictable, I am not willing to make any non-immediate travel plans. Countries closing borders, states imposing quarantine requirements, localities making new rules and shutting things down… it is too much of a hassle to plan ahead.
This year those Texas kids won’t have to be home for sports and band camps, maybe not even for school. Lots of families may decide to take a little trip somewhere cooler… we might be doing the same. Assuming they will let us in.
We recently drove cross country, work to home. We previously flew about every 6-8 weeks, but with new WFH, we can now limit the commute to 2x a year. We decided to drive this time instead of fly, assuming more control over our environment.
The route was primarily I-90 / I-80. No pleasure stops, which made me sad hurrying through such beautiful country. Washington required masks when we left. I was surprised at how few masks were worn elsewhere.
Nearly all public rest stops were open. A few were closed for construction or remodeling, but that was rare. They didn’t seem any better or worse regarding cleanliness, but in most cases there were very few if any, other travelers at the same time, so either the roads were much less crowded, or most travelers avoided the public restrooms. Appreciated those with totally touchless designs (no doors, motion detected faucets, etc.).
Stayed in hotels en route. Requested lower floors when possible to avoid elevators. No one would guarantee rooms that were unoccupied for 2-3 days. One said they were completely full before our stay, so they had no choice. Another said that was their standard policy when available. Rooms didn’t seem any cleaner than normal, so I tried to sanitize all touch surfaces. I was fine with rooms that had through-the-wall HVAC units. One had central air/heat which we turned off & opened a window.
Formerly all our hotels offered breakfasts, but we assumed these would be cancelled. One still had limited self-serve fruit, wrapped rolls & drinks, but none offered a grab and go replacement. All our main meals were drive-through or pick up. Good excuse for junk food!
My oldest kid & I are keeping an eye on what’s going on in Utah.
I have deposits down on lodging for a hiking trip at the end of October — planned since January.
I’d be flying out of MKE and she’d be flying out of DC — meeting in SLC and renting a car.
We are not too concerned about flying, but should the National Parks be shut down then…dealbreaker…even if we lose the lodging deposit.
I have an adult nephew (he’s 48) who lives in Australia that I’ve yet to meet (my family lived there for 3 years way back when) - he and I zoom, and have had other forms of communication over the years. A year ago when those raging fires were happening there he and I made a plan that I would go there and we chose March/April 2021 (I have the means to do so more than he does to come here (US)). We were going to do some adventuring around the country and stay together for 3 weeks. We’ve both resigned ourselves that it’s not going to happen and we are both heartbroken. 
I believe that there have been transmissions in airplanes in China and Taiwan – to people in the rows behind, I think. One of the major European airlines has been a client and I was talking to someone there who says that airplanes themselves are pretty safe as the air is pumped in from the outside (which is why it is so dry) and before being recirculated is run through the kind of filters used in ICUs. Then, there is a controlled leak to let the air out. So, you are breathing pretty clean air. The danger on a plane is more likely to come from people nearby sneezing or breathing on you and not the air being circulated by the plane. He also said that relative to planes, airports were pretty bad places to be. Indoors, lots of people waiting around often in lines, probably a lot of recirculated air.
@abasket, thanks for that link. I was at an outdoor dinner last night with ten people. So the probability that one was infected given our county was 4%. I would have guessed that the rate in our fairly exurban area of a county that has a couple of fairly dense cities in it would be lower, but the two cities have confirmed cases at about 1.25% of the population. One has offered free COVID testing for residents and was aggressive out of the box with mask requirements. So maybe the exurbs are higher.
We cancelled our trip (driving) to Montana to Glacier National Park. We had won space in the Chalets and were going for our D’s birthday. We should be there right now, but just couldn’t justify being selfish travelers. Early this week we read that line to get into the park extended 9 miles and there was no parking whatsoever. Glad (while still very sad) we passed on it. Got most of our money back ($25 cancellation fees here and there).
I’m glad we got to Yellowstone the day they opened some lodging in the park. Back then visitation was 40% of normal. Currently visitation is 90 to 110% of normal.
Aren’t they doing pass system letting only x number of people in?
We plan to go to Lake Tahoe next month. I didn’t secure lodging yet because they can close everything anytime. I was surprised to see very little openings available. I didn’t expect so many people are ok with travel these days.
Just published. Be sure to scroll down for the section on airplane cleaning. Or not cleaning.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/coronavirus-janitors.html
One quote from an LAX janitor:
“But she said the first few airplanes of the evening were “quick turns,” in which she and a handful of other colleagues had under 10 minutes to clean.”
In some areas people must be doing leisure travel. A friend just posted photos on Facebook of a river rafting trip on the Snake River. Didn’t notice any masks or social distancing.
I live in a tourist location and our hotels are booked. I bet most are traveling by car but plenty of people are still up for travel.
We have a camping trip booked for late August. 5 nights in a state park. It’s a long day drive and I’ve searched for a spot to stop on the way up and everything is full. We are also thinking of a September camping trip to the Eastern Sierra. Any suggestions for favorite campgrounds that would fit a trailer and allow dogs? Also considering a loop on that trip crossing over below Tahoe. Any favorite spots on the western side. Not interested in Yosemite. Thanks