what would you do? Fly vs Drive

MrsHaloFIRE said:
We are currently on a multi state month long road trip. I view our covid risks as essentially 5pct thus far. We packed our iwn food in a cooler. We booked hotels online and use digital key check in. No need to even pause in a common area. We've not been inside a gas station or restaurant. We pee in a jug in yhe car (i use a girl funnel). Pump gas with a glove on. We will order groceries for curbside pickup at each destination. In summary: I vote road trip
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We went on a multi state road trip mid-late March during the first Covid outbreak. We used gas station rest rooms and fast food restaurant drive-ups with no problem. But we washed/sanitized our hands after using the restroom, after getting our food at the drive-up, and after pumping gas. After touching anything that wasn't ours. And we wore masks everywhere outside the truck. This worked for us.
 
Ref flying: like most of y'all I have been. 1) butt to nut crammed single file in a terminal in Reykjavik for over an hour. 2) on several flights with no air conditioning on major airlines 3) burning holes in the sky over TN for an hour waiting to get a slot to land in ATL. 4) landed at the wrong airport due to weather 5) had a connection cancelled and put up by the airline at a notell hotel. Dirty shuttle bus included. These are my reasons right not to drive. Far more control.
 
I think there is no "right" answer here on the travel part. Since they have already decided that they will go - the question is how?

So the best I can say for you, is do what is most comfortable for them. As other people have said, there are risks with both methods of travel. I've flown several times in the past month - and it really seems that most airports and travelers are being super cautious - good for everyone.

Masks are the norm for everyone and the good news is that touching services is not as big a threat as it was once thought. (still wash your hands !! )

Just tell them to be mindful of their interactions and cleanliness. Part of the problem these days is that of COVID fatigue and people not being as conscious of their surroundings and cleanliness.

Stay safe
 
Personally, if flying, I would get an N95 or R95 mask. This would reduce the risk.
 
cyber888 said:
For me frankly, it really depends on the car .. it boils down to the car.. if I have a lousy beat up car, I would take the plane. Now if I have a really nice newer car .. like the new Audi A6 wagon or an RS6 superwagon with a WiFi hotspot in my car .. I would take the road trip.
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Truth. Rent a GMC Denali Yukon and the drive isnt bad for us.
 
I say drive. We are driving from Phoenix to Boise next week to visit our newborn granddaughter. We were going to take the RV and leave this past weekend, drive slow and easy for 4 days, but when I was prepping it for the trip, one of the A/Cs blew a compressor, and service is really backlogged, so it became a no go. We simply felt more comfortable staying in a hotel and eating drive thru than sitting in a flying tube for 3 hours with many people who may or may not have the virus, having to rent a car, and then do it all again 4 days later. Besides that, I kind of like road trips. Since we haven’t gone ANYWHERE this year, we were both really getting the itch.
 
Option 2. Not because of COVID because I wouldn’t worry about that anyplace. But because it will be less taxing and faster.
 
Fly, 100% It's way more safe than anyone thinks. Right now the airlines level of attention to cleanliness and precautions taken are extraordinary. The airport workers and TSA security cleans and sanitizes everything constantly and bags get sprayed etc. So pick your poison. It cleaner now than ever, and diseases and viruses have always been around, they just didn't have a scary name yet. I'd just put on my mask, carry my hand sanitizer and bring lots of patience and fly to get there quicker.

We live overseas and I fly back and forth to the states and within the states when there. I am not worried as much as those who rarely fly are because I know how clean it is now compared to before. But we are also not overly freaked out by COVID because all the experts themselves seem to change opinions daily. The one thing we trust is "they don't know much except that they don't know much"... We just use our common sense and are extra cautious when out and about.
 
Personally, I'd fly.

I've recently done moderately long drives and a short flight and -
IMHO you can control your risk of COVID infection alot better in a
4-5 hour flight window (arrive airport, fly, depart airport).
You can mask up, glove up, eat your own snacks/drinks.
Especially good if you get a flight with open middle seat.
Almost all airport/flight staff will be seriously masked up.

If you drive, how many gas pumps, credit card readers, restaurant doors,
etc... are you going to touch? How many people are you going to have to interact/talk to. (Will they *ALL* take masks seriously - in my experience, NO)

Good luck - it's not an easy call!
 
Just a question first - is he sure he will be admitted to see his mother? My father, who just passed on 9/1, was in assisted living. A very good assisted living facility. We had had no visits since March, except for one porch visit that was monitored; masks, plastic barrier and no contact for a limited time. Had he not died in a hospital, I would not have been able to be with him.


If the visit is a guarantee, I would fly. We always think we have time. Sometimes we don't, to our grieving surprise. Just take good precautions and get some cotton gloves for the flight. I'm told they are better than the disposable ones for protection. You can get cheap ones that you can throw away if you want. Wear your mask, wash your hands and don't touch your face. Godspeed to him.
 
We're in the 2nd day of a 3k mi, 13 day road tri to visit family now. Rented a luxury class car from Sixt for $524 for 13 days, unlimited mileage.
 
If you are going to drive, I recommend staying in "nice" hotels, not luxury, but main names, such as Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt. They will have better precautions for cleaning, due to COVID. It's still not a guarantee but reducing risk is important and believe those hotels will do that more than smaller brand/non-brand hotels/motels.

If you're super worried about the virus bring your own pillow and sheets to put on the bed.

I just returned from traveling to 2 major cities and stayed in hotel overnight along the drive. Stayed in major name hotels in both cities and also 1 Superhost AirBnB. The driving trip was successful and I'm healthy after returning home.
 
Just an option:

I’m 65 and DW and I travel in camper units.

Renting a small class B - a camper van - could be an option. Don’t know how your finances are. Sleeping stops could be made at truck plazas - like Flying Js - or state park / city campgrounds, etc. would be like traveling with your own hotel room.

We even have aN extra minivan we use for camping lol.

Just a thought
 
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If you choose to fly, be sure your eyes are protected. I would wear close fitting safety glasses if I was wearing contacts or no prescription eyewear. I would also probably wear a face shield.

I always wear safety glasses whenever out in public if I have my contacts in.
 
Sorry to hear about your husband's family, especially in these times!

I have done a couple ~1000 mile drives this year and that was a lot. The covid risk on the drive seemed pretty minimal and largely under one's own control. However, as others have pointed out, on a super long out and back cross country drive there is significant non-covid risk, especially with an old and young driver. Also, in the driving scenario, two people are at direct risk versus one flying. I'd fly.

rodi said:
DH wants to see his mother (93, almost 94... and starting to "go" physically). She's in a memory unit in Detroit. He also wants to see his brother - who recently was diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer. BIL lives in Philadelphia.
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rodi said:
DH wants to see his mother (93, almost 94... and starting to "go" physically). She's in a memory unit in Detroit. He also wants to see his brother - who recently was diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer. BIL lives in Philadelphia.

He has a new car that he bought in November... So he was thinking of doing a road trip. He'd take younger son with him to share the driving. Son would do his zoom classes from the road (hot spot mobile phone to his laptop).

It's a long drive - even with two drivers... and they'd have potential covid exposure at motels, gas stations, restaurants.

Lodging in both Detroit and Philly is with family in a covid safe manner - The brother that lives near mom has a split level with a downstairs bedroom that can be accessed separately from the rest of the house. The brother in Philly has a walk out basement with a bedroom - again can be separate from the rest of the house. Visits would be masked and outside.
We estimate it would cost about $2000-$2500 and be two weeks round trip.

If he flies to Detroit, then drives to Philly, then flies home. With 1 person, premium economy, full size rental car, meals, etc... It would be <$1500 and be a 1 week trip.

He is worried about a 4.5 hour plane ride (covid risk)... but the drive has risks also.

Give me your pros and cons for it all. I don't think cancelling or postponing for a long time are options - both his mom and brother have a shelf life fast approaching.
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I personally think driving is the safer option. You might consider bringing your own pillow cases for motels, but I think surface contact exposure has proven to be fairly negligible. Keep wahing hands and using hand sanitizer after gas stops and rest/food stops and it will be no different than traveling around your neighborhood for essentials.
 
We took our own pillows on our road trips, but didn’t worry about the other hotel bedding other than removing the bedspread and putting it out of the way.
 
Back in March, when no precautions were being taken at all.

But yes, I’m of leery of long flights at the moment and would avoid overseas flights until it’s safer.
 
rodi said:
...

Give me your pros and cons for it all. I don't think cancelling or postponing for a long time are options - both his mom and brother have a shelf life fast approaching.
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Rodi, what was the decision, and how did the trip go?
 
Recent Air Travel Experience

Over the course of the last few weeks DW and I have been on three Delta flights. The first went well with everybody keeping their distance and wearing masks. The second was a little below par with several people not wearing masks and virtually being ignored by the flight attendants until the trip was nearly over. Last Sunday we took a flight from DTW to FLL. This was a mistake.

Shortly after take off the woman and man two rows in front of us removed their masks and the woman proceeded to parade up and down the aisle with her two year old. This was after the lead flight attendant had made an announcement to wear your masks or we will have to "gently remind you". I thought that was a little odd and weakly making light of the policy.

After being reminded at least twice the woman continued to walk the aisle without a mask. I'd had enough and did something I've never done in 40 years and thousands of flights. I pushed the call button. The flight attendant informed me that that there is really nothing they can do if the passenger refuses to comply. They may be banned from the airline for the remainder of the mask policy time period. Big deal.

Upon landing the attendant evidently forgot to remind the passengers to exit by rows and leave space. By the time he got around to making an announcement the aisle was packed with people climbing all over each other. It got a little testy. DW and I waited it out and eventually got off the plane.

In conclusion we feel it is pushing your luck to fly at this time. We made a mistake. I just hope the flight home Friday is better. And by the way the airline did respond to our complaint by giving us 8000 miles each for our trouble. :facepalm:
 
He's still deciding. If it happens, it will be over Thanksgiving and a drive trip... Unless he changes his mind again.
 
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