Coronavirus - Travel impacts II

[Teacher Terry]

After seeing what happened in China I would think people here should be more likely to self isolate if they can.

 

[braumeister]

Timing is everything.

Posted 2/27:

We are supposed to land in Milano on Saturday afternoon.
We are looking forward to our trip.

Posted 2/28:

CDC update - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/coronavirus-italy
CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Italy.

I had already posted about canceling our trip to Italy, and it was the right thing to do for us. Didn't have to eat much in cancellation costs, so no problem.

But since there is absolutely no way we can predict what conditions will be like going forward, it's just a matter of taking things one day at a time.

 

[garyt]

All locally bought out where I am and where my husband is.

My wife showed me an Ebay ad for 50 masks for $350! I use them for a hobby at home and usually pay $15 for 5.

 

[Teacher Terry]

The news conference just said that we are putting parts of Italy and South Korea on a Level 4 risk for traveling.

 

[Retch The Grate]

We're flying from the Bay Area to Florida on Thursday night. It is still early so I feel like our return flight on the 21st is higher risk than the flight out on the 6th and neither is really much risk at all based on the reported number of cases so far and my more pessimistic doubling number than Gumby's that I'd been using for back of the envelope risk calculation. Hoping that the panic that is canceling conferences now will mean smaller crowds at Disney World where we are spending a week. Lots of surfaces to come into contact with, but again, I think the timing is early enough that the risk is low.

We already didn't have any other major travel plans in place so we're just not making new ones until we see how things turn out with the spread and treatment.

 

[ivinsfan]

Timing is everything.

Posted 2/27:


Posted 2/28:


I had already posted about canceling our trip to Italy, and it was the right thing to do for us. Didn't have to eat much in cancellation costs, so no problem.

But since there is absolutely no way we can predict what conditions will be like going forward, it's just a matter of taking things one day at a time.

As of now if I had a trip to Italy in the near future I'd cancel, I'd be worried about either not being able to get a flight out or being subject to quarantine when returning to the US.

 

[davebarnes]

In Milano

We arrived in Milano about 11 hours ago
We just had an excellent dinner at Osteria del Corso.
We are happy.

 

[Brat]

I did see a notice by Jet Blue, any ticket purchased now for travel before June can be cancelled for future credit with no penalty. Hopefully other airlines take notice.

Let us hope that Jet Blue won't file for bankruptcy.

 

[Gumby]

We had been planning a 2-3 week vacation in late September/early October that would involve flying to Minneapolis, renting a car and slowly driving down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, from whence we would fly home. I'm hoping that the flying situation is clearer by the time I actually have to buy tickets, because it would take two solid days of driving from here just to get to our start and end points. If we can't do that, we'll find something closer to home to occupy us.

 

[rodi]

We have a trip to Catalina Island planned for April... I think we'll be ok - no confined cabin on a ferry like on a plane or train - we can always get away from people to the deck. I will bring a package of clorox wipes to wipe down our hotel when we arrive, and any suspect surfaces on the ferry.

Since our plans involve hiking and other less 'crowds of people' oriented activities (like the casino) we should be fine.

 

[Ready]

We are avoiding airplanes and cruise ships until further notice. We bought tickets to a show for tonight so we are going to that, but for the time being I think we will avoid attending any large gatherings where you are sitting in very close proximity to other people. It’s not just Coronavirus, but the flu is still active as well.

I would have to imagine that cruise ships are seeing a significant drop in future bookings with all of the bad press they received on the quarantined ship. A cruise ship is probably the worst overall environment for contamination of any type of travel we might think of doing.

I have a box of N95 masks that I bought years ago. I’ll keep a few in my car just in case I need them. But they really don’t prevent you from getting infected. They are primarily intended for those who are infected to keep from coughing and sneezing into the air in close proximity of others.

 

[6miths]

Just back from Florida. Pretty much no one with masks on in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale or Buffalo airports. Going to a conference in Las Vegas in a week and got a notice today that it would not be canceled unless government or hotel did the canceling. DW is looking at flights to south of UK but a bit more circumspect as a case there in the town DW's sister lives near. Will likely go.

 

[Lisa99]

We have a cruise to Barcelona + one week stay after starting April 25. At this time it’s all a sunk cost. We’re both young and very healthy so as long as it doesn’t get truly scary we’re going.

 

[Sue J]

We have no travel plans for this year.

Our DILs family lives in Beijing. Her parents were planning to visit here over the summer. Of course, all of that has been put on hold. They are all stuck at home and only go out if necessary. And it sounds like the offices that handle travel permission are not processing requests.

Her Dad is retired, so he’s not missing work. But DILs sister is a tour guide, taking Chinese tourists to European countries. Her work has come to an absolute halt.

We will all be very disappointed if they can’t come this year. They need to see their 16 mo old grandson and their daughter. Our DIL wants her parents to see their house with a big yard in a quiet neighborhood. Her parents live in an apartment in a dense part of Beijing. DIL’s Dad would love to plant a garden here this summer.

We are all hoping this clears up in time for them to travel this summer. Not looking likely. There’s always video chatting.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Just found out DD and her family are going to South America for spring break in a couple of weeks. Kids, gotta love them.

 

[Ronstar]

We only have 1 trip with flights this year. We’re supposed to fly to Boston in August, spend 2 days there and then rent a car and drive up to Acadia for 5 days. Then back to Boston and fly home.

Before the coronavirus situation, we thought about driving from Illinois to Acadia. But we chose to fly instead. We may need to rethink this.

 

[Another Reader]

I just got back from my second trip to Phoenix this month a couple of hours ago. No problems on the outbound leg, just a couple of masks in the airport. No coughing or sneezing on the plane. Almost no one in Phoenix seemed concerned about the corona virus. I was talking to the carpet salesperson and she mentioned they could not get some part they used in installation because it is made in China. No one else thought it was a problem.

All was well until the flight back. There was a sick woman who was coughing and sneezing for the entire trip. Her cough was a very deep chest cough. In the airport, no one would sit near her. A young father grabbed his kids and moved to the other side of the waiting area to avoid her.

She had a mask, sort of like a surgical mask, as did her seatmate. She wore it waiting for the plane as well. I was in a window seat in the second row on the door side and she was in the front row on the opposite side. Great. Should I pull out my N-95 mask or not? What about those poor people in the row behind her?

This is a situation where the most reasonable approach would have been for the airline, in this case Southwest, to deny boarding to this woman and her companion. Whatever she has, she is putting the passengers sitting around her and the flight attendants at risk.

Maybe we need the TSA to expand their screening and create special lines for obviously sick people with an entirely different kind of screening...

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I have a box of N95 masks that I bought years ago. I’ll keep a few in my car just in case I need them. But they really don’t prevent you from getting infected. They are primarily intended for those who are infected to keep from coughing and sneezing into the air in close proximity of others.

Sorry to delve into heath info, but again, respirator masks like N95s are made to fit the face snugly and filter incoming air, and so are used by health professionals to protect themselves when treating people with infectious diseases. Surgical masks are made solely to protect surgical patients from the surgical staff's exhalations, and so are also used on sick patients to keep their germs from spreading to others.

 

[atmsmshr]

Last fall, DW and I had such fun with a month in southern Europe (2 weeks Princess Cruise and 2 weeks in Italy) we had planned on another month long trip to the UK and a Baltic cruise this summer.

Also had another couple invite us to Hawaii in April; which we were looking forward to seeing for the first time.

Four weeks ago, out of an abundance of caution, we postponed both trips. After seeing news unfold for Diamond Princess, felt this was right decision for us. A bit shocked to see outbreak in Italy, particularly around Milan, but after seeing so many Chinese tourists there last fall it made sense. (Most ethnic Asian tourists seemed clustered in Rome, Pompeii, Florence and Venice.)

In lieu of overseas travel, we took short notice trips from FL to see our aging parents in PA and AZ. Our goal was to complete air travel before any USA outbreak. Only noticed a few face masks for people in the airports at Orlando, Atlanta, Detroit, Jacksonville and Phoenix. Never noticed face masks at airports before.

In the men's room, noticed an uptick in better washing of hands. One guy even commented to me about the 20 second rule of thumb. Also an increase in plane passengers wiping down their seat areas. Dunno - Maybe I was just paying attention.

Our non-essential air travel is done for the near future. If we go anywhere, it will be via car. Sigh. The world just got bigger.

 

[ReadySetGo]

We are supposed to fly via JFK to Rome next Friday. We are definitely cancelling our trip. Our employers say we have to self-quarantine upon return if we go. We have kids in college and none of us could realistically do that, so we are not taking any chances of getting stuck. Hoping it slows down and can be contained. I would hate to contribute to the spread. We would like to go somewhere in the US, but given the new outbreaks, will likely just hold off until it’s under control so we can take a proper vacation. Interestingly enough, as of yesterday, even with heightened CDC travel guidance, Norwegian said they were flying their flights as planned. I can’t imagine they could do that.

 

[ivinsfan]

We are supposed to fly via JFK to Rome next Friday. We are definitely cancelling our trip. Our employers say we have to self-quarantine upon return if we go. We have kids in college and none of us could realistically do that, so we are not taking any chances of getting stuck. Hoping it slows down and can be contained. I would hate to contribute to the spread. We would like to go somewhere in the US, but given the new outbreaks, will likely just hold off until it’s under control so we can take a proper vacation. Interestingly enough, as of yesterday, even with heightened CDC travel guidance, Norwegian said they were flying their flights as planned. I can’t imagine they could do that.

Good chance that Norwegian will close up shop permanently because of this virus.

 

[sengsational]

As to the idea of denial to board if you're sneezing and/or sniffing, I see it as a problem. There are days where I sneeze a bunch due to allergies. I'd hate to miss a trip because of that. If it were effective, I'd take one for the team, but if there are 10 asymptomatic passengers that do get on board, then keeping allergy-boy from boarding isn't going to help anything.


On another topic, I'm worried about an aspect of my trip, due to the nature of the trip. People will be traveling from all over the world, through, and likely from densely populated places. Then, on to very unpopulated areas. Not a problem for us, but I wonder if the locals will be worrying about these international travelers bringing in the virus. If I were them, living in 'the boonies', I'd be very wary of such visitors. And I'd have a difficult time living with knowing that the expanding 'red dot' on the map was my fault.

 

[tulak]

Good chance that Norwegian will close up shop permanently because of this virus.

I’m schedule to fly Norwegian to/from Gatwick in May. I hope they make it that long. I probably should have splurged and booked with BA.

 

[Sunset]

..... due to the nature of the trip. People will be traveling from all over the world, through, and likely from densely populated places. Then, on to very unpopulated areas. Not a problem for us, but I wonder if the locals will be worrying about these international travelers bringing in the virus. If I were them, living in 'the boonies', I'd be very wary of such visitors. And I'd have a difficult time living with knowing that the expanding 'red dot' on the map was my fault.

At least you will have the diffusion of responsibility to assuage your guilt. Like a member of a firing squad, you won't know it was your virus bullet that infected the locals.

 

[Sunset]

I’m schedule to fly Norwegian to/from Gatwick in May. I hope they make it that long. I probably should have splurged and booked with BA.

Or AA, I read using BA is the most expensive due to fees and taxes they have to pay, vs some other airline, when flying to UK.