Covid precautions to take on plane?

[essnce629]

DS1 and I are leaving for our 11 day college tour trip to the Pacific Northwest next week.
We'll be flying and over the 11 days will be renting a car, staying in 4 cities, 4 different hotels, and 3 airports. Neither of us are eligible for the Covid vaccine yet and we can't delay any longer since we have to go over DS1's spring break. We have N95 masks for the plane but I'm wondering if we should get face shields too? My friend just flew to FL and wore a face shield and double mask on the plane. All our flights are under 3 hours so there will be no need to eat on the plane, but we do have a 90 minute layover in Seattle on the way home. Any tips or things I should be thinking of?

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[chottumommy]

We flew twice during the pandemic, both times with the entire family, no layovers and a 2 hour flight. We wore masks and tried the shield but that didn't work out well - gave me a headache when it was tight enough, otherwise it would ride up or down get bumped and I had to constantly keep touching it to reposition.. I preferred my glasses and mask and got the kids safety glasses to wear for the next trip. We didn't eat on the flight but did eat in the airport, in one of the gates that was empty. Both times we flew, the airports were empty with most shops closed. The gate area was the only place where there were people but we could keep out distance. We were one of the last to board since our luggage was all checked in and we carried a single backpack (with DH). They start the air system in the plane but we wanted it to get into gear and start moving air around before we boarded. Other than that didn't do anything specific, no wiping down surfaces etc. The kids were glued to the screen. I felt safer there than in grocery stores at certain times.

Edit: Both times our center seats were blocked and there was no one on either rows adjacent to us.

[JBaxter]

I just few from FL to PA to help my mom. Masks and I took my own wipes. I didnt use the tray table It was pretty chill. 2 of my flights were full one was 70? %

[AnnieW625]

My friend just flew from LA to Chicago yesterday and wore double masks (surgical under cloth) and a face shield. It looked mighty uncomfortable imho and I know for myself I probably wouldn’t go that far, but I know that that level of safety makes people feel very safe so they are okay doing it. Flights to the PNW are less than 2 hours maybe 3 if you have to stop in SFO, SJC, or Sacramento for a quick plane change or layover.

I last flew a year ago (tomorrow) so I am not much help but my dad who has flown a few times since covid from Sacramento to Ontario (to care for my Grandma) on SWA has not complained about the planes being overly full and SW got rid of their free middle seat policy a few months ago.


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[gatorsmom]

You should be well protected by the N95 masks and the distancing measures. I’m not as concerned as I used to be about surface cleanliness since we know fomites aren’t a big factor for covid infection. However, sleeping in the hotel room that was only vacated a couple hours before by someone who might have been sick, worries me. How do you clean hotel room air? Particularly when most hotel windows don’t open. In the last few month we had to make hotel reservations twice and at registration we requested to be put in a room that hadn’t been occupied for at least 24 hours. Both times the hotel seemed to have dealt with that request before and were happy to accommodate us. With fewer people traveling I’d think that’s an easy request for the hotel to honor.

[niccig]

If you want a face shield, I find the ones with the glasses arms to be more comfortable. I wear it for 8 hour shift over my glasses and with a mask on. The ones with elastic band around your head give me a headache.


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[hwin708]

The filtration used on planes' air circulation systems makes them one of the safest places you can be. Safer than an operating room. I would feel totally comfortable with the one mask. Bottom line - if you are not double masking and wearing a face shield when you go to the grocery store or other places, the airplane is not where you need to start.

I have found social distancing to be great at airport security, and not very well enforced at check-in kiosks and bag drops, and nonexistent at boarding and baggage claim. I would suggest carry-on bags to avoid the worst of it. If you pay for priority boarding, you can jump ahead of most of the jamming up during boarding.

As far as I know, Delta is the only airline still blocking seats. So as a party of two, unless you are flying Delta, you may end up with a person next to you in that third seat. Nearly every flight I have flown during this has been totally full, but obviously that will vary by location. You may want to check the price for upgrading to first, as that would give you a row with just two seats. I have encountered some very low first class fares during this (and some obscenely high economy fares, so again, varies by route).

Most car rentals - if you booked direct - have an option for members of their loyalty program to go directly to the car, where keys are already waiting. This would let you skip potential lines (again, people don't social distance well in these crowded situations).

The virus is shown to linger up to 3 hours in the air (though in real life, it is likely far less). Most hotels offer online check-in, though, so if you are greatly concerned about this, just check-in online. When you get notification that your room is ready, consider that the last possible moment a housekeeper could have been in there. And arrive three hours after that. You can also request no further housekeeping during your stay. Ime, the housekeepers were all 100% compliant with mask wearing. They could be taking them off in the rooms, but usually they go back and forth so much to their carts in the hallway, where they encounter hotel guests constantly, that I would be surprised if they were lowering them. So I felt find with having housekeeping come. But if you are only in each location for 2-3 days, it's no big deal to just ask for no housekeeping.

[carolinamama]

I haven't flown yet but we have stayed in multiple hotels (thank you competitive sports). We book hotels where the rooms have individual HVAC units and request a room on a low enough floor so we avoid the elevators. Upon check in, we wear masks in the room at first and turn on the HVAC fan to pull outside air into the room continuously. We then leave for an hour or two while it runs. Who knows if this is necessary, but it makes me feel better. I wiped down high touch surfaces the first few stays but haven't recently. The housekeepers I've seen have been wearing masks but we don't have our room cleaned when staying multiple nights to avoid anyone in the room.

Do either of you wear glasses? They provide some protection. If not and you want eye protection, I would opt for safety glasses rather then a shield. They are much more comfortable.

[jent]

I’d suggest safety glasses instead of a full face mask too. More comfortable so you will be more inclined to wear them.

[AngB]

I’d suggest safety glasses instead of a full face mask too. More comfortable so you will be more inclined to wear them.

I just wore sunglasses when I flew last summer. I agree with safety glasses if you had to but I have safety glasses for work and meh, I don't feel like they are particularly better/worse than sunglasses. Of course it looked better since it was during the day but still.

[mom2binsd]

I recently stayed at a Hyatt hotel. At checkin (I was not concerned with handing the employee my card) they mentioned that they are now only doing housekeeping upon request to reduce people going in and out of the room. They said if you needed new towels/trash etc to let them know, they could leave at the door etc but I really feel like most hotels are doing a good job. I know many people who have traveled without incident, and probably most don't take nearly as many precautions as folks on this board.

I would wear a surgical mask on the plane/or double mask, maybe safety glasses, but even then I might not. My face shield at work is for when we are in the covid positive unit only (so glad right now we have been covid free for a month!!).

[essnce629]

In the last few month we had to make hotel reservations twice and at registration we requested to be put in a room that hadn’t been occupied for at least 24 hours. Both times the hotel seemed to have dealt with that request before and were happy to accommodate us. With fewer people traveling I’d think that’s an easy request for the hotel to honor.

This is a good idea. It doesn't seem like any of the hotels we're staying in are that busy so I think this would be an easy request to accommodate.


Bottom line - if you are not double masking and wearing a face shield when you go to the grocery store or other places, the airplane is not where you need to start.

I have found social distancing to be great at airport security, and not very well enforced at check-in kiosks and bag drops, and nonexistent at boarding and baggage claim. I would suggest carry-on bags to avoid the worst of it. If you pay for priority boarding, you can jump ahead of most of the jamming up during boarding.

I wear my N95 (plus a cloth mask over to cover the valve) whenever I'm grocery shopping since I'm usually in the store for an hour. We plan to take carry-ons only so we don't have to wait in additional lines or baggage claim. Plus we'll have laundry facilities at each hotel so easy to bring less clothing.


Do either of you wear glasses? They provide some protection. If not and you want eye protection, I would opt for safety glasses rather then a shield. They are much more comfortable.

DS1 wears glasses. We actually do have a few pairs of safety glasses at home! Great idea! I think I'll wear those. They definitely seem more comfortable than a shield.

Thanks everyone for the ideas! I think I'll run the fan on the A/C units in each room as soon as we get there too.

I don't think any of the hotels are doing housekeeping during your stay unless you request it. We're flying Alaska Airlines and I know they stopped blocking middle seats in January of this year. When I picked seats I chose ones where most of the seats around us were empty, but obviously that will most likely change as we get closer to the date.

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