10 Tips for How to Travel in 2021| Preparation for Travel During the Pandemic | Domatella

ah how long have i been in there hello and welcome to my channel if you're new here thanks for clicking my name is dominique and i'm a flight attendant based in guam i guess that it's time for my travel hibernation to be over as i have been recalled back to work and i am ready to go i'm ready to travel all right so a lot of bad things happen in 2020 we know this after being furloughed in 2020 i am so happy to say that i have been recalled back to work if only temporarily so today i have 10 tips for how to travel in 2021 from the perspective of a flight attendant now of course a lot of things have changed in the airline industry since the pandemic started and a lot of things will continue to change i'm sure these are just tips that i thought of from my personal experience traveling so far so let's get into it so number one before you book your flight consider what time of day the flight is scheduled for and try to book it during the off hours or during a flight that is less full there are less popular flights at certain times of the day and since the pandemic started most airlines have eliminated their change fees they're giving passengers the option to change flights without charging those fees so if you don't feel comfortable with how full one flight is you might have the option to change that flight to a different one so it's something to consider if you have some flexibility number two download the airlines app once you pick your flight download whatever airline you're flying on download their app most major airlines have really great apps with a lot of good information on them while flying this year we want to be as safe as possible and take as many precautions as we can moving towards a more contactless experience as you're moving through the airport having the app downloaded on your phone already you can have your boarding pass on your phone so when you get to security as well as the gate all you need to do is just scan your phone you don't have to mess with exchanging a physical boarding pass back and forth with the tsa agent and the gate agent and whoever else you can just scan it show them and go this allows you to touch less as you're moving through the airport airline apps also have a bunch of other information everything from boarding times your flight schedule they send you push notifications and updates any changes the baggage claim information so you know exactly where to go to pick up your bags and you can also access the seating chart which would come in handy for the very first tip anywhere from days before to the night before up until the minute of the flight you can access the seating chart as the system uploads as people are checking in moving seats around so you have access to the seating chart if you have the app now always keep in mind that traveling by air can always change sometimes there's standby list so there might be a few people added on or you know people switching flights but it's just something that can help you prepare a little bit beforehand tip number three pay extra attention at the boarding gate to any new announcements and any boarding rules before as you might know they used to board by your boarding group number which was like one through four usually meeting people in first class or towards the front of the plane we usually board first but that's not being used right now as of right now your boarding group does not matter in order to help with social distancing while people are getting on the plane airlines have started boarding from the back of the aircraft first that's why i say it's important to make sure you listen while you're sitting and waiting at the gate i know i love to have my headphones on and be listening to music but for right now especially if it's your first time flying in a while listen to all the announcements they're saying at the boarding gate because in my experience so far the agents will call a group of rows at a time and section by section group a row by group of row they'll board the plane the reason behind this is to eliminate the amount of build up people passing each other back and forth it allows for people to have a little bit more space and control of who's getting on the plane and who's getting on behind them and the same thing when you land they usually ask that you remain seated even after they open the boarding door and they'll start with like the first five rows and then five through ten or you know so on so that it's less people coming into contact with each other i think it makes a lot more sense and it's way more effective to board planes to slay anyways so i'm off for it but just be aware of it because it's kind of new and i've noticed that the few times i have had to travel it's a couple of people like sometimes it's kind of confusing my fourth tip is that flight attendants will give you an antibacterial wipe as you are boarding the aircraft when you step onto the plane they should be handing you an antibacterial wipe this is great because you can use this to wipe down um the seat the tray table the armrest if there's a little screen or a little remote wipe that down as well and especially the seat buckle a lot of people don't think about it but everyone touches it so make sure you wipe that down and even when i'm sitting on a window seat i'll even wipe down the little wall and the little ledge for the to pull the shade up and down airlines have made a really big push upping their cleaning game they are using all these new sprays and new techniques on how to clean planes and they're also really trying to educate passengers on everything that they're actually doing to make it as safe as possible to travel by air when i was recently reading up on it i was pretty impressed i mean they use like hospital grade hepa filters which are supposed to be able to filter out like 99.7 percent of uh airborne particles so of course it's all personal choice personal preference but it does make me feel better knowing that you know they're upping their game to clean these aircrafts um so that's really great i just always like to do a little bit extra especially for my you know personal seat tip number five hand sanitizer temporarily the tsa is allowing passengers to bring 12 ounce bottle of liquid hand sanitizer through security it has to be screened separately so read up on this this is one ounce okay you can bring a 12 ounce bottle through security that's great also when bringing this i always suggest if there's any like exceptions or rules for tsa or you're kind of confused on something take a screenshot so that when you go through security or someone questions you about it you have the specific like wording from the website of what the actual rule is just to make things go a little bit more smoothly now if you don't want to actually bring a liquid 12 ounce bottle of hand sanitizer through security you could also just bring antibacterial wipes they come in bulkier packages but you could just take some out and put them in a ziploc baggie and bring that through as well number six pack snacks in a ziploc baggie at home before you leave your house in order to relieve stress while you're traveling through the airport and throughout your flight so when i'm traveling i always like to have snacks on me but especially during these times maybe you don't want to wait in line at a vendor at the airport or you don't want to stand next to people in line at like a food court at the airport also since the pandemic the snacks meals and drinks offered on planes is changing literally all the time so if you just want to be extra prepared have your own snacks on a little baggie so what i always do is pack them in the ziplock bag like so okay so when you're going through security if it's normal security not tsa pre-chick if it's regular security you have to take all food out right now so if you have it pre-packaged and all together in a bag you just take this out set it in that little gray bin and you're good now if you want to be extra safe to be honest i do not know how often they clean those gray bins i am sure that it's more than they used to i'm just saying i have i don't know so if you didn't trust that you could actually double bag your snack baggie put it in the gray bin then when you take it out of the gray bin slide it out throw that one away and then you have a nice fresh clean bag that you can place right back into your carry-on okay zip it up good to go so i've had to travel a couple of times either working or since the furlough every single time the food offered on the flights has been so different every single time at the very beginning of this pandemic obviously they eliminated food altogether and any open drinks or any like i think alcohol and like coffee and stuff it was like no then i think i remember they moved to snack boxes so like there was no like actual meals on the plane they would just give you the package snack boxes another flight i was on they actually handed you a little baggie it had like a mini water bottle pretzels a cookie and another hand sanitizer wipe in it if you wanted a soda or a juice they would just hand you the whole can and then on my most recent travel i actually got upgraded so when i was sitting in first class they actually served meals on trays but it was completely covered in the foil which normally the flight attendant would remove and prepare the meal and like set the tray but it was just laid out very basic but that way no one was touching your food or really anything on the tray they just handed you the warm tray yeah if you bring a little bag of snacks this way you never know what's gonna happen if you have the option to get upgraded you don't know if you will or not so i always think it's a good idea to just have even like some kind of snack bar or something with you so you don't get too hungry while you're traveling it's just an idea personally i always pack snacks with me like wherever i go because i don't like to get hangry it also depends on how long you're going to be traveling for but if you pack your little baggie you don't have to be worrying about if you're getting surge food or not you just have a snack for whenever you're hungry and you can save money instead of buying food at the airport oh while we're on the note of food always bring a water bottle bring an empty water bottle this one has water in it but either bring a reusable water bottle which is what i usually do or you can buy something like this when you get through security or if you have one at home you just make sure you drink all the water empty it out just bring the clear plastic bottle through security with no liquids in it once you get into the airport and into the terminal they usually have water fountains in multiple places next to the bathrooms usually and just fill it up so that on the plane you don't have to wait for the flight attendants to come down you always have water because it's really important to stay hydrated while you're flying tip number seven pack extra masks okay i will admit i have a weird weird fear of like dropping my mask on the ground and like not knowing what to do like but you have to wear a mask when you're in public but what happens if it drops in the ground obviously you don't want to put that on your face but really in reality you can just ask an employee of the airport or any airline and i'm sure they will have extra masks to give you but aside from that the real reason to bring extra masks while you're traveling is to change them out when i travel from my hometown to my base it's over 20 hours of travel time so it's like two days basically if you think about it you're you know covering your covering your whole nose and mouth you know there are natural oils on your face you're sleeping you're hot you're cold um you're going through different parts of different airports all that so i always like every flight or if it's like a really long flight i like to change my mask out i have a bag for clean masks and then i have a bag to put the dirty ones in because it's not a good idea to be touching the outside of the mask either until you can clean it again so just make sure you pack a couple of extra but you can always ask someone and they'll have extras tip number eight is to clean your suitcase after your travel day so i don't know if a lot of people think of this or not i typically would try to incorporate this into my travel routine anyways because i would use my bags pretty much every day obviously as a flight attendant traveling back and forth from the airport and then whatever trip i would be on so my tip is to wipe down the exterior of your suitcase after you're done traveling for the day so i would get a rag and dish soap or laundry detergent or disinfectant or whatever you can get your hands on and just if you're using a rag just make sure it's like a lightly damp one because you don't want to get it like you want to give your suitcase time to air out air dry and everything but i know we're all lazy sometimes and if you don't even want to get into all that i would at least highly suggest that you wipe the handles and the zipper pulls because if you think about it you're touching a lot of things as you're traveling through the airport that you might not even notice just like little remote screens door handles etc so just wipe down the handle as soon as you get home so that it's fresh for the next time that you use it side note guys i see you i know you put your suitcase on your bed sometimes don't do that don't do that especially if you're not wiping down your whole suitcase but oh my god i swear i've gone into it with my friends whom i love dearly but like think of the little roller wheels and you don't want to bring these coveted streets like into your hotel bed or your home bed you know what i mean so hot tip clean your suitcase and don't put it on your bed i'm sorry tell me if you agree with me please please and i'm i cannot be the only one seriously number nine is to change your clothes after you travel like i said i typically travel for very long amounts of time so i might even change one time in the middle just for comfort reasons so i always just suggest changing your clothes after you travel anyways take a shower you'll feel better but especially in these times if you think about it you sit on a lot of different surfaces there's airport seats airplane seats benches while you're waiting for your ride then if you take an uber there's that there you touch so many surfaces as you're traveling and whether it's just a few hours from one place to another or if it's like me literally two days worth of traveling to get from my home to my base i 100 showering and changing into a fresh pair of clothes after your travel day which relates to the next tip which is number 10 which is packing an easy access set of clothes or pair of pajamas right at the top of your suitcase or in your carry-on bag so it's super easy to find when you get to your hotel room after the past four years that i have spent traveling for work i cannot tell you how many things can happen in a day of travel when you think it's just going to be like one quick easy flight simple sometimes things just happen you don't know what your day will bring you you don't know how tired you will be when you finally make it to where you're staying that night you'll be so happy when you make it to the end of your journey and your pjs are just sitting pretty right at the top you know so you don't have to go dig through your things find your pieces or if you're if you land and you immediately need to go out or have a meeting or something it will make your life so much easier just to have your fresh set right there you already know where it is like i said i travel for more than 20 hours to get from my hometown to my base and the amount that i've had to do that every single time that i land i am beyond exhausted and it just feels so good to know that past me helped out future me now especially we're going through so much more stress just you know to get from one place to another that's just the nicest thing you can do for yourself i that i mean this obviously isn't like a covid travel tip but i just think it really helps instead of having to move things around and go through your suitcase and think it'll just be right there ready for you so that's pretty much it i just wanted to say like a last little bonus tip is just to acknowledge that going anywhere these days is a risk so please take traveling going out and about to the grocery store any store through an airport wherever you're going make sure that you understand the risk of going out and try to prepare as much as you possibly can to do it as safely as possible there's a ton of resources like tsa website cdc and then there's travel.state.gov i'll link them all below because they all have really good information on traveling right now during this pandemic special airport rules special airport exceptions any coveted test rules any travel and quarantine restrictions and just any any other new new information that would be useful to be aware of so just make sure you do as much research as you possibly can so that you can be a responsible traveler if you're like me it helps a lot to prepare mentally and do your research ahead of time so that when you get there you kind of have a better have a smoother experience knowing that you've prepared as much as you possibly can when it comes down to it we are all responsible for our own selves and the impact that we make upon others when we're traveling and sometimes it's hard to tell what your travel experience is going to be like especially as air travel starts to gain traction again for example some of the flights that i've been on have been totally empty and i have had whole sections of the plane to myself and felt really safe and socially distant but other flights within that same travel segment like when i have to take three flights one of the flights was basically packed and i had people sitting right next to me thankfully everyone that i've been near on a plane has followed the rules they've kept their masks on you know taken as many precautions as as they could so i'm thankful for that but you just really never know so just acknowledge that it is a risk do as much research as you can and wear a mask so that's all i got now that you have these tips and things to keep in mind let me know your thoughts on travel this year in the comments i'm curious to see if you have traveled already or if you're planning on going somewhere are you open to flying again soon or are you totally against it and if and when things get normal again what is the first place you want to go to home to see family vacation what is the first place you would book a flight to if you could go anywhere i really hope it's safe pandemic wise for us to travel again soon thank you so much for watching and if you feel a little bit more prepared for when you do choose to travel again please give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more travel tips flight attendant and guam life yeah that's all i got so thanks for watching and i'll see you next time bye [Music] welcome to my channel all right let's start it and see today i have 10 tips for you on how to travel in 2021 from the flight attendant of our [Laughter] [Music] perspective [Music] [Music] okay [Music] oh

Channel: Domatella

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Keywords: DOMATELLA, travel, Guam, Guam life, vlog, guam lifestyle, island life, life on guam, moving to guam, hafa, adai, Flight attendant, flight attendant life, 2021, how to travel 2021, travel restrictions, travel tips, travel 2021, travel 2021 co, travel 2021 covid 19, travel during covid, travel during the pandemic, travel during covid 19, traveling during pandemic, travel tips and hacks, airplane travel tips, is air travel safe during covid, airport, airport vlog, what to pack 2021

Id: hHIzpKlHwog

Length: 19min 19sec (1159 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 07 2021