Flying During COVID-19: What's Changed? (And What Hasn't?)

[Music] after a year of cancelling trips and staying at home travel is slowly but surely coming back people are traveling again and people are booking tickets again but travel has changed in the last year so i'm going to show you exactly what it's like inside airports on airplanes as you prepare for your trip you won't necessarily need a covet 19 test or proof of vaccination just because you're getting on a plane it depends on where you're going many countries and even some states like hawaii require a negative covet 19 test for entry and if you're leaving the country you still may need a negative test to board your flight home but these rules constantly change so double and triple check before you leave this time last year airports were absolute ghost towns but that has started to change they're starting to fill up again but it really depends on which day you fly want to make sure you're not battling through crowds and long lines do what i did fly on a tuesday wednesday or a saturday those are the least busy days that you'll find in airports and on airplanes do your best to avoid sundays mondays and fridays masks are still required in airports and on airplanes and even as millions more americans get vaccinated every day that's unlikely to change anytime soon checking a bag is so hot right now business travelers are still at home and vacationers are out that means almost everyone is checking a bag so you may run into some long lines when dropping off your luggage if you can it's worth trying to pack in a carry-on bag so you can skip it but the actual process of checking a bag hasn't changed much at all here we go just check in for your flight at home or at the airport get your baggage tag and slip it on then drop your bag off for me it took just a few minutes but others won't be so lucky then it's time for everyone's least favorite part of the airport getting through security as always just how long or short your lines are it's going to depend pretty heavily on when you're traveling but services like tsa pre-check and clear are worth their weight in gold if you're worried about waiting i've always gotten through in just minutes during the pandemic and this trip was no different the biggest change at security is a good one rather than hand over your id and boarding pass and show your face many airports now allow you to simply stick your id in a reader get it back and go on your way most but not all restaurants and convenience stores are open inside airports these days so you shouldn't struggle to get a bite grab a coffee or buy some drinks and snacks before your flight but many have limited hours so if you're flying late you may be out of luck and if you want to shop your options are probably pretty limited if you've got the right credit card for top airline status you can still get into an airport lounge or at least some of them while many airline lounges across the country are back open some still remain closed after more than a year find an open one just what you'll get inside may vary after emptying out lounges are filling up again luckily most do a pretty good job keeping people spaced out inside many airlines have cut back on a lot of their food so it may still be mostly pre-packaged snacks like in this delta sky club but you can almost always count on an open bar others like amex centurion lounges are nearly back to normal with great meals and drinks for free before long it's time to head to the gate while airports are definitely getting busier you still shouldn't have a hard time finding an empty space nearby to sit while waiting to board many games are being used these days getting through the airport doesn't really matter which airline you're flying with but so much of the travel experience does depend on what you're flying from boarding to onboard service to blocking middle seats every airline has responded to the pandemic in different ways and it all starts at boarding to show you just how different traveling can be based on what airline you're flying with i flew two different carriers united out to new york city and delta back to minneapolis throughout the pandemic some airlines began boarding planes from back to front united did that for a year but it's back to boarding planes and zones now you may find social distancing markers in the queue and on the jet bridge but people still tend to get bunched up delta is still boarding planes from back to front other airlines like american and jetblue are boarding planes as normal hoping for an empty flight i've got bad news those days from early in the pandemic are over these days you should pretty much assume your flight is going to be nearly if not completely full my flight certainly were throughout the pandemic some airlines block middle seats to give passengers more space on board one by one they've all gone back to filling planes to capacity delta was the final holdout but even they started filling middle seats as of may 1st 2021 wondering if your fellow flyers will be good about wearing a mask it varies by flight and who you're flying with of course airlines have banned thousands of passengers who refused to mask up in the last year but those incidents are few and far between and in my experience airlines including delta and united constantly remind passengers to keep their masks on once again federal law requires everyone with the exception of children younger than two to wear a mask properly over their nose and mouth at all times throughout the flight including jury boarding and deflating refusing to wear a mask is now a violation of federal law that may result in removal from the aircraft lots of your tribal privileges on future united airlines flights never penalties and signs under federal law when the pandemic first hit many airlines stopped their usual drink cart routine and stopped serving alcohol altogether but in-flight service is coming back still what you get is gonna vary by your airline and how long your flight is my united express flight offered a choice of drink including coffee plus a small bag with water and snacks after serving only those same snack bags for a year delta brought back more drink and snack options as of mid-april including buy-on-board drinks like these tasty canned cocktails but no matter who you're flying with don't expect to see your flight attendants too much aside from handing out drinks and collecting garbage despite their best efforts at social distancing getting off the plane still tends to be a pretty disorderly affair united in particular has done a lot calling out row by row to sit up and de-plane but in my experience it's still a mad dash to get off if you checked a bag nothing has really changed when it comes time to pick it up but you should expect crowds at the baggage carousel that's the beauty of packing in a carry-on you can walk off the plane and head home all right back at home but there's no question that travel has changed in the last year believe it or not though a lot of aspects of the flying experience are pretty much back to normal or at least pretty close to it but that doesn't mean that your first trip whether it's next month or sometime next year is going to feel normal it's definitely going to be a strange experience for a while as you adjust to you know flying during and after the pandemic if you have any questions about flying drop them in the comments below and if you found this video helpful make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our youtube channel as always if you want more help to spend less and travel more make sure to head to thriftytraveler.com cheers to cheap flights [Music] you

Channel: Thrifty Traveler

Views: 50,410

Rating: 4.9212599 out of 5

Keywords: flying during covid-19, flying during pandemic, flying covid, flying vlog, united airlines covid, delta airlines covid, delta covid, united covid, air travel, flying, pandemic flying, thrifty traveler, travel vlogger

Id: TNZ4fLLvums

Length: 8min 19sec (499 seconds)

Published: Tue May 04 2021