AimlessWanderer

Hi,

With the European economy opening up and the great way they have dealt with this pandemic, we are considering travel to southern Italy (Calabria and Eastern Sicily) in mid to late August.

What we are concerned about is travelling by plane. As we are from Canada, flying to Europe is not an issue, but some people are telling us that we should not be flying at this time because the risks are too great travelling by plane, even if everyone on board wears a mask for the entire flight.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Tulips

Google the various articles that have been published about this online and decide wether it is worth it for you and your family.

Here is one:
https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/28/video...lane-12770480/

If you get infected on the plane or at the airport, you may get ill while you are in Italy. Are you insured for that and do you want to take the chance?

balthy

We're travelling to southern Italy at the end of July, at least, if the flights are still operating and there aren't any new restrictions imposed between now and travel date. I've heard that we will have our temperature taken at each transit point and on arrival at final destination and we will wear masks. I have no idea if it is safe or not, each person has to make their own decision on whether they should travel or not. I have seen similar simulations on how a cough can spread coronavirus through a supermarket, at least on an aircraft the air is filtered.

hetismij2

You will need multiple masks for a long flight. They must be changed as soon as they get damp, or every few hours which ever is the sooner. You must also have a safe way of storing/disposing of them.
Will you be able to get health insurance? Cancellation insurance if the virus flares up again as well it might?

suze

I would be personally way too nervous to get on a plane for a long flight like Europe this summer. There is nothing scientific in my feelings. I just don't want the hassle of all the extra precautions required to attempt a big trip right now. My reasons are selfish more than health concerns, it costs a lot of money to travel, and I want to have the best experience, most fun I can. And for me that would not be possible given the current health pandemic we are facing. I simply can't picture a "carefree" trip anywhere internationally right now.

kleeblatt

I fear more the imposed quarantine upon landing and the possibility of flights being cancelled. I think I'm staying in Switzerland this summer despite my hope to visit the US to see family.

StuDudley

Ditto Suze & Kleeblatt.

We cancelled our annual month-long Sept. trip to France this year. All the hotels we reserved in Scotland for this past May were cancelled by the hotel. So that's 2 trips we won't be going on.

Plus:
- We stay in Gites while in France, and we have rented 72 of them for a total of 114 weeks. We normally stay for 2 weeks in a single gite before we move on & stay for 2 weeks in another gite. We don't have an aggressive itinerary. IMO, France this year won't be the France that I remember & loved on prior trips.

- Adding to Kleeblat's statement, a friend told me that a US friend of his was to travel to a Scandinavian country via Frankfurt. On arrival in the destination, all passengers were to be checked via a temperature check. If anyone failed - the remainder of the people on the flight were to be quarantined for 2 weeks. This is third-hand information - so any confirmation or correction is welcome by me.

Stu Dudley

Jean

Everyone has their own threshold for risk. I have the Covid antibodies, but I'm not interested in testing my immunity from becoming infected again.

As more is learned about this virus, it's becoming obvious that otherwise healthy people can get very sick and some die, and those who have successfully recovered may have life-long changes to several organs (heart, brain, lungs, kidneys). Some of those changes could be benign, and some could create problems many years later. Nobody knows. There is also now a category of Covid patients called "long haulers" who have suffered with symptoms for more than three months with no prognosis for when they will fully recover. Why anyone would be cavalier about getting the virus is a mystery to me.

And then there are the "bureaucratic" issues already mentioned by others. Quarantines, no-fly lists, insurance...

StCirq

No, I don't think it's safe, but only you can decide what level of risk you're willing to take.

FWIW, I live in France and am free to go anywhere in Europe at the moment, but I have no plans to do so. I'm not taking a bus or a train or a plane and am keeping away from large gatherings of people anywhere. I fully expect further outbreaks in various places in Europe, and quite possibly a major new virus surge this fall. It's already depressing to see our town filling up with tourists who don't wear masks and don't observe social distancing.

ibobi

Definitely not.

AJPeabody

Let's see.

Wait in lines to go through security and get on the plane. Sit for hours among several hundred unknown people from all over the place who have done who knows what. Breathe recirculated air. And heaven forbid you need to use the minicloset toilet facility. All the while, there may be a potentially lethal virus hanging around. Then do it again to get home.

What could possibly go wrong?

AimlessWanderer

Well, I guess we are not going. We obviously should have checked before as our private insurance and our credit cards have all dropped travel insurance do to this pandemic.

Thanks for all of your help. After reading all of your responses, we were leaning to 'no' anyways.

Stay safe everyone.

SusanP

I just finished cancelling my September trip to Dresden and the Czech Republic. I was waiting for the airline to cancel the flights so I can hopefully get a refund, and they have now been cancelled, even though, while I live in Upstate NY, the flight was out of Toronto. In addition to the risk of catching the virus, I agree with Suze. It would take a great deal of the enjoyment out of the trip to have to comply with the restrictions, not just during the flight but after arrival.

kleeblatt

It may be that as of Monday, anyone arriving in Switzerland from a high risk land will be required to go into a ten-day quarantine. More on this topic to come.

PS
as far as I understand, America would be included on this list. Canada isn’t.

Leely2

I have flights to Italy for later this month that haven't yet been canceled. I keep checking and all they are doing is changing the itinerary. There's no way I can go, I'm an American.

SusanP

I actually thought I'd have to wait until later in August, but when I checked today, the flights were cancelled. This was Lufthansa. Interesting, though, that I had not been notified of the cancellation. I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't checked

Melnq8

Susan - Lufthansa cancelled my return flights back in March, when I was already in Spain. Not a peep from them, the reservations just disappeared. Gee, thanks Lufthansa.

courtneybush

It's a great thought from you and from my experience i would like to say:
* It's normal to travel by plane as much as you're having your masks...
* It will be good to take short plane (3 to 4 hours MAX) then change the flight ...
* It will be smart to have great quality of masks (that is protected for 8 hours or over)
* Insurance is more important then any past time so be sure you're having good one and with good company.
* book flights with FREE cancellation so you won't be in trouble if something wrong happened

Be happy and positive as you're and let travel our planet again!

macdogmom

Not even sure if I want to get on a plane when this pandemic has subsided (kidding but maybe not kidding). I know way too much about germs and the ease of picking up virus’s now. My son moved from NYC to big island of Hawaii at the beginning of June (long planned move) and quarantined for 2 weeks then came down with something right after quarantine ended. 2 negative covid tests but still sick. It’s a bit scary out there.

Fauci remarked that if covid stops people from shaking hands and makes them continue to wash their hands a lot we will cut back on colds and flu’s which will be a silver lining in this mess, I guess.

balthy

Airlines can only contact people about schedule changes if the email address or phone number is present in the booking. I've had several bookings cancelled or rescheduled this year and each time I have received notification from the airline, including LH.