We accumulated significant domestic and international travel experience during 2020 so here is a list of top travel tips for a safe and comfortable trip during a pandemic:
1) Stay current on entry requirements.
This is probably the most important travel planning tip I can share!
Each country has very specific entry rules and requirements and they are changing constantly. It’s critical you keep up with all these changes – especially for the countries you plan to visit and transit through. You need to understand what countries are accepting residents from your country for work, tourism, etc. so you know where you are allowed to travel.
Another thing to consider is some airports require you to go through Immigration in order to catch your connecting flight and other airports do not. This means you will not be allowed to transit through some airports if you are a resident of a banned country. If you can reach your connecting flight without going through Immigration, it won’t matter if you are a resident of a banned country or not. This information will affect what routes you can take to your destination.
While these entry requirements are generally more relevant for traveling from country to country, some US states and cities have implemented their own entry requirements for those traveling within the US from other states. You need to stay abreast of these requirements too.
In order to keep up with all this information, we found Travel Off Path to be an excellent resource. I also recommend reaching out directly to airlines, airports, embassies, consulates, and the countries’ Ministry of Tourism, border police, etc.
2) Book refundable reservations.
With the ever-changing regulations and requirements, you want to position yourself best in case you need to cancel your trip. You also want to understand what cancelling your reservation means. For example, if you cancel a refundable flight, will you receive your money or points back that you originally used to pay for the flight or will you be receiving travel funds to use on another flight with that airline in the future?
Monthly Airbnb stays are essentially non-refundable. While you typically get a much better rate by booking a monthly stay, you will lose the entire monthly payment if you have to cancel at the last minute or prior to the end of your stay. This lack of refunding is automatically set up in Airbnb’s system and, if it’s even possible, it would basically take an act of God to override and get a refund even if the host agrees to it. Therefore, we recommend you negotiate with the host to get the monthly rate prior to booking and then book your reservation in multiple one or two week durations at that negotiated rate. This greatly reduces your exposure in the event you have to cancel.
3) Limit prepayments.
Some prepaid reservations are not eligible for a refund if your plans change. Prepaying also reduces your leverage if the company tries to scam you when you arrive. For example, Gold Car rental in Split pulled some car insurance funny business with us on a car rental we prepaid. While we wanted to just walk away and find another car rental company to deal with, we would lose the money we prepaid so we ended up staying with them and accepting their (overpriced) car insurance.
4) Understand cancellation policies.
Airlines, hotels, and third-party booking platforms offer different policies, procedures, and flexibility for canceling or rescheduling reservations. You need to understand the process for canceling or rebooking your trip – including timing & type of refund. We find it’s much easier to cancel or reschedule when the reservation was booked directly through the airline, hotel, etc.
5) Book direct flights.
This is not as relevant when traveling within a country but is very relevant for international travel. If you want to reduce your stress level when traveling across borders with the ever-changing entry requirements and lockdowns, we highly recommend booking direct flights.
While we were in Croatia and looking to return to the US, we decided to fly to Turkey for a week and so we could fly direct back to the US to avoid any potential transiting issues in Europe. This worked out really well for us because France, Germany, UK, and Ireland all instituted lockdowns right after we booked our direct flights so we didn’t have to worry about any of these changes.
6) Research boarding procedures.
Some airlines are boarding planes starting from the back of the plane and not by airline status or early boarding priority. This was true for all flights we flew in the US but wasn’t the case when we flew out of Serbia, Croatia, and Turkey.
No sense in paying extra for a 1st class ticket to get your pre-flight drink or a priority boarding pass to ensure sufficient overhead bin space. However, you have to decide if it’s worth the extra money for a larger seat or to be able to deplane faster.
7) Choose accommodations with kitchens.
Be aware that a lot of restaurants are closed due to low numbers of tourists. This is especially true in the typically high tourist areas and/or when traveling in the low season. Therefore, you should plan to cook your own meals if you can. The other benefit of this is you will likely save some money!
We also recommend you consider accommodations located near a grocery store. We find it invaluable to be in walking distance from groceries when we are staying somewhere more than a few days and we want to save time and money by cooking our own meals.
8) Confirm your hotel is open.
You can earn and use good rewards through third-party platforms like Booking.com and Hotels.com. However, we heard a few travelers arrived at the hotel they booked through a third-party platform to find that it was actually closed. They even received confirmation and welcome emails the day before their arrival. Fortunately, they were able to find other accommodations in the area but was an unexpected stress. Therefore, if you use a third-party platform, you should call or email the hotel directly to confirm.
Well, this is all the travel planning tips I can think of right now. I will update this article if I think of others.
Are there any travel planning tips you have? If so, please share in the comments below.
Thanks for reading and happy travel planning!!