Travelling Internationally in the time of Corona

This continues my series on moving home to Australia from Seattle, USA.

Booking Flights to Australia

Depending on which travel class you travel, you will need to book at different times in advance. There are quite a few challenges that you must keep in mind.

Consider these constraints when booking your ticket home:

Australia only has limited airports open and they restrict the number of passengers allowed in via flights each day.
* On the day I arrived at 9:00AM on 01/12/2020, there were 14 flights allowed in to Sydney (SYD);
* My American Airlines flight had 35 passengers and 15 flight crew on a Boeing 777-300ER that would usually carry 396 people; and
* Each flight was processed through health checks, immigration and customs separately.
Economy passengers are being bumped from flight to flight.
* I would put money on my theory that as every business and first class ticket is purchased, the airlines are pushing economy passengers down the list. It is understandable but sucks for passengers who don’t have the funds to force their passage home.
Prices are ridiculous for one way tickets of any class.
* Booking ahead won’t make it cheaper. Travelling on weekdays and buying a minimum of four weeks in advance will help.
The more legs that make up your flight, the more you are exposed to airports and large numbers of passengers. The less legs the better.
* I say this but travelled the scary SEA->PHX->LAX->SYD.
American domestic travel is not restricting the number of people on flights or respecting social distancing rules AT ALL.
* My PHX->LAX flight was 100% full.

Personal Protective Equiptment (PPE)

Airlines are not providing you anything on your travels. In fact, if you don’t have a mask then you are not getting on the plane. If you don’t wear your mask on the plane for a justified reason like eating and drinking then you will be banned for life from most airlines. This is already happening and not an empty threat.

A lot more is known about how Corona virus is transmitted but this is the point where I give the disclaimer that I am not an expert and am only telling you what I did to protect myself.

This is the PPE I took with me from leaving my apartment in Seattle to entering my quarantine hotel in Sydney:

3 x N95 masks;
Face shield;
Goggles;
4 x pairs of gloves;
2 x 50ml hand sanitiser; and
Bleach wipes.

Do not reply on these things to be provided to you.

Food & Drink

Business class food pre-COVID-19 was served in courses that went at whatever rate you chose to ate it.

On my LAX to SYD flight, everything came at once and was wrapped in plastic and foil, like you would get in Economy.

The quality of the food is still on par with the past, if I little cooler (in temperature) than you would expect. There was a choice between four options from vegetarian, fish, beef and chicken. Tasted good and was well balanced with fewer carbs so I didn’t feel lethargic on the rest of the flight.