A few weeks ago I took a couple of days off from the radio to fly to Arizona to move my mom here. I hadn't been on an airplane in almost a year to the date! It felt weird with wearing masks and everything while flying, but it's something I had to do. Here's the best tips I have for you to be as safe as possible while flying during the pandemic!
1.) Flights are still super cheap. Pay the extra money for FIRST CLASS or EQUIVALENT on the airline you're flying. Try to get FRONT ROW no matter how you have to do it. It's like $60 round trip to Las Vegas right now... normal prices are like $150 round trip. So spend the extra to sit in the front row on the WINDOW. This worked great for me because there's the fewest amount of people I had to interact with on the window in Row 1. You're also one of the first off the plane and don't have to worry about being towards the back of the plane and having a bunch of people congregating and waiting to get off before you. Sometimes deplaning can take FOREVER. I want to get off the plane as quickly as possible. Sitting at the window, you also don't have interaction with people going up and down the isle all flight, etc. It's worth the extra money for this!
2.) Double Mask! I went on Amazon and bought a 6 pack of KN-95 masks for like $12. I wore that one as my first mask and then one of my normal everyday masks over that for added protection. I feel like it can really make a difference in an environment like an airport/airplane.
3.) Eat BEFORE you get to the airport. Masks come off to eat, right? Well I witnessed one person eating for 20 minutes surrounded by people without his mask on. More people eating on the plane, again, surrounded by people as they're filling full rows on airplanes now. Try to eat before you get to the airport so you don't have to be mask less. You can eat once you reach your destination after you've washed your hands and are away from the masses.
All in all, I felt safe after doing these things. Of course there were times of taking a sip of water, and having a piece of gum where my mask was down for a second but the majority of my time in the airport/airplane, I had my mask on. It turned out to be a safe trip and 12 hours later I was on the road in my Mom's car on our way here.
Eventually you will travel again... just take the proper precautions!
photo: getty images