Would you fly right now if you really want to avoid Omicron

[+ FreshFluff]

I was set to take a trip to LA next week. I’d fly and then stay in a hotel, travel to a nearby city by Uber, and then return.  If I don’t go next week, it will probably be another six months before I can do it.
 

I really want to avoid Omicron because some of the medium term side effects are a problem for me. I’ve gone to great lengths to avoid it so far. Should I postpone the trip?

[RadioRob]

While new cases have decreased tremendously, they’re still pretty high. Omicron is MUCH more transmissible so it’s much easier to pick it up. 

If you’re SUPER risk adverse, don’t travel. 

If you’re willing to balance risk with living a bit, use a N95 mask and don’t take it off PERIOD until you reach your destination. Don’t eat/drink, etc. Once you land and get to your destination before you remove your mask, wash your hands. Don’t touch the facial area (eyes/mouth/nose) before you’re scrubbed. 

The good thing is that while more transmissible… if you do get it, it’s not as hard on folks.  ESPECIALLY if you’re triple vaxed. In addition there are now therapeutics (a pill) available you can take if you get it that dramatically reduces your chance of the really bad symptoms. 

I’m personally traveling again. I’m triple vax’ed and have had COVID once already (literally a year ago at the end of last Jan).  I have several N95s in my travel bag available for use and I carry one with me in case it’s needed. At the end of the day, it’s just going to come down to your risk tolerance.

[+ Pensant]

Still haven’t contracted it, although I don’t know if I’ve had an asymptotic case. I’ve been traveling regularly over the past year. But I appreciate one’s caution based on their health status. Six months pass quickly.

[atlmassagelover]

Hi I have been traveling regularly throughout COVID using masks and sanitizer etc. and triple vaxxed.  If I have had I too like Pensant may have been asymptomatic.   I do distance myself as able in crowded spaces (airports etc), wash my hands immediately after getting off a plane or coming in from a public place etc.  You have to do what makes you feel protected but we still have to live our lives too.   Virtual Hugs.

[+ WilliamM]

My first cousin travels perhaps too frequently for 84 years old.

She is a nun and flies often from Maryland to Paris. However, she also flies from Baltimore to the Democratic Republican of the Congo.

 

Yikes, guess God is on her side

[+ tassojunior]

I've been traveling the US throughout covid and my main airplane tactic is to only wear an N95 mask on the plane and never ever take it off on the plane. I drink with it on through a straw. And I always wear an N95 in public restrooms for several reasons. Otherwise I wear the cheap blue masks in airports. Ubers are back to N-95s. I also have a box of rapid tests and get free weekly PCR tests down the block. It's amazing to me as much as I go various places I haven't gotten covid I know of yet. But not pushing my luck. 

And flyers need to be aware that in the US one does not need to be vaccinated to fly and people keep their masks off if eating, drinking, or holding a drink. Why keeping your own N95 on is so important on a plane. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by tassojunior

[marylander1940]

14 hours ago, FreshFluff said:

I was set to take a trip to LA next week. I’d fly and then stay in a hotel, travel to a nearby city by Uber, and then return.  If I don’t go next week, it will probably be another six months before I can do it.
 

I really want to avoid Omicron because some of the medium term side effects are a problem for me. I’ve gone to great lengths to avoid it so far. Should I postpone the trip?

yes, I would I'm fully vaccinated and boosted, I'm not afraid of it. 

[+ Axiom2001]

In May of 2021, I flew to Kansas City, MO, to honor my mother upon her turning 101.  Shortly afterwards, (in September) she died unexpectedly.  I flew to my former home again nonstop.  Because of a physical medical problem that I had at the time, I sat in the very first rows on Southwest and felt rather safe.  

For Christmas I flew nonstop from Monterey, CA (my regional airport) to San Diego (first class) to be with the family of my first cousin.  Only vaccinated family members were present.  I was not apprehensive.  

For right now I do NOT have an interest to travel because the Omicron variant is so pervasive.  I want to travel to Washington, DC in May or June, but this is only a plan right now.  I have not begun to make any definite plans.

If you can wait for a few more months or perhaps a year, that is what I would do.  My traveling via plane or bus or train is NOT in my immediate interest, and have been fully vaccinated and boosted.

[Rudynate]

I cancelled a trip to NOLA last weekend.  I'm not that worried about my own health - but my husband has HIV and absolutely will not fly.  If I had to completely miss the event I was planning to attend, I might have gone, but as it was, I was able to attend virtually.

[+ FreshFluff]

20 hours ago, RadioRob said:

While new cases have decreased tremendously, they’re still pretty high. Omicron is MUCH more transmissible so it’s much easier to pick it up. 

If you’re SUPER risk adverse, don’t travel. 

If you’re willing to balance risk with living a bit, use a N95 mask and don’t take it off PERIOD until you reach your destination. Don’t eat/drink, etc. Once you land and get to your destination before you remove your mask, wash your hands. Don’t touch the facial area (eyes/mouth/nose) before you’re scrubbed. 

The good thing is that while more transmissible… if you do get it, it’s not as hard on folks.  ESPECIALLY if you’re triple vaxed. In addition there are now therapeutics (a pill) available you can take if you get it that dramatically reduces your chance of the really bad symptoms. 

 

 This is what I thought too. I was flying all over the place until just before Christmas. Omicron changed things because it’s so infectious. Risk of hospitalization is low, but I really want to avoid the medium to longer term side effects, like “temporary” hair loss and headaches, if at all possible. 

 

 

 

[+ augustus]

On 2/1/2022 at 2:53 AM, FreshFluff said:

I was set to take a trip to LA next week. I’d fly and then stay in a hotel, travel to a nearby city by Uber, and then return.  If I don’t go next week, it will probably be another six months before I can do it.
 

I really want to avoid Omicron because some of the medium term side effects are a problem for me. I’ve gone to great lengths to avoid it so far. Should I postpone the trip?

Despite what people think air circulates quite well on an airplane, if that's a concern to you.  It circulates better than most places on the ground.

[CheckCar]

Each one of us needs to decide what he is comfortable with. I’m risk-averse; hence, I’m continuing to avoid travel. I’m not preachy about it, but I’m also not ashamed of it. Regardless of the range of perspectives on this thread, you (OP) must figure out what works for you. 

[Guest]

On 2/1/2022 at 9:49 AM, WilliamM said:

My first cousin travels perhaps too frequently for 84 years old.

She is a nun and flies often from Maryland to Paris. However, she also flies from Baltimore to the Democratic Republican of the Congo.

 

Yikes, guess God is on her side

[Guest]

On 1/31/2022 at 11:53 PM, FreshFluff said:

I was set to take a trip to LA next week. I’d fly and then stay in a hotel, travel to a nearby city by Uber, and then return.  If I don’t go next week, it will probably be another six months before I can do it.
 

I really want to avoid Omicron because some of the medium term side effects are a problem for me. I’ve gone to great lengths to avoid it so far. Should I postpone the trip?

About a week ago, the CDC released data on Covid-19 mortality for October and November, when the more dangerous Delta variant was prevalent. For those triple-vaxxed the risk is less than 1 in a million, meaning you'd have to be extraordinarily sick to even be at risk. For those with 3 shots, the risk is far lower than the risks from the common cold and certainly lower than influenza. The vast majority have no symptoms, or at most 3 days of minor cold symptoms. You're more likely to die in a car crash on your way to the airport, or in a plane crash. The only serious risk comes in if you leave the country: If you test positive you will have to wait a good while before being allowed to fly back. In other words, the risk is from outdated laws/policies, not from the virus itself. 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Unicorn

[+ WilliamM]

4 hours ago, Unicorn said:

O r Peter Pan mets Sound of Music

[+ tassojunior]

21 hours ago, augustus said:

Despite what people think air circulates quite well on an airplane, if that's a concern to you.  It circulates better than most places on the ground.

It's purified very well in covid wards too. 

People are packed like sardines on planes. 

[BeamerBikes]

I'm vax'd and boosted from November. I'm going to take the plunge on traveling by plane at the end of February.  I feel confident that we're on the back end of Omicron, and I should manage any infection alright.  

[pubic_assistance]

Protocol on airlines is beyond illogical. They want you vaccinated and wearing a mask....and then all bets are off when they serve you snacks.

It's pretty obvious that these  so called "vaccines" don't prevent the spread of Covid and Omicron is super contagious. So if you're worried about catching it ( I'm not ) then I suggest you avoid a packed plane full of strangers at snack time.

[BeamerBikes]

Eh, my experience is different. My sister was living with me at the start of Covid. She's a nurse at a community hospital in a poor large city neighborhood. March/April 2020, we followed the Contagion protocol (scrubs get tossed into the washer and her way to the closest shower from the garage).  I heard about the n95s getting reused for a week at a time. The running out of PPE, the unknown treatments, the Xrays of broken glass lungs being more reliable that any test, ventilators needed, finding out only 10% will survive the ventilator, the hospital running out of body bags. 

Getting COVID ourselves in Aug 2020, being miserable for a week, then one day taste went away for the next week, the mental fog... 

All the while, I had a surgery complication from prepandemic that wasn't getting better. My follow up care was delayed for a few months while the hospitals dealt with the first wave. The covid protocols evolving. The timing of the eventual revision surgery to beat any winter surge. A surgery recovery unit that prepandemic had folks walking multiple times per hour as a means to encourage everyone to get up and move. Now that same unit a year later had folks walking laps in their room. 

I am thankful for the vaccine. I didn't want to deal with covid again. Once Delta had some breakthroughs, I still was thankful that the vaccine provided protection against hospitalization. Same with Omicron. I've made peace with living with Covid.  That peace was made easier with vaccines. Yes those vaccines are riding on top of whatever is left of my preexisting "natural" immunity.   

In short, if your vaccinated and relatively healthy, omicron shouldn't worry you. If you haven't had covid and/or the vaccine well traveling is a risk. If you wanna better your odds of staying out of the hospital, get vaccinated. You still might get it, but odds are better that you won't end up in the hospital.   

[mike carey]

Risk levels are obviously different here than they are in the US, different numbers of cases per million, different levels of adoption of non-pharmeceutical precautionary measures and different mandated isolation protocols for confirmed cases and close contacts. I have travelled twice in January, both times by air, with public transport to and from the airport. On both trips I was cautious but not overly worried. I would have chosen not to travel for Christmas, although that was a decision I ended up not having to take. What changed for me over those six weeks was not my perception of the level of risk, although that was lower when I took the last of the four flights than it had been for the first, but the level of clarity that public health authorities had on the nature of the Omicron surge. So, I'm happy to travel, and I'm off to Sydney tomorrow, although driving this time. Not sure I'm ready to travel to or in the US, but that's through the prism of my experience here and a distant view of the situation in the US. If I had spent the last two years there, I'd probably be ready to travel now.

I had a casual contact alert from the NSW check-in app a few days after I returned to Canberra, but the exposure period was so short, and in such a small area of the shop that I doubt there was any actual chance of contact, much less infection. But still, I came down with something that may be related to the contact, maybe not. I misunderstood the guidelines for publicly available testing, and RATs couldn't be found for love nor money so wasn't tested. I isolated for seven days anyway, the time that would have been mandated if I'd tested positive, and whatever it was cleared up. (I became eligible for my third shot during the seven days.)

[+ tassojunior]

3 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

Protocol on airlines is beyond illogical. They want you vaccinated and wearing a mask....and then all bets are off when they serve you snacks.

 

It's actually "beyonder logic" than that. In the US you do not have to have a vaccination to fly and so long as you have any sort of drink in your hand or tray you do not have to wear a mask.

[Guest]

On 2/4/2022 at 9:13 PM, tassojunior said:

It's actually "beyonder logic" than that. In the US you do not have to have a vaccination to fly and so long as you have any sort of drink in your hand or tray you do not have to wear a mask.

I don't know what airlines you've been on. On American Airlines, they'll be on you very quickly if you're not actively eating or drinking, even if you have a partially-consumed drink or meal. I've been on several flights, last being in November. Also, as of my last flight, no alcohol or meals (even for sale) in the main cabin. That being said, as of this time, the risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 by the triple-vaxxed is so incredibly minute that it really cannot be considered a reasonable concern by anyone who's triple-vaxxed, regardless of risk tolerance. Nothing, not even taking a shower in the morning, has zero risk, but this risk is as close to zero as a risk can get. Many of us are still shaken by the images we've seen on TV. The situation at this time is very different from how it was a year ago, however. 

This virus will always be with us. Thankfully, at this time it has mutated back closer to its original form, and we have highly effective vaccines universally available to boot. It's not going to get any better. Unclear when policy-makers will change the rules....

Edited February 10, 2022 by Unicorn

[+ tassojunior]

30 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

I don't know what airlines you've been on. On American Airlines, they'll be on you very quickly if you're not actively eating or drinking, even if you have a partially-consumed drink or meal. I've been on several flights, last being in November. Also, as of my last flight, no alcohol or meals (even for sale) in the main cabin. That being said, as of this time, the risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 by the triple-vaxxed is so incredibly minute that it really cannot be considered a reasonable concern by anyone who's triple-vaxxed, regardless of risk tolerance. Nothing, not even taking a shower in the morning, has zero risk, but this risk is as close to zero as a risk can get. Many of us are still shaken by the images we've seen on TV. The situation at this time is very different from how it was a year ago, however. 

This virus will always be with us. Thankfully, at this time it has mutated back closer to its original, more original form, and we have highly effective vaccines universally available to boot. It's not going to get any better. Unclear when policy-makers will change the rules....

You are allowed to bring your own beverage and food into coach, same as always. I use a straw and mask but for the past year and about 10 domestic flights, a few people on each flight had masks off a lot. I assume nurturing a juice or Coke or food. I fly DC/S FL a lot and it's just 2 hours. 

[rvwnsd]

I've flown American and Southwest between Phoenix and Florida. On each of the flights the flight attendants were diligent about reminding passengers that masks are to be worn between sips and/or bites. The captain also made announcements to that effect.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, tassojunior said:

You are allowed to bring your own beverage and food into coach, same as always. I use a straw and mask but for the past year and about 10 domestic flights, a few people on each flight had masks off a lot. I assume nurturing a juice or Coke or food. I fly DC/S FL a lot and it's just 2 hours. 

I notice you didn't answer my question regarding which airline you've been on. Maybe that's what you get for flying Spirit or Frontier airlines... 😉