Tips & Tricks: Traveling during COVID-19

Between new COVID-19 variants, weather delays and changes of plans it can be hard and stressful traveling during COVID-19.

We’re sharing a few of our tips that have helped us plan when things go array. We hope you have a stress-free travel experience during these everchanging times!

Travel Booking Tips

Book travel on a credit card which provides coverage for disruptions.

Sometimes the annual fee can be steep for some of the travel preferred cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred however it does come with a lot of benefits. We’ve used travel safety benefits including lost luggage and getting reimbursed for essential items, car rental insurance, and travel delay insurance.

Do your research on travel restrictions and COVID policies.

With the everchanging COVID policies, it’s important to stay up to date on protocols and policies. We tend to travel to places that have easily accessible testing for flight requirements or in case of an emergency. Also do your research when you can on vaccination rate. Understanding the current COVID-19 situation in the area you are visiting is critical and is only a quick Google search.

Buy International SOS insurance.

To add an extra layer of safety, if your insurance does not cover you globally, you can buy  international SOS insurance for things like medical evac (in case of emergency). Typically they are fairly cheap depending on your duration of trip and locations you’re visiting.

Create loyalty number accounts for airlines.

This is an easy one. You want to make sure you get points for your flight, right? Make sure to create an account for the airline you are flying (it’s always free!) and link your account number to your trip.

Also another easy one: Download the airline app to your phone. We love ease of boarding passes and boarding alerts on our phones so we don’t spend time waiting at the gate for no reason.

What To Bring

Charles Schwab Checking account for no cash withdrawals fees.

We like to prepare and in case of an emergency be able to pull out cash wherever in the country or world we are. The Charles Schwab account reimburses foreign transaction fees so there are no worries or stressors there!

Pack light – carry on only.

Things can change super fast with travel like missing a flight, a delayed connection or having to switch airports (we’ve encountered all three of these…) but we’ve found if you pack as light as you can without having the added complication and time of a checked bag, this can be an amazing travel hack. Sometimes we still check our bags out of convenience but if we have a layover or are traveling internationally we try to carry them on the plane.

Travel immunity essentials to boost body against COVID-19.

We know traveling during COVID can be a more risky behavior, so we like to have a few items in our pocket to kick any cold or sickness while on the road. The main ones include N95 masks for plane rides and close indoor spaces, surgical masks and N94 masks for being out-and-about, hand sanitizer (with 70% alcohol or more), disinfectant wipes, mushroom spray, immunity boost, zicam, zinc lozenges, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and probiotics.

Traveling During Uncertain Times

Have an open mind.

Sometimes at the end of the day, travel doesn’t go as it seems. Either way, we try to make the most of where we are so we always have books, movies, and podcasts downloaded to our phones or devices. We know that slowing down or an abrupt change in travel plans means more time to write, work, catch up with family.

I got sick… now what?

If you’ve gotten sick (COVID-19, food poisoning, or the common cold) just remember… it happens. Check out our blog post on 4 key lessons we learned when getting sick in a foreign country. 

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