How Covid Killed International Travel

So here is a stock tip, if you own airline stock, sell it! All kidding aside, I believe the fear-mongering that has come with Covid has killed international travel for the foreseeable future. Case and point: my recent trip to India. I had planned a trip to India and Nepal almost four months ago. I was realistic in the sense that we were prepared to cancel the trip if necessary— all my bookings were refundable except for the airline tickets.

My wife and I received a negative Covid test 72 hours prior to our departure from the US. We felt comfortable continuing with our journey. Given this was the holiday time, the airports were jam-packed. I am used to traveling during peak season, but I don’t think I have ever seen this many people at the Denver United Club ever in my 32 years of flying from Denver! It was a zoo. And because we were traveling internationally and United would not let us check-in online, we ended up at the airport a couple of hours before our flight… so more time in the crowded club! Anyway, after a short flight to Chicago, we were ready for our international leg. United had just reopened their Polaris Lounge at the Chicago airport. This is certainly something to call home about. A very well-designed space with amenities to match. I especially liked the made-to-order restaurant inside.

Flight Delays

I am not sure what is going on with airlines nowadays, but it seems that flights are being significantly delayed. In the past 60 days, I took eight flights and four of them were delayed! That is 50%. And that is across multiple airlines, so it is certainly not airline-specific. I have never experienced this before. I heard that airline pilots are writing up the smallest of things in protest of the vaccine mandate. Just through the grapevines though so take it with a grain of salt. As you have probably guessed, our flight from Chicago to Delhi was delayed.

Once we were finally on the plane, we were ready to take off. Of all my flying on United, for some reason, this was my first time in the Polaris cabin (both my son and wife had experienced it before, but I always got the regular business class on United). The cabin is certainly well designed. I found the seats were quite narrow at 22 inches wide. When you are on a plane for 15 hours or more, seat width matters more than the little nooks and crannies.

COVID TEST

Once we arrived in Delhi, they had a protocol to show your government form before you could go to immigration. More importantly, theY were randomly testing approximately 5% of the passengers for Covid. So if you were lucky enough to get on the list, you would pay for the Covid test and then wait for the results to come back (it takes 2 to 8 hours depending on how much you want to pay for the test). After that, if your results came back positive, they would whisk you away to a government-run facility for isolation with other Covid positive patients. Not the best outcome by any definition. These processes are what will deter travelers from continuing with their plans.

Anyway, our names were not drawn. After a quick immigration and customs, we were ready to go to our hotel. Oh, here is something interesting. The immigration officer did not like my handwriting on the form, so he asked me to improve my handwriting! He showed me a sample of what neat handwriting should look like. I told him I was too old to learn to write again!

We reached our hotel (Pullman Aerocity) just before midnight. The place was nice, people were still partying. And one other thing: even with all the Covid scaremongering going on at the official level, no one was wearing a mask at the airport or the hotel except for the staff who were required by law, I suppose. The hotel guests were having a blast at a corporate party. We went to our room and the room was chilly. The heater would not turn on so we asked the maintenance staff to come and fix it. They did so promptly. At night, I had some chills. I thought it must be due to a heater issue. The next day, we hung out at the hotel until the evening. That evening we had a reservation at India’s number one rated restaurant. I got nauseous on the way to the restaurant from all the traffic and pollution. I did not eat anything and my wife felt strange eating by herself. I must say the presentation of the food was just spectacular. I wish I was able to participate.

That evening, I had chills again. I thought it must be due to the cold weather at night when we returned from the restaurant. The following day, my nephews and niece were coming to spend a couple of days with us. For some reason, I did not feel good all day, so I spent a lot of time in bed—I thought it must have been the jet lag. Our daughter arrived from the US that night to join us for the Nepal trip.

I was running a fever that evening. The next morning, we had a pre-scheduled Covid test for the Nepal trip. After the test, we had plans to visit Delhi. Since I did not feel well, everyone else continued and I stayed back at the hotel. They all had a blast. My nephews and niece left by 8 PM. Around 8:30 PM, we received the results of our Covid test. Both my wife and daughter were negative, but I tested positive. Fortunately, I have access to some amazing medical doctors. Both my brother and sister are medical doctors. So is my brother in law, nephew, and niece. There was a quick group call. I was mostly feeling fine. My fever had already subsided. My vitals were good. My brother wanted to consult a pulmonologist in Delhi for treatment options. He was able to find one quickly through his channels. Based on my condition, I was told there was no need for hospitalization unless my symptoms got worse. I just needed to isolate myself.

Here comes the kicker. It appears that hotels will not let you stay if you are Covid positive. We felt it was the right thing to do to tell them if we wanted to stay rather than just stay and not tell them. I must have called 8 hotels that were coming up online as isolation hotels. All of them said those programs were now closed. The only isolation option in Delhi, other than your home, is in the hospital. Can you imagine getting hospitalized in a developing country if you don’t know anyone? I did not want to be hospitalized since my symptoms had subsided by now. Fortunately, my cousin keeps an apartment in Delhi (sometimes, things just work out in the middle of all the chaos). I shifted to his apartment the next morning.

Here is where things get interesting. A couple of days later, I received a phone call from a government official asking where I was isolated and how I was feeling—it was nice actually. But the rules for isolation are random at best and every local jurisdiction would have one that they made up. No one ever told us how long I needed to isolate. I decided to follow the CDC guideline of isolating for 10 days after the onset of symptoms since that is the only authoritative guideline I could find on Google. Lucky for me, around 6 days after I had symptoms, the CDC changed the guidelines to 5 days of isolation! Edit: I finally found official Indian policy on isolation! It is 10 days from onset of symptoms. So, I decided to follow the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines.

Things get more interesting. My return flight for the US is from Mumbai. While researching all the things I need to get back to the US, I found that unless one is fully vaccinated, Mumbai needs a negative RT PCR test even if you are a domestic traveler. I am triple vaccinated, but I was not sure if they would accept a US vaccine certificate as opposed to an Indian vaccine certificate. After a call to the airline, I was assured that the US vaccine certificate would be valid for Indian domestic travel. That was certainly good news! But the point I am trying to make is if you are going to travel internationally, the local rules and regulations within the same country can differ drastically. This means there is a chance, however small (not quite small in my opinion), that you could get stuck somewhere in a bureaucratic shuffle.

Here is one more piece of information. Once you are Covid positive, chances are you may test positive for 90 days. Fortunately, the US does allow you to return home if you are a US citizen and if you tested positive for Covid in the past 90 days, but you will need to get a letter from a health facility stating that you are cleared to travel. That means you will have to find a local health facility for a certificate—good luck doing so in a country where you don’t know anyone!

So you see, international travel during Covid times is becoming challenging. If you do decide to take an international trip, here are some recommendations:

• Only travel to one country at a time. If you are traveling to more than one country, you will need to get a Covid test in another country and that may spiral into getting stuck.
• Thoroughly research local domestic travel rules in the country you are visiting. Be prepared for rapidly changing rules. Don’t rely on a travel agent or tour operator, as they have no idea in most cases.
• Take a Covid home test from the US with you. This will come in handy for your return now that the US requires a Covid test one-day prior to departure. United Airlines offers a home test that is monitored by a professional via video so it is acceptable for return.
• If you do test positive, stay calm. If you are fully vaccinated, Covid will most likely have a mild effect on your health.

Hopefully, it makes sense to you by now, why I have developed negative feelings toward international travel during Covid. I am seriously rethinking my 100 country goal since it doesn’t look like Covid is going anywhere anytime soon! Do you have a Covid travel story? Please do share. Until next time…