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How "comfortable" were you travelling (by air)?

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  1. #1

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    How "comfortable" were you travelling (by air)?

    I'm debating as whether or not I should fly to the UK. It's for my Dad who needs my attention. Though not serious or critical, I just want to be with him for a continuous monitoring and assessment.

    The first thing that comes into my mind is a plane half filled with pax all masked up and zombie eyed.Then, there's the extra inconvenience of not having the freedom to eat and relax without sanitizing your hands every time you touch something. And as someone with respiratory problems, I don't know how I could sleep with a mask covering the nose all throughout the journey. My poor infraorbital nerves will suffer a lot, for sure.

    No snowflakey vibes here. Just my imagination and wondering.....

    How was your recent trip overseas?

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  2. #2

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    How high do you put the risk of catching COVID in HK? The risk on the plane is even lower because everyone has tested negative before boarding. I wouldn't worry about it.

    Have you been vaccinated yet? If not I'd get my shots in before going, you probably won't be able to get them in the UK.

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  3. #3

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    Each to there own I know but I flew from HK to Frankfurt last June and it was fine. Better than normal in fact due to very few travelers meant we had no one near us. Mask wearing was a bit of a pain but we coped. I personally don't find sanitizing a problem.

    The shorter flight from Frankfurt to Athens was full. Less comfortable but even so personally it didn't bother me too much.

    hannah01 likes this.

  4. #4

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    Flew back and forth to Taiwan (yes, relatively short flight) but pretty empty, pick seats in the back of the plane, even more empty, we were allowed to eat as normal on the plane. Bring alcohol spray/wipes if you are extra paranoid. Wear PPE/gloves/googles, whatever floats your boat if you are nervous (we had all variations, I just had some alcohol wipes for the tray table and armrests). Airports are creepy ghost towns, nothing to fear there. Don't plan on an airport meal, many places are closed.

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  5. #5

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    The kid flew to UK a few weeks ago on Cathay and the flight was pretty much full. But like mrgoodkat has said, people are tested here before boarding.

    The big issue is that your return is probably not going to be smooth until HK Govt brings back home quarantine for vaccinated AND UK returnees. I suspect this will happen in June / July or somewhere in summer given that many civil servant's kids (and in general many students) are going to attempt to come back to HK if they're allowed. Again... who knows, it is purely optimistic speculation on my part.

    Next window to return would be Aug/Sept when some parents might attempt to fly to the UK to drop / settle their kids in uni / boarding etc. They'll need to return ... but who knows.

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  6. #6

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    Why not just get vaccinated and not worry about it? With free BioNTech vaccines at the click of a button, why would you spend anymore energy worrying about these things?

    Anyway, if it matters to you, I wouldn't wait... sometimes things cannot wait and you won't be able to move quickly enough. I speak from experience...

    hannah01, Mrs. Jones, Sage and 6 others like this.

  7. #7

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    Thanks everyone for your input. Now, I feel a little bit at ease ; I hadn't thought about the difficulties I might face when i return back as @shri suggests. I'm so longing to enjoy the human privilege of flying though. I hope I will get to board soon.

    MABinPengChau likes this.

  8. #8

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    Original Post Deleted

    That's so depressing, if not discouraging, to see (the upper one). How about LHR ?

  9. #9

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    Still from people traveling in the US the airports are way less crowded than in the old days, can stay away from crowds much more easily.

    Guessing Heathrow is busier than HK and TW but still under its peak capacities...


  10. #10

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    I flew back to the UK for 5 days last September right before the UK became a hotel-only quarantine. I didn't worry then about catching covid and worry even less now I've been vaccinated. I would absolutely get your biontech jab asap if you have not yet. Even one jab offers considerable protection after a couple of weeks, but getting two should put you in the queue in the UK for no quarantine (it's not official yet, just what's expected post May 17th). I was Cathay out and BA back. BA was shit. Cathay was basically totally normal except for everyone wearing masks. Masks came off for food (on both flights) and nobody fussed much (but I was in biz class). For sleeping I just turned away so my face was not visible and pulled it down so I could breathe. The issues about return travel are very, very real. I still have a friend stuck in the UK who went for Xmas......

    Sage likes this.

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