As of the writing of this post, the Omicron variant of the COVID 19 virus is dominant (but Delta is still hanging around, too) and, at least partly because of this, multiple airlines have had to cancel thousands of flights. Some European countries are closing borders again or introducing other restrictions on movement within their boundaries. At airports, there are rumors of security and check-in lines taking forever to get through. The list goes on. All this adds up to considerable anxiety and uncertainty for folks who want to travel. We get that, but we still can’t seem to ignore our interest in travelling.
What’s it like travelling right now? This has to be one of the more common questions we’ve been getting recently, and so we wanted to share a recent travel experience to Mexico. To be sure, there are all kinds of people having all kinds of experiences right now, so we don’t suggest ours is the only version of the story. Still, we’ve found that, even with the added steps, travel is still entirely doable (and enjoyable!), so here goes.
Travelling to Mexico. Our recent travels took us South of the boarder to Mexico. Specifically, to Cabo San Lucas, down at the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. We flew out of the airport here in Springfield. We’re a bit spoiled, because our airport isn’t huge and so we can usually get through the various checkpoints a bit faster than folks travelling at larger hubs. We got to the airport about 90 minutes before our flight time (again, a perk of a small airport) and immediately went to the check-in counter so we could drop off our checked bags. We don’t typically check bags, but we were going to a condo and so took a bit more than if we’d gone to a hotel. In any case, our line wasn’t very long, with only a few folks ahead of us. Dropping our bags and getting our boarding passes didn’t take more than about 10 minutes and we were on our way to visit the fine folks in TSA Security. Because we have TSA Pre-check, we went left when others went right. To put this in perspective, there were probably 20 people in the non-Pre-check line while there was no one in the Pre-check line, so we said thanks and waved goodbye to TSA (always say thanks to them) in about 5 minutes.
Other than having to wear a mask in the airport and and on the plane, our flight from Springfield to Houston was pretty normal. Our ‘meal’ was the usual soda/juice/water/tea and pretzels/cookies and, like other places, we could drop our masks so long as we were actively eating or drinking and then put them back up between bites. We met up with Jason’s parents in Houston after spending some time in the AMEX Centurion Lounge (hello credit card perks!). Things in Houston were pretty similar to those in Springfield: compulsory masks but otherwise a fairly normal experience. We did end up having a roughly 3-hour delay after getting on the plane. They said it was due to a mechanical issue (something about a valve in one of the engines…seems reasonable to delay us to fix that), but several passengers around us noted the plane was a bit fuller after the delay, leading some to wonder whether another flight had been cancelled and United was trying to delay us long enough to get some of them in the open seats on our flight. In any case, we finally took off and had an uneventful flight to Cabo. The valve must have been working fine.
On the descent into Cabo, we received the usual entry paperwork to complete. With that in-hand and our passports at the ready, we made it through Customs and Immigration pretty quickly. In fact, there was almost no one in Customs at all other than our flight (perhaps because of our delay?), so we walked right up to the first officer, got our passports stamped, said thank you (again, always say thank you in Customs), and continued on our way. Getting out of Customs would have been just as fast, but there was a single officer taking the declaration forms for our entire flight, so the line got a little lengthy. Still, from the time we got off the plane to the time we were in our taxi couldn’t have been more than about 45 minutes. We handed over our declaration forms and got the bottom part back – don’t lose this, you need it to get back out of Mexico! Again, most of that time was spent waiting to get our bags (are we the only ones whose bags are always the last off the plane?!) and standing in line to leave Customs.
Being in Mexico. This was Tasha’s first time in Cabo; it had been about 15 years since Jason had been there. But, for all that, our time was pretty much as expected. The resort we stayed at did require masks to be worn in all public places, even outdoors, but it wasn’t exactly strictly enforced. We did need to wear our mask in the restaurant (a buffet), but only while we were at the buffet getting food. We did need to wear them in the taxis, but most of the taxi drivers’ masks didn’t cover their noses, so we’re not sure how strictly they would have enforced the mandate if pushed: we didn’t try (while we’re certain they’re nice folks, the Mexican Federales were not on our list of people to visit). Otherwise, things were pretty…normal. Jason’s grandparents (the reason we were in Cabo in the first place) have been wintering over in Cabo for the last 30 years and they said the cruise ship traffic off the cost was about back to pre-pandemic levels and that the resorts seemed to be at regular capacity and operations, except for the masks.
Travelling back to the US. This was where our travelling experience was the most different/new. Shortly before we left the resort, we had to scan a QR code at the front desk and fill out a form saying we didn’t have any COVID symptoms and hadn’t been around anyone with COVID symptoms. Once that was submitted, we received an e-mail confirmation (more on this later). In addition, we had to schedule COVID tests no more than 24 hours before we left the country. Because we’re both fully vaccinated, the US government used to require a COVID test no more than 3 days before returning home, but that had recently been updated to 24 hours, the same as for folks who had not been vaccinated. This was easy enough to do; another QR code and a few questions secured our appointments. The test itself wasn’t at all pleasant; being poked in the brain hurts! But, it was over fast enough and about an hour or so later we received e-mails indicating a negative test result (again, more on this later).
When checking in for our flight back to the US, there was a bit more information to include, but we were able to do everything through the United app on our phones via their Travel Ready Center. In addition to the regular check-in questions and information, we also included our passport, GlobalEntry information, and screenshots of the negative COVID test result (you could also take a picture of a printed test result). Once that was in, everything else was pretty normal.
When we got to the airport in Cabo, we had to use a self-check-in kiosk to check our bags. We even printed our own baggage tags and put them on our luggage! That’s a new one, check this off Jason’s bucket-list (don’t ask why, there’s no explanation). Once that was done, we waited in a reasonably-fast-moving line to weigh and drop our bags and receive our boarding passes. Before we could go through security, we had to fill out another COVID form and show our declaration form we filled out when we landed in Mexico (remember, don’t lose this!). We handed our COVID form to another airport employee on our way to security. As it turned out, this was the same form we had to fill out using the QR code at the hotel, so we aren’t sure if we could have shown them the confirmation e-mail rather than fill out the form again, but we also didn’t realize this until later. Our TSA Pre-check does not work outside the US, so we had to go through regular security and, while it certainly took longer than the Pre-check lines, it didn’t take that long, and before long we were on the other side heading to the Duty Free shop (yesssssss!). Jason has a love of Scotch (Talisker Dark Storm) that you can ONLY get in the Duty Free shops across the world and his supply had run out due to lack of travel. He was elated to find some!
The flight back to the US was uneventful, as was Customs in Houston. We have GlobalEntry, and so we had no forms to fill out to go through Customs. Instead, we walked up to the GlobalEntry kiosks (all of them were open), had it take our picture and spit out a receipt with our information (a little creepy that it just knows based on our pictures), and then headed to the desk to be cleared for entry back home. Keep in mind that after going through Customs, you have to go back through TSA security before you can enter the rest of the airport. (Note, no, this doesn’t make any sense at all, and we have yet to find someone that can explain this need) Unfortunately, even though we were back in the US, there isn’t a Pre-check line in TSA security on the other side of Customs, so once again the shoes came off, we assumed the position, and…well, you know the drill. Or well, we thought we did. Tasha forgot her Kindle in her purse and was held back to rescreen – oops. But, once you’re through that, everything was pretty normal. Again, there’s a masking requirement, but otherwise, it was a fairly normal airport experience and flight back to Springfield on our tiny regional jet (aka, the puddle jumper we always seem to fly on back to Springfield).
So, in the end, other than a few extra forms, masks all day, and the one COVID test, our travel experience was pretty normal. Other than the 3-hour delay in Houston (not directly COVID-related), we didn’t really experience any disruptions or longer waits than is usual. Also keep in mind this was the week before Christmas, so if you’re travelling in conjunction with major holidays, you might have longer waits, more delays, and so on. But again, at least based on our experience, that’s all normal stuff to deal with during holiday travel, and not necessarily a result of the pandemic.
We have another trip to Mexico coming up, but we’re leaving through a major airport and only taking carry-ons. Once we see what that’s like, we’ll report the experience here so you can compare the two. But, at least based on our recent experience to/from Cabo, travelling internationally is still totally doable and not that much more of a pain than it used to be, at least to Mexico where there are no additional entry requirements. We’ll hope that’s the same answer we give after coming home from our next trip!
