Tag: COVID protocols for flying.

Hi Guys!

As you may know, I have been in the Caribbean for several months catching up on projects that needed my attention.

Back in July when I initially flew out, there were several protocols that I had to observe in order to be allowed to board a plane from Miami to Aruba.

The first thing I had to do was a COVID test prior to departure. This was done with a mail in kit and it took a week to get the results. The test could not be too old or it would not be valid for me to board the flight to Aruba. So as soon as I received documentation that I tested negative, I grabbed a red eye flight out of San Francisco to Aruba with a layover in Miami.

Boarding the plane to Miami was fine. There were no test results required. However when I boarded in Miami to fly to Aruba, I did need to show my negative test despite the fact that it was already a week old.

When I arrived in Aruba, since my initial test was more than 72 hours old, I had to test again. I think it cost about $92.00 in the Aruba airport. It was quick and I was able to board my transport to the hotel where I was set to quarantine until I received the results of the COVID test I took at the airport.

By the next morning when I was having my coffee, I had the results and they were negative. The message from the Aruba authorities was “Go and enjoy the island!”

When I arrived in Aruba, there were no cases of COVID. They had pretty much eradicated it all however, shortly after my arrival, someone failed to quarantine until he got the test results, went out and about with his buds and found out the next morning that he had COVID. From there the cases spiked up to about 3,500 and it took a lot of effort to bring them back down again. By the time I left I think they were at about 350 cases which is a pretty good turnaround.

Nonetheless, because of this one person, the authorities in Aruba had to work hard to eradicate the virus again.

Now fast forward to November 2020. I flew out of Aruba on the 22nd of November. Normally this would have been a nightmare because of travelers heading off for Thanksgiving, however this year was very different.

I did not need any sort of test to board the plane either to Fort Lauderdale or  to SFO. Both of these flights were virtually empty and I had an entire row to myself which was lovely as I could stretch out and relax.

I have to give a big shout out to Jet Blue. Their crew was so wonderful and I could tell that safety and service were their big concerns. While gloves were not required, everyone had to wear masks the entire flight except while eating or drinking. Please follow these protocols while flying as the penalties can be severe and these airline crews are already in a stressful situation with this COVID thing.

All in all it was a very relaxing and lovely flying experience at a time of year that would normally be hectic.

Of course, if you can avoid flying anywhere  I would, but if you have to, it is pretty stress free from what I experienced.

Please have a wonderful holiday season. I hope next year at this time we will be back to hectic and busy as we all need a little more of that.

Love to you and your families.

XO Chris