Travelling Internationally To The United States? Read These Travel Tips Before You Go.

Estimated Read Time: 3 minutes.

To say that COVID-19 has made international travel difficult, would be the understatement of the year. With each country implementing its own COVID-19 protocols to help curb the transmission of the virus, planning a trip can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned travellers. With the United States requiring all international passengers to be tested within 72 hours of arrival (you can read more about the announcement in this post), here are some tips to help you plan your next trip to the United States.

There is an age old idiom that if you don’t plan, then you plan to fail and this saying couldn’t be any more true for travelling in our new normal. Before buying your plane ticket, you should do as much research on COVID-19 testing in the country you’re traveling to, including (but not limited to) testing availability, the types of tests being offered (to ensure compliance with the CDC’s requirements), how quickly results are being given, qualified laboratories in close proximity to where you intend to stay, contact information and it may even warrant calling the laboratory as some operate on appointments only. It should be noted that each country are all at different stages of the pandemic and at the end of your research, you should feel confident in your ability to get tested and have your results within the mandatory 72 hour period. If you don’t, you should consider postponing your trip. Once your test results have been received, ensure that you have both a digital and hard copy of your test results to present to the airline agents on departure back to the United States. Having both copies ensures that your travel won’t be affected especially in the event that you lose your mobile device or if it dies while you’re travelling.

In addition to doing research on the testing, you should also research your airline’s change policies. Traveling these days requires maximum flexibility and in the event that you don’t get your test results in time (or get a positive test result), you can rest assured knowing that you won’t have to spend additional funds on changing your ticket. Luckily, most (if not all) airlines have waived their change fees (partly due to the uncertainty, partly to restore traveler confidence) and you can see airline specific information regarding their respective change fees here.

Lastly, you should plan to carry additional funds to support yourself (and any other dependents) for the duration of the trip in the event that someone does contract COVID-19 prior to returning to the United States. During the trip, you should continue to follow all COVID-19 protocols (including wearing masks/facial coverings in public settings, social distancing and continued handwashing or use of hand sanitizer) to minimise your risk as much as possible however, while you may have minimised the risk, there is still a chance that you could contract the virus and as such, you should be prepared to sustain yourself while you recover. A cost effective option may be to take out COVID-19 travel insurance which would cover medical coverage, trip cancellation and provide you with additional peace of mind. For more information on COVID-19 travel insurance providers, click here.

While traveling these days is difficult, it isn’t impossible. By being proactive and doing the right research, you can feel more comfortable about your upcoming travels. Are there any additional recommendations that you guys would like to share or experiences that could help your fellow travellers? Feel free to place them in the comments.

Editor’s Note: Information is changing on a daily basis and as such, continue to refer to the CDC, Airlines and other bodies for the latest information. We will continue to update this post as new information comes in.