7 Tips for Staying Healthy While Traveling This Winter

Stay Healthy and Safe When Traveling

1. Research Airline and Hotel Safety Guidelines

Research hotels and airlines to ensure you know their COVID guidelines and how they’re keeping you safe. Many airlines are taking extra steps and going above and beyond to keep us safe. One example is Delta who has a rigorous cleaning and disinfecting process. They are also blocking out middle seats until January 6th, 2021, to allow more space between passengers. I’m flying Delta in December when I go to New York for this very reason. I was able to pick the seat I wanted, which is a window seat. All the middle seats were blocked off and unavailable in the seat selection process.

Just like picking a reputable airline, you’ll want to make sure your hotel or Airbnb is taking extra safety precautions. Check their website or reach out directly to learn what their cleaning protocols are and learn more about their overall commitment to your safety and health. When I was researching places to stay on the North Shore this past summer, I found one hotel was only washing comforters once a month. Normally, I would probably be fine with that, but given the pandemic, I was not comfortable and decided to stay elsewhere.

If you’re staying at an Airbnb, look for the “Enhanced Clean” label right below the property’s images. Airbnb’s “Enhanced Clean” program puts hosts through an intense training and testing process. Hosts that pass the test will have the new “Enhanced Clean” tag displayed on their listings. Hosts are allowed to opt-out of participating in the “Enhanced Clean” program, and can instead choose to leave their listings unoccupied for 72-hours in between guests, which would be displayed under the property’s image as well.

2. Buy Travel Insurance

Buy travel insurance and check that you’re booking with airlines and hotels that have reasonable cancellation policies. I had to cancel several flights this past spring and summer with a few different airlines. It got so confusing which airlines gave me my money back, versus travel points back to my Chase Sapphire card, versus a credit to a future flight. And of course, they all have different timelines on how long the credit lasts before expiring. I ended up creating an Excel document to track all of the refunds and credits I had received and which ones I still hadn’t heard a response from. To make things easy for you, The Points Guy compiled a huge list of all major airlines and their current COVID change and cancellation policies.

3. Always be Prepared

You never know what could happen. Maybe your flight gets delayed, or you have a flat tire on your rental car. Or maybe your hike takes much longer than expected and you’re hiking back in the dark. All of these things have happened to me. I always have healthy snacks on hand, like granola bars, cashews, or a piece of fruit like an apple. I also always have a mini hand sanitizer bottle, and on longer trips, I bring a tiny first aid kit with essentials like bandages and ibuprofen. Be sure to bring a reusable water bottle with you as well. And of course, don’t forget to pack extra masks, and emergency cash.