After a six month hiatus from flying, this week we are headed on a new adventure. Throughout the summer we’ve done a couple road trips, but after many canceled flights, we have multiple airline vouchers to use.  Travel certainly doesn’t look the same way it did at the beginning of this year and many things have changed. Let’s talk about navigating airline travel in 2020.

When deciding to travel again, we looked into different airlines to view their new procedures. Here is what we found out:

Delta:

  • Customers are required to wear a face mask across all Delta touch-points
  • Change Fees are eliminated permanently
  • Blocking the middle seats through January 6, 2021
  • They have joined forces with Lysol to set the standard for a cleaner and hygienic travel experience
  • Food and drink services on board are limited based on the length you are traveling
  • Boarding will be done row by row starting at the back of the aircraft

For more information, check out Delta’s website by clicking here.

 

American:

  • Customers are required to wear a mask from the time you enter the airport until you reach your destination and leave the airport
  • Change fees are eliminated permanently
  • Booking flights to capacity
  • They have implemented enhanced cleaning including treating planes with SurfaceWise®2, a breakthrough coating that provides enhanced protection by sustained killing of 99.9% of viruses, including coronaviruses, on surfaces
  • Food and drink services on board are limited based on the length you are traveling

For more information, check out American Airline’s website by clicking here.

 

United:

  • Customers are required to wear a mask from the time you enter the airport until you reach your destination and leave the airport
  • Change fees are eliminated permanently
  • Booking flights to capacity
  • Leveraging the disinfecting expertise and suite of products from Clorox, the #1 trusted brand for powerful cleaning, to deliver an industry-leading standard of cleanliness
  • Introducing an “all-in-one” snack bag that includes a wrapped sanitizer wipe, 8.5-ounce bottled water, stroopwafel and package of pretzels. For domestic flights between 1 hour and 2 hours and 20 minutes, you’ll receive this snack bag if you’re in a premium cabin. For domestic flights that are 2 hours and 20 minutes or longer, we’ll offer this snack bag to everyone on board

For more information, check out United’s website by clicking here.

 

Southwest

  • Customers are required to wear a mask from the time you enter the airport until you reach your destination and leave the airport
  • Southwest does not charge change fees or cancelation fees and has not prior to COVID19
  • Blocking middle seats through October 31, 2020
  • Both an electrostatic disinfectant and an anti-microbial spray are applied on every surface of the aircraft, killing viruses on contact and forming an anti-microbial coating or shield for 30 days
  • Sani-Cide EX3, a broad-spectrum disinfectant, will be used to clean onboard lavatories and tray tables before every flight
  • Boarding in groups of 10 to allow for physical-distancing on only one side of the boarding poles
  • Serving water and snacks on flights over 250 miles, when available. Straws are available on request. For all other flights, snack and beverage service is suspended until further notice to limit close interactions

For more information, check out Southwest’s website by clicking here.

 

Navigating airline travel in 2020 will be different for everyone. After researching and reading reviews from frequent flyers, we decided to fly with Delta. We already had a voucher for them from a previous canceled trip to Hawaii for $400 each (thanks to Scott’s Cheap Flights – check out more here) and they made it easy to change the destination in a total of 15 minutes. We only paid the difference in airfare.

Stay tuned for a recap of our trip in the next few weeks along with our thoughts on navigating airline travel in 2020.