International Travel Experience During COVID| Important Things to Note
Although quite homesick, we wouldn’t have travelled from Toronto to Delhi with our three-year-old kid in the middle of a global pandemic. However, an unavoidable family emergency led us to take the decision of flying home last month. We spent several sleepless nights feeling anxious at the thought of putting ourselves and our toddler at risk.
I decided to write a blog about my air travel experience on the Vande Bharat (Air India) flight from Toronto to Delhi during COVID 19 to help others in a similar situation.
Booking Air Tickets During COVID-19
At first, it all seemed confusing since flights had not resumed. We were not sure if there were any flights from Canada to India or even if there were the chances of them being cancelled last minute. A cursory look at Google did show flights as normal, but a deeper look into all of it did not seem very optimistic.
Instead of booking the tickets ourselves, we decided to contact a travel agent to guide us. We took the services of VRM Travel Solutions. While we had given the go-ahead to book an Air Canada flight, the agent rightly advised us to wait for a day and book Air India (AI 188) Vande Bharat flight as it was cheaper and more reliable at present times.
I recommend booking tickets through an agent to save yourself from the stress of last-minute cancellations.
Preparations before flying during COVID-19
Even during normal times, air travel with a kid is a Herculean task. During the current pandemic, travelling with or without kid(s) calls for a lot of preparation. Here is a list of things you need to do (or not do) before your flight:
- COVID test is not mandatory. However, if you wish to seek exemption from institutional quarantine at a hotel, you need to submit the negative test report. Since we were travelling with a kid (below the age of 10 years), we did not have to take the test.
- You need to apply for approval for an exemption by filling a form on the Delhi airport website. You will receive an email from the authorities if your request is approved. Carry a printout of this approval with you. At the Delhi airport, we saw several people who had assumed they’d be exempted just by showing the COVID test report. Do not make that mistake; fill-up the form 72 hours before flying.
- Web check-in is mandatory.
- We read a lot of comments about the poor food quality on Vande Bharat flights. So we made arrangements for our snacks and food for ourselves and our toddler. We made small packs of nuts that could be finished at one go (not wanting to touch the contents repeatedly with dirty hands). We carried milk tetra packs, muffins, sandwiches, and easy to have food for the baby.
- We tried to travel light to avoid hiring porters airports. (But if you are a parent, you know when travelling with a kid travelling light isn’t possible!
What are the exemption categories?
1.Pregnant women
2. Suffered a death in the family
3. Suffering from serious illness (Description to be provided)
4. Parents accompanied by children below 10 years
5. Covid-19 negative certificate (attach RT PCR test only).
Experience at Toronto Pearson International Airport
The airport wore a deserted look when we reached (4 hours before flight) until we reached Air India counters. People had already queued up, however, the staff hadn’t taken their place yet. Please note, even though web check-in is mandatory, you have to stand in the queue.
Don’t bother downloading self-reporting form; you will be asked to fill it up while you’re in the queue.
Even though we had selected particular seats during the mandatory web check-in, we were allotted different seats. (We overlooked that until later.)
Our temperatures were checked at three different spots. Overall the process was smooth.
We could find only one coffee shop open. We did buy the overpriced coffee to fight the exhaustion from stopping our toddler from touching everything 😉
Experience on Air India flight
Food packages are placed on the seats even before you enter the plane. Be careful in keeping the package straight; else, you will not get a chance to sample the disgusting snacks thanks to the even more terrible packaging! And to be fair, a packet of nuts, Haldiram chips, and water are things worth saving.
The condition of the plane made us regret our decision to travel during the pandemic. We had hoped the planes would be thoroughly cleaned; the plane seemed to be so old and worn out that whether it was clean or not was hardly our botheration at that moment. To add to our worries, they announced a delay of 45-minutes due to technical difficulties!
With no other option at hand, we prayed well for our safe journey. Needless to say, I spent a large part of the journey sanitizing my own hands and those of the little person sitting next to me.
There is no in-flight entertainment available. Since we had taken the decision to travel in a hurry, we weren’t able to think or take care of the entertainment bit. That’s something we deeply regretted just a couple of hours after the flight. (We thought 5-6 hours may have passed when only three had!)
To avoid having to visit the washroom frequently, we kept a check on how much we drank and ate. Obviously, it is not avoidable to go during a 14-hour fight. The condition of the toilet was quite bad (it was a full flight, after all).
Prepare yourself for a boring and tiring flight as there are no distractions of food and beverages (and cheap wine) coming in at regular intervals (I don’t know about you but for me that used to be a welcome distraction!).
Most people continued to wear a mask throughout the flight. Some were wearing PPE suits.
Experience at the New Delhi Airport
After we landed, a miraculous thing happened: no one rushed to get out of the plane first. That was because we were asked to remain seated! And we remained seated for almost 50 unending minutes. Some procedural delay was cited as the reason.
The calmness we saw at the Toronto airport was nowhere to be seen in Delhi. It appeared “social distancing” was not something anyone there understood. Yes, there are boards all over, but authorities themselves did not seem to take it seriously. We were asked to seat ourselves in an area with chairs placed at a reasonable distance; there was mayhem after that.
People were first divided into two groups: a) with final destination Delhi, b) with the continued journey. We were then further segregated into two groups: one with an exemption approval mail and one with no approval. It was heartbreaking to see uninformed senior citizens being addressed rudely.
Shockingly, at no point were our temperatures checked at New Delhi airport.
We waited for our turn near a small desk with our exemption-approval email (printout) in hand. Again there was no social distancing here. After a few checks, our hands (including our toddlers’) were stamped. (The stamp wore off even before we reached home!)
Immigration clearance was super-smooth as there weren’t any passengers when we arrived there. We headed to pick our luggage that had already arrived.
We thought we all cleared to go but then the guard asked us to get approval from our state doctor sitting at one of the desks. We were just asked to show our passport and stamp to the guard near the exit gate.
We diligently observed a 14-day quarantine at our home before we even met our parents. I urge everyone to follow it strictly to keep yourself and your near and dear ones safe.
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Purva Bhatia
Purva is the co-founder of Blue Sky Dreamers. A journalist with 11 years of experience, she also freelances as a content writer & editor.
One Comment
Katherine
You’re so brave to travel now! (I understand sometime to must do what you must). It’s good that you made it safely. But it does sound like a surreal experience! One for the books!