During these “unprecedented times,” I’ve traveled once in early March and this time in late May. I’ve learned there were some changes that were made from where to park my car to how I board on a plane. The experience traveling during these times have been frustrating to me and through this article, want to advise what to expect and to stay safe traveling during these times.
Parking at LAX
As my site claims that I’m a cheap traveler, I was willing to at first pay for onsite parking. There are no economy lots that I know of that are currently open at LAX. This includes Lot C and Lot E. I don’t know why they are closed but there was a sign at the entrance of Lot E that shows there is available parking at the terminals.
Unfortunately after driving to the parking area at the terminals, the rates haven’t changed to accommodate the closures at the economy lots. Every 24 hours will cost $40 to park at the terminals and imagine how quickly these can add up on a multi-day trip. Thankfully I arrived early at the airport to give myself time to park at a Metro lot where parking is $3/day. There is a shuttle (G Bus) that continues to run from Aviation/LAX station to the terminals and last time I was on the shuttle, it was nearly empty. The notoriously busy traffic loop around LAX is quite empty on a usually busy Saturday morning.
Terminal 1 at LAX
I brisked through an empty TSA pre-check area where I was the only passenger going through at the time at terminal 1. I noticed the terminal area was noticeably filled where the 6-feet social distancing can be hard to follow when near the gate. Despite the airport now having a mask policy, I noticed there were some passengers not wearing a mask. When it was time to board my Southwest Airlines flight, they were boarding few passengers at a time. I decided to board last to give myself choices on who I want to have sit nearby me.
During Southwest Airlines flight
Upon entering the plane, I noticed every middle seat was empty except for families. There are a few passengers that are purposefully not wearing a mask but one positive note to this is I’m able to pick and choose which seat I want to sit and in this case near passengers that are wearing a mask. Despite having a passenger in front and back of me, I like that Southwest Airlines is doing their part to implement some social distancing measures. Due to less passengers, there are plenty of available space in the overhead bins.
The flight was smooth. Flight attendants were handing out canned water and snack bags. Other than having a mask, goggles on my face, the flight was normal as usual. Some passengers took off their masks so they can consume the canned water and snacks.
Memphis International Airport
On my return flight, I went on flight with Allegiant Air at Memphis. Just like LAX, there was a very short line at TSA and I was the only going through pre-check. When arriving near the gate for my flight, I noticed the area was noticeably filled with passengers. About half the people in the terminal area wasn’t wearing a mask but on a positive note, the terminal area is large where I was able to keep a good distance away from everyone else. When it was time to board, the gate attendants were calling row by row starting from the rear of the aircraft. I immediately noticed hardly anyone was following social distancing when lining up before the gate scanners and the plane itself when boarding.
During Allegiant Air flight
I was immediately offered a mask while walking on board which I declined since I was wearing one. I noticed that the plane was filled almost to capacity including the middle seats. Prior to boarding, I’ve learned Allegiant Air was the only airline that didn’t enforce wearing masks on board but thankfully most of the passengers that were given a mask wore them. There were a few passengers that weren’t wearing them. I noticed the air conditioning system was running during boarding so that gave me relief that I wasn’t breathing in the same air before takeoff. The flight attendants gave announcements that LAX requires masks which I’m glad they did to encourage mask wearing.
The flight was smooth. In a way, I’m glad there weren’t giving out free items so passengers can keep on their masks. During flight, the flight attendants were giving the occasional announcement, one being how they are voted to be one of the top airlines. Makes me wonder if this still the case during a pandemic where they have almost every seat filled.
When approaching the gate, the flight attendants made a comment to keep social distancing while getting off the plane. Of course, no one follows that since there aren’t any social distancing in the first place. Just like prior to takeoff, they kept the air conditioning system running while passengers were getting off the plane.
In conclusion
Traveling during a pandemic can be frustrating at least for me. Expect for passengers not to follow any social distancing and some not wearing masks in the airport and on flight. I was happy with Southwest Airlines but was disappointed with Allegiant Air and how they made social distancing non-existent. When I purchased Allegiant Air tickets online, they had every other row on the seat map as “unreservable.” My advice is to find which airlines are doing their part to address concerns during the pandemic as some are addressing the issues of social distancing and some are not.