4 safer travel ideas based on expert advice — public charters over commercial flights, private home rentals over crowded resorts, and much more
- As states continue reopening, Americans are tentatively returning to travel, even as the pandemic continues.
- To prioritize safety, travelers are likely to choose regional domestic destinations, ground transportation, and private lodging options like home vacation rentals over far-flung international hotel trips.
- For inspiration, we've provided ideas for safer alternatives to fall travel, including transportation, lodging, activities, and more.
As states continue phased reopenings, many travelers are eager to salvage some form of vacation despite the ongoing pandemic, and many are asking, 'Is it safe to travel now?'
The answer largely depends on your plans. But even those who might generally be inclined to choose far-flung international destinations are opting instead to stay closer to home in large numbers. In fact, travel agents and advisors have noted a strong uptick in regional travel, and data from Airbnb suggests US travelers prefer to book regional domestic destinations accessed by ground transportation and stay in private lodging where they'll encounter as few people as possible.
And indeed this is logical, according to many of the experts we interviewed through the course of our far-ranging travel-safety reporting. That's because the virus is most typically transmitted by way of respiratory droplets directly through person-to-person contact. Hotels and airports are examples of places that present a higher risk because of a higher number of encounters with other people, whereas rental cars and private homes booked via vacation rental platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo present less risk because of fewer likely interactions.
If you plan to head out this fall, consider adapting your vacation plans in ways that provide safer alternatives that can help can reduce your risk of virus exposure while away from home. And remember, without a vaccine, there is no firm guarantee on safety, and it's crucial to follow guidelines from organizations such as the CDC and WHO, and wear a mask, wash your hands, and maintain social distancing.
And, because information about the pandemic situation is constantly evolving, it's also wise to read up on hotel and vacation rental cancellation policies and choose options with flexible policies if you can.
To come up with a list of safer approaches to air travel, ground travel, lodging, activities, and more, we culled the advice from our interviews with experts — including medical, sanitization, and travel industry professionals. Do note, however, that many public health and medical professionals (including some of those we talked to) still advise limiting nonessential travel in the pandemic, as it poses inherent risks.
Instead of booking a commercial flight … try a public charter.
Given we know that the novel coronavirus is generally transmitted directly between people, commercial air travel comes with risks, according to medical professionals we consulted for our investigation into whether or not it's safe to fly right now.
While the air on the plane is well filtered and circulated, you can't avoid other passengers entirely, even with some airlines committing to blocking seats for social distancing. And certainly, you will encounter other people in the airport as part of the process.
So, have you considered chartering a jet? Hear us out. Of course, private jet travel is far from accessible for most people, but there are affordable in-between options in public charter services, like JSX (formerly JetSuiteX), founded in 2016. These flights allow you to mitigate some of the risks of commercial air travel in various incremental ways.
The carrier flies out of fixed base operators (FBOs) adjacent to many major airports. Like commercial carriers, they are open to the public for business and leisure travel. But unlike major commercial carriers, JSX is similar to private carriers in that it caps flights at a significantly lower number (for JSX, flight capacity is 30 passengers).
You'll skip out on the traditional airport experience altogether by traveling through a private hangar — without the notorious TSA lines and bins. But you can still feel secure. JSX uses TSA Secure Flight, the same TSA-provided background check processes that major airlines use. Valet parking is available to avoid rental car shuttles, which allows you to arrive at the airport just 20 minutes before your flight where you'll spend a few minutes in a sanitized lounge.
The regional airline flies between major cities and destinations in the west, including Burbank (Los Angeles); Concord (East Bay/Napa); Las Vegas; Oakland; Orange County; and Phoenix, with seasonal flights to Mammoth.
Limited options exist in similar categories to JSX elsewhere around the country. There are other private jet-like flight options such as SurfAir, however, it requires a membership to be able to book.
You may book JSX tickets as you normally would any commercial ticket through the airline's website, or through its new booking and mobile boarding app.
And if this all sounds expensive, you might be surprised. JSX typically offers advanced-purchase deals that reasonably compare with no-frills commercial carriers like Southwest. For instance, fly for as low as $89 between Burbank and Las Vegas, compared with Southwest's $129 Wanna Getaway fare on the same route.
Additionally, as the travel world works hard to court customers, you can book a round-trip flight on JSX between the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, including an upgrade at the Wynn and dining credit, for $216 making this private charter option an appealing choice for leisure or business travelers to these markets.
I've flown JSX from Burbank to Las Vegas, and Burbank to wine country — long before the pandemic. Even then I easily noted how time-saving and elite-feeling it was to bypass most of the crowds usually involved with air travel. I'd always choose it compared to a commercial flight on the same route if the price was competitive.
Instead of booking a hotel … try renting a private home.
It bears repeating that the virus is primarily transmitted via respiratory droplets by way of encounters between people. That means that the fewer encounters you experience on your travels, the more you are able to protect your safety.
For that reason, hotels do come with risks given their very nature as places where hundreds of people gather, and where many staff members are on hand to meet their needs. By the same logic, medical professionals generally consider private homes safer, since you are often booking an entire home that is protected from interaction with any others.
Plus, platforms like Airbnb have rolled out new Enhanced Clean protocols that include rigorous upgraded cleaning standards include a standardized 5-step cleaning process, a room by room checklist, and more. Keep in mind, though, that not all hosts are necessarily part of the new program.
Home-sharing platforms include options like Airbnb, which features a huge range of properties including unique options like tree houses, yurts, and castles; Vrbo, which means "vacation rental by owner," and allows homeowners to advertise directly; TurnKey, which verifies properties adhere to its quality and cleanliness standards; and even options like onefinstay, which is owned by the Accor hotel group and features a collection of luxury homes and villas that come with professional housekeeping staff and tailored amenities.
Additionally, online travel booking sites such as Booking.com, which is better known as a hotel-search engine, also allows the booking of private homes and you can adjust your search parameters to bring these results up first.
When you rent a private home, your party is not likely to encounter any other people during the course of your stay. This is especially true if you stay in a place with contact-less check-in, such as a numeric code entry or a lockbox containing a key, which allows you to further mitigate your risk.
Even amenities in a private home are totally private. A chlorinated hotel pool may not likely transmit coronavirus, but the other people in and around it pose serious risks. In a rented home with a private pool, there is no such risk.
Just note that unlike in a hotel, you can expect to pay a substantial cleaning fee and other booking fees and service charges across any platform you choose. For example, the total fee for a $300 per night home for a three-night stay might come to $900 initially, but once you add all the fees and taxes, that bill can easily total more than $1,400 for a short weekend getaway.
For home rental ideas across the nation, check out our lists of the best Airbnbs in California, the best Airbnbs in Vermont, the best Airbnbs in New York's Hudson Valley, and the best Airbnbs in Florida.
Find out everything you need to know about vacation rentals here, including the best platforms and the best places to go in the US. Or, try our list of alternatives for when Airbnb is booked.
Instead of traveling to a theme park … try an outdoor adventure.
Theme parks like Disney are beginning to reopen with new safety measures in place, such as digital queues and rides with blocked out seating. But throughout your visit to a theme park, you are certainly likely to encounter many other people, and that's where the bulk of the risk lies. Not to mention many theme parks are in current hotspot areas like Florida and California.
If that feels like too much too soon, consider an outdoor adventure in a more sparsely populated situation. National parks are reopening too, and provide opportunities for adrenaline-pumping activities such as hiking (think Yosemite's bucket-list peak Half Dome), kayaking (in Grand Teton National Park or Florida's Everglades), or rafting (a thrilling option in the Grand Canyon).
The National Park Service's follows CDC guidance for disease prevention in public places and workspaces and asks visitors to maintain social distancing. Before you go, check to see the reopening status of your desired park and its features.
When you are in a wide-open outdoor space, you mitigate the risk of transmission. And while theme park environments are largely outdoors, you'll also likely encounter large crowds and indoor attractions, shops, and restaurants with fixed air volume and limited space.
On a park getaway, consider camping under the stars at one of our picks for the best US campsites, or if sleeping on the ground is a stretch for your tastes, try a rental home in the vicinity of a national park, such as the bucket-list destinations of Yosemite or Joshua Tree.
Or, go for a glamping vacation, with the range of accommodations including airstreams and vintage trailers, treehouses, and even yurt options with more amenities than traditional tent camping.
With fall and the leaf-peeping season on the horizon, you may also want to consider a vacation rental in a prime location for fall foliage.
Instead of taking ride share at your destination … rent a car.
Ride share operators like Lyft and Uber have announced new cleaning and safety protocols but still involve coming into close proximity with one other person: the driver. You can mitigate risk by renting a car at your destination instead.
When you are in a rented car, your risk mainly comes from your fellow passengers. So if they're all members of the same household, they won't pose a new risk.
Even if someone who was sick previously interacted with the car, the virus is known to settle out of the air fairly quickly, from one to three hours under experimental conditions, and perhaps much less in real-world scenarios.
So, the air quality within the vehicle is not likely to be a concern after some amount of turnaround time since the last driver occupied the car.
Like nearly all travel-related businesses, rental car companies have announced new sanitization protocols, such as the enhanced rental car cleaning measures that take place between every renter from Enterprise Holdings, whose brands include Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent a Car.
Or, consider renting an RV or camper van (we even have camper van accessories for a comfier trip for you here), which merges a safe sleeping environment with a private driving experience, as well.
Plus, there are plenty of scenic road trips across the US worthy of planning a trip around, and many great getaway destinations are within easy driving distance of major US cities.