International Travel During COVID-19

On Wednesday, September 1st I left for Austria. In order to get to Austria, I booked 3 flights with roughly one-hour layovers at each connection – a bad decision in hindsight. Connections are always stressful but this time around I had to consider additional entry requirements due to Covid-19. Flying is never as glamorous as we see in movies – mostly because the average American doesn’t own a private jet – but to say my travel day was “stressful” would be an understatement.

1st Stop: Denver International Airport (DIA)

My beloved home airport that has yet to do me wrong really had me guessing Wednesday morning if I was even going to be leaving after all. Upon baggage check, my airline Air Canada requested a vaccine card, an ArriveCAN application verification code, and a negative PCR Covid-19 test along with the typical passport and flight information. My vaccine card was present, I’d stumbled my way through the ArriveCAN application the previous day, but I had yet to receive the results of the covid test that I had taken 48 hours prior. Immediately the check-in lady insisted that I take a $250 rapid PCR Covid-19 test on the opposite end of the airport where I would have to wait 2-3 hours for my results and hope that I received them in time to catch my flight.

After various moments of awkward silence the lady made a phone call and discovered that I could board the plane on a technicality: I wasn’t entering Canada so I technically could board the plane with only proof of vaccination, but if something happened to my connection and I ended up stuck in Toronto I would have to quarantine – no pressure. After that little bump in the road, DIA was bliss – specifically the Denver staple Snarf’s

Sandwich Shop.

2nd Stop: Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)

Air Canada has some serious style, have you seen their KitKat bars? Before arriving at new airports I typically look up a map to better assist my inevitable confusion. Sadly Toronto Pearson airport is a lost cause, no matter what I swear you’ll get lost. Apparently, arrivals are on the complete opposite side of the airport from departures. So once off the plane, I high-tailed it, following every sign leading me towards international connections – all the while chanting “I’m lost” under my breath.

Eventually, after what felt like miles of walking, I found a checkpoint where I scanned my passport and was directed towards the international departures. Oddly Toronto has little to no departure boards posted throughout the airport, so I had no idea where I was until I almost accidentally boarded a flight to Vienna. Two gates down I found my plane just in time to be called down for additional information required for boarding (vaccination card, Covid-19 test, quarantine plans, etc.). After some strong words and internal panic, she said I was all clear.

I set the bar really low, expecting to completely miss this flight but instead, the flight was delayed for over an hour – no

idea why. Eventually, the flight crew struts up like superheroes and we boarded but Canada has odd unspoken rules for lining up preboarding. Me being the unknowing tourist technically cut the line – I was at the very front – and got to board first after business class. Oddly nobody called me out for it or redirected me.

3rd Stop: Frankfurt Airport (FRA)

After seven hours of sheer claustrophobia, two courses of subpar airplane food, and

zero shut-eye I landed in Frankfurt an hour, if not more, behind schedule. The layout of Frankfurt airport is outrageous, so outrageous in fact that I was convinced that the signs were intentionally misleading me. Outrageous you say? Why yes there are multiple levels hidden underground, confusing floor plans, and sketchy underground tunnels. Upon entry into the airport, I estimated that I had roughly 15 minutes to reach my connecting flight’s gate before boarding began.

On the airport map, it looked like a simple path from point A to point B, little did I know that the airport was comprised of multiple levels underground. Following signs for B gates lead me down a flight of stairs and straight into line for Immigration and Customs – which I didn’t realize was customs until later. After some tense conversation with the very stiff German customs man I made it through to an area with another security sector and a shopping mall? The signs pointed towards the shopping mall but I was convinced that I hadn’t gone through Customs yet, so the security check looked like the more obvious choice. I approached a random lady and asked if this security check was customs. Immediately her face turned

perplexed as she replied in rapid German before waving over a man that understood me enough to say “Ja” and shrug his shoulders. Another lady in security was able to direct me towards my gate – through the shopping mall – but I grew instantly aware that German was vastly more common, and I couldn’t even pronounce Danke right. To put it simply, language barriers suck. It’s extremely humbling but also motivating.

Moving on I walked through the shopping mall, followed the signs to an elevator that took me down into the most decrepit, musty tunnel I’ve ever encountered. The tunnel felt abandoned despite being full of people walking in both directions. I started to really lose hope of finding my flight and began mentally preparing for rebooking my flight or catching a train. At the opposite end of the tunnel, I came upon yet another elevator that took me above ground, and low and behold my gate was right there when I stepped out.

I swear “boarding” began as soon as I found the gate. By “boarding” I mean we scanned our tickets and went down a staircase onto the tarmac, boarded a bus, were taken to our plane on the tarmac, and boarded the plane via a staircase. Once seated I took a sigh of relief that I’d made it onto my final flight. There were no more stressful connections to undergo and no more airports to frantically navigate.

4th Stop: Salzburg Airport (SZG)

After a brief 50-minute flight I reached my final destination, for now. I couldn’t see the Alps until I deboarded but once again we cleared the plane on the tarmac and walked into the airport, straight into baggage claims and customs. It’s quite frankly the smallest airport I’ve ever seen – and I’ve been to Glacier Park International Airport. My bags arrived safe and intact despite my devil’s advocate mentality, but walking through customs I was stopped:

Customs Man: (Signals for me to stop) Do you speak German?

Me: (Confused) No

Customs Man: Do you speak English?

Me: (Hesitant) Yes

Customs Man: Where did you come from?

Me: (Scrunches eyebrows) Frankfurt

Customs Man: Before Frankfurt?

Me: (Extremely confused) Toronto

Customs Man: Are you on holiday?

Me: (Shocked) No, I’m a student.

Customs Man: (Loses all interest and walks away without another word)

Me: (Slowly exits the building in disbelief)

I quickly learned that jet lag is no joke, just try to immediately adjust to your new time zone upon arrival. Don't nap! You'll regret it later when your circadian rhythm is out of wack. Instead, try to stay awake - take a walk, drink some coffee, exercise maybe, but do not nap.

All in all, I arrived in one piece with all my luggage so I'd call that a success. It's difficult to keep up with travel restrictions during unprecedented but don't put off researching the guidelines. Negative Covid tests and vaccination records are pretty universal but each country will vary when it comes to quarantine protocol, pre-travel forms, and acceptable countries to depart from. Also, consider booking flights with longer layovers to accommodate for the extra security. As long as you're proactive, you'll be fine.