The Re-entry series: Flying internationally during a pandemic

A lot of folks have asked us how the flights and airports were so I thought I'd share a bit about our journey now that you know how Petra got on.

We were originally scheduled on a direct London-Seattle flight on Delta, but about 10 days before we were set to leave, Delta cancelled all their direct flights so we ended up getting routed through Amsterdam. A KLM flight from London to Amsterdam and then Delta from Amsterdam to Seattle. I suppose that's the first thing to prepare for - your flights and plans will most likely change. Our very comfortable noon departure time and a direct flight became a 6:30am departure and a layover in Amsterdam.

As we had such an early check in and 8 bags between us, we stayed the night in a hotel outside Heathrow. We got to the terminal around 4:30 expecting things to be pretty quiet, but soon saw things were hopping at the check in counters. There were two flights to Amsterdam on KLM within 10 minutes of each other so clearly we weren't the only ones being re-routed.

Check in and security as you would expect - just everyone in masks and hand sanitizer everywhere. Once through security, things looked quite different than normal. Only a few restaurants open and most of the shops were shut. Duty free was still alive and well, but most things were closed - whether that was the result of the pandemic or the early hour, I'm not sure. Seating was blocked off to encourage social distancing.

The flight to Amsterdam was surprising completely full so we were all packed in there as usual and had a good chuckle as the flight attendants announced we should observe social distancing of at least one and a half meters. Everyone wearing masks so that was something.

Schipol airport in Amsterdam felt pretty normal except for the masks and some blocked off seating. A lot of the shops and restaurants were open and there were quite a few travelers. It was, however, easy to keep your distance so we felt relatively safe.

The Delta flight was much better - they had the seating arranged so you could only sit next to folks you were traveling with so lots of space. We had to keep our masks on for the entire flight, except when eating or drinking. They served standard meals and snacks and you had to keep your masks on until the flight attendants finished serving your seats. And it certainly looked like everyone was following the rules, which was good.

Arrival in Seattle and immigration was about the same - just masks and social distancing and the lines were definitely much shorter than normal. Baggage was the same as well and the social distancing fell apart a bit as people crowded to get their bags.

So overall, a positive experience that felt relatively safe and organized.