unfrequentflyer

Half the people I see in the streets of New York are not wearing mask either.

hbtr

Not consistently. They will make the stern announcements and some FAs will be very hard nosed but others will just ignore even obvious mask violations.

orbitmic

when I was in nyc a few weeks ago the number of maskless people in shops, transport etc was close to zero.

the reference to Florida is not just about what people do on the street but about what they do everywhere from shops to transport and cinema.

given the op’s caution I join those who recommend travelling elsewhere with another airline because ba to Florida could mean anything from good compliance and enforcement to several people remaining maskless in close distance and despite op’s plans, I suspect that when they are queuing to pay for their grocery with coughing maskless people just a few inches behind them, they may well worry.

Stormbel

The Op specifically asked for flight experiences only and so many are commenting on what happens in Florida. I simply had to remind people.

PUCCI GALORE

Here is my view - and it is mine alone. In order to board a flight to the USA everyone has to have taken a COVID test in the preceding 24 hours. Everyone on board has had to present they have been fully vaccinated. They will not have checked in otherwise. The airline sees fit to serve food and drink. People see fit to consume it. To do so, they have to lower their masks even momentarily. If they are carrying the virus and this has manifested itself since being tested, then it's out and it is in the air supply. Thus dropping the thing up and down, is to my mind , fairly pointless as the very gesture probably just makes the virus move faster elsewhere.

Thus, I suspect that you will have people who prefer to have a drink in front of them the whole time than wear what is a fairly uncomfortable mask for hours on end. I am not defending this. I am simply trying to be rational. At this exact moment, you would not get me going anywhere near a flight to Florida where people simply could not care less and no one insists. Knowing how American cabin crew disappear after the meal service, I would be surprised if after a bossy beginning there would be any more insistence. The call of the Candy Crush is far too magnetic to worry about their passengers, Dishing orders is far more their line these days than dishing service. On the 3 flights I have taken with them the MIA - LAX had 4 crew in J. One who unfortunately was serving me had all the personality and warmth of a Magimix. She was the only one who as soon as I had finished dinner told me to put a mask back up. I did so as I always comply with argument. I asked her in return for some more of the "Bubbles" and her colleague brought it and we heard no more about masks. The crew the other side of the aisle were veteran and excellent and treated the passengers there as adults and not like naughty children.

It sounds OP as though you are on the point of cancelling because of potential conduct from other passengers. If you are that worried that you need our thoughts, mine would be to counsel that you leave it. In the event that you cannot or do not want to take the risk then do so. Personally I think that you stand a greater chance of catching covid on a bus, the supermarket, the train, paying for petrol or anywhere else. Your children could come home from School and give it to anybody. Myself, I think that I am in far greater danger of having an accident on the M25 and being taken to a hospital and catching it there from medical personnel or anyone else. My nightmare, and the reason that I in this moment would defer any trips to the USA until this new waver abates, is of ending up in a hospital in the USA and dealing with insurers. I do not know how many travel insurances cover Covid but the thought of selling houses to pay an American hospital does not appeal. Europe it is not.

I am no longer a practising nurse but I am a thinking and I hope considerate person - but I try to apply common sense and I see little of that and lots of inconsistency these days

UKUAFlyer

Have flown 7 sectors to and from the US and within it over the last 1.5 months to NY & FL. On AA, BA, JetBlue, in a mix of Y, WT+ & J.
My experience was all cabin crew made pretty much the exact same announcements and acted in the exact same way in regards to mask. (One BA crew member on flight to MIA was pretty fierce).
I don't subscribe to this airline is better / worse than others re: enforcement. It'll come down to the individual crew member on the day / in your section, outside of the standard announcements that are made about mask wearing at various points in the flight. Plus the pax around you and how they decide to use their masks. On the flights I took everyone was generally compliant. A little less so on the domestic US flight I took, which was 100% full. (On Thanksgiving Day and people just didn't seem 'switched on' at all).
When I was in FL, I'd say around 95% of restaurant workers wore masks. I'd heard tales of how how non compliant things were in FL. This was not my experience in restaurants.
The only time I felt a little 'nervous' was the 45 min wait we had in the MIA immigration queue (the remote one, not in the more spacious main terminal). Low ceilings, packed in like sardines, some people with masks around the chin etc.

Never Stansted

Most of the attacks on Florida come from the sunk cost fallacy to my mind - people are annoyed that they haven't made all the 'sacrifices' that they have but have still ended up with similar outcomes.

godfreyb

DMTaylor90

Not Miami, sorry, but flying outbound to Vancouver with BA the crew were pretty hot on telling people to put their mask back on if they were not drinking or eating. I didn't see that many in J not wearing masks. Coming back from Toronto, the crew weren't particularly bothered about masks, but again not that many without from what I could see in J.

Schwann

Welcome to FlyerTalk DMTaylor90! I'm sure you will be a valued member of the community and share further insight into the wonderful world of British Airways and OneWorld. Stick around!

DMTaylor90

Thank you Mr Schwann!

izzik

With a 20month old child, I would recommend not traveling at all until your child is vaccinated.

We are in a similar situation with a toddler. It's a tough decision but we are choosing to put off all travel with her until she has some protection via vaccination.
Of course it's not ideal or convenient, but who wants to take chances? You cannot assume people will behave properly in public.

LondonElite

Three and a half more years?

izzik

Well, hoping for a couple more months with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials for <5 yo reporting results in 1H2022.

RB211

And yet they mention Florida, so it leads to a bit of a free for all. That's the "beauty" of FT - opinions on anything and everything one might mention!

rb211.