markle

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mikeyfly

Where in Florida are you going ? I was there two weeks ago on the Golf Coast, and there is zero mask wearing - not in shops, Ubers, restaurants, petrol stations. If you have health concerns, then this is a riskier place to have a vacation. I was in F to MIA and most people had their masks off a lot of the time

markle

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ThatT1Feeling

I think the reality will be that there will be some in your cabin who won't be wearing masks / will forget to replace them after eating / will keep their chins warm with them etc. In that case, will that worry you and would you be able to accept it, realise there isn't much you can do about it and instead look forward to your holiday?

I think that's the key question to ask yourself. I have been on flights where everyone I have seen is masked up, but I have also been on flights where whole families aren't. I have seen BA crew try to enforce and others who don't seem to want to get into that battle.

If you decide to head off (and I hope you do - it sounds like a great holiday), then I recommend you board with the expectation that some will not be wearing masks and aim not to worry about it or concentrate on it. If you can take this approach then I hope it will be a great holiday.

Armadilleau

My experience in TATL matches the other statements here. Most people are masked up, some crews enforce the rules others don't bother. As has been previously flagged here, mask wearing in Florida seems to the exception not the rule.

On board the aircraft where there are instances of people not following the mask rules/guidelines and there is no enforcement, I think it can lead to stress for those who are more risk averse and sometimes a little conflict between passengers as well. I guess because its quite hard to tell the difference between those who are exempt, those who are too cool for school/can't be bothered or the moonbats who think the whole things' a myth thought up by Bill Gates and the lizard people.

If you are risk averse or worried, and the thought of poor social distancing/mask use causes you a significant concern then I wouldn't bother. Its not fun wearing a mask for the whole period of travel, and if other people not wearing one or complying with social distancing is a source of stress I would advise you not to waste the energy.

Personally I've parked the idea of leisure travel as the whole paperwork/testing/mask/terrible food and service as well as the rest of the COVID theatre you have to put up with on the ground and in the air have taken the fun right out of it.

Personally I'm not fussed about catching COVID but I do have concerns about the implications of testing positive and getting pulled into government enforced quarantine, on that basis I do personally still follow the rules.

corporate-wage-slave

I spend much of my day weaving between the strands of caution, risk, hazard, being sensible and trying the see the wider picture. I have no monopoly on this, indeed we all have to compose our own matrix on the competing factors. It is also the case - having spoken to cabin crew and seeing departing passengers in LHR - that the 3 Florida destinations do attract a higher minority of passengers who go maskless for much of the flight and yet miraculously mask up on arrival to get through CBP and customs. It is a minority and more of an issue in Traveller than elsewhere, if the flight is full. I find it infuriating, I was dealing with a youngster with Ewing's Sarcoma a few weeks back and his short life depends to at least some extent on everyone around him wearing a mask - he is 22 years old. But you wouldn't know that if you passed him in the streets.

My first thought was to either switch to AA - where they don't tolerate much nonsense in this department - or consider an indirect route such as BOS where mask wearing is near 100% and then continue again on AA. If your wife was pregnant or someone in your family is immuno-suppressed I would do something like this or cancel. If your child is healthy, on the other hand, the risk is so low that it doesn't currently survive a risk equation with getting a vaccine, even though it is safe and effective in children. So unless there is some other factor I wouldn't worry about your child, the main risk, if you are over 30, is to men and potentially pregnant women, and for the latter vaccines are doing exactly what it says on the tin.

So this leads to my other thought that assuming you are up to date on boosters, wear FFP2 or FFP3 masks then the risk from flying isn't particularly high compared to (e.g.) going to a family wedding or meeting up with your brother for a drink. And I note that the purpose of the visit is a family visit - that is the bigger risk by quite a margin. We know a lot more about Omicron and while I'm never going to advocate getting a potentially lethal respiratory disease, it tends to hit four groups - the elderly or frail, the unvaccinated (particularly if pregnant), men with a BMI over 40, those in less advantaged communities in terms of poverty, job security, education. You also need to consider the mental health issues, which I can see is the next unfortunate cauldron to be unleashed on our communities over the next few years, and having a break, holiday, seeing loved ones is a major component in wellbeing, and that can have a positive impact on immunity systems.

It's always going to be a personal decision, but personally I would go as planned, while maintaining sensible precautions.

mmxbreaks

Fly AA, they're militant about it.

guytp

In my experience there is still quite some difference depending on crew here. On a recent South America to MIA flight on J I had my mask off whilst drinking. Cabin crew came over to talk to me as I’m drinking to ask if I wanted anything else. I immediately went to put my mask on before replying to which her response was “oh you don’t need to worry about that up here hon, that announcement is just for the people behind the curtain”. I’d say yes they generally seem to have higher mask compliance but I’ve had a few flights in last three months where CC were clearly non-maskers themselves and had no intention of enforcing the policy, at least in J. Just a point to say you can’t guarantee compliance anywhere. Staff are all human too and all have differing views so each flight can be very different.

KSVVZ2015

Second comments to fly AA (or UA, can't speak to DL). Its night and day vs. BA. VS seems a bit more strict than BA but not as strict as a US carrier.

SxMan

Anyone this worried is going to have to keep their mask on for the entire duration of the flight – and not even relent to eat or drink because they will then be at potential risk.
probably those this frightened should not fly for the time being.

godfreyb

I live in SW Florida - the only people who wear masks down here are people who come from outside Florida. Suddenly in October when the snowbirds come down, suddenly half the people in the grocery stores show up wearing masks. If you want to go somewhere where people wear masks all the time, SW Florida is not the place to be!!!!

markle

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erik123

Not really as those on the plane will all be tested and mostly vaccinated. FL not so much. Make sure you have excellent travel insurance.

LondonElite

I can’t comment on mask policy onboard, but I am at our place in SW Florida at the moment (we had some interesting weather yesterday) and I can confirm that no one wears a mask, anywhere. That is a slight exaggeration, as some restaurant servers do, visitors from Canada have it drilled into them, and a few stragglers as well, but generally you cannot avoid unmasked people (for example in supermarkets, elevators, restaurants, stores, etc). Everyone shakes hands as well. Just giving you extra data points.

azepine00

If ppl in FL (or apparently on some BA flts) are not getting sick en masse any more than elsewhere shouldn't it give some food for thought to others? The place is populated by elderly retirees not some superhumans...