As we head into the summer months, many people may be thinking of escaping the indoors and traveling across Maryland and beyond.
While some may have already altered their plans, some are choosing to go about their trips with no changes. When we reached out to our viewers, it was a bit of a mixed bag.
Some say they don't plan on traveling at all, while others say they plan on traveling as they did pre-pandemic.
On Twitter, we asked the same question, and nearly three quarters of our audience said that they would not be traveling.
Do you plan on traveling this summer? If yes, do you plan on taking any different precautions because of COVID-19?
— WMAR-2 News (@WMAR2News) May 13, 2021
Nevertheless, if you plan on traveling this summer, or at any point this year, here are some tips for when you book that vacation.
Making sure you are aware of any COVID restrictions in the area you will be staying is extremely important, but another tip that AAA is advising is to think about taking out travel insurance.
For example, in some regions, you may need to show a negative COVID test before entry, and what happens if you don't get your results back in time? These are things that could possibly alter your trip unexpectedly.
"Now more than ever, if you're working with a travel adviser, perhaps take an interest in purchasing that travel insurance, particularly the kind that allows you to cancel for any reason," explained Ragina Ali with AAA. "It’s the more expensive of the travel insurances but it’s the one that will insure that you get your money back."
There are other travel insurances you can purchase as well where you can get a credit, a future credit, so if you know you’re going to travel eventually, that’s certainly a great option as well and not quite as pricey as the cancel for any reason insurance
AAA also advises that if you're traveling with people, probably the safest way to do that on a plane would be to wait for everybody else to have their food or drink, have their masks off, then when they put their masks back on, take yours off and then take a sip of your soda or your cocktail, or eat your sandwich.
And for trips on things like cruises or resorts?
"We definitely know they’re not going to have the all you can eat buffets, that’s done. So same is true with a lot of these all inclusive resorts, you can’t serve yourself, they’re going to serve you, but if you do the private dining options, you need to work with your concierge and make those reservations pretty much as soon as you land," explained Ali.
All in all, when planning for your trips, it's imperative that you make sure you have everything ready on your checklist.
Make sure you know exactly what the guidelines and requirements are as it relates to indoor dining, outdoor dining and other mask regulations, so that you're not blindsided when you pull up to the resort, or land at your destination.
