You will be a PRO in travelling during covid-19 after reading this post! Everything you really need to know! [See the websites for most recent updates!!!]
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UPDATE for US and Brazil 08.02.2021:
Need of covid-19 PCR (Brazil) or antigen test (US) to enter, even though you stayed two weeks in Mexico before (relevant just for US travelers).
For more updated information check the two websites below and click on your desired country!
UPDATE 09.11.2020: Open for travelling/tourism AND no covid-19 test and quarantine required.
Keep in mind that if one of these countries is considered a “risk country” you might need a negative test and/or quarantine in your home coutry until you got the results:
Mexico and Brazil (always been open and no test, UPDATE: Need a test for Brazil now!)
USA (See my tip down below if you want to travel to the US from Europa)
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Costa Rica
Tanzania
Croatia
Belarus
Ukraine
Hello Guys,
in this post I will show you how to minimize the risk from your flight cancelation in covid-19 times. I will show you the exact websites I use to check which countries are open (also for transit), going to open soon, requirements and restrictions! I will show you which international travel insurances include covid-19 coverage, and are less expensive than you think. I will show you where you can see how many days and if your are allowed to enter a specific country with your citizenship and your recent location!
As always in my posts use the table of content to navigate fast to the information you need! For example for insurances that cover covid-19!
IMPORTANT: Click here to get on overview and bookmark to see my all my (covid-19) travel resources I’m always using!!
Let’s dive right into it!
Flights and transit, onward Ticket and websites you need to Check in covid-19 times
Especially during my working holiday in Australia when the lock down happened I witnessed many flight cancellations. Many travelers and backpackers are still waiting for their money, if they get it back at all.
The problem was that many people didn’t know that even transit suddenly wasn’t possible anymore through the South-East Asia hubs like Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur assuming you want to go back to Europa from Australia.
The Airlines, agencies, flight search engines and any other intermediate didn’t want to miss out the “the last” profit taking and thus just didn’t notify on time. Furthermore from one day to the next you have different rules for different countries affecting your transit (stopover) and thus the airlines were forced to cancel all flights with transit/stopover.
Thereby to spare you this horrible scenario during this times always check the following websites before booking your flight to minimize the cancellation (I never had a cancelled flight):
Flight tracking and arrival/departure look-up
https://www.flightstats.com/v2
On flightstats you can check PREVIOUS and UPCOMING FLIGHTS (+-3 days) in the free version. You can see which airlines and flights actually landed (regularly) and if they are on-time or been canceled/gonna be canceled. Especially short term it’s very useful. Their are more websites like that but I found it more consumer friendly than the others.
If you want to book something a couple of weeks from now, the risk of cancellation if definitely higher. With that said for the longer term I recommend you to do the same + focus more on save hubs like Tokio (Haneda), Dubai, Doha, Mexico, Brasil, Atlanta etc. and other open countries for tourism/transit.
Use case example:
Check your flight on www.skyscanner.com or you preferred flight search engine. Select your flight and copy the flight number. Past it in https://www.flightstats.com/v2 and see the results!
Alternatively or to double check also review the official airport website of your destination/departure airport. Click on “arrivals” or “departure” to see a little bit of the flight history. You want to look for which airline flew regularly and safe without previous cancellation.
This makes sure that most probably your flight won’t get cancelled in the short term and you won’t have to wait to get refunded if you get it back at all!
With that said DON’T TRUST flight search engines alone!
Return Ticket
We love traveling and staying flexible during our travel, thus it’s very convenient to book a one way ticket. Unfortunately sometimes the airline and the immigration might ask you if you have an return ticket or an “onward” ticket as evidence that you can afford to leave the country and/or support yourself.
Especially during covid-19 times the airlines might ask you more frequently. As far as I know otherwise the airline which brought you in would be “responsible” for you in case you have some issues with money among other during your stay.
Personally I’ve been already asked for an onward at boarding/check-in before flying to Colombia, Malaysia, Bali and recently even Mexico.
Although not all airlines will ask you, I highly recommend to always have an onward ticket JUST IN CASE.
But no worries! You can “rent” an real onward ticket for as low as 10$ for 48 hours and will receive the confirmation in about 5-30 min. I can recommend you the following site:
https://www.toponwardticket.com/
It’s one of the cheapest in it’s niche and you can pay with Pay Pal if you want!
Alternatively you can book a flight with an American airline like DELTA, American Airlines etc. because they have 48h cancellation policy as far as I remember (book couple of weeks forward!).
Just put at “Departing Airport” for example Cancun (CUN) if you want an onward ticket for Mexico. For “Arrival airport” you just put an airport nearby like Fort Lauderdale in Miami (FLL).
There was a website were you could do it for free (Just put in your details), but it seems like it’s down now. Occasionally you can check if they are just on maintenance or really down:
UPDATE 08.02.2021
New website where you can make your own onward ticket for free!
Open Borders and Requirements for every country
Well, you might find a flight you want in www.momondo.com, www.skyscanner.com or www.kayak.com (in my opinion the best ones to look for cheap flights) but it’s a indirect flight with several stopovers (usually much cheaper than direct flights). So you know the probability is higher that your flights get cancelled during covid-19 times.
You check everything above for the flights + the following websites for further requirements latest and covid-19 travel restrictions.
For example some countries require a covid-19 PCR test to enter like Colombia (Stand: 4 March 2021), Guatemala, Belize but flights are generally available and it’s open for tourism. For another country you’ll need to fill out an online form where you get an QR-code like in Mexico. Other example to look for would be the status of transit (stopover) like in Singapur for connecting flights.
Following websites I recommend you to see regularly for covid-19 travel restrictions. Check all of them as everything changing fast during covid-19 and you want to check the most updated version. Just click on the country you want the information like in my “Home” page!
Quick covid-19 travel check. Nationality and current location to see requirements for any country!
Check the current entry status and requirements with this maps
!ATTENTION! Many flight search engines like Momondo.com and Kayak.com provide similar maps! BUT don’t trust them, We had a look for YOU and these are not updated at all. Use the ones BELOW
https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm
https://flattenthecurve.global/
EU Status and entry requirements:
https://reopen.europa.eu/en/map/ROU/5001
Passport Comparison
Passport comparison: See how powerful your passport is during covid.19 travel restrictions, if you can travel and how many days you are allowed to stay.
https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyPassport.php?p1=de
Bonus: How to travel the United States in covid-19 times?
Of course don’t forget to make or renew your ESTA or VISA beforehand and wait the result! And of course don’t forget you onward ticket!
Technically you don’t even need your ESTA if you enter to the States by land from Mexico! You just need ESTA if you want to enter by air.
UPDATE 4 March 2021: Need of PCR or antigen test to enter US (depending on airline, even you stayed 14 days in Mexico, Costa Rica etc.
Travel insurances with covid-19 coverage
Yes! To get peace of mind luckily their are some travel insurances that treat covid-19 as a “normal” disease and thus cover you for whatever is necessary that you survive 😉
In this post I summarized already the best travel insurances with covid-19 coverage, what else they cover and how much the costs are. Check it out now!
Thereby I will show you more of a quick summary for travel insurances that cover covid-19 and some requirements to get such a travel insurance.
The best: You can book all of them when you are on a trip already!
Heymondo – the personalized traveler
Opening link
>> Get Heymondo travel insurance*
BONUS: If you use my specific link you will get 5% off!
- Add what you need! Costs depends on your needs! Covid-19 coverage already included! No worries!
- Coverage also for non-medical issues like luggage, travel delay due to transport and trip cancellation. Perfect as a insurance package!
- Supreme Support!
- For almost all countries available
- Heymondo app for easy use!
- Even after your departure simply book ONLINE wherever you are!
- Suitable for extreme sports!
Conclusion
Heymondo travel insurance is perfect for rookie travelers and backpackers who wants full protection with medical and non-medical services. Of course covid-19 coverage included!
SavetyWing – The flexible nomad and my choice
Opening link
>> Get SafetyWing Worldwide Insurance*
- Costs from 40$/28 days already with Covid-19 coverage!!!! (It treats covid-19 like any other disease!)
- For almost all countries available
- Upgrade for USA and Cuba possible (for non US-citizens)!
- Even after your departure simply book ONLINE wherever you are!
- Advanced payment in case of serious illness/injury possible!
- Can be cancelled at any time (payed month still valid of course)
- Bookable for short stays (from 5 days)
- Upgrade to International Health Insurance available (Coming soon)
- Deductible $250 per year (everything above will be refunded).
- Not suitable for extreme sports!
- Valid in your home country up to 1 month if you fulfill certain conditions! (don’t overstay)
- No disadvantages worth mentioning since it can be cancelled at any time if basics are not enough for you.
Questions? Let me know in the comment section down below!
Disclaimer:
All information you get here is absolutely free and costs you the same if you use it elsewhere. If you use my affiliate link (marked with *) I get a small commission.
With this commission you support the blog of Clueless Travel, and ensure that high quality content will continue to be provided for you!
Furthermore, everything changes very fast nowadays. I am not responsible for sudden changes. Nevertheless I try to keep you up-to-date!
So if you want to support my blog Clueless Travel, just use my affiliate link 🙂
If you have any questions, feedback or criticism, feel free to post a comment below and I will get back to you!
Happy travels and see you soon!
Eduard from Clueless Travel
Great reading, many good tips and tricks.
Thank you for summarizing this, you saved me many hours!
no, thank you!