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<p>I just flew to DC and back for the World Science Fiction
convention, and at least American was not allowing any masks with
ports on them.<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/26/21 12:19 PM, Kurt Keville
wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">Unbelievable. I am so sorry for you. I will ask a
guy I know about these rebreather masks that he bought for air
travel. Much more comfortable but I am not sure the airlines
recognize them.
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<div>We'll make 22 a good start for you, Shankar. Brian, want to
start a computer company? Get Bill Buck involved? We would
have to move to Texas but I want to do that anyhow. :) Be
close to AMD...</div>
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<br>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Dec 26, 2021 at 11:55
AM Shankar Viswanathan <<a
href="mailto:shankar.viswan@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">shankar.viswan@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
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<div> On 12/14/21 17:01, Bill Ricker wrote:<br>
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<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:georgia,serif">Safe Travels,
Shankar!</div>
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<br>
Thanks everyone! It was a really hectic trip, but everything
worked out well. I was able to spend time with family that
I've only seen on video for the past 2.5 years. <br>
<br>
The travel though was really brutal. My itinerary was
non-optimal due to the last minute nature of my flight
booking. This caused a lot of headaches due to various COVID
requirements of every transit airport along the way. On the
way back, the US changed the requirements of a negative test
from within 72 hours before departure to 24 hours before
departure - later amended to day before departure (to
account for flights that may be leaving late evening). But
my flight was at 2:30am and nobody could tell me if a sample
from day X-2 would be acceptable where X was the actual date
on my ticket (nobody would guarantee results under 24
hours). It was also not clear if a rapid test would be
sufficient since my first layover point (Dubai) required
results from a full RT-PCR test. They also required testing
from one of the approved labs - which I can understand as
there could be rampant cheating otherwise. But the nearest
approved facility was 75 miles from where I was - and it was
an absolute nightmare to get to in torrential monsoon rains
and flooded streets.<br>
<br>
In addition, since I had a 10+ hour layover at Dubai, they
would not consider me a "transit" passenger - which meant I
had to also meet the requirements of the UAE government as
someone "entering" the UAE. This required getting another
test at the airport 6 hours before departure - they won't
even let you into the terminal building till you show a
negative result from that test. So I had to get to the
airport 6+ hours before my flight and wait outside in the
parking lot till they emailed me the results 2.5 hours
before departure (going back home after submitting the
sample wasn't an option since home is 2 hours from the
airport).<br>
<br>
The worst part is that interpreting the various rules is
left to the person at the airline checkin counter - my
situation required speaking to their supervisor's supervisor
and begging them to let me on the flight as there was no way
I could satisfy all the rules given my long layover. In
addition, the could not verify the result from the QR code
on my result - the URL in the QR code did not work because
the website appeared to be down for maintenance at that
early hour. I was allowed to board only after I agreed to
taking another rapid COVID test at the next hop - for which
I had to pay the equivalent of $50 (they didn't issue me the
boarding pass for my final leg till I got that result and I
just barely made the flight).<br>
<br>
The second worst part was wearing KN95 masks for 42 hours
straight - I used a fresh one approx. every 8 hours. Only
break was while eating/drinking at the airports or the
flight. Except one leg, the flights were relatively empty so
I didn't have to worry too much about someone on the next
seat being unmasked at the same time I was eating. I
breathed properly only once I got home - and it was a big
sigh of relief after the COVID test I took 3 days after my
return came out negative (I had to wait an hour in freezing
cold in Cambridge to get the test).<br>
<br>
So, I highly recommend avoiding international flights unless
absolutely essential. Also, try to get the most direct
flight possible - fewer (and shorter) layovers the better.<br>
<br>
-Shankar<br>
<br>
<br>
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