Traveling to India during COVID-19 -

Traveling to India during the pandemic

November, 2020

Back in March when the pandemic started to change our lives, my family was all set to visit Seattle. Of course that plan got cancelled. Ever since then I had been convincing myself to wait till things get ‘better’ until I realized that ‘better’ is too far away.

Everyone around me has been processing 2020 differently and I admit to having a peanut sized emotional strength. For the sake of my sanity, I had to come home and that meant traveling from one worst impacted country to another. Here’s an account of the experience.

Book your flights

With the ever changing restrictions on international travel, it is super important to be mindful of your layovers while booking the tickets. I chose to fly with United Airlines as all layovers were within the US.

Other useful tips –

Make sure your layovers are short so that you do not have to spend too much time at the airport.
Consider flying on weekdays. None of my domestic flights were full as I travelled on Thursday.
Now is not the time to DIY your itinerary. Make sure you book all your connecting flights with a single operator so that there is no need to re-checkin the luggage and go through the security check multiple times.
United Airlines like many others offer free rescheduling and cancelling. This is a must.

Get yourself tested

Even if getting tested is not mandatory for your destination, to ensure that you do not harm the health of people who come in contact with you, you must get yourself tested. Also, you must self isolate for at least a week or more before getting tested as the incubation period for the virus can be upto 14 days (median of 5-6 days).

To travel to Delhi you need a negative COVID RT-PCR test. A rapid test or anything else wont work. Requirements may differ for other international airports or even for Delhi airport as the pandemic evolves so make sure you check the updated information on their website.

Getting tested in Seattle was fairly easy. I could book a time slot for my test online and also expect a result within 72 hours. There are drive-thru options available too which need not be pre-booked. However, the availability and ease of getting tested is changing as the pandemic continues to grow. I had to wait for almost an hour for the pre-booked test.

Major pharmacies and private labs also offer testing and you may even have an option to get the results sooner if you pay more.

Fill in the forms

Again, this is something which will vary depending upon the destination airport so make sure you check their website. For Delhi, you need to fill in the self declaration form and an exemption form in order to skip 7 days mandatory institutional quarantine.

Self Declaration Form – This needs to be filled before landing at the New Delhi airport. Ideally you can fill it online and a copy will be emailed to you. You can also fill in a hard copy which is distributed by the airline. This will include the address of your source and destination along with the flight details.

Exemption Form – International passengers have to go through a mandatory institutional quarantine of 7 days unless they have an exemption. An exemption is granted for 5 categories – a) Pregnancy b) Death in the family c) Serious illness (details needed) d) Parents of children under 10 years e) A negative RT-PCR test.

The last one is tricky. The Delhi airport website mentions that the form should be filled at least 72 hours prior to boarding. It also requires the details of the COVID test which needs to be taken within 72 hours of boarding. Both these requirements do not add up :/. I got my test done 71 hours before the flight and immediately filled the exemption form with the test details. My exemption was rejected and the reason was stated as unavailable COVID results. I got my results in a day and resubmitted the exemption. This time my exemption request was approved and I was notified of the same over an email. The other fallback option would have been to carry the negative test report with me and filling for an exemption at the airport. You can also get yourself tested at the airport and the result can be expected within 6-8 hours after which you won’t have to go through the institutional quarantine. I would definitely suggest that you get tested before boarding for the safety of your co-passengers.

Note – If you are exempted due to reasons other than a negative COVID test, you are still expected to quarantine. You are not allowed to use public transport. So in case you plan to take a domestic flight or bus, you must carry a negative COVID test. This mandate is poorly enforced. When I was boarding my domestic flight in India, no one checked my travel history. Again, for the safety of your co-passengers, get the test done even if the process of verifying the result is flawed.

My itinerary

A domestic flight from Seattle to Denver
Another domestic flight from Denver to Newark
An international flight from Newark to New Delhi
Cab from New Delhi airport to a hotel
Another cab from the hotel back to the airport
A domestic flight from New Delhi to Kangra

US domestic airports

The number of cases in the US are at an all time high and I was very scared about this leg of my travel. I think traveling on a weekday helped as all three airports that I crossed – Seattle, Denver and Newark were not crowded. People were respectful of the distance and almost everyone wore masks the way they should be worn.

While boarding the aircraft all passengers were given a sanitizing wet wipe. Both domestic flights were about 65-75% occupied.

US to India flight

This 14 hour flight from Newark to New Delhi was completely booked. This was expected as the number of international flights have decreased and people from all over the US have just a handful of flights to travel to India. My advice would be to avoid drinking fluids so that you don’t have to use the restroom (Yes it sucks but we are living through a pandemic so it’s okay :/). On a positive note – most of the people on this flight would be carrying a COVID negative test, everyone is wearing masks and the food is not bad. That reminds me, everyone eats as soon as the food is served which means everyone has their masks off at the same time..so pro tip – Eat when people around you are not eating.

Delhi airport (arrivals)

And the chaos begins!! Maybe this was due to the rush around the time I landed and it’s not always the same but there were too many people, social distancing is on the discretion of the folks around you and the wait times were high. The government has put in place some rules and requirements but probably they have not had the time to automate the process. So it is the responsibility of the people involved to follow the rules.

It took me about 2 hours to get outside the airport. Immigration took only 5 mins, most of the time was spent waiting in the queue for getting through the exemption. It took this long when I had an approved exemption request. I can only imagine it being worse if you plan to get tested at the airport, so again, get yourself tested before flying.

Cab and Hotel in Delhi

After getting through the immigration, I had about 8 hours before my next flight. My original plan was to wait at the airport lounge but the crowded airport made me anxious so I decided to rest at a hotel nearby. If you have a long layover, you MUST book your hotel in advance.

While going to the hotel I took a Meru cab which had a plastic shield separating the driver and the passengers. On my way back to the airport I took an Uber which did not have any such shield and the driver like many others at the airport and the hotel lobby, wore a mask but on his chin :/.

I stayed at the Radisson Blu Plaza which is about 3 kms from the airport. My luggage was sanitized before I entered and the rooms were also sanitized. Spending the layover here was a great decision. After traveling continuously for more than 24 hours, it felt amazing to take off the mask and shower!!

Delhi airport (departures)

If I end up testing positive, the odds are I picked up the virus here. It was just another morning at the Delhi airport, with long queues everywhere.

I should not have booked an early morning flight. There was absolutely no social distancing. None. So I took the liberty to ask people to step back. That ended with some early morning unpleasant conversations but I am sure you should do the same.

It is mandatory to check-in online and have your boarding pass printed. You also have to print the luggage tag and paste it on your bags if you have check-in luggage. I was flying with SpiceJet and they charge Rs 100 if you have not checked-in online.

The volume that New Delhi airport handles is high, more so as only the T3 terminal is being used. Have your masks, face shield, sanitizer, etc handy and feel free to ask people to step away if you feel appropriate distance is not being maintained. It took me 2 hours to drop my luggage and go through the security check.

The flight to Kangra was around 50% occupied on a Saturday morning and the airport was deserted. Perfect.

What next ?

It is a common misconception that testing negative after traveling is enough. The virus has an incubation time of upto 14 days with a median of 5-6 days. You must isolate yourself after traveling.

I will be getting myself tested sometime next week and till then my focus is all the home cooked food that literally shows up at my door every few hours. What a bliss after the year that 2020 has been :).

I hope someone reading this blog reunites with their family soon. Take care !!