2020 showed us the new face of travel. There are restrictions, both for international and domestic travel. Some things that we love are going away forever. We took a lot for granted before 2020. Is there anything positive that can come out of this?

Face Masks

Face masks, face masks, face masks. The new face of travel. Get it? This is something that we’re going to have to get used to, especially as we start non-essential travel. This has already started in many countries in Europe.

I enjoy taking very long flights and I can’t imagine keeping a mask on for all that time. Ethiad Airways has come up with a face covering for business and first-class that doubles as a scarf. But it seems that it’s more for fashion and won’t really protect against the Corona-virus. Although I do like that they branded it with their name.

Seat Back Magazines

Seat back paper magazines. This isn’t important to everyone. But I have loved looking at the magazines behind the seat from the first time I boarded an airplane as a child. I would love to look at all the crazy products in the SkyMall catalog. Looking at all the duty-free catalogs, with items I was never going to buy, was a nice way to pass the time on a long flight.

Those items can unfortunately spread germs and viruses.  That’s why they’ve been removed from flights. And with the the production costs and other factors, they’re probably not coming back once all of this is over. It gets worse.

Meal Service

Meal service on airlines is either amazing or downright awful. Since the virus, things are definitely different. Many articles I’ve read talk about how there is such a limited amount of food and service in all the classes. I understand they want to reduce contact between flight attendants and passengers.

Unfortunately airlines are going to use this as an excuse to permanently cut costs. They just love to do that. Let’s hope they still give decent food in economy on long-haul flights. That’s the most we can hope for.

Cleaner Planes

The one bright side of all of this whole thing is the condition of the planes. We all know planes are disgusting. Planes go from destination to destination, with minimal cleaning.

With a virus there have been changes.  They have to worry about people catching the virus on the airplane. They’re thinking of lawsuits. If anything that should mean the planes are slightly cleaner. They can’t be any dirtier right? 

This is the new face of travel. There will be negatives. Though there is always a silver lining.