11/01/2021   English German

  Edition # 140  
San Francisco, 11-01-2021


Figure [1]: A completely empty flight from San Francisco to Munich.

MichaelSince we have had the dubious pleasure of flying back and forth between the US and Germany several times in the last few months, I wanted to quickly explain what bureaucratic hurdles have to be overcome nowadays due to Corona.

Anyone flying from the US to Germany currently must present an immunization certificate to the airline before departure. Additionally, German customs requires registration einreiseanmeldung.de. The traveler must present a printed document upon entry. During the 10-12 hour flight, the traveler must wear a mask the entire time. Medical masks are allowed, and some airlines even allow cloth masks. The mask can be removed while eating or drinking. Different airlines enforce this differently, Lufthansa is very strict while United is more lax.

In the opposite direction, from Germany to the USA, the Americans require the airlines to have passengers carry a printed or photographed copy of a negative result from a Corona rapid test on their phone, no older than three days. The time does not matter, so if the test was taken on Monday morning at nine o'clock, one can still fly on Thursday evening with it. The test can be booked relatively easily at pharmacies and test centers in Germany and is usually the only patient -- since the test costs real money, practically nobody does it in Germany anymore.

Figure [2]: Flying in times of Corona requires nerves of steel.

At German airports, there have been sporadic gate changes and hours of delays lately due to additional security checks, because passengers can't reach their gate on time. At Munich Airport, passengers going to San Francisco recently had to wait in line for over an hour before they were allowed to the gate to the USA. So it's important to stay calm. If the other people in the line are also on the same flight, the pilot will wait until everyone is on board, no matter how late it gets.

Figure [3]: Depending on the flight time, good deals can be found under certain circumstances.

Partially the flights are almost empty. I was recently on a Lufthansa flight with maybe 50 passengers, and that in an Airbus 350-900, which holds 350 people. With fuller flights, Premium Economy and Business are sometimes practically fully booked, while budget airlines in Economy can stretch out over three rows, and even passengers from the more expensive areas can scurry to the back to get some sleep lying down in completely empty rows. But that doesn't always work, it really depends on how realistic the flight lands at the destination. If no normal person (who cares about wasted vacation days or business meetings) would book such a flight, then the chances are high to land a super deal with a seat in the wooden class. With the easing of travel restrictions and the start of the holidays in Germany, the flights will soon be fully booked again. Good luck anyway!

RSS Feed
Mailing Liste
Impressum
Mike Schilli Monologues


Get announcements for new editions

New editions of this publication appear in somewhat random intervals. To receive a brief note when they're available in your mailbox (about once every two months on average), you can register your email on the 'usarundbrief' Google Groups list.

Your email address



All Editions:
2025 158
2024 153 154 155 156 157
2023 148 149 150 151 152
2022 143 144 145 146 147
2021 138 139 140 141 142
2020 133 134 135 136 137
2019 129 130 131 132
2018 125 126 127 128
2017 120 121 122 123 124
2016 115 116 117 118 119
2015 111 112 113 114
2014 106 107 108 109 110
2013 101 102 103 104 105
2012 96 97 98 99 100
2011 91 92 93 94 95
2010 85 86 87 88 89 90
2009 79 80 81 82 83 84
2008 73 74 75 76 77 78
2007 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
2006 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
2005 54 55 56 57 58
2004 49 50 51 52 53
2003 43 44 45 46 47 48
2002 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
2001 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
2000 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
1999 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
1998 7 8 9 10 11 12
1997 1 2 3 4 5 6
1996 0

 

Send us a comment
We'd like to hear from you, please send us feedback if you want to comment on the content or have suggestions for future topics.

Simply write your your message into the text box below. If you'd like a response from us, please also leave your email. If you want to stay anonymous, simply put 'anonymous' into the email field. This way we'll get the message, but we have no way to respond to you.

Your email address


Message

 
Contact the authors
Latest update: 25-Oct-2024