Dubai to Tampa, 14 May 2020
Travel from Dubai to US May 14, 2020. Last
Thursday my husband Bruce and I departed the DXB to return Stateside for the
summer break. I am a college professor at American University of Sharjah, and
my exams, grading, etc. were done by May 12. Here is what I hope will answer
many questions raised on this platform and others re travel during these difficult times.
A) We did not know we could get out until Saturday, May 9, 5 days before departure.
My husband, a furloughed US-based engineer, made spread sheet after spread
sheet detailing all the possible flight options to get us to our eventual New
Port Richey (TPA), Florida, home. You are already aware that flight options
are/were changing rapidly out of DXB. We did not want to fly out of AUH (which did offer a couple of direct US flights) because
getting there is difficult, and for our return we didn’t want to have to deal
with that. That forced us to fly out through DXB, so nothing else was considered,
and Emirates at that time was offering no direct US-bound flights. We knew we would have to
go through London or Frankfurt, so several spreadsheets were done to compare
those options. LHR won, but our US flight would depart 3 hours EARLIER than our
DXB flight arrived! This presented us with the reality of finding a place to
spend the night at Heathrow. We had heard that LHR will not allow anyone to
sleep in the terminal during these times, so finding a hotel was crucial. Therefore,
THAT IS THE VERY FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO! Reserve a room, which you can
cancel should your flight options change. We encountered some “difficulties,”
in that the first available room (calling on Friday, May 8) was on Tuesday, May
19. Wow! We thought it would be easier. As Bruce was on the phone, an opening
came up for May 17. So we booked that room, and were told that cancellations
occur all the time and we should call back in the morning. That is exactly what
happened: we were now told a room was available on Thursday, May 14, and we
booked it because we knew Emirates had a flight to LHR that day. We didn’t know
if we could book the flight, but at least we had a hotel!
B) Hotels in LHR: you call either Ibis or Novotel—they are
cooperating in their bookings, so if one is full they can book you in either. This
was our first booking for May 17, at Novotel. Ibis Styles is not a part of
this, but the agent suggested there might be availability over there, so Bruce
called them separately. And they were booked, but told us to call back Saturday
morning, which we did and got the May 14 room. You begin to see what a house of
cards this is! That’s why you should book the hotel FIRST. Phones:
IBIS Hotel +44 208-759-4888
C) We then went to the Emirates website which surprisingly allowed us to
book the entire DXB- LHR-DXB return for May 14-August 22. We did not have to
call Emirates, it allowed us to book AND select seats online, contrary to what
we’d been hearing. We were surprised and expected to be seated elsewhere once
we arrived; but we did end up with the actual seats we booked. We are only two
traveling, and we booked the two end seats in the middle configuration 3-4-3.
There were families traveling together, and they were seated across the entire
4-seat center section, or 3 seats together, etc., but people were spread out
otherwise. However, there were people seated directly in front of and behind
each other. For instance, I had people in both the rows above and behind me, which
I found odd considering there was about 1 m. between us, not 2.
D) Upon arrival at DXB (we took a taxi, easy and very well-segregated
from the driver by a plastic curtain) and found NO luggage trolleys were in
sight; my husband went inside and found a random one someone had jettisoned. After
walking through the airport doors, we were asked to stop 2 m. apart and we must
have walked through some sort of thermal sensor—not like through a regular door-like
contraption. I have no idea how our temps were measured, but someone was
checking a computer screen, and passed first my husband forward and then me.
That was the ONLY MEDICAL INTERVENTION in the entire process, and it was almost
unnoticeable. I expected swabbing, possibly a blood test—NONE of this happened.
Everything else was pretty “normal,” in that we went through check-in, immigration,
then security; very post-apocalyptic, since so few people were around. We were
the only departing plane that morning. By the way, Costa Coffee was open as we
entered the B gate area, which was very welcome! Nothing else was open. We checked
our luggage per normal, as in, the class of travel (Economy Flex) was the
baggage limit we were allowed. Also, we each carried a backpack, and it was not
weighed.
E) We boarded the
plane, took our seats, with masks on the entire time, through the airport, on
the plane, on arrival at LHR, all the way to our rooms in the Ibis Styles, to
total about 12 hours all told. The Ibis Styles had food on premises, but you
had to order it and then carry it up to your room to eat. We decided to walk
around a bit and found a grocery with Indian carry-out which we bought for
dinner. The store was about a long block down the Sipson Road. We also bought a
screw-top, much-needed bottle of wine! Their Indian curries were fantastic, and
the two men who were working were very friendly. Highly recommended over the
hotel food for adults—unfortunately, there wasn’t anything there that would be “kid-friendly”
in the hot case; kids would have to do with pre-packaged convenience items. In
fact, the hotel food might be a better bet for kids. Sovereign Food & Wine,
625 Sipson Rd., Sipson, West Drayton. You can Google map it.
F) The next morning, we had a typical continental breakfast
at the hotel. Very strange, but it was buffet-style, albeit the foods were in
containers, and we could only eat it in our rooms, which we did. But it was
good. They had baguettes with luncheon meats and cheese, cold cereal/milk,
juices, etc., so I made a sandwich and took half with me to the airport.
G) We took the reverse free bus trip back to LHR. We were
booked on American Airlines to DFW, with a 2-hour layover before our final
flight to TPA. We wore our masks the entire trip, on the bus, through the
airport, on the plane, through customs at DFW, etc. The only time we took them
off was to eat/drink on the plane. We did not wear gloves except at DXB as we
arrived and through check-in. We had them handy though in case we needed them.
We also had extra masks. All the entertainment options were up and running for
both Emirates and American, so that was nice. The food was pre-packaged, all the
drinks on Emirates were bottled—no hot coffee/tea served in open cups. We
carried our own food on board both flights with no issues at all, but it really
wasn’t necessary.
H) We were incredibly surprised at the difference between
UAE-European and US attitudes towards personal protection, etc. It is VERY
relaxed in the States, which you might expect, and after the near-total
lockdown we’d been involved with in the UAE, frankly a little scary. Masks are
required on the planes, but not in the DFW airport, like they were in both DXB
and LHR.
I) Upon arrival at DFW we were deplaned in groups of 10
passengers. Everyone else waited on the plane until the attendants counted us
off. We then handed a health declaration form to a US medical person; we had
been given the form in London when we checked in and told to fill it out before
arrival. It was just like a customs form but asked questions about which
country you were coming from, did you have a fever or a cough, and that was
pretty much it. In return we were handed two flyers about self-isolating for 2
weeks, we were supposed to check our temperatures morning and night and record
the temps during these 2 weeks. However, no free thermometer was given out,
which to me means they don’t really expect high compliance! Every state is
different as to its quarantine standards anyway. This was the only thing we
received from the federal government. You are expected to know what the
requirements are for whichever state you travel to, I suppose. We are here in FL
but need to travel to our other home in Alaska in early June. Florida seems to
have very loose isolation requirements, but we already know that Alaska will
require the 2-week self-isolation, stay-home-except-for-necessities rule currently
in effect there through June 2. Things change rapidly everywhere, so be
informed and stay safe!
I must admit, I felt much safer in the UAE, but also am
self-protecting here. We went to the grocery the day after we arrived out of
sheer necessity and we wore masks, but most shoppers were not. All the workers
were, but hardly any shoppers. My husband has US-based health insurance through
his work, but I do not; I have Al Buhaira top-of-the-line health insurance in
the UAE, and they have always reimbursed small US medical things like a sinus
infection doctor’s visit and drugs before; if I had to guess, I would say they
would probably deny any expenses I incurred while here if I got coronavirus. There
is no safe place anymore, and you need to make the decision that will best suit
you and your family. Will they let me back in the country in August when Fall
2020 semester begins? I don’t know, but since I am over 60 and have been forbidden
since May 6 to go to a mall or store in the UAE, I can’t say as I really care
at this point. It’s an untenable situation, to be there, or to be here. My
choice was to choose what my heart desired. We have a grandson to visit, and
properties to take care of here. We DO have a return ticket through LHR again, and perhaps
the Tawjudi registration thing won’t be required after July 1, which is when I’ve
heard they are reopening regular flights to some extent. I will simply face
whatever happens when the time comes! Good luck and stay well.
Sherri Moore Weiler
You can PM me on Facebook or here for any clarification/questions.
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