76 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 2021
TIPS FOR TRAVELERS IN THE AGE OF COVID
TRAVELING IS COMING BACK — WITH MORE HASSLES
BY BOB NESOFF
Travel, especially international travel,
has been in the dumps for going on two
years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some things are slowly beginning to
return to a modicum of normalcy…some.
For example, for years a trip to Israel
with stops at the top of Masada and the
Holocaust victims memorial at Yad
Vashem has been high on my bucket
list. I’ve taken every step to make the
travel jumble more tolerable. I have
TSA PreCheck, which is supposed to
ease the movement through security,
and a Global Entry card issued by the
federal government.
The latter, which uses biometrics of your
handprint when you return from overseas
to move you around immigration
lines and speed you through, costs $100;
TSA PreCheck costs $85. Check with
your credit card company as some will
reimburse the fee charged on the card.
The newest method, and arguably the
fastest for getting through the long
lines, is Clear, which costs $179 to join.
That’s an annual fee, reimbursed by
only a handful of credit cards.
But understanding Clear can be more
of a pain than other methods. I paid my
fee and received a welcoming receipt.
And that was it. Is there a need for an
ID card? Do you have to appear before
an agent as is necessary with Global
Entry? Do you just go to the airport
and pray?
It took more than two days of navigating
the Clear website before reaching a real
live person. It took her less than a minute
to provide very simple answers: Go
to a designated airport (you can check
which ones accept enrollments), enroll
in just a few minutes, and then you can
proceed.
That was only one of the hassles. The
trip to Israel almost became a bureaucratic
nightmare. The trip was made
through a travel agency (or something
of the sort). Despite paying the agency
more than $5,000, which it gladly
accepted, it was impossible to get an
answer. The packager kept responding
that it was not a travel agent. Yet its
web page listed it along with the tour
operator.
There are serious questions about
entry to Israel in the age of Covid. I
had to provide, among other things,
a medical policy that covered me in
the event I contracted the virus while
in Israel — even though my arms had
suff ered the discomfort of two basic
shots and a booster. (How about that,
Dr. Fauci?) The form is obtained online
and fi led the same way.
Unfortunately, I accidentally uploaded
the wrong medical coverage and was
refused entry. What to do? We attempted
to reaccess the form, but it would
not allow that for 14 days. The Israeli
consulate failed to return a number
of calls and I fi nally sent a certifi ed
return-receipt letter to the consulate
with the information. I’m still waiting
for a response. I had assignments to
conduct several interviews while in
the country. There has been no response
to those requests either.
I’ve been assured that it will all work
out in the end. I’m not so sure, but it
does prove the worth of the travel insurance
policy we bought. Stay tuned
and the end of the story will appear if
and when the trip is accomplished or
a trip to Lake George is undertaken
instead.
The bottom line here is, before any
trip, especially one out of the country,
check out all the requirements and
follow them “to a T.” China is notorious
for being a stickler for detail. That
being said, a trip to China a while back
was accomplished with no problem
because I read and reread every detail
of every requirement and took every
necessary step.
In fairness to the traveler, those entities
who want your business could be a
bit more forthcoming and helpful. Instead
of throwing roadblocks in your
path, they could return a phone call
or have all the necessary information
online or provided in an easy phone
call. Those should be the fi rst steps to
an unforgettable trip.
PRESS
Before any trip, especially one out of the country, check out all the requirements and follow them “to a T.” (Getty Images)
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