Plum Island Holidays

COVID-19 has changed how we travel, but it hasn't put the brakes on our enthusiasm for exploring. Here are a few tips on how to tackle travel's new challenges:

• Understand the rules and restrictions in both your destination and origin. It may not be possible to travel depending on local circumstances, so be sure to check government advisories before booking.
• Keep your face mask on during airport screening. A TSA employee will ask you to adjust your mask for ID purposes.
• Instead of handing a TSA officer your boarding pass, place it straight on the scanner yourself. Then, hold it up for inspection.
• You are now allowed to take one container of hand sanitizer up to 12 oz (350 ml) in your carry-on baggage. This will need to be removed for screening.
• Put any personal items (e.g, keys, phone and coins) in your carry-on instead of a bin to reduce handling during the screening process.
• If you're planning to take food through the security checkpoint, place it in a clear plastic bag and then into a scanning bin. This reduces the likelihood that a TSA employee will need to handle your food container or carry-on bag for closer inspection.

Hop on a flight to Plum Island and you'll have several main airports to take your pick of. Below are three of the region's busiest:

• John F. Kennedy Intl. Airport (JFK) - 13452 flights per month.
• Liberty Intl. Airport (EWR) - 12553 flights per month.
• LaGuardia Airport (LGA) - 7800 flights per month.

To help limit contact between passengers and aircrew during the COVID-19 outbreak, airlines have taken social distancing and other strategies to the skies. A good example of these are:

• Delta - this airline is known for electrostatic cleaning and cleaning with disinfectant.
• United Airlines - this airline is known for providing passenger masks and cleaning with disinfectant.
• JetBlue - this airline is known for keeping the middle seat empty and capped capacity flights.