If you have to cancel you may have 2 cancellation fees or have to take credit on 2 different airlines.
This is exactly my issue. I don’t want to wear a mask for 10-15 hours through airports and planes. And then wear a mask all day while in museums or on public transport etc. I’ve traveled extensively and will again and frankly would rather do a road trip than deal with all that.
So I’m certain I will end up canceling our rescheduled Asia trip in July lol.
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It’s interesting to me that the assumption is that we will be required and/or feel the need to mask semi-indefinitely on planes etc. When do people think that mask mandates will change to it being a personal choice if you feel the need to protect yourself? (We have a test case coming up when California’s mask mandate expires in mid Feb)
And would you prefer to travel to say Europe, if they get rid of mandated masking (the UK already has) or avoid it because of the perceived incremental risk?
I’m still hoping Omicron puts an end (as much of an end as we’re going to get) to Covid due to how many it infects combined with vaxxes, and as it leaves, life will return to normal.
Call me an optimist, but that’s what I’m hoping for. How long? Two - three months?
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I think we will know by September.
I would prefer to be mask by choice at this point. But that is just me. I think those places requiring masks outdoors are definately overkill. I live in a state where most people are not wearing masks (no mandate). When things were/are bad I tended to mask up myself and when things are better no so. Now that I had omicron I am not wearing masks unless required for now, unless you can get the new B2 version even if you had B1.
I am holding off very long trips because I dont want to mask up for 7+ hours , but I am beginning to think we might never get to fly without masks again. 
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Given mask wearing has become so politicized, I’m expecting that the rules will change depending whether mandates (or their abolition) are perceived to offer a political advantage or liability to the party in power. So I very much doubt the mandates will stay in place indefinitely.
I expect the next trough will occur in April. Unless a new variant emerges to change things I think the pressure to declare the pandemic over will become overwhelming by Memorial Day. It was similar last year when the trough was in May-June and the announcements came around the July 4th holiday. People want to enjoy themselves on bank holidays and politicians respond to that if they can.
I wish politics weren’t involved. There’s no reason for it to be. I love areas where it isn’t.
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I don’t think masks will be worn forever but I think they still will be this summer. That’s why I want to wait a year. My son in France says they’re wearing masks most of the time at this point.
Definitely going to Europe this summer (went last summer too).
Covid is here forever, all counties are coming to that realization.
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I think they will be gone by March. Feb 1 Denmark lifting all restrictions… UK too. Remaining counties will follow.
Except on planes… I think those will be there for a while.
I think FAA will probably sustain the mask mandate throughout 2022. I’m not sure how that affects travel outside of US airspace. For our particular trip (Japan) I assume rules will be stricter. And yes I’d do Europe instead if masks weren’t so ubiquitous as they will continue to be in Japan. And I’m someone who is probably an 8/10 in terms of caution so I’m really thinking about outdoor masking. Haven’t been around anyone maskless in about 6 weeks. But I think at this point I want a vacation that has a lot of outdoor activities that I feel safe not masking (and not required to). And I’d rather postpone than not enjoy my time thoroughly. I’m glad we have family in amazing destinations to visit with plenty of fun outdoor activities and restaurants.
My family has traveled a fair bit, domestically and internationally, since the pandemic started. I’m on a trip now and have several more planned for this year. Masking has not hampered our enjoyment one bit. Covid isn’t going anywhere. But life is fragile and unpredictable. I refuse to push off for tomorrow what I can do today due to small inconveniences, as tomorrow may never come.
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That’s how we see masks too. Might help, can’t hurt, and no big deal.
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I don’t mind waiting a year if it means I can avoid having my glasses fog up when I’m sightseeing. If things don’t improve by 2023, we will just go. Besides, this summer I’m looking forward to spending 10 days at our mountain cabin. I won’t be missing out on fun. 
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@MIP750 when is your trip to Japan? You may know this, but for the sake of sharing travel info - Japan is on very strict lockdown right now. My brother’s wife is a Japanese citizen and he now has a special visa that allows entry for the purpose of providing care to the family (her parents.) Non-citizens are not being allowed into the country. They just flew to Japan this week and have to stay in a government-sanctioned quarantine hotel for 6 days, and then have to do additional home quarantine for 10 days, with tracking via a phone app. No public transportation allowed to get from quarantine hotel to home. Brother and wife were put in 2 separate, very small hotel rooms. Meals are left outside the door. Fortunately they both have nice views and the wifi is good. When they went to Japan this past fall, they had to do a strict home quarantine but did not have to do the hotel stay - that was added for people coming in from the US and other Omicron hot spots in January. Who knows how long they will continue these severe restrictions, but I’m thinking it’s safe to bet that it will be a slower return to less-restrictive travel than European countries.
I’m also hoping to go to Japan sometime before my son leaves. It looks like he’ll be deployed on a ship this spring and summer so we are hoping for the fall or next spring. After that it will be too late. I figure we aren’t going to be able to plan much ahead. Just jump if they finally open up. Unfortunately visiting your kids is not on the list of reasons to go to Japan. We haven’t seen him since January of 2020.
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We will be wearing the 3M aura N95 mask on our upcoming flight to Hawaii. Still makes some sense at the moment.
let’s face it, those surgical masks or the cloth (like 32 Degree brand) masks aren’t doing anything…it’s just not okay to say so.
If airline mask mandates are still in place when it clearly is only for show…we will probably just put on one of those loose fitting and ‘barely there’ surgical ones. The standard size leaves gaps the size of two fingers on each side of my face. The nose and chin parts are barley hanging on. So, I’d be masked…but only because we need to to play the game. I could easily fit a straw thru the chin gap…is it wrong to drink wine from the little bottle with a straw but with the mask on?
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Perfectly fine. 
FAs can give you a straw if you ask. A paper one.
Surgical masks and cloth ones, if worn properly, do block a fair deal of droplets the wearer produces - BUT with one caveat: these masks get saturated quickly and have to be changed often. Which people don’t do.
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