I recently returned from my Cancun trip and thought it might be informative to those thinking of traveling to Mexico to know what the experience was like.  This particular blog post will cover the air travel part of the trip.

I like to leave from LAX when I want to get to Cancun without delay since my home airport of San Diego has no non-stop flights to this destination (go figure). FIY–I recently read that Alaska Air is planning on adding non-stop flights to Cancun from San Diego starting in 2021.  Good for them, I anticipate no empty seats if they do so.

I stayed overnight at La Quinta LAX, a very modest and affordable hotel that offers a Park, Sleep, Fly program.  The hotel itself had a plastic panel between guest and front desk staff and all staff wore masks but no temperature checks.  Bring your own pen to sign any check-in docs since they don’t sterilize pens prior to handing them to you to use.  Their indoor dining was shut down as well so that meant no breakfast–bring something to eat for the a.m. prior to the flight.  Unfortunately, they have temporarily suspended their shuttle service to/from LAX due to COVID so I took an Uber, no problem, it cost around $11 going into the airport and $30 going back to the hotel upon my return (not quite sure why the price difference exists).  Uber drivers were inconsistent; while all of us in the car wore masks, the initial driver said he couldn’t put a suitcase into the trunk due to COVID while the second driver did it without a word. Drivers did not wear plastic gloves, even the one who put my suitcase into the trunk.

LAX–the airport looked like a ghost town in comparison to its typical frenetic level of activity both day and night.  Kiosk check-in was the same with no effort at social distancing (no kiosks were disabled to encourage space between customers); I also did not note anyone immediately wiping kiosk surfaces following their use.  Standing in line to check your bag also lacked in social distancing–people were making half-hearted attempts but they were nowhere close to six feet apart. Everyone wore masks at all times in the airport with the exception of eating/drinking.  I believe there was a thermal scanning machine which took your temperature–nothing special was done at security on the flight to Cancun.

While I booked a non-stop flight with United for both legs of the journey, I wound up with flight changes–United changed my inbound non-stop to a two-hr. stopover in Houston, and my return flight was cancelled due to tropical storm Marco.  Luckily, I got re-booked for a non-stop flight for the next day.  I don’t believe I will ever book United again since I already had a negative experience with them several years ago.  If I had wanted a seven-hr. flight experience to Cancun I would have flown out of San Diego.  Of particular note is that United has already ended their middle seat closure policy, so both flights were completely filled with no empty seats available (when I originally booked, the policy of middle seat closures was still in place). United handed out a packaged disinfectant wipe to all passengers when they boarded, while packaged snacks and small water bottle combinations were handed out on both legs of the journey.  Cart beverage service was offered in addition to the packaged offerings; no beverage sales were allowed on either flight.  Passengers wore face masks at all times on the flight with the exception of eating and drinking.  United handed out the usual Customs and Immigration forms in addition to a form about exposure to COVID which asks questions about which countries you have visited in the last 14 days, symptom check, name, e-mail, and flight information.  If you want to see it, click here. Although I filled it out it was never collected or examined upon arrival at the Cancun airport.

Cancun airport–only two terminals out of four currently open; terminal 4 is still the most frequented by incoming/outgoing flights.  Mandatory mask wearing throughout the terminal, as well as a sticker on your checked luggage meaning your bag has been disinfected.  Supposed to be thermal scanners at the airport to check your temperature, but no individual checking of this at any point during the process.  Social distancing at Immigration and Baggage Claim was half-hearted despite social distancing stickers on the floor. Thank goodness there aren’t that many flights coming and going yet so the lines aren’t very long–it took me a total of seven minutes to pass through Immigration, another 10 minutes to get bags, then it was outside of the terminal to get my shuttle to the resort. I had a Customs inspector ask if I was bringing any food or plants into the country, and that was about as painless as it got to enter Mexico.

Cancun airport on the return flight was much more complex and took extra time.  Again, mask wearing is mandatory within the airport.  Kiosk check-in–I noticed there were dedicated staff waiting until customers finished at their kiosk then they would disinfect them.  Also, there were some staff in full hazmat suits who, I am assuming, were prepared to check any passengers who had an elevated temperature noted on the thermal scanning machine.  The biggest wait time of the entire trip was approaching the airline counter to check bags after kiosk check-in.  You first were approached by staff who asked if you were an upgraded airline customer, then you got directed to a different staff who asked how long you’d been in Mexico, what areas/condos/resorts you’d been at, what your final destination was, and if you had been in any contact with someone who had COVID.  Then you stood in line (without social distancing) to check your bags and get your passport checked for the third time.  Towards the front of this line you use your smart phone to scan an app which is another COVID exposure questionnaire.  You MUST fill it out before you get to security because they are going to scan your answers–you won’t be going anywhere unless they have this info.  I didn’t see anyone with paper forms, but it seemed pretty similar to the paper form handed out on United upon entering the country–surely not everyone has a smart phone, so there must be an alternative.  Seats at various gates within the terminal were taped off for social distancing purposes.  Given the process and wait times I experienced, I would definitely get to the airport between 2 1/2-3 hours prior to your return departure time.

LAX Customs and Immigration–a breeze, no one even asked any questions when handing in the pic taken at the immigration machines.  There wasn’t even a line to speak of.

Just a short word about getting an Uber at LAX after going through Customs and Immigration.  Don’t wait for the buses to take you to the central “shared transportation” area; seats on these buses are taped off so not many people can get on them (bus drivers would see us and just point ahead).  You can walk to this area, it only takes about 10-15 min.  Look for the signs and follow them, it’s easy to find.

Well, I believe that about racks my brain for the airport part of the trip.  I will be posting my actual resort reviews in the near future.

What do you think of this process?  Does this relieve your concerns about taking a flight to Cancun during this pandemic, or escalate them?