Travel Security for the Holidays and with COVID

With the joy and anticipation of visiting family members or traveling to a great vacation destination, holiday travel for 2020 is going to look and feel a little different this year. Holiday travel is full of fun, excitement, anxiety, and stress. According to the United States Department of Transportation holiday travel statistics, 23% of Americans will travel during the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to warn that travel increases your chance of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19, and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others. We have gathered advice from experts on how to travel as safely as possible this holiday season. Some of the advice we will provide is a personal choice and should be taken as such.

Let’s start by booking your airline tickets. There are many ways today to book your tickets. You can choose to do it online through the airline’s direct websites or their applications. If you are a bargain shopper, you can use a third-party website like Travelocity or Kayak, or you can choose to call the website third-party directly. Ensure you are using a private and secure internet connection and log onto only secure websites or applications. When you are ready to make your purchase, we recommend using your credit card. According to an article titled, Always Buy Airfare on a Credit Card, by lifehacker.com (Lifehacker, 2019) they state, “the obvious reason to use a credit card for travel tickets and while you’re on the road, is to protect that precious cash in your checking account. “It’s just safer.” “If money’s stolen from your credit card, so much easier to call in, have them shut it down and get a new card,” he said, compared to waiting for potentially months to see a refund to your checking account if your debit card is lost or stolen.

When you leave for the airport, remember to secure your house. If you have an alarm monitoring service, make sure you set the alarm. According to FBI statistics used in a study conducted by safewise.com (Safewise, July 2020), “a burglary strikes every 25.7 seconds in the US. That adds up to more than two burglaries every minute and over 3,000 burglaries per day.” I trust my neighbors, and I inform them of my travel and ask them to keep an eye on my house. I provide them with my cell phone number and the number of where I will be staying if they need to get ahold of me. I also go to the post office and ask them to hold my mail until I return home. If you subscribe to a newspaper service, ensure you ask them not to deliver until your return.

As your day of travel nears some things to consider are parking onsite or offsite, taxi or car service (Uber, Lyft, private, etc.), and how much time do you need. How you arrive at the airport is a choice these days. We have the luxury of using many different car service applications, a regular taxi service, a private car service, or we can drive to the airport ourselves. However, we chose to get there, allow ourselves ample time to park, if needed, check-in, and go through security. If you are like me, I like to plan backward, leaving myself at least an hour before my flight’s departure, allows me time to grab something to eat and drink on the plane and take care of any last needs. If using a car service, I recommend booking it in advance. If you are using a private car service, you can request your driver’s name and picture.

If you are using one of the car service applications, you can book your pick-up time in advance; however, you will not know who your driver is until it is time for pick-up. If you chose to drive and park your vehicle at the airport, I recommend booking your parking in advance. By booking in advance, it guarantees you a parking spot in the vicinity you want. There are times the parking garages at some airports are full, and I have had to park in long-term parking, creating more stress on my travel adventure. If you decide to park in offsite parking, I recommend conducting a crime review of the area you will park your vehicle and a review of the parking company and their security.

According to a study titled, Thefts of and From Cars in Parking Facilities, (Clarke, R., 2012)conducted by Arizona State University (ASU) states, “…The risk of theft per hour parked, is greater when cars are in parking facilities. These are often poorly secured, particularly in the case of lots, many of which have poor lighting, and blind spots and nooks where cars cannot easily be seen. There is seldom much surveillance by passersby or attendants in such lots. Many attendants’ booths are badly positioned or have small windows and poor visibility. Many lots have ill-tended shrubbery providing cover for thieves, and are open to pedestrians, which makes it easy for offenders to enter.” Again, remember to give yourself enough time to park your car and catch a bus to your terminal. Don’t forget to lock your vehicle, and before departing for the airport, remember to take any valuables out of your vehicle.

Once you are inside the airport, remember that you have to go through a TSA checkpoint. Ensure you comply with what is allowed on a plane. The TSA agents are there to do a job and protect us from another 9/11 from occurring. Try and remain calm and comply with their instructions. During the holidays, lines at TSA can be exceptionally long. Make sure you plan for this. TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry are great to consider enrolling in; however, the enrollment has to be done before travel. Once you are through TSA, you can let out a big sigh of relief. You’ve made it and hopefully with enough time to grab a drink, a snack, or take care of some last-minute business before your flight. Remember, due to COVID, many airlines are not providing their typical beverage and snack service, so I highly recommend grabbing some snacks and something to drink for your flight.

While you are waiting for your flight make sure you know your surroundings and keep an eye on your belongings. I would be a hypocrite and tell you not to jump on your phone or tablet and look at your social media or check emails. Make sure you use your cellular data and not the free Wi-Fi at the airport. The complimentary airport WI-FI’s are not secure, and you create a risk of someone stealing or using your information. I recommend that you do not post on social media that you are going away for the holidays. Save those fabulous pictures of visiting with friends and family or the beautiful sandy beaches of your vacation until after you get home. Thieves are known to use social media to identify and break into homes. In a Wall Street Journal article, titled, Burglars Are Following You on Facebook, it is noted that “The Los Angeles Police Department investigated a spate of residential burglaries targeting actors, producers, and professional athletes. Initially, it was believed that the homes were being burglarized at random,” the LAPD stated. But after investigation, it was revealed that “the victims’ homes had been selected based on social media postings (Funt, 2019).”

Remember, due to COVID, airports and planes require everyone to wear a mask at all times. Please do not forget to bring a mask for you and your little ones. We at Freedom Consulting hope everyone who travels has a great experience and enjoys their time with loved ones or that fantastic vacation. Happy Holidays!

Freedom Consulting – JG

Clarke, R. 2012, Thefts of and From Cars in Parking Facilities, https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/thefts-and-cars-parking-facilities-0

Funt, P. September 2019, Burglars Are Following You on Facebook,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/burglars-are-following-you-on-facebook-11568244205

Lifehacker, May 2019, Always Buy Airfare on a Credit Card, https://twocents.lifehacker.com/always-buy-airfare-on-a-credit-card-1834824243

Safewise, July 2020, 8 Surprising Home Burglary Facts and Stats, https://www.safewise.com/blog/8-surprising-home-burglary-statistics/