On January 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented a travel policy requiring all passengers on incoming flights to test negative for COVID-19 prior to boarding the flight. So when Sara Wise of Dallastown, York County decided to take her family of four down to Mexico, she anticipated there would be a lot of planning to take care of before they left. However, other than self-quarantining her family two weeks before the trip, she says the process was relatively easy.
“I didn’t really have to do much of anything," she said. "Vickie and the resort pretty much took care of it. They just basically called me while I was at the resort and told me what day and what time and that was it.”
The Vickie she is referencing is Krouse Travel agent, Vickie Everhart. Wise says using the services of a travel agent made all the difference in her preparation experience. “If I would have spent hours and hours and hours researching and making sure I had all my basis covered I probably could but… that would have just ruined the whole experience for me.”
Wise tells FOX43 that her experience while in Mexico was excellent. From landing in Cancun to their departure, the COVID-19 mitigations efforts in the country were top-notch. “They are much better at following directions than us, to be honest," said Wise. “I didn’t see the other half of anybody’s face that whole entire week. So they were really strict about that. They took your temperature every time you walked into a restaurant. Everything was super clean.”
Wise adds, “The Mexican airport was really clean. When you went through customs, they had people in like hazmat gear with a camera on you. Basically looking at everybody’s body temperature as they were entering the airport. So yeah, the Mexican airport was really safe.”
Wise says she and her family were also well taken care of at the resort. She chose to stay at one of many hotels owned by Karisma resorts. The company is working with travelers and agents to make the testing experience seamless by offering a complimentary, on-site COVID-19 antigen test for each guest. And, in the event that you test positive and are unable to board your flight back to the U.S., the company is also providing quarantine accommodations.
Wise assures us that the testing process was a breeze. “It was pretty easy. I mean, we went in, they had everything ready, they tested us, and we were done. It was... probably like a 10 to 15 minute process from like beginning to end, she said. "They made it no work for us at all. And then we got our test results the next day.”
She adds, getting through the airport was just as seamless. “All we had to do was present the paper with the negative results to a couple different people at the airport.”
Wise encourages travelers to consider Mexico as their next destination because of how safe she and her family felt throughout the experience.
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