An All Inclusive Guide to Traveling in NYC – You Should Read This

Are you planning a trip to New York City? If so, have you decided where you’d like to stay and which tourist attractions to visit?

The caveat to travel in 2020 is that the world is currently living through a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. This virus was first noticed in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. It has since spread across the globe, resulting in the instant shutdown of the global economy, and has infected about 40.55 million global citizens with over 1.12 million deaths.

The biggest challenge with this virus is that it is highly contagious and spreads either by aerosol or person-to-person droplet transmission. Therefore, one of the only ways to control and prevent its spread is through measures like social distancing and the wearing of masks. For the first six to eight months of this year, different regions in both the northern hemisphere experienced a total lockdown where residents were forced to stay at home and only leave home to seek medical attention and buy food.

Once the infection rate started dropping in these regions or countries, governments reduced these draconian measures, allowing the global economy to reboot itself country by country with industries like the hospitality industry reopening and people being allowed to move around again.

Thus, people are allowed to travel to different regions, including NYC. Let’s consider the following points as an all-inclusive guide to traveling to New York City.

1. Be mindful of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions

The global pandemic is far from over. Therefore, state and national governments have continued to implement various measures like:

• Social distancing
• A maximum number of people allowed in a building based on the size of the building in relation to the space required between individuals at all times
• The wearing of masks or face-coverings while outdoors and in public places
• Using hand sanitizer when going into buildings and leaving buildings

The one thing that individual states and countries do not want is a repeat of the virus infection rates like those seen in New York City and New York State during March, April, and May of 2020. New York City was the region in the USA that was the hardest hit by the virus during its first wave through the USA. And no one wants to go through this again. Therefore, the New York State health department has issued guidelines for staying safe. In summary, they include wearing a mask and maintaining at least six feet from other people when in public. 

Note: The need to wear a mask when you leave home has become a very contentious issue in many US states and other parts of the world. The fact is that if you are a guest in a city that is not your hometown, then it is essential to adhere to the local guidelines. The consequences of disobeying these orders are just not worth it. 

2. Prebook your accommodation

It is essential to prebook your accommodation before you leave home. All accommodation venues like the Condor hotel have to adhere to a maximum number of guests at any point in time to ensure that there is enough physical distance between the guests at breakfast and in all other public areas of the hotel.   

Suppose you are the type of person who likes traveling without a concrete itinerary. In that case, the current circumstances dictate that it might be a good idea to prebook everything, especially your accommodation. 

3. Buy a NYC CityPASS and a Metro pass

Traveling around NYC and visiting the most popular tourist attractions can be very expensive. Therefore, it’s a good idea to purchase either a 7-day or a 30-day metro pass that allows unlimited travel on the city busses and the metro for either seven or thirty days, respectively. This metro pass is particularly relevant when traveling between your hotel accommodation and either the La Guardia or JFK airports. Taking an Uber or a taxi will cost you between $40 and $65 one way.

Secondly, suppose you buy an NYC CityPASS for $132. In that case, you will be allowed to visit six specific tourist sites like the Statue of Liberty, the American National History Museum, and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, without paying any additional entrance fee. As an aside, this is a savings of about 40% on the total price if you had to spend six individual entrance fees. You will have to prebook to visit some of these sites, so this pass gives you an advantage when making a prebooking.

Final thoughts

These are just three of the most crucial guidelines you need to know before leaving on your trip to New York City.

The only other guideline is to be understanding when interacting with hotel staff, metro employees, and restaurant and museum staff. This virus, its reproductive rate, infectiousness, and the possible severity of the illness caused by the virus, has resulted in elevated stress levels for everyone involved. And while hospitality industry employees are trained to be courteous and respectful, heightened emotions sometimes spill over when visitors or guests refuse to obey stated guidelines.