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You’ve planned the holiday, booked the flights and started thinking about what to pack. Spending the first few days feeling unwell is unlikely to feature on your itinerary.
Busy airports and flights can bring you into close contact with other travellers. You cannot avoid every germ, but a few practical precautions can help reduce your risk of catching or spreading an infection.
From packing hand sanitiser to checking seasonal vaccination eligibility, here’s how to give your health a place in your travel plans.
Prepare for busy airports and flights
A little preparation can make it easier to look after yourself throughout the journey, from the departure lounge to your seat on the plane.
1. Keep a few essentials within reach
Pack tissues, alcohol-based hand sanitiser and a well-fitting face mask in a pocket or small bag you can reach easily. They’re more useful there than buried beneath your luggage.
Check the liquid rules at the airports you’ll use before packing hand sanitiser in your cabin bag, including any airport where you’ll change planes or fly home.
2. Give yourself space where possible
You cannot always avoid queues or a busy boarding gate. But when there’s a choice, look for a less crowded place to wait rather than sitting shoulder to shoulder with other travellers.
Consider wearing a well-fitting face mask in crowded indoor areas and on the flight, particularly during winter when respiratory viruses are circulating. This may be especially helpful if you’re at higher risk of becoming seriously unwell.
UK government guidance on respiratory infections explains how masks can help reduce their spread.
3. Understand the role of cabin air
It’s easy to assume that recycled aircraft air simply spreads germs around. In fact, large commercial aircraft use filtration systems and regularly refresh the cabin air.
However, sitting close to someone with an infection can still expose you to respiratory viruses. Air filtration is one layer of protection – hand hygiene and other precautions still matter.
The CDC’s air travel guidance explains how cabin ventilation works.
Keep your hands clean on the move
Between luggage handles, touchscreens and tray tables, your hands touch plenty of shared surfaces during a journey. Make cleaning them part of your routine.
4. Wash before eating and after using the toilet
The NHS recommends washing your hands with soap and water for around 20 seconds. Clean your palms, the backs of your hands, between your fingers and around your thumbs, then dry them thoroughly.
Remember to wash:
- Before eating or handling food
- After using the toilet
- After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Wash with soap and water when your hands are visibly dirty.
5. Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands
Germs on your hands can reach your eyes, nose or mouth when you touch your face. Try to clean your hands before rubbing your eyes or adjusting anything around your mouth and nose.
Use a tissue to cover coughs and sneezes, bin it promptly and clean your hands afterwards. If you have no tissue, cough or sneeze into the bend of your elbow.
Check seasonal vaccination eligibility
Before an autumn getaway or winter break, take a moment to check which vaccinations you’re eligible for. Flu and COVID-19 vaccines have different eligibility rules.
6. Check whether you can get a flu vaccine
The NHS flu vaccine is offered each autumn or winter to eligible groups. These include people aged 65 and over, adults with certain long-term health conditions, pregnant women and some carers.
If you have a medical condition and are unsure whether you qualify, ask your GP surgery or specialist. Check early so you have time to arrange an appointment before travelling.
7. Check COVID-19 vaccination separately
Eligibility for a seasonal COVID-19 vaccination is different from flu vaccination. Check the latest NHS information or speak to your GP surgery, pharmacist or specialist.
Vaccination can reduce the risk of serious illness, but you can still catch or spread COVID-19 afterwards. Keep up your other precautions too.
Know when to speak to your GP
If you have a weakened immune system, a long-term condition or concerns about how an illness could affect you, speak to your GP or specialist before departure. Ask whether you need any extra precautions for your journey.
8. Get help if you become unwell before travelling
If symptoms develop before your flight, seek help rather than leaving it until you reach the airport.
The NHS recommends an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 if you have flu symptoms and are aged 65 or over, pregnant, have a long-term medical condition or a weakened immune system. You should also seek urgent help if you feel very unwell, are short of breath or your symptoms have not improved after seven days.
Call 999 if you have sudden chest pain, severe difficulty breathing or start coughing up blood.
If you have a high temperature or feel too unwell for your normal activities, NHS guidance is to stay at home and avoid contact with others. Speak to your airline or travel provider about your options if this affects your departure.
One small check before you zip up your suitcase
Are your tissues and sanitiser easy to reach? Have you checked vaccination eligibility? Is there a health concern you need to discuss before flying?
Alongside these precautions, check that your Travel Insurance suits your trip, including cover for any medical conditions you’ve declared and emergency medical treatment abroad.
You’ve put care into planning your holiday. Give your health a place in those plans, too.
