ALSO BEFORE Covid, travel planning can be a complicated and sometimes stressful process. Add to this the need to find and consider the pandemic-related rules and constraints of your goal (and anything in between) and the temptation to just stay home. Before you put your bags away, check out these three new tools that will help you plan your trip with maximum security and minimal surprise.

For road trippers eager to avoid speed bumps

When AAA first launched TripTiks in 1937, their bespoke booklets for traversing the United States running off paved roads were one of the riskiest parts of a road trip. Times (and dangers) have certainly changed. While paper TripTik brochures are still available to members, most people opt for the company’s useful digital planner. Recently AAA added a new card to theirs TripTik tool Quiver (triptik.aaa.com), with all Covid-related data that a traveler might need. It includes features for viewing road checkpoints, closings at the borders with Canada and Mexico, and travel restrictions at the city, county, or state level, and confirmed cases at the state / provincial and / or county level. The underlying data is updated every day of the week by AAA’s Geographic Information System (GIS) team, so travelers can count on the most up-to-date information available to them.

For globetrotters ready to wipe their passports

A few years ago, the developers of the MIT Senseable City Lab in Singapore (a research group focused on design and technology) created the price-driven flight search engine Escape. Now, realizing that for many the equation has changed from “where can I afford to go” to “where can I go”, the group has introduced their new one Covid Controls Tool (covidcontrols.co). An interactive map allows you to enter your country of origin to find the countries you can visit and what is required (e.g. proof of a negative Covid-19 test). Starting with the US as the starting point, the map still turns disappointingly red. Only 16 countries and territories are fully open to US visitors

For cautious and time-pressed pilots

Airports, like airlines, are everywhere on the map when it comes to new Covid rules. Some require temperature tests for all passengers, while others require on-site Covid-19 tests. And then there are a variety of amenities – reduced shuttle service, lounge openings, staggered restaurant times. The Berlin company for travel technology Airsider(airsiders.com) tries to keep an eye on the protocols of each airport as well as the requirements of each airline. The company’s latest tool is due to be launched soon and is designed to help travelers plan and manage airport connections – an increasingly troublesome problem with so many direct flights being canceled. The algorithm indicates how much time you need at an airport to collect and recheck baggage and, if necessary, even takes into account the allowances for Covid tests at the airport.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR