Overseas work trip tomorrow and I have cold symptoms – should I go?

August 30, 2024 10:06 PM

My workplace does twice yearly team-building workshops that require us to travel internationally (a six-hour flight) and stay in a hotel for approximately one week. I'm supposed to fly out to the next one tomorrow, and yesterday I started feeling some minor cold symptoms. I have done two RATs for COVID that are both negative. However, on Wednesday night I attended an event which has turned out to be something of a COVID super-spreader with at least 4 people I know of testing positive for COVID since then (they were all likely positive at the event and I had close contact with at least one of them).

We are supposed to attend at least one of these international workshops per year and I have gone to the last three (since March 2023). Although I had fun on the first trip, I have grown to find these trips boring and exhausting, especially because I usually have trouble sleeping in the hotel. I have also become anxious about flying since the Boeing scandal was in the news, and I'm a bit anxious about international travel in general. So, I'm a bit conflicted about my own motives for trying to determine whether I'm too sick to attend the trip, since I think I would be relieved if I didn't have to go!

I should also mention that I am on immunosuppressant medication which makes me more likely to pick up colds and COVID etc., and I am often sick for this reason. On the last trip, I got food poisoning and spent 12 hours in my hotel room throwing up which was a very unpleasant and stressful experience. However, I work about 95% remotely apart from these trips, and do not normally need to take very much sick leave. I'm generally thought of as someone with good team spirit who reliably attends work social functions and any in-person events that are required for my job.

The travel destination is a South-East Asian country that does not have great healthcare facilities. The government of this country has also started sending out a checklist that all incoming travellers have to sign to specify whether they have any symptoms of illness (reading between the lines, I think they are trying to prevent anyone with COVID or mPox from entering the country). I am not sure I could fill this out truthfully and still be allowed to enter the country, but I'm not sure about that as I haven't had to fill one out before.

The flights and hotel are paid for by my company and it may be too late for them to get a refund for my portion of the trip if I cancel. However, there are usually about 100 attendees at the workshops and the company gets bulk rates, so I don't think it would be a huge financial hardship for the company if I can't make it.

I would really appreciate some opinions on whether or not I should bow out of the trip! If I do need to let someone know I can't come, the sooner I do that the better.

posted by RubyScarlet to Travel & Transportation (18 answers total)

Please don’t go. Let them know you are sick and can’t come. For your own sake, mostly, because being sick and travelling is terrible. But also don’t go for the sake of others, who might be exposed to what could easily turn out to be covid given your recent exposure. No one will think you’re trying to weasel out of this trip and in fact will probably thank you for making the pro-social and conscientious choice to stay home and protect yourself and others.
posted by stellaluna at 10:16 PM on August 30

Of course you shouldn't go. It doesn't matter if they can't get a refund. It's the same as a sick day; they're covering the costs even if you can't work.
posted by lapis at 10:28 PM on August 30

A six-hour flight with cold symptoms?
A hard no.
posted by TrishaU at 10:32 PM on August 30

The probability that you have COVID is very real - you had a significant exposure and you are developing symptoms two days later. With current versions of COVID many vaccinated people report getting mild symptoms for a day or two before they test positive.

If you stay home and you are wrong and this turns out to be a mild cold, the cost of being wrong is minimal.

If you go on the trip and you are wrong and get sick, the cost could very high. You are on immunosuppressant for a reason so if you are sick, you could turn out to be very sick. Just having a mild case of COVID in a hotel could be pretty unpleasant and make you useless to your company. Having a serious case in a country with healthcare that is not top tier could be very bad.


You don't want to go. The government of the country that you are traveling to doesn't want you to go. Your company is OK with you going just once a year. STAY HOME.
posted by metahawk at 10:35 PM on August 30

From someone who has had an eardrum ruptured on a flight, don’t go. You deserve to rest and heal!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:27 PM on August 30

It sounds like you want an excuse to not go. Win! You have a legitimate valid excuse. Bail.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:38 PM on August 30

Thanks for the reality check! It seems like such an obvious decision but I was caught up in worrying about how bad it would look to cancel an international trip at the very last minute for something as "minor" as non-COVID cold symptoms (and also about looking like I was just trying to get out of the trip if it turns out I don't have COVID).

However as everyone has pointed out, there's a very real chance it could turn out to be COVID and I don't think anyone wants me there if there's a chance I have it, or even if I definitely don't have it but am potentially contagious with something else.

I'm very grateful to everyone who took a moment to comment!
posted by RubyScarlet at 12:45 AM on August 31

Even if you knew for sure it wasn't COVID, pushing through a cold to travel internationally for a work event with known stressors sounds like a fabulous way to knock your immune system back even farther and end up with a much worse and/or lingering problem. Protecting yourself comprehensively, not just in this moment of maybe-COVID, is valid.
posted by teremala at 5:44 AM on August 31

Earlier this month I had minor cold symptoms after a once-a-year work event and tested negative for COVID for 5 days before it finally turned positive and a bunch of new symptoms showed up. Makes me so annoyed that one or more people thought it was ok to travel with “just a cold or allergies” and show up to this event. The new variants may take a while to trigger a positive. Stay home and feel good about your decision.
posted by oxisos at 7:36 AM on August 31

I'm glad you're making the right decision for all the good reasons outlined above. Also, even if it is just a cold, passing on your symptoms means someone else has to go through the same anxiety about testing, deciding what they should or shouldn't do, and worrying that they might have infected others. You're doing the right and kind thing by staying home.
posted by rpfields at 8:22 AM on August 31

I recently got COVID on a work trip and flew home (once I was cleared to fly) and even then I was still congested enough that it was pretty painful to fly with the ear pressure. (My personal metric was having one nostril clear...) I hadn't realized how painful and maybe dangerous it is to fly when you're clogged up.
posted by nakedmolerats at 10:21 AM on August 31

People not testing positive until later is definitely a thing, especially people who are vaccinated. The current variant is also thought to be extremely contagious.
posted by slidell at 3:09 PM on August 31

Please prioritize your wellbeing over your company's needs, and definitely over appearances about whether you're a good worker. Especially if you're dealing with being immunocompromised, you need to realize that inconveniencing your workplace shouldn't be your top concern. I'm glad you're choosing to stay home!
posted by lapis at 7:10 PM on August 31

I wouldn't go if I were you. Your wellbeing is more important, and not worth the trip. Stay home and get well soon!
posted by starpoint at 7:39 PM on August 31

Exposure to COVID plus symptoms however mild plus international travel plus immunosuppression?

You have very good reasons not to go.

Paradoxically, not really wanting to go is probably making the decision harder because of the guilt, but there's no intrinsic value in doing unpleasant things.

It would be a really bad idea to go.
Please stay home without guilt. If anything, pat yourself on the back for being responsible.
posted by M. at 2:28 AM on September 1

An excuse of “I’ve been exposed to Covid and am now presenting some mild symptoms. I don’t think it’s a good idea to travel. I’m so disappointed!” would be so very easily accepted and welcomed by any decent employer.
posted by raisingsand at 6:52 AM on September 1

Whoever is managing travel costs will get a credit where they can. Perhaps this will enable someone local to swap in-could be an aspirational experience for a junior employee or intern to just be an observer.
posted by childofTethys at 4:39 PM on September 1

Thanks so much – every comment has been extremely helpful!

Just to confirm, I stayed home and the company has been very nice and supportive about it. The airline also fully refunded my flight after I dropped the magic word "COVID" on the phone to them.
posted by RubyScarlet at 7:58 PM on September 3