The travelling concern is not really about travelling. It's about DVT. Deep Vein Thrombosis. You get that from sitting in one position for a long time. Back of your thigh is restricted blood flow, your muscles are not moving, the blood is not getting pumped around, your leg is lower than the rest of your body, yadda yadda yadda....
bottom line, it all is perfect conditions for DVT. Which is just your blood clotting in your vein. And if a part of the clot breaks off it can make it's way to your lungs, which is a pulmonary embolism. These can ruin your whole day.
The "party line" on travelling seems to be about six weeks. In my case, that was a bit of a hardship as I live in a remote location, and my TKR was in Houston. If I asked the OS's nurse about flying, she said "Six Weeks". Of course if I asked her about driving, the answer was "Six Weeks". When can I get back in the ocean...? You guessed it, "Six Weeks". ( I wisely refrained from even asking her about sex)
Well, people are different. I discussed my awareness of DVT, the causes, symptoms, etc. with my OS. And he cleared me to fly two weeks after my TKR. He said I could go for it the same day they took the staples out, in fact. My trip was a half hour to the airport, then two hours in a plane Houston to Miami, then several hours in an airport, then an hour and a bit Miami to Providenciales, then a 30 min. car ride.
That's 1600 miles two weeks after surgery. Sure beats the heck out of 30 mile restriction, I think.
Precautions? I did a whole lot of calf and foot pumping exercises. enough to drive someone sitting next to me nuts. Fortunately, it was my wife sitting next to me and I had already driven her nuts so no further social damage was done. I got up and walked the length of the aircraft about every half hour or so. I wore the compression stockings on both legs as long as I could stand it ( those went into the airplane garbage system somewhere south of New Orleans) and I took plain aspirin during the trip. The aspirin was my OS's idea. DIY blood thinner. And it works.
But then I have no history of DVT or blood clotting problems, despite many, many long hours sitting in commercial and military aircraft over the years. And am a 'relatively' young 58, with an awareness of the risks, symptoms, and causes of DVT. It's manageable. Maybe you are more of a risk, or have a history. That might be the issue.
As for that 30 mile restriction, that's hogwash. Sorry, but it is. If you were driving 90 mph, thats only twenty minutes. I bet you sit still in a chair at home longer than that now.