Our post title was the first comment we saw this morning about travel to Hawaii, and it didn’t stop there. Richard, a prolific commenter, said “As of this morning 10/23/2020 it’s been reported that 7,902 people are quarantined on Oahu. Mostly tourists who either did not pre-covid test, did not use an approved test facility, or did not get negative test results in time.”
What happens when your test results are not ready on arrival in Hawaii?
Commenter Trey later exclaimed: “We flew in 10/21, did everything by the book. Our test results did not show up until 6 hours after landing at HNL. Was directed to self-quarantine until we had results and given a phone number to call to get us off quarantine once we had them. No one answers the phone, the message says to leave personal info and they will get back to us. Have had results now for 30hrs +. Here we sit quarantined at their mercy. We have all the required paperwork and negative test results. Anyone have the magic answer so we can enjoy our time here?”
Honolulu police have issued close to 10,000 warnings and citations/arrests since October 15.
Honolulu’s mayor said yesterday that all major Waikiki hotels and the police are working together to enforce quarantine for visitors who do not have negative COVID test results on arrival in Hawaii. In a news conference, Mayor Caldwell said of those who did not clear quarantine, “If they’re not in the room then they are violating quarantine and it can be reported, warned and then cited. We were told that hotel security is actually having calls being made up to the rooms for those who need to quarantine. So it gave me some comfort to know that there’s enforcement going on because the Honolulu Police Department can’t be everywhere.”
Of the nearly 8,000 people in quarantine, actually, only about one-third are visitors and rest are residents. That means they all landed in the islands without a negative COVID-19 test result. Some travelers are awaiting results for tests while others have received and uploaded them to the state’s travel website, as is the case with Trey. Others didn’t test or tested with a non-approved source and may need to remain in quarantine.
It works well when you have it all in order first.
Regular commenter Gerhard just reported that he had no problem getting everything resolved, and that was even when coming from Canada. Here’s what he reported. “Yes, you can travel to Hawaii. Yesterday we flew from Toronto via San Francisco to Maui. At SFO walked 15 min. from Domestic to International Terminal to get tested, courtesy of United Airlines. One is supposed to have an appointment (we did have one), but they also do take walk-in/up clients who fly on United. It took about 20 Min to get the result and our papers, we uploaded a copy in PDF to the Safe Travels Site and continued our trip to Maui. There, we sailed through the controls, got our pink paper, and picked up the rental car. Even though it was a long trip, it was easy and all went well.”
Beat of Hawaii suggests.
It is best if you do not fly to Hawaii without 1) completed test results uploaded to the Safe Travels website and 2) a copy of that result also in hand. The issues of arriving after testing but before obtaining results may or may not be easily resolved when uploading results after arrival. While doing so should release you from quarantine immediately, that isn’t what visitors are reporting as of today.
How has this worked for you?
Beat of Hawaii © photo on the Big Island.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Hello,
My reason for coming to Hawaii is to see my family; although Hawaii is a beautiful state. I need a non stop or one stop if possible from Rsw to Honolulu . I am TSA; my daughter her husband and 2 boys with 1 girl- I am Nana traveling. I am Nana.
I have Covid shot card. And I have been told to sign something and load up. I don’t know where. Would you please send me a link if possible?
I would appreciate your help.
BelindaW
Hi Belinda.
You need to follow the rules of the Hawaii safe travels program. The website your are looking for to upload proof of vaccination is https://travel.hawaii.gov. Also refer to the rules found at https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/travel-overview/ which includes testing protocol for children.
Aloha.
Does anyone have any tips on how to download my Covid19 test results from an approved testing site to SafeTravel Hawaii? Any information will help.
Aloha from Princeville! My husband and I arrived yesterday morning from San Jose, CA. We each took two tests as an insurance policy: one at Kaiser (we are members) and another through Vault. We each received our email confirming negative results exactly 30 hours after our Zoom spit session. My Kaiser results were returned less than 24 hours after testing; my husband’s took 48 hours. We had an early morning flight direct to Lihue (fly direct to your final destination, if possible, even if you pay a higher airfare) and landed about 45 minutes ahead of schedule, just around 11 am. It’s a time this point you’ll need patience as you’ll have no control over how many other flights have landed around the same time. We were very fortunate and there was no line to show our identification, QR codes, Ndola negative results from the Safe Travels website. We were seated in row 8 and there were approximately 8 agents waiting for us. It took less than a minute for us both to receive our green tickets and proceed to baggage claim. Even better, airport staff had removed all the luggage from the carousel and lined it up neatly, making it much easier for us to find our bags. Airport eerily quiet; better than better than normal traffic through Kapa’a.
Just wanted to update our latest Travel from the Mainland. My wife flew over yesterday 11/5 with no issues and was cleared at the airport in a very timely manner . She received her test through Walgreens using the Rapid testing (result in a couple of hours). The last time I commented, the question came up questioning if the rapid test issued by Walgreens met the Hawaii NAAT requirements. I’m happy to report now, it does.
I also did testing on the island, I tested at Wilcox in Lihue. I was picked from Safe Travel. We are guests on the island, and everything we can do as guests protects the islanders.
We leave Friday for the Big Island. Got a confirmation from Hawaii Dept of Health that the POC from Walgreen is molecular and is approved by them. Get our tests tomorrow and pray all goes well from there.
Be careful and diligent. Got a test at Walgreens on 10/29. Made the appt. on 10/27 on line. Flight to Oahu is 11/1 at 9:50 AM. Got Negative test back in less than 24 hours. Yeah right? Wrong! Went to upload 2 results (pay close attention) you get from Walgreens. First is the official Walgreens email which shows negative but has a “collection date” of 1O/28” WTF? With a “received date” of 10/29. (Yes, correct) So try uploading that to Safe Travels after doing everything by the book. PDF is perfect. But guess what? They say “test was over 72 hours.” WTF? Wrong info. So, I upload the Lab Corp test results (who does the actual test from Walgreens (collects only) which is the real deal (but isn’t technically listed as a “Trusted Partner on Safe Travels…..WTF?)
and now that is an acceptable Company’
with Negative test results, and, guess what?
That Negative test result was acceptable and approved when uploaded on Safe Travels..WTF?
So, got all “Ducks in a row” thanks to PHIL C.👍(Thanks again!) who recommended Walgreens in Santa Ana (we actually had to go to Westminster and they were great!!!
Cheers everybody! Hawai’i is worth it!
Thanks for commenting on your experience with Walgreen’s Robert. Did you ever get an explanation why your test collection date was wrong? Was it just a fluke on your test only? I plan to make appointments with Walgreen’s for the rapid test next week and would also be using the same (almost 72 hours) timeframe you did.
Hi Mr. Vogel. Great question. I hope to pay it forward. After my last statements, I got a follow up email from Walgreens with a revised correct collection date which was yesterday not the day before. Small but huge difference when it comes to uploading to your Safe Travels account. Keep uploading current and accurate reports. They will then approve multiple times if necessary. The recommendation is to print all and everything up to have hard copies. Tomorrow is our 24 hour in advance health questionnaire. Then it’s off to the airport early Sunday morning. Fingers crossed. Good luck!
Thanks for the update Robert! We hope to schedule our tests this Saturday and fly out on Tuesday. Crossing our fingers for zero glitches. Hope your arrival to the islands went smoothly!
K. Vogel ~ Be sure to get the correct test. The “rapid test” is the antigen test. That is not the same as the NAAT test, which is the required test type.
Thanks Jeff. I believe both the rapid and regular test from Walgreen’s are on the approved list for Hawaii.
Not particular true. Walgreens has a Rapid test that meets NAAT. We have used it and it was accepted.
Did you have any issues with the lab results saying they were from lab Corp? I uploaded my negative results from CVS but the results page only mentions lab Corp and not CVS?
Hi folks, Lab Corp is the testing agent for Walgreens, not to worry. It must be a NAAT!!!!!!, Those exclamation points are for anyone who can’t follow the protocal as per the Safe Travels. I just returned from 2 weeks on Kauai. I did a redundancy of COVID testing thru Walgreens, I didn’t want to risk not being able to enjoy my vacation. Make sure you have hard copies, make sure you practice filling out your SAFE TRAVEL form, because when the 24 hr. mark hits the day before you travel, you don’t want to hit a stumbling block over not being able to fill out the form correctly, meaning, if you have more than one flight, you have to fill out all your flights leaving the mainland and landing on the islands. That means connecting flight. Read the Safe Travels more than once, if you don’t and you make a mistake, the folks in Hawaii aren’t there to help you do your work.
Be prepared, do your homework, and you will be rewarded.
I was wondering if travelers are paying out of pocket for quarantining in their hotel rooms while they wait for their test results or are hotels allowing them to stay for free? Or should I just book out an extra 3-7 days for the hotel room while I wait to receive the test results? I can’t find any information anywhere about how they’re handling this. I’m here in LA and not I visited several urgent cares with the PCR NAAT Nasal test and they mentioned to me the test results can take anywhere between 3-7 days. They said test results could be delayed because they expect high demand in covid testing. I am not scheduled to fly out until December but I am trying to ‘get my ducks in a row’, lol.
Aloha from Kauai, I think that you are planning this far out is remarkable, and noteworthy. I live in Seattle, started doing testing 4 weeks out, so I could see what the turnaround would be, and started practicing filling out the SAFE TRAVEL HAWAII form. There is only one recognized test, NAAT, which must be certified by CLIA. Going thru the partners listed on the SAFE TRAVEL, is the safest way to approach your trip. I had copies of everything, I tested 96 hrs,72hrsabd 48 hrs.to make sure I had tested thoroughly. Sound overly anal? How badly do you want to go to the islands?
Hi Karina,
I don’t know what other places are doing, but I arrived here with my husband and two young daughters on Saturday. We had appointments for the covid rapid tests, the day before leaving CA, only to find out (when we arrived) that they ran out of test kits and could only offer us the 48 hour turn around tests. We took them, as it was the only option. We’ve been in quarantine since we arrived, we were not able to rent the car we had reserved (due to our quarantine status) When arriving at our destination, we were given one room key and told that it was only good for 30 minutes. We have used DoorDash and Instacart for food and are still waiting for two of our four negative test results (which we received and uploaded yesterday – to be verified by safe travels website. No one is picking up the tab or giving us back the time lost trapped in our room :(… bottom line, this process is far from seamless. After many emails and hours on the phone attempting to get this resolved, we realistically could still be waiting 2-3 more days to be cleared to leave our room (just in time to go home). Extending our stay may be an option but also more $$. To answer your question, I would be shocked to hear that anyone is picking up the tab for people that find themselves in a situation similar to ours. Hopefully, all the kinks in this process (and there are many) are worked out soon for future travelers. BTW, breaking quarantine comes with hefty fines… and is no joke… understandably everyone wants to stay healthy but we feel like we paid a high price to be guinea pigs to a process that doesn’t yet work. *Buyer Beware*
Congrats on getting your “ducks in a row” – we are going in December as well and trying to do the same. Your Urgent Care Centers will not be acceptable to DOH! Only the Trusted Partners will be. You need to check the DOH (or similar) website for a list of those Trusted Partners – mostly CVS, Walgreens and Vault (which is who is returning the most expedited results).
Could you provide more details on Commenter Gehard’s testing process with United. Its unclear with United if they assist you in setting up the testing upon your arrival at SFO or you make those arrangements on your own? How did he make the appointment, currently the GOHEALTH site says there are “no available dates”
Just curious what the steps are since we are leaving in a week and we have not heard from United Airlines on testing options available with them and nor where the agents very helpful when I called as they were not sure how it worked.
Thank you
Lorena
Hi Lorena.
Hopefully, we’ll hear from him. He’s a regular. This is not the first time we have heard of sold-out dates on various test sites, so definitely better to lock these down in advance.
Aloha.
Have you seen this recent story describing CommonPass, a pre-travel mobile-phone based COVID-19 vaccine tracking system developed by the Swiss-based non-profit Commons Project. I saw national news story over the weekend, and it showed a travel being tested at Heathrow Airport. Before the traveler boarded a plane, he had a negative test result loaded onto his cell phone. Every traveler on the Heathrow to Newark Airport tested negative at the airport (not 72 hours in advance). This may be a better way for Hawaii airports rather than the “trusted partners” and the 72 hour window. The cost was not mentioned. Aloha
This is the latest from HawaiiCovid19.com as of 10/24… It appears to answer the question asked about the Rapid Test being acceptable… (I could not find any reference to that test being acceptable on the Safe Hawaii Travel website as mentioned by one poster…
HAWAII’S PRE-TRAVEL TESTING PROGRAM
The state of Hawaii will ONLY accept Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) from a certified Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) lab test results from TRUSTED TESTING AND TRAVEL PARTNERS: AFC Urgent Care Portland, Bartell Drugs, Carbon Health, CityHealth Urgent Care, Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii, Color, CVS Health, Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Discovery Health MD, Hawaii Pacific Health, Kaiser Permanente, Minit Medical, Quest Diagnostics, Urgent Care Hawaii, Vault Health and Walgreens (as of 10/21/20).
The Rapid Test tests for antibodies not the virus which is why is probably isn’t acceptable – and shouldn’t be in my opinion.
Aloha Beat Of Hawaii! As a lifelong resident of Hawaii, & having worked with visitors for over 30 years, I see the dire necessity to reopening our state to visitors. Unfortunately only days after reopening, multiple quarantine violations began to happen.I don’t think there’s a single visitor to Hawaii with either the financial ability or the patience to sit in a hotel room or B & B for 14 days. That being said, all the paperwork completed prior to travel as well as at the airport must all be done with our visitors thinking; “sure, 😉😉, we will remain in quarantine, no problem, wink-wink.” This attitude is in evidence now with the recent multiple arrests on Kauai & other islands. I think that the quarantine should only be in place for those awaiting their Covid test results, as it is obvious that a large majority of the non-tested “quarantiners” have no intention of following the guidelines & would rather take their chances with the National Guard & Law Enforcement. Its a huge waste of resources to try to keep track of so many visitors. When they get caught, I hear remarks like; “Hawaii has no Aloha/Hawaii hates visitors,(which is VERY bad for our economy). I hope that soon Governor Ige will see what a waste of resources this is, & only allow visitors in with a clear Covid test. What do you think? Mahalos!
Hi Erin.
Perhaps the bottom line here is the state has absolutely no ability to control interstate travel. As we have mentioned repeatedly, that is solely within the purview of the federal government, which has not moved in that direction. The airlines would like that as well, since having all tested travelers to Hawaii and everywhere would undoubtedly increase the sense of safety and improve the travel industry.
In the meantime, it isn’t clear what else Hawaii can do other than more information, better education, more testing options, and improved procedures.
Aloha.
Aloha! I have my Walgreens negative test results and fly out Wednesday (if all goes well). I did speak to AFC Urgent Care here in Portland this morning and they are no longer offering the rapid test as they couldn’t keep up with demand. (Also confirmed across the top of their website).
For when I am on island, do we have to wear masks when sitting on the beach, assuming we are able to socially distance? On Maui in particular. We will have our own towels and chairs from within the condo we own. I will happily wear a mask everywhere else as we have to do here in Oregon and it is my understanding they will be citing you for not doing so. Thanks for keeping us updated during these constantly changing times.
Hi Erin.
For now, a mask should not be required under social distanced circumstances at the beach.
Aloha.
How did Gerhard set up his appointment at SFO for rapid testing? That part of the process is unclear currently.
Anyone have real life experience with this scenario…
Fly into Honolulu
Connecting flight to Kona.
Questions…
1. Did you have to show results in Honolulu or only Kona?
2. How long did it take for you to get thru the process in Honolulu if you had to show testing results in Honolulu? We have an hour for our connection. Both flight on Hawaiian Airlines
3. In Kona, assume your results were checked also, was it ok that the results were 72 hours or sooner from departing flight to HONOLULU or were they looking for 72 hours from departing flight from Honolulu to KONA? Hearing it is from departing flight to Honolulu but want to be sure others have experienced this.
About to plan out the timing of our vault test and want to be sure what was communicated is actually what is happening on the front lines 🙂
Mahalo!!!
Thank you for your updates.
We planned our trip for 10/16 when they announced the 10/1 72 hour test date. Then it got pushed to 10/15. We both got tested Tues. around noon. I did the drive thru at CVS. I freaked out when they told me results in 5-10 days. The site said within 3 days. To my surprise, my results came by test the following day. My husband tested at Kaiser, and his came back Thurs.
I uploaded everything onto the govt travel site. We each had to have our own profile. Where I messed up was that I failed to understand that I needed to enter each leg of our trip. LAX to HNL to LIH to HNL. Once info is entered including answering a few health questions & uploading your negative test results, you receive an email with a QR code.
When we landed on Kauai, we had to get out of line since we didn’t have our QR code for Kauai. They were super nice about it and patient. There were a few others in our same situation. We got squared away, got cleared then went to grab our bags. We moved everything to the curb while my husband went to get our rental car from National. It was taking him forever. I finally spotted him walking back. He waited so long in that line just to be told he needed a green placard. I went to ask about it & a woman sort snapped at me because “I did not tell them we were renting a car.” I replied that I was sorry, but we didn’t know we were supposed to. An officer asked how h could help and I explained. He told me they were no longer giving out the green placards, to just show our QR code. So I logged in on my husband’s phone & pulled up his code. About another 1/2 hr later, he pulled up with our car.
We were exhausted. We had landed about 3:30 & it was now dark and so we stopped at the marketplace and had a quick dinner then headed to our condo. Our 7 nights on Kauai were glorious.
Last Fri. we flew to Oahu for our 9 nights & they never even asked for our QR code.
We are happy & grateful to be able to take this trip.
Hi Yolanda.
Thanks for sharing how that went for you guys. Glad you are enjoying your time in Hawaii.
Aloha.
Thank you for sharing your specific experience arriving in Kauai. We’re going soon, so it was helpful to get a heads up.