Five things to be aware of on your Hawaii vacation + five solutions to deal with each one.
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84 thoughts on “Dealing With The New Normal In Hawaii Vacations”
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Five things to be aware of on your Hawaii vacation + five solutions to deal with each one.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
I was just there. I would love to have known all of this before I went. Thank you.
Thank you for all the info. I have lost our vaccination cards, what other method can I upload onto Safe Travels.
Hi Melissa.
Suggest you try to contact the Safe Travels help desk or the health department where you were vaccinated. Let us know what happens.
Aloha.
Im s want to be hawaiian
Thank you
Aloha
Thank you for this. I’m quite nervous what to expect for our trip next week. It will be our first time in Hawaii. Oahu to be exact. I work for a call center that takes calls for several hotels including quite a few in Hawaii. So visiting will be helpful for my job. But mainly going for pleasure. But thank you for the information.
COURTNEY B… No need to be nervous. Just make sure you do Safe Travels at your leisure as much in advance as you wish – it asks for lodging information which you will have but might have to look up so don’t wait til the last minute – you have to do Safe Travels for each member of your part. Then upload everything you can to Safe Travels (i.e., your photo, your Covid Card (pdf format) or you negative test results. 24 hours prior to your flight, do the Health Questionnaire – takes less than a minute and just “yes”/”no” questions. Get to the airport with plenty of time to get your wristband at check in. You may have to both show your ORIGINAL hard copy vaccination card AND log into Safe Travels (as that is the only way they know you’ve done the Health Questionnaire). So have both handy. Once that’s done – you are good to go, girl!
Wish I had read something like this before I visited Oahu. It was a madhouse.
How do you obtain the wrist band spoken of?
REGINA M…You will get your wristband when you check in for your flight. You will need to show Safe Travels on your phone – that’s the only way they know you’ve completed the COVID CARD or NEGATIVE TEST upload and done the Health Questionnaire. You will need to show the original hard copy card and/or hard copy of your negative test. You then get your wristband and you’re good to go. IF you don’t get there in time to have that done, you will have to wait on line at your destination to be validated.
Have been planning our Hawaii trip for a while we are leaving on the 4th flying into Honolulu from Boston and taking a hop to Molokai and then to Maui one day what exactly is the bracelet and how do I receive it
It’s your Pre clearance to get to Hawaii after crawling safe travels with either a negative code test result or proof of vaccine results you will get a QR code on your phone or to print out. They will scan it at the airline counter and you will get wrist band that will pass you quickly into Hawaii.
Mahalo & Aloha. Im 80 yrs old and me and my wife of 50 yrs have considered the islands of Hawaii as our forever dream Home
We leave in 2 days. Thank you for the update.
Please reschedule your Hawaii vacation to a time when you could enjoy vacation features.
3 hour TSA line ups while being bump into in the line up became nerve wracking.
Restaurants are full, 4 elevator waits, ok,as ups at stores.
The lick diwn is overdue and you would not enjoy being quarentining to your room.
Another time, would be a vacation time. But not now.
Dear Diane, that is exactly what I am doing. Postponing my 1st trip until 2023 because right now I feel uncomfortable traveling when the cases are going up again! 🌍🛩🌈🌞🌊🛍🕶👒👙🍍🥥🏖🏝🌺 It has been my lifelong dream to come to Hawaii for vacation & I figure Hawaii isn’t going anywhere, so I can wait. Stay safe & God bless you….Psalms 91:11😇
How do we get those wristbands?
Please just stay home.
Where and how do we get the wristband in Denver’s airport. This is new news. Great!! Is there a website or somewhere to contact?
Thank you.
Hi Carolyn.
Contact the airline you are flying on. This service is provided by them, not by the airport.
Aloha.
Please consider postponing your vacations to Hawai’i. Our intensive care units are full, including our largest at Queens Hospital. We are experiencing the worst surge of the pandemic and it is expected to get worse. We are terrified as a community that doesn’t have the resources to take care of ourselves right now, much less visitors. Please think about this. There is no ethical way to visit Hawai’i right now. Thank you.
We just returned from the Big Island and we had no issues. We followed the instructions on the Safe Travels Hawaii website & we got our bracelets before we got on the plane & walked right to baggage claim in Kona. You need to wear a mask while you are there, but you have to have it on in the airport & on the plane anyway, so I was not really bothered by this. Also, we had no restaurant problems. We got reservations at a couple of places, but the rest of our 10 days we were able to get tables with little to no wait. The food & service was outstanding!! We did stay in an apartment, so we had a full kitchen & we definitely used it! I would recommend that. Saved us a lot of time & money. Costco & Safeway are very convenient! Our biggest stress & cost was the rental car! That part of the article is accurate per our very recent experience.
Just flew Maui to Honolulu and back for surgery. All elective surgeries have been cancelled.
The TsA line ups when through the terminal and into the sun. Hours of long up with people bumping into you. Had to ask people behind me to give me 6′ social distancing but TSA waved them forward.
Agree the line ups for restaurants, stores, elevators and restaurants make this an irresponsible and unethical time to vacation.,
We leave from Seattle to the Big Island in two weeks, so your information and updates are really appreciated. We are registered with Hawaii Safe Travels.
Hi Mike.
Thanks. Have a great time on the B.I.
Aloha.
Just got back and it was fantastic! We actually do hotel renovations and have been going for years. I was their visiting my hubby while he was working. Kona was a bit crowded, but no trouble getting into restaurants. I didn’t have enough time to get my band at the Denver airport, but it literally took a minute once I got to Kona. Aloha and enjoy your trip!
Just got back from Hawaii! Wish I read your write up before we left specially about the wristband. We stood in line for over an hour for Safe Travels. Thanks.
Mahalo!
Thanks for information. We on the mainland with all the covid related stress, keep thinking, when this is over, we want to go to Hawaii. It’s on our bucket list. That’s why you’re flooded with more than normal amount of tourists.
Dear Richard S, it has been my lifelong dream to come to Hawaii for my vacation🐠🐢🌺🍍🥥🌏🛩🌈🌊🌞🕶🩴🛍👒My Grandfather was in Navy & in Pearl Harbor. I’ve always wanted to go to Pearl Harbor to pay my respects! PH is # 1 on my itinerary. I’m thinking just like you….when will this be over? All the cases going up is really concerning to me & I want to be safe. The plan right now is for April 2022, but I may postpone until 2023. I haven’t decided yet. Take care of yourself, stay safe, & be blessed….psalms 91:11! 😇😍
Just got premium convertible (e.g mustang) for another $150 more per week than standard compact and $500 less than non-premium convertible from hertz
Dear Richard S, I have decided to postpone my trip until 2023 because right now I don’t feel comfortable traveling when the cases are going up like crazy! Stay safe & be blessed! Psalms 91:11😇
Thanks!! Very helpful. I keep reading and hearing about Hawaii, Maui and Oahu. How about Kauai?
Thanks again!
Mahalo!
Hi Michelle.
Not sure what specifically you’d like to know – so please ask.
Aloha.
Aloha BOH Bro’s of the “New Normal”
Could you imagine dealing with covid travel without your laptop and the internet. Sure there’s a few more challenges with the “New Normal” of covid travel, but look at all the tools we have to work with.
It wasn’t that long ago where you had to rely on an agent to arrange all your travel bookings. I couldn’t imagine doing that today.
We’re a resort stay couple if you project out travel early enough deals can be found that rival in cost to stays at a condo. My wife or I cooking on vacation? It ain’t going to happen.
Even before covid I’d make our restaurant bookings way in advance guarantying us sunset seating at some of the finest restaurants on Maui. We’ll be on Maui in early October all restaurant reservations were done weeks ago, I booked Mama’s way back in April. If you end up not going they’re easy to cancel.
On the flight over I’ve booked the 11’s on Hawaiian, but on the way back we’re flying Southwest where I booked 3 seats with points all I did was pay 50.00 for priority seating, so they wouldn’t be a problem with securing a whole row for just the 2 of us.
Finally other then Hawaiian Flight all other travel booked for our October is a 100 percent refundable within a 6 days of departure, but I’ve always done it that way.
New Normal isn’t much different then our old normal.
Hi Richard.
Thank you. Southwest has said that they do not allow passengers to book an empty seat in the way you indicated. Please let us know if you know something different or how that works out for you.
Aloha.
Aloha BOH Bro’s of the Southwest Extra Seat Policy
Thanks for the heads up I’m not the most patient person in the world this could have gotten messy at the SWA check in counter.
I spoke to Southwest customer service twice I have 3 extra seat options:
(1) One of us would have to gain 150 pounds to qualify for the extra seat option. I do not see that happening.
(2) At check in see if you can do a work around with SWA agent. The success of that sounded pretty remote.
(3) Punt….Cancel the extra seat use the points for another day. That’s the one I’m leaning towards.
I’m a small business owner there are policies that I’ve put into place here that on occasion an individual will question. My business my policies. While I don’t understand the policy it is their business, so I have to respect their policy.
Thanks again for the heads up rather embarrass myself here on BOH verses at the airport.
Hi Richard.
Happy to help. Sorry that doesn’t work – we’ve actually tried it.
Aloha.
Thank you for the update date. We are planning a trip for the end of September and are very anxious about possiable changes.
I have a flight in oct for 3 weeks but I’m expecting a big increase in covid and with the prices I’m just waiting for the right time to cancel my flight.
I’m worried what Hawaii will be like in the future 🤔
Aloha We just returned last week from the Big Island. As far restaurants go,
plan to eat a late lunch rather that dinner – way less busy. Since we rented a house, we also avoided crowds by eating in several evenings. The only thing that was disturbing was pockets of protesters who held signs telling visitors to go home. Mahalo for making us feel welcome.
If HAWAII is getting so overcrowded with tourist and it’s out of control. Why can’t the Governor of HAWAII submit of request to the airlines to only be allowed to sell a certain amount of tickets into HAWAII weekly. They can control the craziness that way
Note that we are on the BI now and have had different groups of people visit. Some got their wristband before they left the mainland and others went through the line here. For those that didn’t get the wristband here they were through the line at Kona in 5-10 mins and in both cases they beat their luggage to the luggage carrousel.
Thanks for the good advice. We went to Maui last April and still have the Safe Travels Hawaii app on our phones. Can we just keep it for our next trip (next April) or will we have to start all over with a new version?
Hi Linda.
Thank you. Safe travels is not an app. It is a website find at https://travel.hawaii.gov.
Aloha.
Aloha BOH, concerning the wristbands that are given out at departure from the mainland ( Los Angeles ) where exactly do you get them and from whom? When you check in? At the departure gate? Want to be prepared on all aspects for my trip in October. Mahalo nui Loa.
Hi Debram.
We suggest you check with the airline that you are flying for their location.
Aloha.
Where can I find the updated Hawaii Safe Travels rules?
Thanks you for your time,
Cynthia
Hi Cynthia.
It is at https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel.
Aloha.
I hope Hawaii doesn’t go into lockdown
And stays open into October
Thank you
We’re leaving in a week for 3 weeks in Kauai – at our timeshare, which we’ve had since 1995. We have one with a full kitchen and a large lanai, so if all else fails, we can be comfortable there and have good meals.
We’ve been reading your posts for several months, and consequently, we have a reasonable cost car rental, restaurant reservations for the days and places we want, plus reservations for access to Ke’e Beach and a Kilauea Lighthouse tour.
No, I’m not a travel agent, simply a Kauai-lover who has read all your emails and planned accordingly.
Yes, it’s still possible to have the Kauai vacation of your dreams. And regardless of what some people say about timeshares, in a situation like this, its perfect. Plus, we haven’t had problems with the timeshare, for 25 years. Planning is the key.
Hi KK.
Funny you mention that because we just wrote a reply to another comment talking about being tenacious with travel planning. It has yielded so many wonderful travel experiences, worldwide, for decades. Have a great time on Kauai!
Aloha.
Thanks for all you do to make travel to Hawaii easier and more predictable. It helps, and we appreciate it.
Hi Cameron.
Thanks for saying that, and for your first-time comment.
Aloha.
Aloha Cameron, welcome to BOH!! 🐠🐢🌺🍍🥥🌎🏖🏝🛩🌞🌈🌊🕶🩴👒🛍👙Blessings to you! Psalms 91:11😇😍
I’m coming back in October. Fortunately this time I’m staying with family so no condo or room to worry about. Or rental car. I’ll do what I need to do to get there and not complain. It’s 1000% worth it.
I realize it costs $$$ – $80/seat – but we always opt for 11A/B or 11H/J when flying Hawaiian to/from to the mainland. Two “Extra Comfort” seats all to themselves – fabulous on their own for the isolation and the leg room but definitely psychologically relaxing during Covid-time! (Guess I need to add that usually those are the only $$$ we spend as we always travel on Rapid Rewards points.)
Shhhh lol don’t tell everyone! Haha when I flew home in June I did just that. Totally worth the extra 80 dollars
Aloha and mahalo for all the up to date info on Hawaii travels. I’m returning in 3 weeks. I did not know about the airline wristbands so thanks for that. I was there in May and that wasn’t an option.
I am curious about our dining reservations, however. I made 5 reservations a month ago, but now that capacity has been reduced how do they select whose reservations are canceled?
Also, I used to attempt flight upgrades during early check in, but anymore 1st class and Comfort class seem to be sold out way in advance. (At least on Alaska).
Thanks again
Hi Laurie.
Yes, the airline upgrade situation isn’t an easy one. But it can work, and it has worked for us many times. If you are on a very popular route with many frequent flyers, like PDX or SEA, for example, it will be harder. As with car rentals, and pretty much everything else in travel – we just keep checking. We could share a lot of stories. One night finding a no-cost international first-class upgrade in the middle of the night – just being tenacious.
Perhaps consider calling the restaurants to reconfirm your reservations?
Aloha.
We just finished a 2 week vacation to the Big Island. By following your wonderful tips and suggestions everything went so smoothly. Luckily, we had rented our car in January so our cost was normal. We look forward to booking another trip to the islands but the only negative for actually doing it now is the rental car price. We won’t be ripped off…
Mahalo BOH for your numerous tips, suggestions and warnings on travel. Your site has now made our 3 trips amazing! We look forward to more and we recommend you to anyone we know going to Hawaii!
Hi Jan.
Thank you! We’re so glad to hear you had a great time on the big island.
Aloha.
A while back some visitors reported that some rental car companies did not hold their. reservations. ..,Does anyone ,who returned from The Big Island recently ,know if the major rental car companies there have enough vehicles and honoring reservations.
Restaurants are still having trouble with staffing. Ken’s here on the BI has been running at 50% capacity because that is where their employment levels are.
We only go to restaurants that are outdoors here on the Kona side of the island.
As of this morning there was only one available icu bed in all of Hawaii.
Readers should know this, knowing that if they need hospital care they could really be stuck.
Do you see any way that we do not shut down again?
Thank you.
Hi Kelly.
The current lack of ICU beds is on Hawaii Island, not statewide.
Aloha.
On this morning’s Hawaii news(Aug 16)Lt Gov (Doctor) Green spoke about the spread of the virus. I thought that it was informative and worth watching for anyone interested.
Yesterday’s news reported that covid testing lines are very long in Hawaii, and that tests are getting scarce. Another article reported that someone reported waiting 5 hours for a test in Hilo. So it appears that the residents are very concerned about the spread.I hope that the State can get it under control soon.
I hope the unvaccinated are also lining up to get immunized.
I was uploading our vaccination cards to the Safe Travels website just now. After reading this post, and noticing you didn’t list AA as a wristband participant, I went to aa.com and discovered that they do indeed issue wristbands now. Hope it works as well as has been reported by others on BOH.
4 weeks from today!
Aloha BOH!
Hi Ed.
Thanks for letting us know.
Aloha.
Thanks so much for keeping us up to date. I pushed my trip into Sept-oct to avoid COVID! That was a pipe dream!!!!
Keep up the good work!
Kathy
Dear Kathy, I may postpone my 1st trip to Hawaii in April 2022. All of these cases going up is really concerning me. I may just push back into 2023 because I want to be safe. I haven’t decided yet.
Aloha, thanks for all th info. Can you explain how one can get this wristband you mentioned? Mahalo.
Hi Patrice.
Check with your airline to see where they are issued. It could be at the gate or to be at a customer service location.
Aloha.
Mahalo. I guess different airlines have slightly different ways they do this.
Just to be clear, they would be at the airport for you FINAL flight from the mainland to Hawaii. Don’t look for the pre-clear from your departure airport unless your departure airport is the flight to Hawaii.
Yes they have cars. On October 12,
after talking to someone in line at Alamo I was able to rebook my reservation. I did this while waiting in line. I went from $1300
rental charge for 7 days to a total
of $405 including taxes for 7 days.
In a matter of minutes I saved $900.
Try Hawaii Discount car rental site.
Check it out near to time of pickup.
These agencies do not require deposits thus they get lots of cancellations. This was at Kona airport.
Thank you for your help!!