Let’s face it, traveling long distances anywhere during COVID is a challenge, and flying to Hawaii is no exception. But you don’t need to encounter problems like quarantine on arrival. We will tell you how to avoid it and share some of your experiences from the huge number of comments we have received.
Remember trip insurance? In this case, “cancel for any reason,” is probably not going to be of help. That’s because if you buy it, your trip needs to be canceled at least 48 hours before departure. And since test results will be delivered after that, it won’t be of use if you did not get the results in time.
BOH: Probably the best travel insurance you can get is making sure you test with an approved partner that guarantees results within the specified time.
You pay thousands of dollars for a Hawaii vacation. Please don’t end up in quarantine or having to return to the mainland without ever enjoying our beaches. Take the time to research how to make today’s taxing test requirements work for you and not against you.
Alaska Airlines’ pre-arrival testing takes care of much of this for you since you’ll have all procedures completed and can expect a hassle-free experience when landing in Hawaii. We do expect that service to be expanded to the other airlines serving Hawaii shortly.
Beat of Hawaii’s Top 5 Ways to Avoid Quarantine and Hawaii Travel Stress.
1. Only use currently approved trusted partners. Even then, check both the state’s website and the trusted partner websites. For example, Safe Travels continues to list CVS pharmacy as a trusted partner. However, the CVS testing website clearly states, “We cannot guarantee a specific turnaround time on the lab tests accepted by Hawaii – travelers to Hawaii should make other testing plans.” Simple, do not use CVS.
The Vault website says not to use their solution when traveling on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. “Due to no Sunday UPS shipping and an increase in UPS holiday traffic, we encourage passengers to look for a local testing solution if traveling on a Tuesday or Wednesday for the remainder of the year.” BTW, Vault provides a chart showing when you test and when you mail based on travel day.
As another example, Carbon Health (many cities) provides test results the next day, albeit slightly more costly.
2. Choose approved tests that offer the fastest, guaranteed turnaround, not something that states 3 days. For in-person testing, be sure that the maximum turnaround will keep you well within Hawaii’s rules. The test must be taken within 72 hours before the mainland to Hawaii flight, and you need the results before you travel.
3. Use approved test types. The state requires a PCR type of NAAT test. Not a rapid antigen test. Be sure you are getting a Hawaii-approved test only.
4. When using mail-in tests, pay close attention to potential shipping issues. Calculate both the time for the results to be processed by the lab and the time for shipping to them.
5. Determine testing availability and reservation procedures for your selected vendors. Please don’t assume you’ll be able to get a test when you need it without ascertaining that in advance.
Following are some recent comments from you about what worked and what didn’t. We hope to add you to the thumbs up list.
Thumbs Down:
Karen: “I had a test done before I left at the ER of a local hospital in San Luis Obispo, CA. No, it wasn’t a Partners Certified lab, but the test was a NAAT type test, and it came out negative. It was (not) accepted at the airport in Hawaii so I’m in quarantine… They should have a test in HI for arrivals.”
Hazel: “We have traveled to Hawaii and have been made to quarantine for 14 days even though we took a Covid 19 test and results were negative upon arriving in Honolulu. We aren’t having a positive experience by being locked in a hotel room. This is no way to treat visitors who didn’t know you had specific trusted partners that you have to be tested with.”
Lori L.: “After doing everything right with Safe Travels and crossing our fingers, we were sitting in the parking lot of airport with bags ready to check when no results came, (95hrs it took!) and we were forced to cancel 1 hour before flight. Even with moving our flight out 6 hrs! We were so disappointed, exhausted, stressed, despondent and in shock. Some things were refunded and some things were not, and for not fault of our own!
AB: “So I did what the Walgreens website said to do, …(and took) the proper test plus another test to be sure, both negative. I rented a car and traveled 20+ hours. Only to be put in quarantine 14 days. Unable to cancel the car, and leaving the state… I’ve been trapped in paradise in my sons apartment unable to even go to the beach with him. I’ve never been more defeated or depressed in my life.”
Thalia: “The state of Hawaii placed… me in quarantine for our 7 day vacation because they would not accept 2 negative covid test results performed by the state of Rhode Island… Shouldn’t it be the labs? I left in 24 hours and went someplace I was welcomed. I will never go back.”
Thumbs Up:
David O.: “We are here and followed the protocol. No problem. We got the Abbott now rapid test for AFC urgent care. Results in 3 hours. Don’t bother with a test that takes days. The state accepts this rapid test. Never a worry as we had results the same day. All you do is find a place on the list that does rapid tests and you’re good.”
Brad: “I don’t know of a single person who followed the Costco/Azova instructions and didn’t get their test back in time. The reviews on Costco’s website are tainted by people who didn’t follow instructions. Frankly, in most cases, it’s abundantly clear they didn’t even read them!!!”
Ethan H.: “Did our test through Carbon Health 2 days early, got the results back within 24 hours… Alaska pre-screening stuff avoided any line when we arrived. Once at the resort it’s been a slice of paradise. In general folks are very welcoming and accommodating.”
Kathy P: Got our results in time using City Health Urgent Care in San Francisco… We opted to pay the $120 to get our results in less than 24 hours. Fortunately I had made the online appointment almost 2 months ago otherwise they are booked out into January. We actually got our results (this was last week) in 8 hours. Sooooo happy we made it and are having a great time. No negative experiences. We love Hawaii!”
Craig S.: “We read everything the State posted regarding testing, quarantines, and the like… Here we are and to us, it was worth all the hassle and uncertainty… Hawaii is such a wonderful place and the people here and their hospitality, are second to none.”
Patty: “We used carbon a week ago before our flight to Honolulu… excellent service, quick results ( less than 24 hours) You’ll be good to go.”
We look forward to hearing about your experiences.
Please pick an on-site testing place. We used AZOVA (and yes, WE FOLLOWED ALL THE RULES, ignorant commenter above who presumes that people didn’t do so who it didn’t work for). All we got was excuses and no help whenever we did some digging (through UPS, not AZOVA) to find out that our tests wouldn’t even be RECEIVED on time. Why? Weather and NJ. We live in freaking Seattle, and they send the tests all the way to Jersey. If that isn’t a major liability, I don’t know what is. They offered no other solutions, no sympathy, no refund. AZOVA sucks. If you want to be able to go to Hawaii, book an on-site test (where they’re not sending your test to a lab hundreds or thousands of miles away.) We are currently waiting to do our Carbon on-site testing, which is a little more expensive, but the processing is on-site. AZOVA is garbage. Don’t use it.
UPDATE TO MY PREVIOUS POST
Your advice about Kaiser made me change my mind about where to get our Covid test. We used Alaska Airlines’ partner Carbon Health (on the approved list). So easy! The five of us went to three different airports for our test 72 hours prior. Each of us got our negative test results within 24 hours!!! In the correct format for Safe Travels Hawaii! Thank you for this forum and for your guidance.
Hi Tonya.
That’s great to hear. Thanks for the update and glad to know that Carbon Health worked out great.
Aloha.
As o 128 carbon health wax out of the program in wa. Oy doing pre employment tests.
Hi all!
Apparently there is a question on the Safe Travels health questionnaire needing to be filled out 24 hours before departure, that asks if you have traveled out of your home state recently. Does anyone know if that would keep you from getting an exemption from the quarantine even with a negative test result and everything else in line? Lots of people are still traveling or have layovers. Just curious what is targeted with that question. Thanks!
When we came back to Kauai in early November, we had spent a week in California beforehand, and a week in Arizona before that. I think we put them both down, I can’t remember. I don’t know why they bothered to ask, since there was no stated “Safe Travels” rule that treated people differently depending on where they were traveling from. I know that has been a thing elsewhere. They also asked if you’ve had a flu shot recently, but again I don’t think it matters. Maybe they are just collecting some data.
If I have a layover in Honolu but fly to OGG on the same day, does that change the 72 hour requirements?
Do I need to count 72 hours from leaving to Maui or 72 hours from departure of last leg on main continent?
BOH, one pointer for your readers that I hadn’t seen before (might have missed it)- You need to enter all your data and upload results etc. for EACH LEG of your trip if you aren’t flying direct from the mainland. We flew to Kona via Maui because Sacramento doesn’t have any direct flights anymore. ☹️ We had to go through the testing approval in both Maui and Kona, and you have to have a QR code for each flight. We had only uploaded everything for our Sac to OGG flight, so when we got to Kona we had to step out of line and go upload everything again to get a QR code for the flight from Maui to Kona. It wasn’t a big deal, we weren’t alone in our confusion about this, and of course all the staff were super helpful and nice, but it would have been nice to have done it in advance. Thanks for all you do to keep travelers informed!
Hi Kim.
Thanks for your comments, and for this important information. We will make a point of highlighting that in the future.
Aloha.
We were in Maui last week and Oahu this week. Have had a great time. Since we stayed in Maui first, we only needed the single test before we left. We used the Walgreens rapid test (ID Now) and had our results in about 30 minutes. For some reason, Walgreens does not offer this test anywhere in CA, so we had to drive to NV to take it. 30 minute wait in Maui to check Safe Travels docs and no check when entering Oahu inter-island
I live in Michigan. Where do I go to get a test that I can be sure will be back in time regardless of the cost?
We did mail-in Vault test and got our results in 30 hours. We flew on a Saturday, so we didn’t run into the issues for Tuesday/Wednesday flights with Vault. If you go with Vault, be sure to let the Vault observer know you are flying to Hawaii and they will give specific instructions to get your test results expedited. Good luck. Wish we were still on the Big Island.
I’m on the American Airlines site right now and they say that they use LetsGetChecked at-home test or CareNow rapid testing which are approved for travel to Hawaii. Neither of these appear on the list of “trusted partners”. Is American delusional or am I missing something?
Do you have feedback from anyone who has used the American Airlines testing?
Are you flying to Hawaii or planning to fly around with American? The question is: what does HAWAII require? There is a portal that provides the information needed for travel hawaiicovid19.com/travel/faqs/