526 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel Upheaval: Stakeholders Livid As Adversaries Now Concur”
John C
You guys better all learn to enjoy walking and eating fish, you won’t be able to afford gas or food if you keep this up. The idea isn’t to make it harder (impossible) for those willing to take the risks and visit. Don’t really know the local politicians, but judging from the Senators from your State, this isn’t going to end well. Enjoy the fish.
Dan N.
I have made and cancelled a Hawaiian vacation for my girlfriend and I literally 3x in the past 9 months.
The rules and restrictions change on a daily and weekly basis.
I have basically resolved myself to not planning on going to Hawaii until 2022 until I feel that the officials feel guilty satisfied that everyone has been vaccinated…
Doreen J
I am extremely grateful that our Mayor Kawakami has put protecting the health and welfare of myself, my family and many friends who believe that Saving Lives is priority. Maybe when you loose someone you love knowing they died alone, you might change your mind.
Marta S.
Aloha! My daughter and I had planned a trip to Molokai for next May/June. I left my heart
somewhere among the Islands 3 years ago, and am devastated about current happenings because
of covid19. I’m in my mid-sixties, and wonder if it’s prudent to attempt a trip, especially
with all the conflict and uncertainty. Please , Hawaii, help yourselves and those who love you,
by pulling together and finding a safe, undaunting way to help visitors return. Mahalo nui loa,
a hui hou makou:)
Jane B
Four of us canceled our entire trip to Hawaii mostly due to the shutdown of Kauai. Absurd for islands to be acting independently of each other and casts doubt on the other islands. Airbnb the absolute worst-still refusing refunds of our $1600. I’d say the governor needs to get his poop in a group if he wants tourists to return at all.
Michael B
We are rescheduled to fly into Oahu on Friday then on to Kona on Saturday evening. We are trying to meet the regulations for testing, its ridiculous the pricing for these specific tests. If something else changes and we have to cancel again, then I will truly say Hawaii is no longer on our travel plans.
Thomas b
Wow we need kamehameha to reunite the islands.
Keith M
Just spent 23 great days in Kihei, Maui. Local residents were friendly and shop keepers repeatly thanked us for shopping at their business. We are from Vancouver, Canada and flew through Seatac. Got Covid test in Seattle and had results within 18 hours. Processing at OGG upon arrival was completed in less than 15 minutes. Safe travel system is well thought out and easy to navigate if you follow the process. We are already planning our next trip to Maui in early 2021. Knowing everybody is tested prior to departure to OGG is reassuring.
Dn
I’m going to Kihei in February. Love it there. Using US Biotek which guarantees results within 36 hours. What did you find was open/closed?
Catherine D.
We were in Hawaii just before the shutdown and even though my husband was born and raised there and we own a house there, we were treated pretty badly by locals telling us to go home and acting as if we were the ones bringing in covid. Turned us completely off on the islands. We are now trying to sell our home there and we have no plans to go back anytime soon.
Barbara M
Kauai? Because I am hearing from native local friends that visitors are being treated poorly on Kauai. Not hearing that about other islands.
Barbara M
That is beyond sad. But what I’m hearing from friends on Kauai, all of whom are Kauai born and raised, is that the residents of Kauai are extremely upset about the quarantine and what it is doing to their financial life as well as their lifestyle. Blaming the Mayor feels like “whistling in the wind” so they take their angst and displeasure and insecurity out on the nearest they can find – visitors – whom they blame for bringing Covid in the first place.
John
Good
John M.
Just cancelled our Kauai28 day high end condo rental. Had two other couples joining us for separate 10 day trips. We love the islands for the peace and natural beauty. Don’t feel the Aloha Spirit to traveller’s right now especially ones willing to take multiple tests, spend significant sums, and always leave your islands as we found them. Comments on this site and island forum sites can be quite disrespectful to travelers. Will miss you.
Mahalo and Aloha
Lee P
The change in tests made us cancel our trip. We tested but one of our family’s test was delayed in the mail. We were still supposed to receive the results before arriving in Hawaii, but not before we boarded the plane. We cancelled instead of risking quarantine for the entire trip. With the mail unreliable, there is just no way to guarantee getting the test results within 72 hours. It was very disappointing.
Cynthia D
We had reservations for our beloved Kauai in January which we have cancelled. I will not make additional plans to visit until there seems to be a reasonable, cohesive approach to tourism. It hurts greatly because we truly love the island, the culture, and the people.
Debra M
I have a late feb-march trip planned and hopefully will be able to come to Kauai to visit family. The constant changes are a bit nerve-wracking and it would be great to have a solid team response from the mayor and city officials to have a clear plan for travelers. Have been going there for 40 yes and it is a second home to me. Please let it happen responsibly. Mahalo and much Aloha to all residents.
Lew L
Hawaii needs to come up with a covid-19 plan based upon vaccines. Testing is not the answer and complex rules only make things worse. I think Hawaii needs a plan to vaccinate all residents willing to be vaccinated and require all visitors to show proof of vaccination or quarantine for 7-14 days. That will build public confidence and get tourist and the economy moving again.
Eric A
My wife & I recently spent a month in Maui under the original travel policy guidelines instituted on Oct 15 & it worked very well (traveling from WA state). We also have reservations in Kauai for 3 weeks starting in mid January. But now with the change in policy for Kauai to a 14 day mandatory quarantine, regardless of a negative Covid test, we will cancel, unless they change back to the previous reasonable travel policy. We will also not change to another island, because of the potential uncertainty that the other islands may follow Kauai’s example. The islands need to be consistent in their policy decisions & quit acting like they are all separate states! Thanks for opportunity to comment.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Eric.
Thanks for that feedback.
Aloha.
John c
We cancelled our Jan and feb trip to Kauai….we’ now booked for Maui…appears to us that many folks on Kauai just don’t like or want tourists…fine,we go to different islands fromtime to time and can find sun,rain,beach,golf ,great meals,on any of them and we can always go to the Caribbean.
Paul D.
Thanks for this article, which backs up our decision a few weeks ago to cancel our annual trip to Kauai. The conflicting rules, the testing requirements and the fact that many of the amenities at our resort (Waiohai Beach Club) are shut down at this time. We had planned to bring our kids and grandkids but with the resort bar, restaurant, kid’s activities, on-site store and reservations required for the swimming pool it didn’t make sense to spend over $3K for airfare to visit an island in lockdown. I know the mayor of Kauai thinks that they need to steer away from tourism and start other industries but given the size of the island and its remote location I can’t see that as a viable alternative to tourism. This is what happens when democrats run things – everyone loses.
Jeffery Q.
We had 1 case here on Kauai in October and after they reopened to tourism we are up to 16 cases. We only have 9 ICU beds. Because we are an island during the pandemic summer we only had around 40 cases and no deaths. Kauai was probably the safest place in America. After Oct. 15th I was surprise to see how many people were vacationing on Kauai during a deadly pandemic. With over a million new cases in the 1st five days of December now seems like the worst time to jet to other side of the world for a vacation. Yesterday 2600 people died in the US. The grocery stores were packed with mainland tourist many if whom weren’t wearing the mask correctly and in general had a sense of selfish entitlement. They cause traffic and lines in stores, are mostly rude and it is selfish to want to travel to Kauai right now. The travelers were bringing in the virus. Cases were growing too fast. Basically it is a very bad and selfish decision to vacation in the middle of a pandemic. Even one death is too many just so you could have a sunny vacation. Just wait till this summer and everybody gets vaccinated to travel to Kauai. Life is more important than money. Tourist stop being selfish and realize you are not welcome right now on Kauai.
Jim R.
You do understand that about half of the travelers (since reopening) who brought Covid to Kauai, were Residents traveling elsewhere and returning home, right?🤦♂️
If you actually believe that everyone is going to be vaccinated, then you’re really not paying attention to what going on beyond your tiny island in the middle of the Pacific.🤷♂️
Travis
I don’t understand how someone who is buying groceries in a grocery store can have a sense of entitlement. These people are helping your dying economy and you’re calling them selfish without even knowing them. Everything needs to open up. Your governor is selfish for taking a paycheck and then shutting down the state. People are committing suicide in record numbers in your state. Did you not read the article? More people have committed suicide then have died from the virus, so people are dying anyway. They are running out of money, businesses are closing and people do not have money to live. Vaccines do not stop viruses so you’re waiting for nothing to save your economy.
Jim R.
We’ll said, Travis. 👍
I guess it’s perfectly ok for people to kill themselves, because of the virus, as long as they don’t die directly from it? 🙄
Inah M
They’ve been using the “health and safety first” excuse but the truth is they just want to stay home, do nothing and continue to collect stimulus and UI. I feel for the people that want to get back to work to put food on their table and the small business owners that want to keep their stores afloat. There are some locals/residents who are actually grateful for returning visitors because they can work again.
Joerg H.
Opening up in the middle of a pandemic isn’t the only solution to the economic pain that people are feeling because of the pandemic. We could do what every other civilized country has done and provide financial support for the people, and the business affected by the pandemic. It’s not an either-or situation. We can keep people safe, and not drive people to suicide because of economic hardship. Last but not least, I find it interesting that the person who posted that actually lives in Hawaii thinks that protecting people is more important than protecting the economy, and the folks who are tourists think it should be the other way around.
Jim R.
I find it interesting that you think I am a tourist, Joerg, since you are clueless about where I own property or choose to live throughout the year.
You do know that our Government has (to the tune of Two Trillion dollars) and will likely again put us deeper in debt to help businesses and individuals. You act like it’s never happened since this (not really the definition of a) pandemic started.
It isn’t the wealthy that will be footing the bill for the Stimulus Packages our Government is so freely authorizing. So, when you open your wallet and start paying for what your volunteering others to pay, I might take you seriously.
The fact is, this virus isn’t killing “everybody”. It’s killing an enormously Small percentage of the population, and most of those are above age 65. We only need to “protect people” who are vulnerable with significant comorbidities, and we don’t need to destroy economies in the process. We definitely Don’t need to do both, and we haven’t since the peak of death toll several months ago.
Joerg H.
I’ll say the same to you, you don’t know me, or my situation. Trust me, I pay plenty in taxes. As a matter of fact, I think I pay too much, because people who can afford more, don’t pay their fair share. But, back to the topic at hand. I’m well aware of the 2 trillion dollar giveaway to the rich and the big corporations that congress passed already. The problem is, what little there was in there for “ordinary folks” is running out. 12 million people are about to lose their unemployment insurance. Again, the answer isn’t “let’s pretend there isn’t a pandemic”. I also find it interesting that you’re only focused on the death rate and ignoring the other aspects of the pandemic like the hospitalization rate. People are getting really sick from this virus, and we should be paying attention to that too. The seven day average for daily cases has now exceeded 200K, and about 1/2 of those people end up in the hospital (100k). This is pushing people who work in those hospitals to the breaking point. The answer to this is “stop the spread”. How do you do that? Wear masks, social distance, wash hands, and don’t gather in groups of people from outside your home. Unfortunately, we in the US have been terrible at doing those things, and thus the spread is out of control. So what options do public health officials have? Stay at home orders, quarantines, etc. which are highly unpopular and have a negative effect on the economy. But again, we are talking in generalities here. Specifically, when it comes to Hawaii, why in God’s name would anyone want to go on vacation in the middle of a pandemic? Again, this is going to have a negative effect on the economy that relies on tourism, so what’s the alternative? Again, open things up and have the hospitals get overrun? Or provide economic support to the people negatively affected? I say spending the money to help people is a preferred alternative to playing Russian Roulette with a deadly virus.
Adam W.
We were supposed to be traveling to Hawaii at the end of this month. The 72 hour test makes it impossible here on the mainland to guarantee it will be back in time. Unfortunately, we have to cancel a visit to my 70 something parents who have been stuck all year.
Matt
My wife and I were looking to book a trip to kauai or Maui this month for a 1-2 week baby moon vacation in February. With news of the recent changes and the lack of a consistent message on what’s required. There’s now no way we’ll be booking a Hawaii trip to any of the island. It’s just far too risky to tie up thousands of dollars when Hawaii can gets its act together. We’ll be going elsewhere probably to the Caribbean.
Barbara M
Brit just posted optimistic comment about using “Hawaiian Airlines pre-travel testing”.
BE CAREFUL… Vault is now stating not to use them if you are traveling on a Tuesday or Wednesday. In addition, in some state (perhaps all), they will not offer you testing if you state you are an Medicare. (That happened to us but I only looked at our state.)
VI
Two full price holiday season reservations were cancelled the same day the mandatory quarantine was announced in Kauai. As an owner I rushed with my family to get test results ready by Dec 01 and flew over to Kauai to make some use of the property for our own goods since it doesn’t produce any income. A 200-condo luxury resort is pretty much vacant with only a 10% occupancy by owners. Assuming 90% of others can make the ends meet with their financial obligations, like $1000+ HOA fees, thousands of dollars in mortgages and utility bills, what will happen to all these businesses that fed off of the guests that are no longer here. How long they can survive without any income? Car rental parking lots are full with cars no one wants.
Will
I cancelled my family’s Hawaiian Airlines reservations this week. The biggest factor was the Kauai shutdown. Besides, who knows if or when other islands will randomly do the same on us at the last minute? My family and I agree it’s too much of a headache trying to keep up with all the inconsistencies and ever-changing rules. And considering the steep cost to go to Hawaii in the first place, we just feel it’s much less risky for us to vacation somewhere else.
Comments are closed.
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You guys better all learn to enjoy walking and eating fish, you won’t be able to afford gas or food if you keep this up. The idea isn’t to make it harder (impossible) for those willing to take the risks and visit. Don’t really know the local politicians, but judging from the Senators from your State, this isn’t going to end well. Enjoy the fish.
I have made and cancelled a Hawaiian vacation for my girlfriend and I literally 3x in the past 9 months.
The rules and restrictions change on a daily and weekly basis.
I have basically resolved myself to not planning on going to Hawaii until 2022 until I feel that the officials feel guilty satisfied that everyone has been vaccinated…
I am extremely grateful that our Mayor Kawakami has put protecting the health and welfare of myself, my family and many friends who believe that Saving Lives is priority. Maybe when you loose someone you love knowing they died alone, you might change your mind.
Aloha! My daughter and I had planned a trip to Molokai for next May/June. I left my heart
somewhere among the Islands 3 years ago, and am devastated about current happenings because
of covid19. I’m in my mid-sixties, and wonder if it’s prudent to attempt a trip, especially
with all the conflict and uncertainty. Please , Hawaii, help yourselves and those who love you,
by pulling together and finding a safe, undaunting way to help visitors return. Mahalo nui loa,
a hui hou makou:)
Four of us canceled our entire trip to Hawaii mostly due to the shutdown of Kauai. Absurd for islands to be acting independently of each other and casts doubt on the other islands. Airbnb the absolute worst-still refusing refunds of our $1600. I’d say the governor needs to get his poop in a group if he wants tourists to return at all.
We are rescheduled to fly into Oahu on Friday then on to Kona on Saturday evening. We are trying to meet the regulations for testing, its ridiculous the pricing for these specific tests. If something else changes and we have to cancel again, then I will truly say Hawaii is no longer on our travel plans.
Wow we need kamehameha to reunite the islands.
Just spent 23 great days in Kihei, Maui. Local residents were friendly and shop keepers repeatly thanked us for shopping at their business. We are from Vancouver, Canada and flew through Seatac. Got Covid test in Seattle and had results within 18 hours. Processing at OGG upon arrival was completed in less than 15 minutes. Safe travel system is well thought out and easy to navigate if you follow the process. We are already planning our next trip to Maui in early 2021. Knowing everybody is tested prior to departure to OGG is reassuring.
I’m going to Kihei in February. Love it there. Using US Biotek which guarantees results within 36 hours. What did you find was open/closed?
We were in Hawaii just before the shutdown and even though my husband was born and raised there and we own a house there, we were treated pretty badly by locals telling us to go home and acting as if we were the ones bringing in covid. Turned us completely off on the islands. We are now trying to sell our home there and we have no plans to go back anytime soon.
Kauai? Because I am hearing from native local friends that visitors are being treated poorly on Kauai. Not hearing that about other islands.
That is beyond sad. But what I’m hearing from friends on Kauai, all of whom are Kauai born and raised, is that the residents of Kauai are extremely upset about the quarantine and what it is doing to their financial life as well as their lifestyle. Blaming the Mayor feels like “whistling in the wind” so they take their angst and displeasure and insecurity out on the nearest they can find – visitors – whom they blame for bringing Covid in the first place.
Good
Just cancelled our Kauai28 day high end condo rental. Had two other couples joining us for separate 10 day trips. We love the islands for the peace and natural beauty. Don’t feel the Aloha Spirit to traveller’s right now especially ones willing to take multiple tests, spend significant sums, and always leave your islands as we found them. Comments on this site and island forum sites can be quite disrespectful to travelers. Will miss you.
Mahalo and Aloha
The change in tests made us cancel our trip. We tested but one of our family’s test was delayed in the mail. We were still supposed to receive the results before arriving in Hawaii, but not before we boarded the plane. We cancelled instead of risking quarantine for the entire trip. With the mail unreliable, there is just no way to guarantee getting the test results within 72 hours. It was very disappointing.
We had reservations for our beloved Kauai in January which we have cancelled. I will not make additional plans to visit until there seems to be a reasonable, cohesive approach to tourism. It hurts greatly because we truly love the island, the culture, and the people.
I have a late feb-march trip planned and hopefully will be able to come to Kauai to visit family. The constant changes are a bit nerve-wracking and it would be great to have a solid team response from the mayor and city officials to have a clear plan for travelers. Have been going there for 40 yes and it is a second home to me. Please let it happen responsibly. Mahalo and much Aloha to all residents.
Hawaii needs to come up with a covid-19 plan based upon vaccines. Testing is not the answer and complex rules only make things worse. I think Hawaii needs a plan to vaccinate all residents willing to be vaccinated and require all visitors to show proof of vaccination or quarantine for 7-14 days. That will build public confidence and get tourist and the economy moving again.
My wife & I recently spent a month in Maui under the original travel policy guidelines instituted on Oct 15 & it worked very well (traveling from WA state). We also have reservations in Kauai for 3 weeks starting in mid January. But now with the change in policy for Kauai to a 14 day mandatory quarantine, regardless of a negative Covid test, we will cancel, unless they change back to the previous reasonable travel policy. We will also not change to another island, because of the potential uncertainty that the other islands may follow Kauai’s example. The islands need to be consistent in their policy decisions & quit acting like they are all separate states! Thanks for opportunity to comment.
Hi Eric.
Thanks for that feedback.
Aloha.
We cancelled our Jan and feb trip to Kauai….we’ now booked for Maui…appears to us that many folks on Kauai just don’t like or want tourists…fine,we go to different islands fromtime to time and can find sun,rain,beach,golf ,great meals,on any of them and we can always go to the Caribbean.
Thanks for this article, which backs up our decision a few weeks ago to cancel our annual trip to Kauai. The conflicting rules, the testing requirements and the fact that many of the amenities at our resort (Waiohai Beach Club) are shut down at this time. We had planned to bring our kids and grandkids but with the resort bar, restaurant, kid’s activities, on-site store and reservations required for the swimming pool it didn’t make sense to spend over $3K for airfare to visit an island in lockdown. I know the mayor of Kauai thinks that they need to steer away from tourism and start other industries but given the size of the island and its remote location I can’t see that as a viable alternative to tourism. This is what happens when democrats run things – everyone loses.
We had 1 case here on Kauai in October and after they reopened to tourism we are up to 16 cases. We only have 9 ICU beds. Because we are an island during the pandemic summer we only had around 40 cases and no deaths. Kauai was probably the safest place in America. After Oct. 15th I was surprise to see how many people were vacationing on Kauai during a deadly pandemic. With over a million new cases in the 1st five days of December now seems like the worst time to jet to other side of the world for a vacation. Yesterday 2600 people died in the US. The grocery stores were packed with mainland tourist many if whom weren’t wearing the mask correctly and in general had a sense of selfish entitlement. They cause traffic and lines in stores, are mostly rude and it is selfish to want to travel to Kauai right now. The travelers were bringing in the virus. Cases were growing too fast. Basically it is a very bad and selfish decision to vacation in the middle of a pandemic. Even one death is too many just so you could have a sunny vacation. Just wait till this summer and everybody gets vaccinated to travel to Kauai. Life is more important than money. Tourist stop being selfish and realize you are not welcome right now on Kauai.
You do understand that about half of the travelers (since reopening) who brought Covid to Kauai, were Residents traveling elsewhere and returning home, right?🤦♂️
If you actually believe that everyone is going to be vaccinated, then you’re really not paying attention to what going on beyond your tiny island in the middle of the Pacific.🤷♂️
I don’t understand how someone who is buying groceries in a grocery store can have a sense of entitlement. These people are helping your dying economy and you’re calling them selfish without even knowing them. Everything needs to open up. Your governor is selfish for taking a paycheck and then shutting down the state. People are committing suicide in record numbers in your state. Did you not read the article? More people have committed suicide then have died from the virus, so people are dying anyway. They are running out of money, businesses are closing and people do not have money to live. Vaccines do not stop viruses so you’re waiting for nothing to save your economy.
We’ll said, Travis. 👍
I guess it’s perfectly ok for people to kill themselves, because of the virus, as long as they don’t die directly from it? 🙄
They’ve been using the “health and safety first” excuse but the truth is they just want to stay home, do nothing and continue to collect stimulus and UI. I feel for the people that want to get back to work to put food on their table and the small business owners that want to keep their stores afloat. There are some locals/residents who are actually grateful for returning visitors because they can work again.
Opening up in the middle of a pandemic isn’t the only solution to the economic pain that people are feeling because of the pandemic. We could do what every other civilized country has done and provide financial support for the people, and the business affected by the pandemic. It’s not an either-or situation. We can keep people safe, and not drive people to suicide because of economic hardship. Last but not least, I find it interesting that the person who posted that actually lives in Hawaii thinks that protecting people is more important than protecting the economy, and the folks who are tourists think it should be the other way around.
I find it interesting that you think I am a tourist, Joerg, since you are clueless about where I own property or choose to live throughout the year.
You do know that our Government has (to the tune of Two Trillion dollars) and will likely again put us deeper in debt to help businesses and individuals. You act like it’s never happened since this (not really the definition of a) pandemic started.
It isn’t the wealthy that will be footing the bill for the Stimulus Packages our Government is so freely authorizing. So, when you open your wallet and start paying for what your volunteering others to pay, I might take you seriously.
The fact is, this virus isn’t killing “everybody”. It’s killing an enormously Small percentage of the population, and most of those are above age 65. We only need to “protect people” who are vulnerable with significant comorbidities, and we don’t need to destroy economies in the process. We definitely Don’t need to do both, and we haven’t since the peak of death toll several months ago.
I’ll say the same to you, you don’t know me, or my situation. Trust me, I pay plenty in taxes. As a matter of fact, I think I pay too much, because people who can afford more, don’t pay their fair share. But, back to the topic at hand. I’m well aware of the 2 trillion dollar giveaway to the rich and the big corporations that congress passed already. The problem is, what little there was in there for “ordinary folks” is running out. 12 million people are about to lose their unemployment insurance. Again, the answer isn’t “let’s pretend there isn’t a pandemic”. I also find it interesting that you’re only focused on the death rate and ignoring the other aspects of the pandemic like the hospitalization rate. People are getting really sick from this virus, and we should be paying attention to that too. The seven day average for daily cases has now exceeded 200K, and about 1/2 of those people end up in the hospital (100k). This is pushing people who work in those hospitals to the breaking point. The answer to this is “stop the spread”. How do you do that? Wear masks, social distance, wash hands, and don’t gather in groups of people from outside your home. Unfortunately, we in the US have been terrible at doing those things, and thus the spread is out of control. So what options do public health officials have? Stay at home orders, quarantines, etc. which are highly unpopular and have a negative effect on the economy. But again, we are talking in generalities here. Specifically, when it comes to Hawaii, why in God’s name would anyone want to go on vacation in the middle of a pandemic? Again, this is going to have a negative effect on the economy that relies on tourism, so what’s the alternative? Again, open things up and have the hospitals get overrun? Or provide economic support to the people negatively affected? I say spending the money to help people is a preferred alternative to playing Russian Roulette with a deadly virus.
We were supposed to be traveling to Hawaii at the end of this month. The 72 hour test makes it impossible here on the mainland to guarantee it will be back in time. Unfortunately, we have to cancel a visit to my 70 something parents who have been stuck all year.
My wife and I were looking to book a trip to kauai or Maui this month for a 1-2 week baby moon vacation in February. With news of the recent changes and the lack of a consistent message on what’s required. There’s now no way we’ll be booking a Hawaii trip to any of the island. It’s just far too risky to tie up thousands of dollars when Hawaii can gets its act together. We’ll be going elsewhere probably to the Caribbean.
Brit just posted optimistic comment about using “Hawaiian Airlines pre-travel testing”.
BE CAREFUL… Vault is now stating not to use them if you are traveling on a Tuesday or Wednesday. In addition, in some state (perhaps all), they will not offer you testing if you state you are an Medicare. (That happened to us but I only looked at our state.)
Two full price holiday season reservations were cancelled the same day the mandatory quarantine was announced in Kauai. As an owner I rushed with my family to get test results ready by Dec 01 and flew over to Kauai to make some use of the property for our own goods since it doesn’t produce any income. A 200-condo luxury resort is pretty much vacant with only a 10% occupancy by owners. Assuming 90% of others can make the ends meet with their financial obligations, like $1000+ HOA fees, thousands of dollars in mortgages and utility bills, what will happen to all these businesses that fed off of the guests that are no longer here. How long they can survive without any income? Car rental parking lots are full with cars no one wants.
I cancelled my family’s Hawaiian Airlines reservations this week. The biggest factor was the Kauai shutdown. Besides, who knows if or when other islands will randomly do the same on us at the last minute? My family and I agree it’s too much of a headache trying to keep up with all the inconsistencies and ever-changing rules. And considering the steep cost to go to Hawaii in the first place, we just feel it’s much less risky for us to vacation somewhere else.