As Hawaii again reaches near-record numbers. Plus unique tricks on Hawaii car rentals.
37 thoughts on “Hawaii Turmoil: When Will Testing Stop, Airline Cancellations, Car Rental Crisis, More”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel Tips » Hawaii Turmoil: When Will Testing Stop, Airline Cancellations, Car Rental Crisis, More
We went to Kauai for two weeks in mid-May, and boy are we glad we did. 72-hour testing and QR codes were still in effect, but those were pretty easy to deal with. The roadblock at Hanalei Hill was also doable provided you planned ahead. That, combined with the parking permit process for Haena (I got 4 all-day passes for our stay of two weeks, simply by getting up at 3 am PST on the pertinent on-sale dates) resulted in us having the North Shore almost to ourselves Monday – Friday. It was a great situation for us, and a horrible situation for the local businesses, and we spent as much money as humanly possible there. Saturdays and Sundays, with the more open roadblock, were the only days some of the businesses opened. We used the weekend days to travel elsewhere on the island. We will probably not be back until next Spring and have already reserved the same house in Hanalei for that time frame. P.S. – Our rental car was ready and waiting for us, primarily due to the fact I was a Budget Fastbreak member; had I not been, the line at the counter was way longer than the supply of cars. The Fastbreak line consisted of myself and another gentleman in front of me.
I’ve kind of decided to stop listening to what the Lt. Gov. has to say, since I haven’t heard him say much of worth in quite a while. If he listened more to the people working for a living and less to Mufi Hannemann, he might realize that the problem won’t be “…a black eye by being unclear”, but a lack of people willing to work in the tourism industry. 60% vaccinated is perfectly clear to me. It is no less clear than setting a hard-and-fast date. When it comes to making decisions based on health and safety or on campaign contributions from the HTA, it seems we know which side Green comes down on.
After months of rock bottom airfares (<$200 round trip), cheap condo rental rates ($125/night for 1-BR oceanfront in West Maui), complaints about expensive rental cars and the cost of tests are a little hard to swallow. Hawaii isn't South Beach or the Jersey Shore (thankfully), but some parts are starting to look like it. An earlier commenter mentioned Waikiki as being overrun. You can probably add Front Street to that list. If you join the race to the bottom in pursuit of raw numbers, eventually you will get there.
American changed our okc-lih round trip for Sept/Oct to only be one way hnl-OKC. I got an email notification then waited 8 hours to talk to someone. The one-stop flights we had were not available for our days of travel. I am wary of trusting their alternative two-stop flight suggestions. We are getting a refund and have rebooked on Alaska. Fingers crossed!!!
Aloha Guys,
Things are just getting crazier and crazier. Mahalo for all your updates. We loved Oahu in early February with no crowds and low occupancy my mother and I were spoiled. We are coming back to Maui in October and we are telling ourselves every day it will be completely different and to expect long waits and traffic and to factor those in to our planning. We are trying to limit it to one or two things a day including eating out. I got a Jeep for a week for $900 I just hope it is there for me when my plane lands. Airfare and rooms have doubled in price since booking so i’m happy I followed your advice to book now.
Mahalo again guys,
Michael
Hi Michael.
Thank you. We too hope you have a great time on Maui this fall. Please let us know how the planning and trip turn out.
Aloha.
Which Southwest Airline flights were cancelled yesterday for Hawai’i? How does flight cancellations affect the pre-travel 72 hour COVID-19 Testing and flight rescheduling?
Thx for your timely advice ..keep it coming. In island now and will return in Sept. Mahali!
We have a trip booked and planned for July 6th. Thankfully, I booked a car in January but if I hadn’t we would have gone elsewhere and not paid these ridiculous prices! Honestly, despite being loyal visitors to the islands we are looking elsewhere for future vacations. Between the airfare, hotel, food and activities it’s not a cheap destination, and then the added insult of having to pay for covid testing at $200 despite being vaccinated. If this trip hadn’t been rescheduled 4 times due to covid I would have looked elsewhere.
Mahalo for all of your excellent updates and information! Your site is the only one we follow!
Hi Jan.
Thank you! Glad you will be able to return to Hawaii again shortly.
Aloha.
I just checked the price of a Mid-Seize Car at Hertz, Avis and Budget.
With a 35% discount they are offering a 2 week deal, pay now, for $2750 in October/November.
No more words.
Aloha-
I noticed you didn’t mention Alska in regards to pilot shortage. Have you heard what their situation is?
thanks
Hi Jon.
Thanks for that. We added them to the list of those companies that seem to be doing better in terms of cancellations.
Aloha.
Aloha, and mahalo for your wonderful updates!
We had our Alaska booking completely re-routed as they cancelled the direct San Jose to Lihue for our Sept dates. This affected several things for us. Alaska Airlines did not even notify us. I discovered it with a routine check of the reservation. When I called them, I received (3.5hrs later) a very snarky reply from an obviously burnt out agent. I was extremely cordial and tried to understand her situation, but she continued her rude responses to my questions. She repeatedly informed me I was welcome to look elsewhere. After 25+years of flying Alaska I have never encountered this. I eventually found a route, but with a red-eye return via Seattle back to San Jose. I remain grateful that I even get to return to Kauai and will take it with a grain of salt. Thankfully we still have a relatively reasonable 2 week car rental for $770.
I look forward to, once again, experiencing the beauty of Kauai, it’s people and culture. I am keeping a weekly watch on my flight reservation and advise the same.
Mahalo,
Laurie
Hi Laurie.
Thanks for letting us know about that unfortunate situation. Have a great time on Kauai.
Aloha.
Laurie, our direct flight from San Jose to Lihue in September still shows as confirmed. Hopefully only some dates were affected as I travel with a large service dog and need the large direct aircraft.
We were “stuck” in our Kauai condo for 8 months waiting for a direct flight out last October-May.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check frequently.
It’s really good news/bad news that visitors are returning in droves. Just returned from Waikiki where the crowds were unbearable and the noise was intolerable. My heart goes out to the locals…
Spoke with my son a few days ago who lives in Hawaii where he was born and raised. Even he was complaining about the amount of tourists there were. After a year of no crowds,traffic etc.it is very disturbing to see tourism return to levels higher than before the pandemic. Please respect the locals and aina (land). Mahalo.
Us locals here on the BI really enjoyed the heart of the pandemic. We could go anywhere and not see a tourist anywhere. It really was paradise. Unfortunately, we knew it would not last. Being retired, I am not worried in the least about the “tourist” economy.
We knew that tourists would return, but the islands are not ready for the amount of tourists that are here. As has been stated, businesses are having a really hard time finding employees. Pre-pandemic, businesses were properly staffed and ran very efficiently. Now, going to a decent restaurant takes a few weeks to get a reservation. Staff shortages have really made going out to dinner difficult.
People do not realize that those of us that live here have always taken a back seat to the tourism dollar.
My point to all of this is that if I am going to spend thousands of dollars coming here I want a streamlined experience ie good service, a rental car that I can afford and not having to deal with the idiotic Safe Travels Hawaii mess.