A Safety Net Just Announced May Help Avert Hawaii Vacation Disasters.
173 thoughts on “Hawaii Vacations Saved? | Guaranteed Test Results Within 36-Hours”
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A Safety Net Just Announced May Help Avert Hawaii Vacation Disasters.
Comments are closed.
This is great news,but I’m flying from the east coast. I’m not at fault if “trusted testing partners” don’t report results within the aloted time. If there a contract with these partners, there should be quick results?
Too little too late. We are scheduled to leave Wed the 25th. We did our test on Sunday. Unless the state of Hawaii extends the “quarantine until results are available” we can’t even try. There should have been testing options in place before the change.
Sorry Anna that you feel the new testing rules implemented to actually try and make the safe travels program a bit more safe( Kauai alone has had over a dozen people fly here awaiting results that have been positive) to has cost you your pandemic vacation!
There were testing options in place which you have taken advantage of by your own admission your. Demand for testing is increasing everywhere and thus it’s hard to guarantee tests results in a timely fashion and shouldn’t be blamed on the State of Hawaii but rather people in your own community. Some people would consider your own action of leisure travel during a pandemic to be a risky behavior contributing to COVID’s spread. Hawaiian Airlines is trying to solve the problem with speed of testing providers at the west coast airports for their own bottom line and to appease people like you!
While I personally have lost faith in the safe travels program and it’s effectiveness, at least the state is attempting to make it better with the new rule today requiring the test to be upload prior to departure rather than getting rid of it all together and going back to the 14 day quarantine.
Question: How does a mask work against catching a Virus which escaped from a Level 4 Bio-weapons Lab ?
VAULT UPDATE: If you are traveling around Christmas or New Years and intend to use Vault for your Covid testing, you need to visit their website. They are extremely clear on what their working hours will be, what their lab hours will be AND even what UPS shipping restrictions will be.
Behooves Hawaii state officials to review the protocols utilized by the oil companies for their off shore oil platforms. Particularly for quarantining. The oil companies cannot afford an outbreak of covid and yet quarantining for two weeks requires a huge increase in personnel and expense. At least some oil companies have implemented a viable alternative.
Still no testing for Canadians, despite the announcement.
Good luck. We used this Hawaiian Airlines approved testing, guarantee for the rapid test. 12 hours or less, we received it in 2.5 days!. That means 2.5 days of quarantine… No problem for us but anyone else, ruined vacation for 14 days house arrest with this new mandate. Everyone is back logged for weeks on tests. Dont see Hawaiian Airlines pulling this off…but great effort!
I have read in the last couple of days that there is some approved testing site’s in Alberta.
Please be sure to get tested at Hawaii safe travels test approved partners. I did not, just so I could meet my travel deadline. I quarantined for 14 days at my daughter’s home. It was not easy but you can avoid that lock down by using an approved by Hawaii lab. My results of negative covid were not enough and I could not leave my quarentine go test locally. Hope this helps
I arrived today in Kauai from Seattle, read every forum, did everything right even when info is confusing. When we booked our trip most testing was already booked in person so we used vault. Confusion # 1 – vault said take the test on Thursday am and yet that was more than 72 hours before we flew Sunday night (turns out Vault doesn’t time stamp and since they need the shipping time you really are testing 80 hours before flying most likely but it’s approved by Hawaii to do this for only Vault I believe ) 2#2 if use Vault, make sure you write “stat Hawaii” on the inside box AND the shipping bag. Everyone in our party but 1 did that and all tests but that 1 came back in 24 hours. The final test came back 80 hours later (Monday morning) which made it invalid and led to lots of changed flight and last minute tests booked and was super stressful. Be careful! Carbon Health with Alaska was great. Test was back 4 am the next day and guaranteed by 9 am (though varies by location). Make sure you have QR code and health form and negative tests uploaded in advance and that part was amazingly quick once we landed!
Hi Lala,
Glad it all worked out for your family but your experience proves why traveling during a pandemic is risky and leisure travel isn’t likely worth all the extra stress.
However, now that you are on Kauai where since the safe travel program started the cases have nearly doubled and we lost a Kupuna yesterday: please mask up, follow all the county’s rules (which may be changing soon due to all new travel related cases and participate in the county’s post travel surveillance program.
Yes Sarah,we get it,I’m a Kauai resident too. We will have cases,covid is circulating everywhere,but,people will travel. As you say,wearing a mask,limiting gatherings are what all of us can do to mitigate covid;don’t demonize the traveler.
You are correct that Vault does not time stamp – they only date stamp. We still waited until within the 72 hour window. This is a (mostly) anonymous blog, but you probably don’t want to advertise that you took your test too early, and got away with it.
Yes on “STAT Hawaii”. We wrote that all over the package and box and even the inner bag that holds the test tube in big black sharpie pen. The Zoom ladies recommend that.
Absolutely ready to visit with this news! Thank you Hawaiian Airlines! Now the other airlines will hopefully follow suit.
Having said that, the real issue is the Hawaii Gov’t needs to be proactive and get in the middle of this – why do the airlines need to fix your crazy rules? Put some thought into this and let’s get it right!
Hi Mike,
The Hawaii’s government focus needs to on keeping it’s residents safe, and start exploring other options for economic support of it residents rather than the safe travels program which is causing an increase in cases in the islands for very little economic benefit.
This program is proving to be extremely risky for the islands (take a look at what is happening on Kauai) and it wasn’t the airlines fixing the flaw in a program. The Hawaiian airlines solved the problem that the state’s testing partners can’t meet the deadline because of rise in cases on the mainland and thus the increasing demand for medical an exposure related reasons.
That is all the only thing the state should be doing with regards to fixing the Safe Travels program is to continue to make improvements to the program to make it safer for the islands. Not improve speed to benefit the people who are choosing to travel during a pandemic.
I’m still confused. US BioTek can get me in at 9 a.m. (73 hours before Monday flight) or 10:30 a.m. (71.5 hours). Is either of those correct?
One of those times is much better than the other
DN,
You need to pick a testing time with 72 hours of your scheduled departure. Since you are struggling to figure the safe travels program requirements out, I’d suggest contacting the Hawaii Tourism Bureau for additional assistance with this or any other questions you may have. Wouldn’t want you to come back here to complain about how Safe Travels program screwed you over since you can’t understand the published information on the website and be have to quarantine for 14 days! 😉
I did. No answer despite multiple emails. I suspect they are swamped.