A visitor summed it up, stating, “Yes….This is a Hot Mess.” The deeper we all dig, the more problems that surface.
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276 thoughts on “Latest Testing Rules Fail: Hawaii Vacations Upended”
A visitor summed it up, stating, “Yes….This is a Hot Mess.” The deeper we all dig, the more problems that surface.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
It is a problem and will get worse, I think, with the new rules effective Monday. We had problems this week getting the few Walgreens appts available (free test). Then they were late so had to do a last minute “next morning” test for $170 each. Still one result was late so one person had to quarantine which meant renting a special hotel lock-down for that person, another $150 extra, since the timeshare was not an approved quarantine resort.
So an unanticipated extra $490 and a lost day for our current vacation.
I would caution anybody to wait on a Kauai vacation.
Threading the needle with slow test results and a 72 hour window is tricky and potentially disruptive to your vacation plans and enjoyment.
Expect some long lines on Kauai as well since car rental agencies are low on staff an not yet geared up for the influx of visitors.
We canceled our 8000.00 trip to Hawaii and went to Florida instead!! I love Hawaii and am sad however that’s too much money to risk when traveling with a family. Hopefully some day will be free to see Hawaii again 😥
Aloha. I would like to mention another frustrating aspect to testing.There is nothing linked to “Hawaii approved sites” in Southern Oregon. Nothing closer than 200 mi away!There are Walmarts here, CVS, Walgreens. Probably labs and Medical centers that use Quest Diagnostics.But none are testing for Hawaii. I have been tested twice. One Rapid Antigen test with results in 20 min.Right now my only choice will be to drive 200+ miles to a Kaiser or other lab. Yes I can order Vault but they can take 72 hrs.There are 3 of us who will have to find a lab. It’s just a little piece of this work in progress. There is a very strong link with Hawaii in Oregon as UO Manoa and many colleges here reciprocate no out of state fees to attend.We will do what it takes. We miss the islands and want support reopening, despite some risks. Mahalo for your newsletter and all the updates!
Hi Liz.
Thanks. From the comments we’ve received, Vault would seem to be your best option, and most people reported much faster results than you indicated.
Aloha.
I just got back from a trip to Maui (I live in New York). My party of four tested at a Walgreens 48 hours before the flight. We all got our results within 6 hours. We attached the results in PDF form to our Safe Travels Hawaii trip and they we accepted. The only issue was with the transfer in HNL. They cleared us through to enter Oahu. So when we got to Maui, we had to fill out another “trip” with the same info. It was accepted and we had a wonderful time despite all that mask wearing.
This is an ever changing requirement in Hawaii. My wife and I moved our trip once and then cancelled it, going elsewhere. We have no plans to go to Hawaii until things are stable. It may take years for things to be stable in Hawaii – if ever. I just hope the decision makers can come up with a plan and not change it every couple days.
That said, I understand the infrastructure issues in Hawaii and the havoc COVID has caused everywhere.
I totally understand the change not knowing if you positive before yoy get On the plane makes sense so others flying with you are not at risk. However the state needs to open to more testings places that arw in compliance with NAAT test and the lab…..which i know more places offer then in the list. Results hopefully wouldn’t take or delay as long. The Best solutions would be rapid test at the airport the day of travel as well. We want to keep everyone safe and slow the spread of virus to All people not just the islanders.
Please add more testing places. So hard to get into and now hearing they are backed up has me worried for next week.
Please remember that everyone in the world has been in isolation… and this can lead to various emotions. Hawaiians have endured a lot of invasion… I’m not saying that tourists aren’t welcome, just not at the moment. Isn’t it obvious? Everyone should be on their upmost best behavior. So, to feel scared is a perfectly normal emotion in the middle of a, hello, pandemic. I validate you and your emotions, please don’t take it out on local folks by calling them mean. -a peace educator with Aloha and forgiveness for all
The island of Bermuda has set up fast (same day results) preflight testing for incoming visitors through an organization called OpenClear. No need for searching and guessing about what provider to use or will the results be accepted. Why can’t Hawaii make it simple?
I just traveled to Hawaii, so I’ll share my experience. It was my understanding before I booked my flights that a negative COVID result was required to enter the state, and that the test had to be taken within 72 hours of departure. I scheduled an appointment with Walgreens for the rapid test and had results within 8 hours. We were scheduled for 5 nights on Maui, 2 on Oahu, and 5 on Kauai. When we landed on Maui, they line everyone up to have you pull up your barcode from your SafeTravels profile to review your results. There is a delay once the results are uploaded, so I had them ready to show in PDF format. Be prepared to show results at rental car agencies, as well as some hotels upon check-in. Maui was amazing and the trip was seamless, Oahu as well. However, this trip was quite different than the past several trips I’ve made to Hawaii, people were definitely not in the Aloha spirit. I somewhat understood, because of the COVID fears, so I did not let it affect my trip. Once we arrived on Kauai, we were told that since we didn’t have an updated COVID test within 72 hours of arrival, we would have to quarantine or leave. I had 5 nights left of my vacation, so we stayed quarantined in our hotel one night so I could get flights re-booked and we left the next day and continued our vacation on the mainland. I was told multiple times that multiple tests were not required for intra-island travel, just the initial test to enter the state. Kauai is my favorite place on earth, so I was highly disappointed, but at the same time, I understood. It was a beautiful trip, but the overall experience was quite different, and until we get COVID under control I don’t see it changing. I’m planning to go back in the spring for my much needed and desired time on Kauai. Hawaii is a magical place, but right now the experience is not what it once was, or will be in the future, hopefully.
We just got back from a similar trip as you. Wife had everything ready and printed out but they requested that they see our qr code and trips via the safe travels website to prevent forgery. We were aware of interisland covid testing so 3 days out we scheduled covid testing out in Maui which we got results within 48 hours at minutmedical. You are correct with thr rental car companies following the same practice as checking in after flying into Hawaii at the airport.
please allow rapid testing if you cannot ensure results within 72hrs. If we have to get the test within 72hrs of flight,then it doesn’t give much wiggle room for error with lab timing.
We were scheduled for Maui and Kona in January. We finally made the difficult decision to postpone until next year. Just too many changes happening at any given moment. Testing 72 hours out means nothing when flying from the east coast. You can easily become infected within the 72 hours. My heart hurts for those that rely on tourism dollars.
Testing within these limitations has proven impossible for us! We have been isolating in preparation for our trip (8 days away) which is now likely to be cancelled altogether at a considerable lo$$. The best appointment I can get for testing is 74 hours prior to our departure (the last leg of our flight leaves at 3:30 pacific time, while the latest testing appointment is a 3:30 time slot in Central time zone where we are located). Then, the results are not likely to be received in 72 hours, especially over a weekend. So, what am I supposed to do with that??? Scheduling a later flight while waiting for test results invalidates our test! As a responsible traveler, I am in tears over this, so angry and disappointed.
Warning, my COVID test issues were the same as you & since I wasn’t within the 72 hrs through no fault of my own, I was bringing my service dog & the Hawaii dog quarantine delayed overnighting the permit for me to board. This put me slightly outside of the 72 hours & I was given a “blue slip” ….QUARANTINED!!! Not even able to rent a car. Plus American only served 1 drink & a cookie for entire 7 hr flight …when you get off in Maui the line is 1 hr 15 min to show your COVID results and get either a pink or blue slip. No food or water to be purchased in the airport during your long wait in the heat & dehyration sets in. American needs to serve more on a 7 hr flight or warn all passengers to buy food & water before getting on. State of Hawaii needs to allow for a 2nd COVID test on arrival with quarantine effective until 2nd COVID test. IMO the long line waiting for your airport result is a super spread event!!! Poor planning.
We are scheduled to fly out at 6am on Thanksgiving day; our connection leaving the mainland is at 11am. The Vault and Quest options (“quickest” options where we live) may not get return results by 11am Thursday.
Luckily, our vacation rentals are offering full refund with cancellation up until the day before. We know we can reschedule the airfare… But honestly, I’m not sure it’s worth the effort and hassle to reschedule for Hawaii.
We will likely await Monday to see if there are any sudden adjustments to the travel policy, but it’s looking like a cancellation for us.
Very disappointed, this was going to be my first two weeks vacation in a decade.
Thanks, Becky
I have worked as Screener Supervisor at at HNL since July. Granted, the system is flawed at the very least. The Safe Travels app is not at all user friendly, added to the fact that its the Government that is trying to implement the policies.
Gov Ige’s statements this past Thursday really got me upset (again). He totally caved to the neighbor island mayors whining. When Hawaii opened up to trans Pacific travel, Lt Gov Josh Green stated that we would probably see a bump in positive cases. This is the trade off to allowing much needed visitors to stimulate the economy. The Hawaii Blue State Mayors think they are the lifeline to the people and want to shut down again. Ige quoted 44 positive cases since the start of the pre travel test program began. Out of 186,000 visitors, this comes to a .0002 percent positive rate. Not exactly alarming.
But I digress and will give some tips to navigate the quarantine restrictions:
1. Information is difficult to navigate.
Don’t consult your state’s Department of Health. They do not know Hawaii’s regulations. Take the correct test at the correct
facility.
Go to hawaiicovid19.com, Hawaii’s official information site.
2. Follow the rules.
It is pretty simple. Test 72 hrs prior to departure at a “Trusted Partner” facility.
Don’t have a CVS near you or can’t get an appointment? Don’t go to another facility not on the list.
Don’t test more than 72 hours out because you think you might not get your results in time. Outside 72 hrs from departure is a
no go.
3. There is no post arrival testing for quarantine purposes.
I don’t understand why the State/County is not working on this but you cannot test to get out of quarantine after you arrive.
It breaks my heart to tell people who have come 5000 miles/are on their dream trip/or even came just because, that they must
quarantine 14 days because they didn’t know the regulations or took the wrong test.
No more space, bye
Things are not going to be like this forever. I am on my second quarantine and I live here. There is a word. Kuleana. Please research the meanings of this concept. This is how we live. The individual has a responsibility to their community. If you cannot accept the kuleana, then vacationing here is not a good idea.
Whoa! I’ve been busy so haven’t read posts for a couple days. I truly don’t want to soapbox. We are all exhausted, and beat up, and missing our ohana and whatever “normalcy” used to be.
I am lucky to live on Maui. We want visitors back. But I and my guy have been stuck in our house here since February. We have a large Maui family and mid those 17 grands like crazy, but no 70 person TDay dinner this year. Gotta take the Main Chance. Stay home. Try next year.
Also, please just wear your mask.
Aloha to all. Even to folks with no mask. This is Hawai’i. It’s magic. So please, please respect title.
Don’t bother coming here! The people are rude and everyone is scared. Spend your money somewhere they want and appreciation it. Everyone here is brainwashed and living in fear.
I totally agree with you.
You are mistaken my friend. The test is a snapshot. You can test negative then the next minute be positive. Happened on a flight from Dubai to new zealand. The bloke tested negative then infected 4 other people on the flight. And you could get infected any time after testing and spewing the disease while on the islands thats why they want to test upon arriving to the islands a few days after as well.
Since I’m in Ohio and my flight to Hawaii doesn’t leave until 9:30am on Thursday from OAK, that means that I take my test 72 hours from Pacific time… Which means I can’t take it before 12:30pm here on Monday, right? Yet, I’m supposed to have it dropped off at UPS by 10am for overnight… Anyone have tips of they have used Vault?? I have called them twice and left a chat AND an email and no one has returned my calls/messages
Laura, What are you dropping off at UPS for overnight? The results get uploaded digitally onto the Safe Travel Hawaii Website. Print out a copy to bring with you, you will have to show it multiple places.
We tested Thursday for a Saturday flight.
Vault is very busy. Took me a couple of days to get a response but I eventually did. What I would recommend you do is call Vault for your appointment and prior to opening the box, confirm with the observer your flights and it you should do the test then or call later. For example, my husband and I took our samples on Wednesday 12 noon EST. The last leg of our trip departed 10 am PST on Saturday. The observer told us we would be fine, even though by my calculations it was technically 73 hours. You are paying a lot of money to go through Vault but they know what they’re doing.
We took the tests through zoom on Monday at 12:30 Ohio time since our flight leaves at 9:30am California time. Dropped it off at UPS by 1:00pm… So now I wait. It’s 12:30 on Tuesday and haven’t received an email that they have the test. Getting nervous. When did you finally get your results? Thanks
Vault is very busy. Took me a couple of days to get a response but I eventually did. What I would recommend you do is call Vault for your appointment and prior to opening the box, confirm with the observer your flights and it you should do the test then or call later. For example, my husband and I took our samples on Wednesday 12 noon EST. The last leg of our trip departed 10 am PST on Saturday. The observer told us we would be fine, even though by my calculations it was technically 73 hours. You are paying a lot of money to go through Vault but they know what they’re doing. Oh, and we didn’t overnight ours until 1 pm and still got results within 30 hours. Be sure to tell the observer you need results quickly because you are going to Hawaii.
Is there a plan in place to allow those who’ve had covid and therefore not at risk of catching or giving the virus? With proof of recent positive diagnosis, one should be able to travel without restriction.
We on the west coast of Canada are desperate to return to our Ohana and homes.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of immunity even if you have had the virus. There is some evidence that you May have immunity for a period of time – weeks to a few months – but science isn’t in agreement on even that.
Thanks for this article!
My family and I recently decided to spend the Thanksgiving holiday week in Maui (also happens to be our 17th anniversary. I chose to use Vault Health for the covid tests after reading a few bad stories from people who used CVS. Unfortunately, Vault had been having issues with tests not being registered to the patient. This means the patient, which was myself in this case, has to wait on Zoom hold while they figure out what happened and how to correct the issue. To begin, we waited for 50 minutes before a medical professional answered the initial call. My wife took her test. My daughter took her test. And then I took mine. The entire process for the three of us took just over 2 hours. Most of which was sitting and waiting for Vault. The test samples arrived at Vault at 10:15 the next morning. My wife received her results late that night. Mine came through the next morning. My daughter’s came through the day after that, hours before boarding our plane.
That was the only issue we had. The Hawaii website was straight forward and worked perfect. Regardless of what I heard other passengers claiming. I submitted pdf files of the test results and the website quickly, auto-confirmed the results.
I had the emails confirming the test results, and paper copies of the test results. I also had screen shots saved to my phone. I did the same with the qr code.
When I arrived at the area to check the documents, I had everything ready and in order. We were done and on our way in about 5 minutes.
I had no issues with the Hawaii portion of testing. But waiting for the results was nerve racking. So far, so good.
It’s really easy. Make a plan based on the date you plan to arrive in Hawaii. Create multiple copies of all test results. You should have an email, a screen shot, and printed copies of all test results.
If all of this is too hard or just too much, stay home. Or go somewhere else. This process was stressful, expensive, and totally worth it.
Or maybe you shouldn’t whine about going on vacation during a damn pandemic. Hawaii should find a more sustainable revenue and now only rely on tourism.
This vacation was 5 years in the making for 2020 and we had already changed it 4 times in the past 6 months with all the Hawaii opening delays. Our family of 4 flew today 11/21 from LAX to HNL and had thought we had done everything right. We were tested at an authorized CVS location 70 hours before flight time, and their website read to expect results in 2-3 days. At boarding time we didn’t have the results and decided to board the flight, praying we would receive negative results by the time we landed. Others seated around us were in the same boat, having tested at a CVS 3 days ago. We are now sitting at our hotel in quarantine. We tried for more than a couple hours this morning to reach CVS (local and national office) and Quest for assistance. Quest Cust Svce is only open M-F, wow. No such luck, there just isn’t a human voice you can speak with that knows anything about the testing or when to expect results. These newly announced changes affect us as well since we’re due to fly to Maui for the 2nd half of our trip on 11/25, leaving for home on 11/28. Under the best of circumstances we need to be tested again tomorrow 11/22. Abiding by quarantine rules, and waiting for the CVS test results, we can’t leave the room. If we don’t hear anything by tomorrow, 4 days after having the tests done at CVS, we’ll probably need to call it quits and go home. By the way, CVS updated their website and it now reads that results could be delayed and take 3-5 days or longer. We had researched this thoroughly the past few weeks and felt really confident things were all going to work out. There are plenty of happy people here at the resort, so hoping and praying we’ll be able to join them soon. Good luck and happy travels to everyone!
Vault and State of HI were great! Sent my 17 year old daughter unaccompanied on November 12 to Oahu to visit UH Manoa and didn’t want her to get stuck alone on quarantine so made several calls/emails to both Vault and the State. Vault returned calls and emails and were very knowledgeable and polite, helped me understand which days to fly if I wanted to guarantee test results in time (UPS doesn’t ship weekends so don’t fly Tues or Weds if you want a result in correct time frame). State helped me understand what my minor could expect. Daughter had no problems at all with the process as we were able to follow all the protocols.
How did you call the State? Phone number please.
Hi Barbara.
The state’s help desk for SafeTravels is 1-855-599-0888.
Aloha.
Here on Kauai our covid numbers are climbing daily due in large part by visitors coming without test results and then receiving a positive result once they’ve arrived. No fun to quarantine and have covid too. I know this is hard, but please understand we only have a few ICU beds and very limited resources. This is a necessary precausion for our islands.
Positive tests doesn’t equate to hospital stays. There is also more people being tested and multiple times. Not to mention false Positives!
No way would I chance it at this point.
Aloha I live ON Kauai and go back and forth because of a medical issue with my pain pump I am a vet and leave on wed THE 2nd of Dec. My test for the virus is on Friday the 27th and leave on the 2nd,I leave on the 28th of Feb. To get my pump filled on Feb the 4th and will return that following Monday for another 2 months. This is the only way I can get to and fro. THank you.
So now the need to upload the Covid test are not required and just print out the results and present them once you deplane. You’re good to go shopping in Maui and then get on the ferry to Lanai, is this correct?
Sounds like no one should travel to Hawaii until the earliest being the first week off December, asked by then Hawaii should have their act together.
Covid is such a fluid situation so you better expect everything including a shut down if you’re traveling during these trying times. If you’re not prepared for the worst that’s on you. Common sense tells me I would never take a covid test with cvs and trust it will get to me on time. It’s a national chain that tests the general public. That’s a huge gamble. People need to understand you’re not the only one testing and tests for sick people are more important than travelers. So when there’s an uptick in sick people, which can happen at any given time, the labs get backed up. Getting tested at more exclusive places like Kaiser is better. Also, rule of thumb when traveling always have a plan if you so happen to not be able to travel last minute, covid or not. Because accomodations are the most expensive parts of the trip I always book something I know I can cancel last minute with no penalties. That’s why major hotels chains are better than vacation rentals and they don’t take one dollar until you checkin. I always opt for slightly more expensive rate with easy cancellation for that piece of mind and you don’t have to buy trip insurance and you get loyalty points to earn free nights and status to get free room upgrades. I stayed in excellent Wailea and had booked the basic room last time and because I had status they upgraded me to a 2 bedroom suite. I hate airbnb with terrible cancellation rules, huge non-refundable deposits, cleaning fees, and privacy issues (some have hidden cameras, gross!). Also, why do I have to clean anything like strip the bedding, that’s why I pay a cleaning fee. Other rule, if you can’t afford to lose it then you can’t afford to go.
I think we should have done this from the beginning … Our mayor wanted this but Gov didn’t. Since Oct 15 when tourists arriving we have 0 -2 cases a day and now the numbers are spiking. yes we need visitors on Island but putting way too much families here in a bad situation. There are 9 ICU on island and cannot take the risk of waiting another couple weeks. It’s a Pandemic and I’m sorry But we have held off our Vacation to Honolulu as to not bring anything back to Kauai out of respect for families here and all the Kupuna (elders) esp. Please if you come , getting a test Prior is logical. Why would you want to sit in a airplane for hours when someone next to you has Covid but won’t know til they get here. So backwards. Get the test before endangering peoples lives on the plane or at a State that is so overly populated and isn’t equipped to taking care of it’s natives as well as transplants and Tourists. We want and need visitors but please, get a test ! A close friend has lost her father in law ( from Hawaii) from Covid. My neices 2nd grade teacher has tested Positive and she hasn’t left the island so it’s just since visitors have come. Just my opinion but this test is going to save lives so please get before. even if you need to quarantine you still are putting people who work at hotels and car rentals at risk.
Last minute changes also caused the testing partners to put a disclaimer out that stated they could not guarantee results within 72 hours. Friends called 11 different ones and all stated they could not guarantee and could not take on the liability.
Had a week in Kauai then a week in maui planned. Cancelling all.
I dont think 72 hours is enough time with most testing places stating 2-3 days. Then delays on the hawaii site. Its not worth it. I think the state of hawaii should offer refunds on lodging, seeing how some like vrbo aren’t refundable. We have been fully prepared to comply with travel restrictions but how can you do that when they change the rules last minute? Such a mess. I’ll spend my travel dollars elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
Or maybe you should stop being so selfish and not be traveling Anywhere during a global pandemic. CDC has said don’t travel, so why would we refund your lodging? We simply don’t have the hospital bed space on the outer islands, the rules are in place to keep us as residents and you as a traveler safe. If you no like follow our rules, please stay home
Another brainwashed person.
Really. Tell that to the families of the 255,000 people who’ve died from Covid. Brainwashing is when you let someone like trump convince you it’s all a conspiracy and there is no pandemic, masks are useless and too much testing equates to too many positive cases. In less than 2 months how are you going to find your way through life without the Dear Leader to tell you what to do and how to think?
Aloha readers,after reading some of the comments, I guess we were lucky. This is my story.. From the state of hawaii website I made the appointment on Friday afternoon for Sunday 3:30 pm Walgreens-Labcorp test. Sunday afternoon I reserved hotel for the two weeks trip & bought the airlines tickets to fly Wednesday at 11 am. My results were in on Tuesday night and my wife’s on Wednesday morning before we left the house. You have to upload the negative QR test result on the state of hawaii website before arrival to the airport, the will scan it upon arrival and you are free to go. You will not be able to rent a car or be able to leave your hotel if your form has the wrong information (quarantine). We had a good time, 600 room hotel in Kauai was 20-30% occupied we were told.
We’ll said
Thanks for the negative name calling. Uncalled for. Everyone has their opinion. Some seem to think they own hawaii, or are king of it. That’s fine, doesn’t bother me. I lived there for a very long time so I know the lack of aloha.
Y’all just keep milking those unemployment dollars and see where it gets you when small businesses are all closed for good.
I an going to HNL for a few days. I leave Kauai on Fri. 11/87m and am scheduled to return on Tues., 12/1. I made these reservations a long time ago. Not believeing I’d have a problem in HNL, a few weeks ago I started checking where to get the test for my return home to Kauai. First very few of the “trusted partners” had any appts on the weekend!! I then chose to use Vault thru the HA link
Returning Tues means I have to have the test on Saturday! No oproblen signing ip..or receiving the test kit. However, it has to be mailed back by UPS, I’ve only been able to find one UPS store in HNL which is open Sat, and has a 12noon air pick up. However, in speaking them today, I was told that it wouldn’t actually get flown out til Sun nite or Mon am! Clearly, I won’t have the results by Tues when I fly back here. So, not only have I spent $119.00 for nothing, now I’m supposed to quarantine for 2 wks even if my negative results come back after I arrive home on Kaua’i. Unless you can get same day results, do not plan to come into HI on a Tues or a Wed as most labs and providers aren’t testing on the weekends which is in the 72hr time frame.
My son and the friends got tested Monday for flights on Wednesday. It is Saturday night and none of them have results. Luckily they didn’t fly. Spent$500 for the wireless tests. Only Hawaii travel partner in our state. Quest Diagnostics – Walgreens. Class action against the testing companies. They know they can’t meet the deadline, but they still take your money.
I got back from The Big Island last week. I lost a day and half of my vacation due to a false positive from the quick test at the airport.
The questions you need to ask if someone in your group doesn’t have a negative test:
How long will it take to get test results? Timing is everthing.
Can I rent a car?
Will the rental property let you occupy?
Provisions?
I have family there to help,so it wasnt that bad. Just expensive and stressful.
Hawaii civil defense was very kind and helpful, textbook Aloha.
The worst was boarding the aircraft to leave, Alaska air had everyone crammed in line like Disneyland. at that point they dont care youre leaving. buh bye
Do they retest you to get the correct answer? Or?
“Will the rental property let you occupy?”
This is not up to the rental property; this is up to the government entity that makes quarantine rules.
Not sure how it works on other islands, but on Kauai, unless or own or rent (long term) a residence, you have to be locked in a hotel room if you are in quarantine; you re not allowed to stay in to a vacation rental property.
Hawaii now officially accepts the City of Seattle testing sites which use University of Washington labs. Turn around has been less than 24 hours, although not sure now.
The problem with not requiring a negative test before the flight, is that if somebody on the flight later tests positive, everybody on the flight has to go into quarantine. I was told this at the car rental agency at Honolulu Airport, and they said this had happened a number of times.
I think it’s best to make sure everybody has a negative test before getting on the flight.
So sorry for all the tourists that are inconvenienced but……you/they keep wanting things to be normal and under control, and back the way they were. Everyone needs to get it. Nothing is the way it was any longer. We have to be careful. We are on an island with limited resources. Our health care system cannot handle masses of people coming here and getting sick – it can barely handle the people that live here. We controlled our cases down to 0 by basically shutting down and if out – being VERY careful. We know what to do. But not how to do it with visitors coming. We can’t try to make them happy by relaxing our needs. Again, sorry for your vacation troubles but we live here and want our families and children to stay healthy and safe
I completely respect the precautions Hawaii has put in place and coming up with a statewide system. The biggest frustration is lack of places one is allowed to get tested at and the places that are accepted are not currently capable of completing the test within the required time.
Put off trips to Hawaii. It will still be there and just as beautiful 4 months from now.
The state should have closed the island completely. The politicians were trying to satisfy the businesses by not a full shutdown. However this was worst for the travelors. My family was supposed to go to Hawsii on wednesday. I have lost a large amount of money because of this late change. Plus this change makes no logical sense. If you are negative then you are negative regardless if the test is one hour late. This was the most illogical ridiculous decision .
The state cannot “shutdown… They need federal approval.
No…..we don’t. We only need the governors approval
The governor cannot stop people from traveling to Hawaii. But he can and has greatly discouraged travel to Hawaii by imposing the 14 day room arrest. This effectively is “shut down”, since only residents or people planning to spend a long time on a single island would agree to that condition.
Other governors all over the US have imposed the same 14 dat quarantine rule. But its not enforceable when everyone can just drive in, and tens of millions of people live near and regularly travel between states (“Holland Tunnel” anyone?).
The obvious difference with Hawaii (and Alaska) is that you need to fly to get there, so they’ve got you at the airport.
I recall at one point in all this hysteria, Rhode Island was tasking its state troopers with busting anyone with a New York license plate.
Good times.
You can receive a negative test due to there simply not being enough Covid in your system to register…but if it’s growing and multiplying then it’s entirely possible you can test positive 4 or more days later, regardless of your positive test. The rules are in place to keep Everyone safe. Why do you feel your vacation during a global pandemic is more important than the people around you and especially the people who live here. Sorry, but….stay home brah
Amen I just can not understand why people coming here from the mainland can not understand how fragile these islands are! I’m sorry but I don’t have any sympathy for people who choose to vacation in the middle of an out of control pandemic either.
Well Dawn, not everyone is coming for a vacation during an out of control pandemic….
Some of us would like to come Home. You know that place where you are comfortably snuggled into as you wrote your message? Yah, that home. Not wanting to be rude. Been stuck here for quite awhile and it starts eating away on the the nerves. Hey I got an idea,why don’t we all just forget about what the hair brained pols say and just contact you to see if its cool to fly back home now? Yeah that would work better. Maybe the day I email you you will be having sympathy for the ones that just want To Go Home. Aloha to you and yours. Thanks.
Will you please let me know when the 72 hours start from what flight as we have a trip planned for dec 2 thru the 16 and we already preregustered thank your for your time
Hi John.
Your test needs to be within 72 of the “mainland to Hawaii” flight. If you have connections before that or after landing in Hawaii, those don’t need to be considered.
Aloha.
Just reading about the chaos in Camp Chaos is both sad and laughable under the psychotic leadership of Commandant Little Iggy! If ever there was a need for rapid removal from a state elected office in Hawaii it is now! I suspect that the real reason he doesn’t want more than 10 people together is that the cacophony of voices resounding in his head would drive him more nuts than he already is! All of Hawaii deserves so much better!
We just returned from a trip to Oahu this morning. Before flying to Hawaii, I carefully studied the Hawaii Safe Travels instructions for COVID-19 testing. We purchased the saliva test through Vault. They provide a calendar of when the test needs to be purchased in order to receive it in time. It also tells you when you need to take the test in order for the results to be sent to Hawaii within the 72 hours of flying but before your arrival. We took the test in front of a nurse via Zoom on Monday morning and mailed the tests back immediately via UPS. The results were sent to us and sent to Hawaii on Tuesday night and we arrived on Wednesday evening. It all worked exactly as instructed! We had no problems at the airport, car rental, or hotels when we showed them our negative result on the safe travels site! Thank you, Fawn G.
Hi Fawn.
We’re glad to hear that it all worked out and appreciate you sharing the experience you had.
Aloha.
Hi Fawn, I am wondering from what state did you order the test ? Just concerned about the timing the website says 48-72 hours for results.. Did you say they sent the results for you? And did you have to have a PDF copy and a QR code?
Kim,
I just used vault. Tested on Thursday and got results back Saturday at 10 am (PST). We live in California. If you put STAT Hawaii on the box, they say it will be expedited. I noticed that the Hawaiian Air Vault test states that they will return results within 24 hours and it’s cheaper. So if you’re flying Hawaiian, go that route. You can download a pdf of your results from their website. No QR code. You will get a QR code from the Safe Travel website once you finish the steps.
FYI though- UPS lost my son’s vault test so I’m scrambling to find a rapid test (which is nearly impossible right now).
Good luck
Hawaii should be our very first infection concern. In order to visit Hawaii we should test in Hawaii and quarantine there for 3 days or until test results come back. Airports would be thee ideal place. There’s already a long time waiting and going through that show. Literally I could test 3 days before come into Hawaii with a negative test and in fact contract the virus spread it to the whole plane and the hotel staff when I get there. This is not rocket science. The stupidity of our leaders goes beyond comprehension.
Still NAAT test or any negative covid19 test?