A visitor summed it up, stating, “Yes….This is a Hot Mess.” The deeper we all dig, the more problems that surface.
276 thoughts on “Latest Testing Rules Fail: Hawaii Vacations Upended”
Comments are closed.
A visitor summed it up, stating, “Yes….This is a Hot Mess.” The deeper we all dig, the more problems that surface.
Comments are closed.
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.