41 thoughts on “Mixed Signals On Widescale Hawaii Travel Interruption”
Mary O
I think the opposite is happening: workers are not showing up and sing sick-out as they do not want to work with the unvaccinated. Who wants to be trapped for hours on end with recirulaeted air with unvaxed people? No one. Notice United Airlines retained 99.9% of their workforce mandating vaccines and no canceled flights….
Tom
The delay of the vaccine mandate shows that this is pure political theater. If Florida can open up with no restrictions and have a very low covid rate so can we. Time to get back to normal.
14
Derekj
I just traveled to Hawaii had all tests and vaccines we live in canada and had same test and results from same place. Arived in Maui and my wife was not accepted but I was cleared to stay . I was born in the USA She Was Born In Canada. So we both left the island after quarantine at a hotel and was not able to go to the condo where we already had arrangements to stay for 14 days. Had to go home thank you for the nice greeting after going so far.
6
Colleen
So very sorry to hear this.
Doug M
Florida is open….no mandates….super low Covid numbers. Our Governor knows how to manage a state and protect his people. Come spend your money here….we appreciate it! It will not be the same experience as the Hawaiian Islands but we are a great escape from the cold winters. Floridians appreciate you and the dollars you spend here.
23
Heyward B.
Hello Doug M
We went to Florida this year and you are correct. Open for business in all respects, good value, and Floridian southern hospitality on display everywhere we visited.
COVID may have been there somewhere but we sure didn’t witness it affecting things we wanted to accomplish. A very welcome respite from “doom and gloom” locales.
Florida is now on our again list.
8
JohnW
Heyward, you once mentioned common ground on here. You know my position. That said, I agree that we are about to find out if the restrictions and mandates become an albatross around our neck or we finally move on in 2022. Enough people will be vaccinated or have some immunity, there are tested and proven treatments coming out that prevent death…there is nothing else we can do. Time to move on, Covid will be less of threat then cancer, heart disease and accidents in 2022.
2
Heyward B
I wish you to be correct. COVID must either pass or consume us.
Beyond the human loss, the tragedy of COVID lies with what we as the collective of humans have done in response. We have corrupted our sciences, misled our brothers, divided into camps, denigrated one another, denied each other, bred distrust, and surrendered our inherent freedoms.
This for a virus that itself relates to all humans equally.
Ironically, the virus may view us better than we view ourselves.
3
JohnW
Well it’s safe to say the virus brought out the best of us and the worst of us. It got politicized and had the full force of the Internet to create division, distrust and misinformation. We all paid a price for the extremist’s and the conspiracy theorist’s. However, like we always have, we’ll move forward. Unsettling times are nothing new, nor is putting them behind us and moving forward.
1
JohnW
Yes Hawaii is very different from Florida. We prioritized life over money.
60,334 people died from Covid in Florida.
941 Covid deaths in Hawaii.
You can recover from a bad year in Business, you cannot recover from dying.
In addition, each death represents many more that suffered a terrible loss.
12
Jim R.
John. There are hundreds of Hawaii businesses that haven’t recovered, and the reality is that most small businesses can’t take a bad few months in business, let alone being closed for months, or having a bad year (working on two). It’s evident to me by the hoards of empty shops in the tourist areas (like Kona). Even Hilo has several empty shops in town. Most small businesses that cater to the travel aren’t going to survive…
6
JohnW
There are also a lot of business’s that innovated and did very well. Todays Star Advertiser had an article on bankruptcy filings. Personal bankruptcies are lowest since 2006 and there have been zero Chapter 11 filings (business reorganizations) in 2020/2021. I guess thanks to the Government subsidies. Thats not to discount the many people that have suffered, but losing a loved one is much more serious then taking a temporary financial hit in my book.
1
DB
JohnW, that’s quite a cherry-picking of statistics with no regard for conveying an accurate picture. Hawaii is a special-use case as it is isolated and essentially shut down all interstate travel, something that no other state could do. Hawaii’s population is a fraction of the size of Florida’s. Florida had a slighly higher death rate than the US as a whole (.28% vs .23%), but that is impressive considering the state is so heavily traveled from outsiders and has a disproportionally older pop.
4
JohnW
For sure the fact that we could shut down our borders is why we were successful at having so many fewer deaths then the mainland states. Which certainly proves it was a good idea. Had we not and people were allowed to fly in from all over the country it would have been a very different picture. With our limited hospital space it would have been a disaster.
1
Betty
I don’t know if we can trust those numbers John considering apparently no one is dying of anything else but Covid. Influenza historically killed over 80K p/yr in the US alone but is now non-existent? Hawaii is a beautiful island but it didn’t feel like a vacation with so many restrictions. People working there from other states hate it there but told me they were offered free housing & couldn’t refuse.for a state that depends on tourism it would behoove Hawaii to encourage tourists to visit.
Debbie M
I’ll be going to Florida next year for the first time!
7
steve
I recommend the Gulf Coast, unless you have kids and need to do Disney. Orlando has alot to do, but is center of the State. You won’t get the whole feel of Florida.
The coasts of Florida (Atlantic and Gulf) have the best beaches, best tropical wildlife, great beach side restaurants, tino ftourist type activities, no tourist price gouging.
And as another posted.. Southern friendly hospitality.
7
steve
I disagree….. atleast on the Gulf Coast.. white sandy beaches, the best restaurants, no tourist price gouging, extraordinary wildlife. ( the most beautiful tropical wild life in the country)..
Not to mention a much better infrastructure, cleaner beach parks, fewer homeless.
The way mountains make Hawaii unique is the same way the flatness Florida makes Florida unique.
Oh and a large population of private gun owners = less crime per capita.
5
Reh M.
Our family has changed our 2x year trips to Hawaii. We will be traveling to destinations this year that respect individual choice not tyrant mandates 😢 Florida Keys have better diving and friendlier “Natives” also
4
Colleen
Gotta go pretty far South in Florida in winter to be nice and warm – but Florida is very hospitable. We go every year. Fortunate to have family there.
Jonathan
not true…. Jacksonville maybe, Daytona, gets chilly at night… farther South than that and its near perfect weather..
One of my homess in Fl just south of Tampa…. 75 in the day, 60s at night this time of year..
Pretty much perfect weather. Oh and no vaccine passports, mask mandates, kids have been in school for 2 yrs now, sports venues are completely open, no one losing jobs over mandates. You name it, and Florida does it better.
Jennifer S
WE’re coming to Kauai March 26-April 9 2022. We have to travel on a Saturday because of check in dates at our timeshare. Alaska is $999. Southwest half that. We’ve always loved Alaska, but can’t justify the price. Might the Alaska fare lower if I wait?
Rob H
Thanks
JohnW
Well I can’t say I appreciate SWA pilots suing to avoid the vaccines and then expecting to come over here and fly an inter island trip. Pretty disrespectful to how Hawaii and our handling of Covid. We have been far more restrictive then Texas in protecting the state and with far fewer deaths as a result. SWA should respect how we do things here more.
25
Chris S
Please. Governor Ige has botched this from day one. Numerous friends of mine have lost their businesses because of his ineptness and people won’t work cuz it’s too easy to stay home. ABC stores starting wage is $20 per hour with $509 signing bonus and people STILL won’t work. Lies about no restrictions after 70% vacation, etc.
Death rate extremely low everywhere. Praise to the pilots standing up to this nonsense!
26
JohnW
We do things different here in Hawaii, see my above post to Doug. SWA well represents the disrespectful attitude that some tourists seem to bring (small minority). They never experience what Aloha is all about. On an island people need to care for each other. Show respect you get Aloha in abundance, show disrespect, not so much. We had a different way of handling the Pandemic then Texas. SWA pilots need to show a little respect and a little humility rather then force their will on us.
5
Jack C
Aloha… that’s funny..
Hawaii is the most racist, xenophobic place I’ve ever lived.
All the residents of this State care about is whether or not you are from here.
5
Betty
You’re so right! I just came back from Maui & the people are rude seems Hawaii loves tourists’ money but not the tourists & the vax carding to dine in definitely doesn’t help. It’s very expensive & unless you’re wealthy there’s nothing to do. Florida here we come!
5
Colleen
Mexico isn’t bad either. :0)
1
JohnW
Jack and Betty, you might want to ask yourselves why most people don’t experience what you have.
1
Heyward B
Hi JohnW
“We do things different here in Hawaii …” is quite an understatement.
Having a state throw its economic base in the dumpster for a year then lighting the dumpster on fire using a lingering, confusing, and inconsistent “Safe Travels” plan is indeed somewhat different.
Can’t wait to see Ige’s plan for widespread stagflation.
11
Randy R
So expect by Tuesday, the 9th another change to Travel as we approach Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas and New Years!
Fred F
BOH,
We commend the Governor for acting to protect Hawaii’s population and businesses that provide work for breadwinners and others.
Governments everywhere need to “appear” to be doing “something”.
Elected officials and their administrations continue to come up with “Tetris”/”Whack-a-Mole” solutions that only confuse the public.
Simple question – we’re expecting guests from Southern California in January; as of now would they be able to arrive with 72 hour PCR/NAAT testing protocol?
Fred
Rob T
Who do you believe? The pandemic is a once in a lifetime, “end of life as we know it” emergency. Oh, by the way, “we will postpone the vaccine mandates until January” so tourists can travel and share the virus variants worldwide. How long will this clown show continue?
29
Randy R
Strange how China going through a surge of new Covid, pre-Olympic’s, that their Karma has caught up with them after they’re castigating Japan. So International travel is opening up, why would China be allowed into the United States, knowing they are having a severe attack of Covid, after they seeded the world with travel in Q-4 of 2019, and with Hawaii being a major Tourist destination? It would seem Biden-Ige should get on the same page and restrict China Travel, Nationally!
7
Bill M
Hmmm…COVID is such a public health crisis that we waive a sorts of freedoms and liberties to get mitigation plans pushed out.
Apparently not emergency enough to implement the nationwide vaccine mandate until AFTER the year end Holiday season….a full TWO MONTHS later!
This all smacks of theatrical pandemic porn for political purposes.
31
Frank P.
I think it is just that age-old question again, your money or your life? By pushing the vaccine mandate into January, after the holiday season, we once again get the same answer we always get to that question.
4
will
you do understand statistics right? Like the very low mortality rate of Covid. How kids have literal next to zero chances of dying. How those under say 60 have very low chances of dying.
What the meek thought was gonna happen was ” The Walking Dead”
What we ended up with was a Simpson episode with a fat Homer waiting on the couch for his free gov’t check
9
EJ T
If it was a real public health crisis we would not have open borders! It’s time for people to do a little critical thinking instead of caving in to the fear pushers!
13
Comments are closed.
Aloha!
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Stay abreast of the latest island travel news, tips, deals, and more. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and let Hawaii come to you. Mahalo!
I think the opposite is happening: workers are not showing up and sing sick-out as they do not want to work with the unvaccinated. Who wants to be trapped for hours on end with recirulaeted air with unvaxed people? No one. Notice United Airlines retained 99.9% of their workforce mandating vaccines and no canceled flights….
The delay of the vaccine mandate shows that this is pure political theater. If Florida can open up with no restrictions and have a very low covid rate so can we. Time to get back to normal.
I just traveled to Hawaii had all tests and vaccines we live in canada and had same test and results from same place. Arived in Maui and my wife was not accepted but I was cleared to stay . I was born in the USA She Was Born In Canada. So we both left the island after quarantine at a hotel and was not able to go to the condo where we already had arrangements to stay for 14 days. Had to go home thank you for the nice greeting after going so far.
So very sorry to hear this.
Florida is open….no mandates….super low Covid numbers. Our Governor knows how to manage a state and protect his people. Come spend your money here….we appreciate it! It will not be the same experience as the Hawaiian Islands but we are a great escape from the cold winters. Floridians appreciate you and the dollars you spend here.
Hello Doug M
We went to Florida this year and you are correct. Open for business in all respects, good value, and Floridian southern hospitality on display everywhere we visited.
COVID may have been there somewhere but we sure didn’t witness it affecting things we wanted to accomplish. A very welcome respite from “doom and gloom” locales.
Florida is now on our again list.
Heyward, you once mentioned common ground on here. You know my position. That said, I agree that we are about to find out if the restrictions and mandates become an albatross around our neck or we finally move on in 2022. Enough people will be vaccinated or have some immunity, there are tested and proven treatments coming out that prevent death…there is nothing else we can do. Time to move on, Covid will be less of threat then cancer, heart disease and accidents in 2022.
I wish you to be correct. COVID must either pass or consume us.
Beyond the human loss, the tragedy of COVID lies with what we as the collective of humans have done in response. We have corrupted our sciences, misled our brothers, divided into camps, denigrated one another, denied each other, bred distrust, and surrendered our inherent freedoms.
This for a virus that itself relates to all humans equally.
Ironically, the virus may view us better than we view ourselves.
Well it’s safe to say the virus brought out the best of us and the worst of us. It got politicized and had the full force of the Internet to create division, distrust and misinformation. We all paid a price for the extremist’s and the conspiracy theorist’s. However, like we always have, we’ll move forward. Unsettling times are nothing new, nor is putting them behind us and moving forward.
Yes Hawaii is very different from Florida. We prioritized life over money.
60,334 people died from Covid in Florida.
941 Covid deaths in Hawaii.
You can recover from a bad year in Business, you cannot recover from dying.
In addition, each death represents many more that suffered a terrible loss.
John. There are hundreds of Hawaii businesses that haven’t recovered, and the reality is that most small businesses can’t take a bad few months in business, let alone being closed for months, or having a bad year (working on two). It’s evident to me by the hoards of empty shops in the tourist areas (like Kona). Even Hilo has several empty shops in town. Most small businesses that cater to the travel aren’t going to survive…
There are also a lot of business’s that innovated and did very well. Todays Star Advertiser had an article on bankruptcy filings. Personal bankruptcies are lowest since 2006 and there have been zero Chapter 11 filings (business reorganizations) in 2020/2021. I guess thanks to the Government subsidies. Thats not to discount the many people that have suffered, but losing a loved one is much more serious then taking a temporary financial hit in my book.
JohnW, that’s quite a cherry-picking of statistics with no regard for conveying an accurate picture. Hawaii is a special-use case as it is isolated and essentially shut down all interstate travel, something that no other state could do. Hawaii’s population is a fraction of the size of Florida’s. Florida had a slighly higher death rate than the US as a whole (.28% vs .23%), but that is impressive considering the state is so heavily traveled from outsiders and has a disproportionally older pop.
For sure the fact that we could shut down our borders is why we were successful at having so many fewer deaths then the mainland states. Which certainly proves it was a good idea. Had we not and people were allowed to fly in from all over the country it would have been a very different picture. With our limited hospital space it would have been a disaster.
I don’t know if we can trust those numbers John considering apparently no one is dying of anything else but Covid. Influenza historically killed over 80K p/yr in the US alone but is now non-existent? Hawaii is a beautiful island but it didn’t feel like a vacation with so many restrictions. People working there from other states hate it there but told me they were offered free housing & couldn’t refuse.for a state that depends on tourism it would behoove Hawaii to encourage tourists to visit.
I’ll be going to Florida next year for the first time!
I recommend the Gulf Coast, unless you have kids and need to do Disney. Orlando has alot to do, but is center of the State. You won’t get the whole feel of Florida.
The coasts of Florida (Atlantic and Gulf) have the best beaches, best tropical wildlife, great beach side restaurants, tino ftourist type activities, no tourist price gouging.
And as another posted.. Southern friendly hospitality.
I disagree….. atleast on the Gulf Coast.. white sandy beaches, the best restaurants, no tourist price gouging, extraordinary wildlife. ( the most beautiful tropical wild life in the country)..
Not to mention a much better infrastructure, cleaner beach parks, fewer homeless.
The way mountains make Hawaii unique is the same way the flatness Florida makes Florida unique.
Oh and a large population of private gun owners = less crime per capita.
Our family has changed our 2x year trips to Hawaii. We will be traveling to destinations this year that respect individual choice not tyrant mandates 😢 Florida Keys have better diving and friendlier “Natives” also
Gotta go pretty far South in Florida in winter to be nice and warm – but Florida is very hospitable. We go every year. Fortunate to have family there.
not true…. Jacksonville maybe, Daytona, gets chilly at night… farther South than that and its near perfect weather..
One of my homess in Fl just south of Tampa…. 75 in the day, 60s at night this time of year..
Pretty much perfect weather. Oh and no vaccine passports, mask mandates, kids have been in school for 2 yrs now, sports venues are completely open, no one losing jobs over mandates. You name it, and Florida does it better.
WE’re coming to Kauai March 26-April 9 2022. We have to travel on a Saturday because of check in dates at our timeshare. Alaska is $999. Southwest half that. We’ve always loved Alaska, but can’t justify the price. Might the Alaska fare lower if I wait?
Thanks
Well I can’t say I appreciate SWA pilots suing to avoid the vaccines and then expecting to come over here and fly an inter island trip. Pretty disrespectful to how Hawaii and our handling of Covid. We have been far more restrictive then Texas in protecting the state and with far fewer deaths as a result. SWA should respect how we do things here more.
Please. Governor Ige has botched this from day one. Numerous friends of mine have lost their businesses because of his ineptness and people won’t work cuz it’s too easy to stay home. ABC stores starting wage is $20 per hour with $509 signing bonus and people STILL won’t work. Lies about no restrictions after 70% vacation, etc.
Death rate extremely low everywhere. Praise to the pilots standing up to this nonsense!
We do things different here in Hawaii, see my above post to Doug. SWA well represents the disrespectful attitude that some tourists seem to bring (small minority). They never experience what Aloha is all about. On an island people need to care for each other. Show respect you get Aloha in abundance, show disrespect, not so much. We had a different way of handling the Pandemic then Texas. SWA pilots need to show a little respect and a little humility rather then force their will on us.
Aloha… that’s funny..
Hawaii is the most racist, xenophobic place I’ve ever lived.
All the residents of this State care about is whether or not you are from here.
You’re so right! I just came back from Maui & the people are rude seems Hawaii loves tourists’ money but not the tourists & the vax carding to dine in definitely doesn’t help. It’s very expensive & unless you’re wealthy there’s nothing to do. Florida here we come!
Mexico isn’t bad either. :0)
Jack and Betty, you might want to ask yourselves why most people don’t experience what you have.
Hi JohnW
“We do things different here in Hawaii …” is quite an understatement.
Having a state throw its economic base in the dumpster for a year then lighting the dumpster on fire using a lingering, confusing, and inconsistent “Safe Travels” plan is indeed somewhat different.
Can’t wait to see Ige’s plan for widespread stagflation.
So expect by Tuesday, the 9th another change to Travel as we approach Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas and New Years!
BOH,
We commend the Governor for acting to protect Hawaii’s population and businesses that provide work for breadwinners and others.
Governments everywhere need to “appear” to be doing “something”.
Elected officials and their administrations continue to come up with “Tetris”/”Whack-a-Mole” solutions that only confuse the public.
Simple question – we’re expecting guests from Southern California in January; as of now would they be able to arrive with 72 hour PCR/NAAT testing protocol?
Fred
Who do you believe? The pandemic is a once in a lifetime, “end of life as we know it” emergency. Oh, by the way, “we will postpone the vaccine mandates until January” so tourists can travel and share the virus variants worldwide. How long will this clown show continue?
Strange how China going through a surge of new Covid, pre-Olympic’s, that their Karma has caught up with them after they’re castigating Japan. So International travel is opening up, why would China be allowed into the United States, knowing they are having a severe attack of Covid, after they seeded the world with travel in Q-4 of 2019, and with Hawaii being a major Tourist destination? It would seem Biden-Ige should get on the same page and restrict China Travel, Nationally!
Hmmm…COVID is such a public health crisis that we waive a sorts of freedoms and liberties to get mitigation plans pushed out.
Apparently not emergency enough to implement the nationwide vaccine mandate until AFTER the year end Holiday season….a full TWO MONTHS later!
This all smacks of theatrical pandemic porn for political purposes.
I think it is just that age-old question again, your money or your life? By pushing the vaccine mandate into January, after the holiday season, we once again get the same answer we always get to that question.
you do understand statistics right? Like the very low mortality rate of Covid. How kids have literal next to zero chances of dying. How those under say 60 have very low chances of dying.
What the meek thought was gonna happen was ” The Walking Dead”
What we ended up with was a Simpson episode with a fat Homer waiting on the couch for his free gov’t check
If it was a real public health crisis we would not have open borders! It’s time for people to do a little critical thinking instead of caving in to the fear pushers!