Planning your Hawaii vacation includes ensuring you have negative test results from a “trusted partner” on arrival.
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Planning your Hawaii vacation includes ensuring you have negative test results from a “trusted partner” on arrival.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Aloha,
I use worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Sort on the column that says death rate per million. Who cares about the case rate…. You will find Mexico is below the US. Not by much but it is.
One thing I forgot to mention, is I didn’t see one homeless person living underneath the bridges there. Not like San Francisco where it’s a cesspool under every overpass. And I sure don’t feel safe walking around downtown LA, Portland OR San Francisco. In Mexico, there are definitely a lot of poor people once you get outside of the city. We drove all over from bakalar to holbox and to Chichen Itza. We took the back roads to avoid the freeway so we got to see how they really live outside of the city. Many Houses unfinished or trashed and people just sitting around or trying to sell you something, but nobody living under a bridge. We give credit to the people trying to sell something. At least they were doing something and not standing there at the Walmart Corner begging for money.
Having said all that, we heard the day we left they found several Cuban Nationals dead in the water up by Isla majures… right where we were the day before! Probably drug-related but who knows.
Mexico is definitely not perfect, but I am glad I got to go. The beaches and the Caribbean are unbelievably beautiful, but we didn’t feel the snorkeling is as good as Captain Cook. We hope we can get back to the Big Island someday. And by the way, it may be safer in Hawaii, but you also have to deal with squatters on your property. It is very common and I’ve had it happen on my land. Thank God I know people over there to look at it once in awhile.
Mahalo,
Neal
Commentator when we arrived it was before they mandated the negative before arrival, the rule was go to your room once the negative report post up load your negative results, then you will no longer be in quarantine, so in Honolulu and transfer to Maui we were told we were cleared, no quarantine required. However the scanner at the airport who was trying to help with our connecting flight & URCode accidentally changed our arrival date from the mainland which cause our transfer flight the problem and kicked out our negative 72 hr time frame to Maui. I have not been able to get ahold of tech to fix the date error!
I recall reading this woman’s comment-story on one of your recent BOH post.
I do not understand why they just didn’t go back to mainland right from airport? What is point of being locked in a room for 14 days? They could still salvage nearly all their vacation time someplace else. Makes no sense to me to voluntarily be treated like that.
If you have a residence on Hawaii, it’s one thing to be stuck in quarantine. Even better if you have a yard to go outside. But in a hotel room without even a microwave?
BTW, if you insist on staying in that room, you can probably hire someone to deliver a microwave to you. They are not expensive ….
We moved to our condo as soon as we could & ordered from insta cart. Again when we arrived the rules had not changed! We all had tested previous to our departures so we knew we were all negative before we left to Hawaii. However since we were following the 72 hr requirement we retested w CVS who was at the time a trusted test site only one in our area available, to be in the timeframe. The problem is our arrival date on the safe travel site is incorrect so it kicked out our 72 hr window.
My family has enjoyed our condo and has talked about staying longer to enjoy some of the site.
David we were told if we stayed in quarantine a day or till our results posted upload the results then we would be free from quarantine. So we stayed our results posted negative, out of quarantine. We were free to enjoy Honolulu and good for our transfer. Then the rules changed which we found out after we landed in Maui that the date of our arrival on our connecting flight was incorrect that’s how we ended up in quarantine. There was no direct flight to Maui from our location on the mainland we had to transfer.
RE: Quarantine HNL
The situation in HI is now becoming quite ridiculous. Due to a “late” computer posting these folks have to quarantine in their room for 14 days? Bah Humbug! The state with its Democratic legislature, governor, etc. is driving at 200 MPH toward total bankruptcy. My Ohana on Kauai is anxiously awaiting my future trips – meanwhile, my grandkids are growing up too fast. The local restaurants and other shops will soon be closed for good.
Thanks for the up-to-date news BOH.
Hi Dale.
Hope you can return again soon to visit your family.
Aloha.
Has anyone use the Molecular rapid covid test from AFC Urgent Care? AFC is an approved vendor. It does not say it is NAAT test but is not an antigen or antibody test.
Joseph I wouldn’t chance it only get the NAAT test!
Aloha Guys
I’m glad you guys posted your article. There’s absolutely no way to get to Hawaii without a negative test results in hand when coming into Hawaii within 72 hours. Getting results in timely way will be dependant on the mainland location your coming from, for many it will not be possible.
We have been on the Big Island for a few weeks now. I would say 90% of Hawaiians are very happy to see what few visitors there are, it’s their livelihood. We are having a good time. Not all the restaurants are opened that I was hoping for and you will need to practice good covid rules while in the islands.
Mahalo Guys
Hi Roy.
Thanks. Glad to hear things are going well on the BI and hope you’ll be back on Kauai again soon too.
Aloha.
Thank you, I will check to see if this is available in Pittsburgh, PA.
How long ago did you use Carbon?
MT – did you get an answer about Carbon Health? There is a Carbon Health where I live in San Antonio so I’d like to know if that is a good option. Thanks!
Cheryl and MT
I used Carbon, and got my results in 18 hours. I think their site guarantees 24 hour turnaround for results. Super easy, highly recommended. Am on Maui now and it is fantastic 🌺
So when will Hawaii be asking for your Certificate of Vaccination IDentification (COVID-ID) perhaps in addition to a 72 hour test? The last I looked Hawaii is part of the US and restricting travel within the US is protected by the constitution (Freedom of movement under United States law is governed primarily by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution which states, “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.” Since the circuit court ruling in Corfield v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546 (1823), freedom of movement has been judicially recognized as a fundamental Constitutional right.). I get temporary emergency protocols but as the vaccine arrives (I intend to get the vaccine) will there be an Orwellian COVID-19 ID with or without a negative test needed to enter Hawaii (or other places / businesses in the US) thus further restricting travel/trade? No matter where one may stand on all things Hawaii, 2021 will likely raise many additional issues beyond what has been discussed on this site…
I understand rules. I’m coming to Hawaii December 22 p.m. Not on vacation but to see my mother who’s 89 to check on her health, etc. I am getting my covid test at Walgreens Austin. They do the test you want and they’re on your list of trusted testers. I pray all goes well when I arrive. I’ll also fill out my info on your site.
The issue is with the testing partners and getting the results back in time for travel. United Airlines uses color testing. It was quick and was able to download the results to safe travels site and get QR code. Vault from Hawaiian airlines was late with results which would have put us into quarantine. Make sure you have all negative test results before you get on plane!! We were able to enjoy 10 days in Kaua’i before the 14 day quarantine. We will return to Hawai’i nei!
I love Hawaii. I own land there. But I’ve cancelled 4 trips to Hawaii so far this year and can’t even get to my land on Big Island because of the ridiculous quarantine. Where we live, test results are taking 7 days to get.
Instead. we have taken 2 trips to Cancun and the Yucatan peninsula. Hopped on a plane…no testing BS…a simple questionnaire that takes 2 minutes to do and boom we are in the beautiful Caribbean.
Thanks Hawaii for letting me experience Mexico. I was scared to go there because of the horror stories you hear. But you know what…I felt safer there than in the USA right now. I didn’t see one black lives matter sign, no social injustice BS, and no defunding of the police. We had a great time and left our money there instead of the islands. Mexico has it figured out. Masks are worn just about everywhere, and they do random temperature checks to get into resort and restaurants (which, by the way, is completely ineffective….but if it makes you feel good…go for it I guess). One thing they have done very well, is not allowing guests to touch food at buffet tables…you point at what you want and the server dishes it up. I do like that change to eliminate kids grabbing everything in sight and people sneezing on food, etc.
And its funny but Mexico has a lower death rate from Covid than the USA with none of the silly lockdowns that are ineffective. You are not going to stop this virus. If you are afraid of catching it, stay in your basement and let the world and time pass you by. So instead of spending Christmas in Hawaii, we will spend it in Costa Rica… Another country that has figured out the price we are paying to be “safe” really isn’t worth it.
Thank you for letting me vent!
Hi Neal.
Thanks for that report.
Aloha.
Yeah, apparently Tulum is the hot spot in 2020 because they’ll let anyone and everyone into Mexico this year. It’s all over instagram. I went there back in the ’80s when there was not even a town there… just an old temple ruin on the coast.
Some friends of mine went to Tulum earlier in the year–when every other decent place was locking down. Got robbed at gunpoint inside their own accommodations. Some other friends went to Acapulco. Saw a dead body on the beach. Local drug / gang wars. They usually don’t involve the tourists–unless you just get unlucky and get caught in the crossfire.
So, yeah, Hawaii’s a joke and a basketcase… but you probably won’t die or get robbed there.
You know, we live in a mind-blowingly technologically advanced world. If the state wanted to make it easier / safer / more rational and reasonable for healthy people to visit Hawaii–they could. For example, if your test results got delayed and you didn’t have them before you got on the plane–but they were available by the time you got to Hawaii–and you were negative–they could work that out / accept that if they wanted you there.
But they don’t. They’ve made that abundantly clear from day 1 / back in March. They made that clear for 6 straight months. They only begrudgingly made some super restrictive and unnecessarily convoluted concessions to travel to appear to care about the hundreds of thousands of Hawaiians who have lost their jobs and their businesses because of the state and counties’ COVID restrictions (not the virus itself). But I keep saying it over and over again in these comments: They don’t want you here. They’re going to make it as difficult and expensive and as Kafkaesque as possible for you to come here–to discourage you if at all possible. They would prefer to go hundreds of millions–probably billions deeper into debt than to lose even one life–even an old ___ that probably would have died next week anyway.
Thanks! Great to hear. Considering Cancun but have been worried about covid. I have cancelled 2 trips to Hawaii and feel it is now “off the table”.
Au Contraire. Not sure where you’re getting your facts. But Mexico’s COVID mortality rate of 9.8% is one of the highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins data. Yes, Mexico has less deaths than the US, but also has a significantly smaller population than the US (126M vs 330M). Mexico is not safe. I have a very good friend, a prominent business man who’s family has lived in Mexico for their entire lives (generations) who is looking to move to the US, because of concern for his family’s safety. Next time you’re in Cancun look to the top of the hotels for the military snipers. I kid you not. There’s a reason why Mexico vacations are so cheap.
Future guests:
Have your neg test in your hand when you depart.
Unless you double test , don’t take a chance your
Negative result will come on the way to Hawaii.
All of you test at the same approved source.
Rules are in place to keep you and us safe.
They could have just returned and not endured that pain.
To be clear. I would have gone back. And I did my
Quarantine in August. Yours was more defined and restricted by double. I had a kitchen and lanai.
I have no idea how you got your clothes done.
I had no tv, I read a lot.
DOH means it , and they come to your door as a Random check. Me, they texted daily.
I feel so bad for the travelers,returning residents that run into quarantine purgatory because it happened to me.Safe travels rep on Oahu eventually solved my problem,but for 8 days I was on house arrest,subject to not very nice National Guard checking up on me,and it was not a problem I created but an oversight at Lihue airport.
I understand the desire to travel,relax,escape,please don’t judge travelers. Despite my problem,I believe the Safe Travels program is a start,a work in progress,and a program All the mayors should adapt.
It is quite obvious that visitors should not be going to hawaii now. I love Hawaii enough to wait for the vaccine.
We arrived yesterday so wanted to share a couple of things. With regard to testing we used Vault, which actually worked but there are a couple of things to know: 1/ ensure that you drop off your sample at UPS prior to the last AIR pickup of the day (for my local UPS that was 5:30 PM Monday. UPS will deliver next day (in my case i got an email from Vault at 3:30pm on Tuesday and results 11:13pm Tuesday night (we left for the airport at 6:30am on Wednesday). 2/ when I took the Vault test, our “observer” told us to write “STAT Hawaii” on the envelope for expedited processing, which apparently worked. 3/ when we initially ordered the tests we indicated use was for travel, so the pre-paid envelope came with a neon-green sticker on the front, which our observer said indicated the test was being used for travel.
I was so nervous about showing up without a negative test, that we went to Xprescheck (in our case Newark airport) and paid up for a rapid test, which gave us two valid tests to upload.
Why did I do all this? I had thousands of dollars in a pre-paid rental at stake and with all the stress, i needed to know that everything would go smoothly. The prep and travel was very stressful, but we’re here, the weather is phenomenal and I’m already in full de-stress mode.
Plan carefully and it will work out.
Final payment on our rescheduled March condo reservation is due 12/31; our 40th vacation in Paradise(?).
Unless application of “Reason will prevail” appears possible, my wife and I will, with broken hearts, settle for 39.
Alternatives to Hawaii, which we have never deemed to be serious competition, now appear potential saviors.
Surely, the experience of the imprisoned family has to be the end of 2020 absurdity…or does it?
Mahalo Rob and Jeff. Please don’t cancel our subscription, we’re not clipping our fingernails for at least another 28 days and are counting on your expertise and dedication. If you dare to offer insight, will vaccinations provide miraculous relief?
Hi Dodge.
We certainly won’t cancel anything. Thanks for being part of this for over 10 years!
Please stay in touch. We don’t purport to know what you should do, but personally, we hope that #40 does work out for your guys.
Aloha.
On the Hawaiicovid19.com, it says that the State will only accept the NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) from one of their Trusted Testing and Travel Partners. One of the Travel Partners listed on the Mainland (CityHealth Urgent Care at Oakland Airport) indicates that the test that is offered is the Molecular PCR Test, which is supposed to be the Gold-standard of testing. Will they stop us and force us into quarantine because of the difference?
Aloha JT,
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a common form of NAAT used in laboratory diagnosis. If they are on the State website as a trusted partner, then you are good, as long as you have results before your flight leaves, which is 72 hrs from your last connecting flight before you land in Hawaii. 👍
JT
The big thing is, that you need to get the test from an approved testing partner and you need to get your test results back within the 72 hour time period. The NAAT test is a subheading for many of the different kinds of covid test, the PCR takes longer to get your test results back and the NAAT test is a rapid test with results coming back usually 15 min. to a few hours.
I agree with the person who said the airlines should not let people on the plane if they are not going to be cleared on arrival . How terrible to pay all that money and be treated so terribly when you arrive. This is why although Hawaii used to be my favorite vacation spot I will no longer travel there until this pandemic is over , Thanks
Hi Cyndi.
The airlines lack the authority to prevent you from getting on the plane unless you are actually sick. What you are asking about can only be controlled by the federal government.
Aloha.
I am o sorry to hear of such horrible experiences while trying to take a vacation in Hawaii. Trying to coordinate testing, results, flights, etcetera – all while trying to deal with a state that is 100% paranoid. Impossible. Far too many if’s
The travel windows and timing are
Impossibly narrow and there are too many things that can go wrong and far too much money and time in jeopardy.
Give it all a few years. Then maybe….
Hawaii government from the top down must be using the magic eight ball for their policies daily. 🙂 Mainland isn’t any better. CNN just reported several politicians on the mainland were caught having dinners, traveling to Mexico after stating to stay home!! Do as I say, not what I do. What kind of message are these politicians saying?
Thanks for the time and hoping to visit in 2021.
My wife and I were extremely fortunate to be able to visit the Islands 4x per year, starting over 20 years ago. Usually visited the 4 major islands for 3 weeks at a time. Did not travel in the “high” seasons. My wife passed a year ago, and I Will Not visit the islands in the near future, due to the highly political, nonsensical and completely inappropriate restrictions.
Can anyone blame me??? I miss all of my friends and aquaintses I have made over the years in the Islands, but life goes on.
Tony
Police state. Call to protest! Fight tyranny and oppressive hawaii government!
A pandemic is not a valid excuse for any of this.
Why not add testing for Influenza, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, HIV, etc…? COVID-19 is not the only communicable disease, nor the deadliest. In fact, 99.4% of current cases worldwide are mild: worldometers.info/coronavirus/
This is all a violation of non-discrimination laws and should not be allowed. I am sad to say I will not be traveling to Hawaii until the testing, quarantine, and mask requirements end.
Mahalo.
The thing is…and maybe I have more flexibility than others…but if my negative test is not in my hand before boarding, I’ll take a later flight or one the next day. There is NO way I will quarantine, even if it means losing money.
Completely agree with you @DN!
We made our flight later that day, but you cannot fly out the next day because your test results are no longer valid. The rules indicate no more than 72 hours.
DN- that will only work if you’re willing to take another test, due to the 72 hour window requirement
All of this for a recovery rate of 97% to 99.75%….. Acting like its World War Z.
I certainly agree with part of BOH statement, “ You should absolutely not travel to Hawaii”. It seems Hawaii lost its way. So sad to see 😢
We just got back from the Big Island on Monday the 30th. We were there for 8 days. Thanks to the BOH we had all our ducks in a row and did not have any issues. We did get randomly picked for a second test. Not a big deal. Waited about 20 minutes for the results. We stay in a condo at the Mauni Lani Resort. Everyone was wearing a mask. This is our 9th year in a row at the same place so it was great to see our restaurant friends still working. We already booked our trip for July 2021. We had a airline credit we had to use before the end of the year. Between the credit and miles we paid $160 for 4 tickets on Alaska!
Hi Sara.
Thanks. We’re glad you had a great time at Mauna Lani.
Aloha.
I canceled my two week trip for May. I am not going to visit or spend money in a police state…. And I am not paying for testing to travel there .. It is not worth the hassle and suppression. My money will go elsewhere….
You have to be pretty stupid to travel to a Hawaii. That should sum it up nicely
That’s is completely uncalled for and I am ashamed that BOH approves your post. You may not agree with some else’s choice to travel and you have no idea what the circumstances might be. Next time choose your words better and show some Aloha
please spare me, he’s entitled to his opinion same as you.
Brain- Not ok to call people out as stupid. If you do it correctly, then it’s not a problem. It’s only stupid if you are uninformed. We just went for 11 days and had a blast. Did everything as told, we even got an “A” for doing everything correctly by airport officials.
In fact, it was like old times…very quiet and the people were grateful to have us back.
My son arrived in Oahu Tuesday 12/1. He got a Covid test at an approved clinic on Monday before his Tuesday flight, he was negative. He uploaded the info to Safe travel Hawaii and took the paper version of his negative result with him. When he arrived in Honolulu they said he had to quarantine even though he had paper proof and it was uploaded. Just wanted to keep folks informed.
How? He followed all the rules??
So it specifically states on Hawaii Safe Travels website that either paper version OR uploaded results Are Accepted! He should fight that. I flew in to ogg on Dec 1 and several people had paper copies only and they were accepted no problem. Did he have a QR code? Because that is required. Good luck
If that happened to me, following all lhe rules, and they try to make me quarantine, they can arrest me and I’ll get a lawyer. You cant go changing the rules on a whim.
Interesting. Did they explain why he had to quarantine if he already met all the requirements?
Why did have to quarantine with negative test??
Thanks for your good job guys! I don’t understand why he had to quarantine even with a negative test uploaded? Please explain, someone, what more you can do to avoid quarantine? This is sounding crazy and I am flying in 4 days. I get tested before boarding, but Hawaii won’t accept the test. So I will be tested again at SFO airport. I will make sure it is uploaded and will bring the paperwork. What more can a person do? Then tested again on arrival in Kona?? Remember people, Hawaii needs to sort this out Now! They need a Win-Win situation. Keep people safe plus keep jobs for residents! This is a time to work together. Aloha.
Hi Nancy.
The great majority have reported few if any problems with the Safe Travels program. You must be so excited to return!
Aloha.
WTH??? Why did they make him quarantine? if he uploaded (-) test and had test results in hand????
Thanks for this info. Do you think he was given the wrong test?
Clearly there is more to the story ….
There’s no way any Trusted Partner Test specific to Hawaii Travel (The NAAT test) would give results that fast. He may have gone to the right place, but ordered the wrong test. The Antigen rapid test was not an approved one, and I’m sure that’s why it was not accepted. The PCR gold standard test approved by the FDA is the only one acceptable and takes 2 to 4 days to get results.
Trumpsters. Follow the rules.
Roowells
Shame on you. Don’t make it political.
Yep, its those evil “Trumpsters”. Meanwhile our CA. Governor dines indoors with his maskless elite donor buddies, our 87 year old Senator races through a public airport with no mask on and our maskless 80 year old Speaker of the House gets her hair done even though its illegal in her home district.
Ridiculous. This is America.
So because it’s America, there’s no rules to follow?
National Guard? Police at your door? This is nuts. Nowhere else in America is this happening AND it’s not tourists bringing in COVID, it’s returning residents. I get the quarantine but how stupid when you can produce a negative test after you arrive and they still penalize and imprison you? It’s just unreasonable.
My daughter is a travel nurse working in Honolulu. We plan on visiting her for Christmas and am concerned that the Covid tests will not be completed in a timely manner. Which testing site do you recommend that will have the results in time for us when landing in Honolulu? I would hate to spend a fortune on flights, if our tests don’t come back on time.
We used both Walgreens (result within 30 hours) and Vault (result within 30 hours) I have heard that Walgreens results have slowed down due to overloaded system. We were in Kauai 11/7-14 and Oahu 11/14-20. Walgreens only books appointments 3days in advance and I was online by 9am and got the last 3 appointments for the 72hr window. We tried to do the rapid tests but they were not available at our location. Vault while worked for my family, my daughter scheduled her zoom popped the box at UPS by 10am and she had results within 30hrs as well. Our friends who we traveled with never received the boxes at $150 each…UPS said they never received them. Had they counted on that use alone they would not have been able to travel. They did get their money back. So order the Vault early they are good for 2years. Pray the stars aline and use another source. Walgreens was free, other sources are $150+. The stars did aline for us and we had a wonderful time. I do think Oahu was more lenient than Kauai. Good Luck
Hi MT,
Friendly reminder as of 11/24, your results need to be uploaded to safe travels website prior to the departure of the final leg of your travel to Hawaii!
The testing partners that will prevent you from not having your trip affected are the ones you pay premium for guaranteed same day results, like the ones Hawaiian Airlines has set-up at some West Coast airports. The other testing sites are risky due to shipping delays and lab turn around.
If you are worried about your trip being effect due to lack of results in hand maybe try to fly at less busy time if you on insist on traveling your pandemic times. This way the labs will hopefully be less busy and so will the shipping providers if you do a mail test.
Best of luck to you!
MT- If Carbon testing is available in your area, I highly recommend! They guarantee same day , or within 24 hours, got mine in 10 hours in Seattle
I wish the airlines would not allow passengers who have no test results to fly. I don’t know why anyone would get on a plane to Hawaii without a negative test anyway, knowing they have to quarantine. They could have rescheduled their flight, arrived with a negative test, and be able to be out and about. The last thing Kama’aina want to hear is visitors complaining about the policy that’s supposed to keep everyone safe.
I feel for the OPs issues, but rules are rules and when traveling during a pandemic one has to be somewhat flexible when it comes down to rules and regulations in a forever fluid ever changing environment. Hawaii has made it VERY clear that ZERO expectations are going to be made about the arrving with NEG results already uploaded into their system. I think people must think that this will not apply to them and is for “everyone” else. They dont care how much $$$ you have or spent, just as long as you can follow the rules and read what is being asked.
I am not just preaching here, I spent 7 days in Hawaii, from Nov 7th to Nov 14th a few weeks ago. I did 3! islands and Yes it took a lot of planning to get it done. We did have to take 1 additional covid test to fly to Maui. Flew into OAhu and changed planes to fly to Big Island. Bypassed the secondary screening for an “upon arrival” covid test as at the time they were only screening 25% of inbound passengers and was not chosen. Flew back to Oahu after 3 days on Big Island, no test needed for Oahu, spent 2 days on Oahu, took a covid test in Oahu for our flight to Maui 2 days later, got appts at Walgreens and Urgent Care Hawaii in Honolulu, We both both results before our flight to Maui. Arrived into Maui, at the time they were physically checking the results from the provider either on your phone or if you had it printed out, regardless if it was uploaded into Safe Travels or not, Free to go…no issues…also had to email our results to the general manager of our condo property…again regardless of “not detected” results. …So just wanted to share my experiences I had when I flew to Hawaii…..so is the system 100% secure- NO…..but this is about protecting the locals of Hawaii Not because they are trying to make a political statement or make life hell for anyone.
I feel for the OPs issues, but rules are rules and when traveling during a pandemic one has to be somewhat flexible when it comes down to rules and regulations in a forever fluid ever changing environment. Hawaii has made it VERY clear that Zero expectations are going to be made about the arrving with NEG results Already uploaded into their system. I think people must think that this will not apply to them and is for “everyone” else. They dont care how much $$$ you have or spent, just as long as you can follow the rules and Read what is being asked.
I am not just preaching here, I spent 7 days in Hawaii, from Nov 7th to Nov 14th a few weeks ago. I did 3! islands and Yes it took a lot of planning to get it done. We did have to take 1 additional covid test to fly to Maui. Flew into OAhu and changed planes to fly to Big Island. Bypassed the secondary screening for an “upon arrival” covid test as at the time they were only screening 25% of inbound passengers and was not chosen. Flew back to Oahu after 3 days on Big Island, no test needed for Oahu, spent 2 days on Oahu, took a covid test in Oahu for our flight to Maui 2 days later, got appts at Walgreens and Urgent Care Hawaii in Honolulu, We both both results before our flight to Maui. Arrived into Maui, at the time they were physically checking the results from the provider either on your phone or if you had it printed out, regardless if it was uploaded into Safe Travels or not, Free to go…no issues…also had to email our results to the general manager of our condo property…again regardless of “not detected” results. …So just wanted to share my experiences I had when I flew to Hawaii…..so is the system 100% secure- NO…..but this is about protecting the locals of Hawaii Not because they are trying to make a political statement or make life hell for anyone.
@Mark W
A lot of work for just seven days. Unless you were doing all this for work (like strutting a blog on the subject) for just for fun, I feel this trip was not best use of your time.
Zero exceptions for tourists = zero tourism industry for hawaii (long term). This is America.
There is rights and responsibilities, also consequences that Hawaiian residents will endure from brazen confusion and unjust policy.
You got some people on here calling tourists trumpsters? Thats bs. Already residents are getting slapped with tax hikes for condo owners and more is in the works. People are upset and concerned, not just tourists but also residents that must travel.
Clearly no aloha for them or anyone that disagrees with the one world government agenda? Wow.
Hawaii is a thing of the past, too bad always had fun there and enjoyed the people even though some locals do not want you on there island. The world is a big place and there are Paradise’s to be found……….good bye Hawaii
I agree 100%. Hasta luego Hawaii!
The problem is also with testing partners. My son and DIL were to fly out last Friday. The next day tests did not come back in time and were then outside the 72 hour window. So they couldn’t even fly out the next day. Whole trip scraped.
I have a hard time empathizing with people who board the plane without test results in hand. What if just one of their family, possibly a child, had been positive? What would they have done then? The rules, as ridiculous as they are in my opinion, are well published. Even the airlines send you notices regarding travel to Hawaii when your flight is approaching. Very expensive lesson.
Should people just cancel if their tests got delayed? What are the accommodations made in these circumstances? It’s an honest questions, and I haven’t even bothered to look since I’m not going to jump through some idiotic set of hoops while aiming at moving goal-posts, but there are those who have scheduled their trips well in advance (not many can afford to go last minute to HI), thought they were in compliance and then have to cancel a trip and figure out what to do last minute. I’m wondering how flexible airlines, hotels, and car rentals are with refunds of the fees paid, and how close to the wire people are willing to take it to have their tests in hand. In my view it really is an unreasonable restriction on interstate travel and one that seems to have its roots in fear, control, or incompetence.
Aloha everyone. I am supposed to fly to HNL January 8. I’m having trouble finding clear info on the “trusted travel partners” who can provide the test they demand, and also how much it costs… is it true CVS charges $139?? Hope not! But I have a stopover for a few days in PHX first. If I get the test on Jan 6 in PHX, will I have the results in hand on Jan 8?
I don’t want the test, I don’t have symptoms, and I guess I’d rather quarantine 14 days then go thru this hassle (I’ll be in Hawaii thru March so maybe that will be easier?)
Or maybe I’ll cancel altogether and just wait for planet earth to reset.
Trying to keep the Aloha Spirit… mahalo for any info or advice!
Hi Tracy.
CVS is not recommended. Try one of the other options or consider Vault by mail. They are all listed on the state website.
Aloha.
I thought CVS pulled out of the program anyway?
Aloha
What’s the big trouble with finding the clear info on the trusted partners? All the official info is at hawaiicovid19.com/travel/travel-overview/, which has a link to the trusted partners.
What’s actually confusing is the timeframe each partner can deliver the results in, and the type of test. You want “NAAT” tests – anything that says “ID NOW” or “Rapid PCR”, but NOT “antigen”.
BOH has listed partners along with evaluations at https://beatofhawaii.com/cvs-pulls-out-of-hawaii-testing-vault-others-overwhelmed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cvs-pulls-out-of-hawaii-testing-vault-others-overwhelmed
Tracy,
We’re from Phoenix and got our tests done at a Walgreen’s drive thru. This is NOT their regular stores, but previously closed ones they converted to labs. Test is drive thru results in an hour, even tho they advertised 24 hours. Results sent via email. Ours was no cost.
Thank you @GaryB!!
I ordered 2 vault tests for my children recently; i am also doing military base testing to try and ensure we have results. But if this is state requirement the state should pay. I can travel to any other 49 states Without testing at all. Have a rapid at the aiport when we check in at home and if not neg do not allow them to fly period.
Here’s the link to the website with info on the trusted partners, with links to each of them for their costs. hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/. We’re going in January and will probably use vault, unless Costco adds tests at their pharmacies.
If you have access to Walgreens use the POS as it comes back quickly. We had to drive 70 miles to get one but it worked and our insurance covered it. Had results within 24 hours. Watch out to make sure you don’t go to one offering antigen test or 36 hour test