227 thoughts on “No Recovery Yet For Hawaii Travel. Here’s Why.”
Kelli O
I have been traveling to Hawaii and lived on Oahu for 10 years.
My last two trips since Oct 2020 have been the easiest ever when following the given rules. Make an appt. for your test, fill out the Safe Travel forms and wait for test results.
After arriving there is literally 1 flight of people. Covid Neg results go one direction and no Covid testers go another. Easy, easy, why would ANYONE not get tested? $90 for test, thousands for breaking quarantine. Hawaii is an island people. Keep it safe!!
Eldon
With no exports and tourism the main income generator, the governor and mayors are screwing the people over. Not only should they report COVID cases, they should tally how many business closures, increased substance abuse hospital visits, domestic violence police calls, and depression diagnosis’s.
Lonnie D
We have been traveling to Hawaii at least once a year every year for the past 20 years and would love to come back ASAP. We love the culture the history and the people ,, also the awesome beauty of all the islands. My problem is the 72 hr. negative test results is going to be a roll of the dice. I live in Albuquerque NM and there are no rapid test locations that are on Hawaii approved testing partners list that can say we can provide results in 24 hrs. We have got both COVID vaccines as of last week and are ready to come back to our favorite travel destination.
I was hoping proof of the vaccine would open the door for travel because I can’t gamble that Costco , Walgreens or CVS can guarantee a 72 hr. test results before I get on the plane. Keep us updated,, Thanks
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Lonnie.
Thanks. You didn’t mention when you will be traveling. We should know more about vaccine based travel relatively soon.
Aloha.
Lauren H
I just went to Hawaii from Colorado. From what I could tell, there were only two places to get a test—afc and Kaiser. If you don’t have Kaiser you have to go to afc. They charge extra for tests that ensure you have within 72 hours. I paid 850 for a family of 4 tests. That adds a lot of money to an already pricey trip. All of the uploading required could also be confusing to older people. I have to help my parents in April figure it out. Overall it was worth it for me, but this process is definitely not sustainable for travel in the long term.
Patrick Z.
You make stupid rules, you get stupid results. Hawaii will go bankrupt due to these very bad policies.
sean
100%
Peekay
Agreed, there is some confusion on the entry requirements and approved testing partners. Planning on arriving in HNL on 2/26. Originally, scheduled PCR test at CVS, but noticed that they outsource their test to Quest Diagnostics, and the safetravels website specifically stated they would not be accepting tests from Quest. So, rescheduled to Walgreens, and await the results. In my experience, turnaround time in the Chicagoland area is about 24hr for the NAAT (PCR). Will update with actual experience. Fingers crossed.
John H
I visited Maui in December. I would never recommend anything but a test with results in an hour after my experience. Most places send the test overnight to a lab. If there is bad weather at the origination, the hub, or the destination, you are out of luck. If the test results were available within 24 hours of getting to the lab, that would be about 24 hours before the flight. Instead, the results didn’t come until 10pm when I had a 6am flight. I was ready to book another airline which had local testing in the airport if I didn’t get my results on time.
The worst part about it is that if you have taken a test and don’t have the results, the current rules, at least on United, don’t allow you to fly off you have taken a test and haven’t gotten results, so I couldn’t have even taken my flight which connected to my flight to Hawaii even if my results came back before the Hawaii leg. If you can’t take a non-stop, waiting to get to a hub airport with testing is risky, as if it comes back positive, you are stuck in a strange city, with your bags on their way to Hawaii.
Bory
I have a decision to make as our family of 5 is planning to spend 2 weeks in Hawaii this July! At this point, in leaning towards canceling the trip because of the requirements to wear masks on the beach and in the restaurants (as you’re seated at your table)! For me, it’s not worth the time and $$ to travel there and have all these restrictions!
I’ll be taking my family and $$ to a different place this year!
Lehua C.
Appreciate the travel update especially to Kauai. My question is what office is responsible for contact tracing?
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Lehua.
We believe it is the health department.
Aloha.
Lynn B
Have bagged the idea of Hawaii, maybe for very long term, but writing this sitting on the balcony, looking out on the beautiful sands and surf of Puerto Rico. There was pretesting for COVI yes, but recognized many testing sites, and gov website to travel, was easy to negotiate prior to our visit. Even I at 75 could manage it. People here wearing masks and taking this seriously, but still loving and enjoying life. Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.
Cheers,
L&S
Comments are closed.
Aloha!
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I have been traveling to Hawaii and lived on Oahu for 10 years.
My last two trips since Oct 2020 have been the easiest ever when following the given rules. Make an appt. for your test, fill out the Safe Travel forms and wait for test results.
After arriving there is literally 1 flight of people. Covid Neg results go one direction and no Covid testers go another. Easy, easy, why would ANYONE not get tested? $90 for test, thousands for breaking quarantine. Hawaii is an island people. Keep it safe!!
With no exports and tourism the main income generator, the governor and mayors are screwing the people over. Not only should they report COVID cases, they should tally how many business closures, increased substance abuse hospital visits, domestic violence police calls, and depression diagnosis’s.
We have been traveling to Hawaii at least once a year every year for the past 20 years and would love to come back ASAP. We love the culture the history and the people ,, also the awesome beauty of all the islands. My problem is the 72 hr. negative test results is going to be a roll of the dice. I live in Albuquerque NM and there are no rapid test locations that are on Hawaii approved testing partners list that can say we can provide results in 24 hrs. We have got both COVID vaccines as of last week and are ready to come back to our favorite travel destination.
I was hoping proof of the vaccine would open the door for travel because I can’t gamble that Costco , Walgreens or CVS can guarantee a 72 hr. test results before I get on the plane. Keep us updated,, Thanks
Hi Lonnie.
Thanks. You didn’t mention when you will be traveling. We should know more about vaccine based travel relatively soon.
Aloha.
I just went to Hawaii from Colorado. From what I could tell, there were only two places to get a test—afc and Kaiser. If you don’t have Kaiser you have to go to afc. They charge extra for tests that ensure you have within 72 hours. I paid 850 for a family of 4 tests. That adds a lot of money to an already pricey trip. All of the uploading required could also be confusing to older people. I have to help my parents in April figure it out. Overall it was worth it for me, but this process is definitely not sustainable for travel in the long term.
You make stupid rules, you get stupid results. Hawaii will go bankrupt due to these very bad policies.
100%
Agreed, there is some confusion on the entry requirements and approved testing partners. Planning on arriving in HNL on 2/26. Originally, scheduled PCR test at CVS, but noticed that they outsource their test to Quest Diagnostics, and the safetravels website specifically stated they would not be accepting tests from Quest. So, rescheduled to Walgreens, and await the results. In my experience, turnaround time in the Chicagoland area is about 24hr for the NAAT (PCR). Will update with actual experience. Fingers crossed.
I visited Maui in December. I would never recommend anything but a test with results in an hour after my experience. Most places send the test overnight to a lab. If there is bad weather at the origination, the hub, or the destination, you are out of luck. If the test results were available within 24 hours of getting to the lab, that would be about 24 hours before the flight. Instead, the results didn’t come until 10pm when I had a 6am flight. I was ready to book another airline which had local testing in the airport if I didn’t get my results on time.
The worst part about it is that if you have taken a test and don’t have the results, the current rules, at least on United, don’t allow you to fly off you have taken a test and haven’t gotten results, so I couldn’t have even taken my flight which connected to my flight to Hawaii even if my results came back before the Hawaii leg. If you can’t take a non-stop, waiting to get to a hub airport with testing is risky, as if it comes back positive, you are stuck in a strange city, with your bags on their way to Hawaii.
I have a decision to make as our family of 5 is planning to spend 2 weeks in Hawaii this July! At this point, in leaning towards canceling the trip because of the requirements to wear masks on the beach and in the restaurants (as you’re seated at your table)! For me, it’s not worth the time and $$ to travel there and have all these restrictions!
I’ll be taking my family and $$ to a different place this year!
Appreciate the travel update especially to Kauai. My question is what office is responsible for contact tracing?
Hi Lehua.
We believe it is the health department.
Aloha.
Have bagged the idea of Hawaii, maybe for very long term, but writing this sitting on the balcony, looking out on the beautiful sands and surf of Puerto Rico. There was pretesting for COVI yes, but recognized many testing sites, and gov website to travel, was easy to negotiate prior to our visit. Even I at 75 could manage it. People here wearing masks and taking this seriously, but still loving and enjoying life. Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.
Cheers,
L&S