Hawaii travel returned to 60% of normal for this time of year. Read why in today’s post.
45 thoughts on “Soaring Visitors + Airlines Confirm Hawaii Travel Is “On””
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Hawaii travel returned to 60% of normal for this time of year. Read why in today’s post.
Comments are closed.
Thanks for this encouraging update. Hopefully all of the airlines will start adding back flights that have been eliminated over the past year. In particular, American Airlines doesn’t seem to have the same options from mainland non-hub cities that they previously offered.
For those who choose not to get the shots do you anticipate any changes in the Safe Travels testing protocol going forward? Is it possible they might extend the testing window from 72 hours to 96? Any word on how long testing will be required for travel from the mainland?
Hi Mike.
Thanks for your many comments. Yes, the Safe Travels testing program will continue. Since we haven’t heard about extending it from 72 so far, we’ll assume that isn’t going to happen. But there are many more options for testing and that should help. We haven’t heard a lot of complaints in comments recently regarding that.
Aloha.
Any idea of dates inter island tests will not be necessary many thanks..
Hi Frances.
We’re hearing next month, but here in Hawaii, we’ll have to wait and see.
Aloha.
Thank you for being the eyes and ears in Hawaii for all us mainlanders! I read all your news year round. 😋
Sounds all very promising. We are visiting my sister in Princeville, Kauai from April 28th to May 10th. Can’t wait, it’s been too long.
A bit nervous about timing the 72 hour negative covid test. We are going with Walgreens here in Maryland.
Hope to be there in just 5 weeks. 🤞
Hi Justin.
We hope that all works out for you. And welcome back to Kauai!
Aloha.
We have friends from DE who are in Maui now, they did the Walgreen’s test, no problem ! So, don’t worry.
We are going to Big Island in April and have our appt for our test at an AFC facility. They have done many tests for Hawaii so we’re confident. We’re fully vaccinated too but I don’t have any problem with having the test.
We cancelled 4 reservations for Kauai last year and early this year and are ready to go. I think the Safe Travel program is very workable, even for “older, non-tech”types like us.
Thanks for the encouraging note!
My wife and I have a trip scheduled for first week of May and that may be in jeopardy because we are not gonna do the negative covid test. We have been vaccinated and if that passport is not available, we ain’t coming. Thank you for the blog, I check it everyday. Hopefully you will tell me the vaccination passport is a go before may 4th. Take care.
Hi Michael.
Thanks. That’s going to be tight timewise, but we hope it works out for you.
Aloha.
Michael S…I agree with your position. I am not willing to bet travel dollars on any timed negative Covid test even though we are already fully vaccinated. Also, we do not have the luxury of waiting for Hawaii to figure out vaccination passport protocols since I would visit in July or August and looking to make reservations now. Sadly, Hawaii government has been moving the goal posts and I simply do not trust them for the foreseeable future. We will spend our 2021 vacation dollars elsewhere and plan to visit Hawaii again in 2022. Also, I do not like the vaccination passport concept for many reasons but would be willing to use the tool in the interim as a bridge. Let’s hope by 20222, travel is unencumbered by these protocols. Best of luck to you.
The key word being “may.” How long are we going to hear Hawaii “may” do this, then they “may” do that. Its to the point we only want to hear final/concrete statements; otherwise its useless jibber. If Hawaii is waiting for “systems” to verify vaccination, that will not happen this year. Folks who get their shots at non-medical facilities are not entered into any database. The only common denominator is the Vaccination Card. Why is the Card not enough?
I’ve already been coming back! Twice in the past four months…and will likely go to the Islands two more times before the end of the year. Although most people despised the COVID lockdowns and restrictions, I loved the empty planes, cheap airfares/hotels, and less traffic. I guess all good things must come to an end.
If you are coming to Hawaii anytime soon I would recommend making some dinner reservations as far ahead as possible, especially if there is some place you really want to enjoy. I tried booking Mama’s Fish House 3 1/2 weeks out and the entire week was already reserved. The other ones we tried still had some nights open but many were filled. The reduced dining must be much of the reason. Also plan on spending far more than you are used to on a rental car. Still worth it though. After losing last year’s trip we are very excited for this one. Fortunately the whole family has been immunized so it makes travel a little less worrisome. Aloha!
Thanks for the heads up David! I was able to snag lunch at Mama’s. Merrimans’s Kapalua was also pretty booked
We are planning to come back to Hawaii in April. Will be visiting Maui and the Big Island. We are disappointed that we will have to test in order to travel from Maui to Kona on April 10. Are there any rapid testing, trusted partner options on Maui? We’ve got appointments scheduled with Kaiser on April 7 but our concerned if they will get our results back within the 72 hours. I feel like we need to have a back up option for another test just to be safe. Does anyone have experience with any of the trusted testing partners on Maui? Thanks for any input you can provide with testing options on Maui.
Hi Kim.
Hopefully, others who’ve tested on Maui can share their experience. There are partners there, and you also have the best by mail options.
Aloha.
Maui Kaiser normally returns results in 24 hours.
From our own personal experience, as owners at the Beach Villas at Ko Olina, we’ve gone from empty for 10+ months to 100% occupied (which is 60% as 40% of the homeowners, don’t rent their villas). What a difference a couple of months makes.
Global policies such as requiring a negative test result to return to the United States when traveling overseas. The fear of being stuck in a third world county when testing positive for COVID and having most of Europe and Asia being closed to outside visitors, is really driving traffic to Hawaii.
It’s been nice for our natural resources to have so much less human intrusion but it did come with a financial cost which was subsidized by the Federal Government. Too bad we couldn’t stay at the 60% tourism level and have some other way to take up the slack financially.
Can’t believe our luck! FINALLY got our first Covid shot with the second one scheduled for two months and 27 days before our trip! So even if THE GOV doesn’t change his mind about the 3 months interval, we’ll be OK! (It would be a VERY foolish decision not to change his mind!)