Hawaii requires anyone arriving in the islands to quarantine for 14 days unless they bring a negative Covid-19 test from a trusted partner with them. It has to be a nucleic acid test from a trusted partner taken within 72 hours of departure. The types of available tests, and which providers qualify can be confusing. For instance the partner American Airlines uses for testing isn’t on the list, but American itself is a partner so the partner of a partner is fine.
CVS Pharmacy is a trusted partner for Hawaii, and one San Diego family got their CVS test prior to travel. They arrived in Hawaii, presented their negative results, and were sent to quarantine anyway.
Hawaiian health officials did not accept their tests and said that her family was instructed to quarantine for 14 days in their room at their resort.
“[The resort staff said] if we see you out at all we’re going to call the Hawaiian Police Department and you will go to jail,” she told ABC10 News. “I didn’t pack much of anything for my son. I had some diapers and some things but I was thinking I was going to buy all that stuff in Hawaii.”
Facing the prospect of 14 days of quarantine, they decided to fly home. Hawaii allows people to leave rather than quarantine because as much as they need tourism dollars they don’t much like tourists.
Once the family arrived home in California, they received an email:
[Hawaiian health officials] reread our COVID tests and they actually are valid and we could be immediately released from quarantine.. “Aloha, your COVID test has been read and you have been released from quarantine.”
Oops.
Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve written that one of the biggest challenges in the face of travel is regime uncertainty. A destination needs to be open so that there’s something to do once you get there. But that’s not enough. The rules need to be clear, and there needs to be confidence they’ll be applied correctly and won’t change on a dime.
Right now it’s tough to know not just the course of the virus, but what rules will be when it comes time to travel. You might buy a ticket and a destination closes as the travel date approaches, or their rules for entry might change. A new quarantine requirement might be imposed by someone’s home state, so they’ll have to isolate themselves for two weeks on their return.
Specific rules keep changing and that makes it nearly impossible to plan ahead, and even to travel when the departure date arrives because rules may change during a trip. Hawaii’s rules have changed every single time they’ve announced a plan for re-opening. And now they’re not even managing the rules they do have consistently so that people have confidence they can rely on the rules once they land.
Typical government incompetence at its worst. With the way Hawaiians are treating their tourists, I will think twice about going to Hawaii even well after all of this COVID mess is over!!
Thank you for the post.It looks like we made the right decision
I cancelled my trip to Hawaii after massive communication issues getting assurance we would have our test results before departing.I gave up.I spoke with CVS and they are a huge part of the reason we did not make the journey.Very poor planning and implementation
The state as well as the airlines should have come up with a better plan with one another and their testing partners
As a Hawaii small business owner this scares the crap out of me. We have had ZERO income since April. We have 6 family members and 10 employees who depend on that income. I currently live in Nevada and haven’t been able to travel there due to quarantine. I’ve cancelled 3 trips there already this year. Now we’re jumping through hoops trying to find a “trusted” partner here in Reno where we can get a test to hopefully travel there next week because results from our local hospital aren’t good enough. None of this surprises me being the third generation in my family to conduct business there, but it’s not good. The snitch line to turn in your neighbor isn’t any better. No aloha. You’d think they’d want to make it EASIER for people to travel safely with negative test results, not harder.
Too bad their carrier couldn’t due something like a trip in vane and invol reroute to permit them to fly back to Hawaii after the fact.
My favorite trip in vain – I got to my destination too late to attend my meeting. The airline put me up in a hotel and sent me on a flight back home. Then instead of a trip in vain refund, I requested to use the ticket again for a future trip to the same destination. The agents were able to due an involuntary exchange or re-validation of the e-ticket coupons even though they were in a “used” status.
For icing on the cake, too, they gave me an advanced upgrade on the ticket I “used” twice.
It was a combination of luck, knowing what to ask for, and getting an agent that knew and was willing to do this whether or not it was with in the letter of the officla trip in vain rules or not.
Why don’t people that are scared of the cooties just hide in their basements… everybody else go out and live life…. this solves everything and avoids this crap.
Why would anybody with even a few brain cells want to go to Hawaii? They don’t like, or even care, for us mainlanders. Have given up on going to there.
After my planned Tahiti cruise inJanuary was postponed to March, I was planning to go to Hawaii instead in January. Now, I think not. I will go to Mexico instead, less hoops to jump through and they actually are welcoming Americans. Your loss, Hawaii.
I don’t know what Lisa is getting at with the cooties comment. These people obviously didn’t want to stay in their basement. They got screwed by government incompetence.
Stay in your state and stop flying around the country for nothing. As long the virus is very potent, stay at home! Hawaii is doing it right and support their strict rules. Stop spreading the virus and killing your family and community.
So we were trying to decide whether to cancel our trip to Hawaii in January. This just made the decision for us. Not worth taking the risk.
The way many Hawaiians have treated their fellow Americans from the mainland is deplorable. I completely understand Hawaii can not allow itself to be overrun with COVID but during this entire process the disdain is prevalent, even after a person quarantined for the required 14 days. Now that Hawaii has reopened and dropped the 14 day quarantine with a valid negative COVID test there are numerous reports from around the state where locals are refusing to serve mainlanders.
Early on in this pandemic I genuinely felt sorry for the people of Hawaii because I know they depend on tourism to survive and I was planning a trip to Kona. But now I wouldn’t set foot in Hawaii, instead my husband took our negative COVID test and spent 10 days Cabo San Lucas at an all inclusive resort. If my negative COVID test isn’t enough for locals to treat me with respect then I can take my tourist dollars some place else. The resort we stay at in Cabo capped capacity at 50%, required mask at all times while within the resort, had hand sanitizer every where, out door seating for every restaurant, none of the pools were crowded. But most of all they appreciated our business not only at the resort but when we went into Cabo (into downtown) they appreciated our business.
If Hawaiians don’t want tourist (mainlanders) to come down to try and help them out even with a negative COVID test then we can just take our negative test and our tourist dollars elsewhere. And once this pandemic is over perhaps in 2022 when Hawaiian are begging for people to come back a lot of people will remember this and it may come back to bit them. I know my husband and I will not be adding Hawaii to our potential vacation list any time soon.
Not to worry, Brah! Pass the pakalolo – there will be more hupo haoles soon lining up to fly to paradise to stay in 2nd class hotels and pay 5x more for meals than on the mainland.
well Frank is oh so right sadly. This is one glaring example of trying to patchwork solutions to convince people to travel, which is still crazy to me. I understand the hesitancy of the Hawaiian Government I get it they are an island alone in the Pacific still American ( of course some would argue otherwise) so there are the resources of .gov to help. I am somewhat surprised at “Unionswork” Hawaii is a huge union state just look at the average contract there. wonder if the Cabo hotel was union?
Anyway back on point until there is an effective vaccine in the wild for a certain period of time to assure the world that it works we are stuck. I see African is purporting to being “open” as well.
Another reason I am not visiting Hawaii this December. Maui will lose $$$$ due to this stupidity. Mexico and ski resorts are filling up (at least as close to capacity as permitted).
I guess there is a silver lining as all of the overpriced tourist restaurants will be liquidated and perhaps replaced by more reasonable places that locals and the rest of us can enjoy.
Replying to Michell s: I just flew here (HNL) on 5 Nov. I got my free Covid test at Walgreens on Virginia & Moana (a trusted partner) on at 0830 Nov 4th and got my results by 4pm Nov 4th. If you as a business owner and bread winner can’t figure out how to get your test to get here Covid free, you may want to consider a job at one of the casino’s. Just a note, Hawaii is still beautiful
@Michelle S – We were in Kauai last week, after getting tested with Walgreens, for FREE. Walgreens is a testing partner. But they only release so many slots per day, about 3 to 4 days ahead of time. We got the rapid test and got the results within an hour. So you have to time it correctly, to be within 72 hrs from your last flight departure to HI. If you have a layover at an island to go to another, you will have to get 2 QR codes. It seems complicated, but if you plan well, there should be no issues. We felt safer on the plane than being in a grocery store in US mainland, as 99% of passengers have negative results. Plus SW blocks middle seats (until Dec 1). Only 3 active cases while were there. Some restaurants were still closed, but they are slowly reopening. Going to Kona in Jan. Aloha!!
There’s only one hospital on Maui. Do you know how many tourists each year decide to jump off cliffs, ride bikes down Haleakala crater, or just get pounded by waves, and end up in the emergency department?
That number alone is a threat to our resources. Sorry if you’re taking it personally. It won’t always be like this.
Now that the fake election is over, all restrictions will soon be lifted.
My wife and I have being going to Hawaii every year for 6 years. We had plans for January but rescheduled for the 1st week in March hoping things would be improving. Been reading too many “ your really not wanted here” stories. Was looking at car rental pricing- higher than I’ve ever paid in the past! Maybe it’s time to look into other places that would be glad to have us support their businesses! We will be supporting Hawaii anyway with our tax dollars after their liberal leadership is asking for huge bailouts cause nobodies working.
My husband and I arrived in Kauai 2 weeks ago with a negative test and QR code. Got off the plane and put us in quarantine. Apparently I missed the memo about the trusted partner. We had the test they asked for from a certified lab from the defense dept. Sad to say we arrived on Friday and left Paradise Prison on Sunday! We are now headed to our home of over 20 years next week with the saliva Vault test which is not near as accurate. We are both 67..we play by the rules but spending $150 each for this test is rediculous!! Btw..we had covid in January.
Americans want to start traveling again, and do it safely. But until states, business (Disney) stop playing games with employees/citizens lively hood and lift all their ridiculous restrictions. (mask/14 day quarantine). No one is going to want to spend their hard earn money for a half vacation.. Time to open
Loved Hawaii, Used to go often. No more. The narrative on tourists seems bitter “we don’t want you” even if you follow all rules. well…ok then. Hawaii is not cheap. It was great while it lasted!!!
Hawaii has very poor leadership, except the Lt Gov, whonisnalso an E.R. doctor.
Neverthesless, after rebooking 7 times since April, we are in Hawaii. Have been tested 3 tines in a week, so we are safer rhan are the locals.
Despite the hassles, there is nothing like Hawaii.
As always, best to ignore the loudest mouths on social media.
Everyone should just stay where you’re from, mainland, Mexico Canada India and even Jupiter or Uranus until covid is over wtf is SOOO difficult to understand DON’T TRAVEL REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU FROM OR WHERE YOU GOIN STAY TF IN YOUR AREA!!!!
Everyone should just stay where you’re from, mainland, Mexico Canada India and even Jupiter or Uranus until covid is over wtf is SOOO difficult to understand DON’T TRAVEL REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU FROM OR WHERE YOU GOING……STAY TF IN YOUR AREA!!!!
What an irresponsible and hate-mongering article this is! This is disgusting. There was obviously some reason on the part of the state of Hawaii for this hiccup, but this alleged “expert” of a writer had no interest in that explanation; he simply quoted the distraught traveler (who hadn’t even packed for her baby to travel) and dismissed an entire state of disliking tourists(?) Completely reprehensible commentary. I hope he doesn’t show up on my newsfeed – or in my state for that matter – again.
Tbh, Hawaii generates 3x more tourism dollars from international travelers than it does from mainland tourists, though mainland tourists make a over 60% of the tourist population. Not to mention the environmental impact, which is considerable. So by all means, out of an abundance of concern for the safety of isolated and vulnerable population out here in the pacific, please take your generous amount of tourism dollars elsewhere. On a side note, what do you expect when you try to bargin value travel during a GLOBAL pandemic, lol. The health, safety and environmental value far outweighs your 2 cents.
I have been spending time and much money in Maui and Mayor Victorino and city leaders are insane. We are tired of the crap and the typical foolish liberal stupitity we are selling our home and taking our money to Cabot and treated so much better. There is no longer a Ahola here! Don’t come to Hawaii
We just returned from Hawaii. We got there October 29th so we knew we would be in quarantine. Our kids came after the COVID testing started and came in with no problem. Hawaii is being cautious because they can’t afford the virus getting out of control. Not enough hospital beds to handle it. I get it. Aside from the hassle of jumping through hoops to get in, Hawaii is handling the virus better than the mainland. When we came back last week Oahu’s positivity was 2%! They wear masks everywhere without griping. Almost all stores greet you at the door with hand sanitizer and lots of temperature checks. Shops limit the number of customers inside and lots of restaurants are mostly take out. It’s working! Of course there will be bumps along the way when trying to reopen a place where so many tourists visit. No doubt! We thought it was totally worth the trouble and appreciate the care the Hawaiian people are taking to keep their population and us safe!
Why would you endanger your own family by getting on a plane right now anyway? Nothing is open here, there is nothing to do anyways. Why fly here and endanger your family as well as the local communities of Hawaii.
We do not want tourists right now, we shouldnt be forced to go hide in our basements so some selfish tourists can blatantly disregard our health and our laws. You have to wear a face mask while tanning at the beach! Why would you want to do that? Just stay home. Keep your family safe. Airplanes use circulating air, when 1 person on that plane has COVID-19, the whole plane has it. Then you came and spread it to our communities. Shame on you!
We had COVID under control, now that we are reopened, we have triple digit new cases daily. Lanai had 0 cases, but due to tourists, their whole community is sick with COVID. Over 100 people and counting are positive, this is an island with less than 2,000 people. But you wanted a vacation, so who cares right? You dont know these people, so who cares if you get them sick? Its a bullshit mentality, stay home, keep your family safe, and by doing that, you can help keep our families safe. Period.
Yeah, some greedy locals want your money, the majority of us do not want you here. Stay home. Tourists are getting more hostility daily as they keep acting with disrespect to our local communities, with no regard to anyone but themselves.
First of all, it’s Honolulu Police Department (HPD) NOT “Hawaiian Police”. Second, for all of you who are saying things like “we’ll just take our negative test and dollars elsewhere” by all means! Go ahead.
And THIRD! Y’all should have some consideration for us who have to live, survive and work here. Now’s not the time to be traveling anyway. Furthermore, locals are restricted from many things that tourists aren’t. Very deplorable and disheartening.
What an effort to be quarantined i. HAWAII. Maybe you would understand if you knew ther is one hospital in Maui for 180,000 residents and visitors. We are sorry if we are being too cautious for you. We do not have the doctors or nurses to deal with what is happening on the mainland. The Hawaiian people are the most welcoming and respectful in our nation. We could all strive to emulate their Aloha spirit.
Maybe stop being a selfish prick and don’t travel during a freaking global pandemic. If you come here or shows you care nothing of Hawaii or it’s people. You’re just looking for a cheap paradise vacation. Stay home.
Stay home! We don’t want tourists right now. Stay on the mainland until we get this under control. Many of our restaurants won’t seat you if you don’t have a local drivers license. Aloha also mean goodbye! Try us again next year.
Hawaii here….. first off people who live in Hawaii are not all Hawaiians, you need to have Hawaiian blood to be considered that, if you don’t you’re considered a resident of Hawaii. Second knowingly traveling during a pandemic you should do some research before jumping on that plane. Hawaii has a website strictly dedicated to Covid travel and breaks it down by county, yes its not the easiest website to navigate but its there. It specifically lists what test are trusted and what aren’t. If you choose to do a test that is not listed than thats on you. As far as restaurants refusing to serve that is not completely true they are offering take out service. What people from the mainland don’t understand is that Hawaii is small. Many of its residents live in multigenerational homes and care about this virus spreading. Our numbers prove how well its being contained. Hawaii does not have the resources to care if there is a serious outbreak. If you choose to come here and didn’t check all your ducks were in a row because of your incompetence thats not our fault, people like you Hawaii doesn’t need. Believe me for every one of you lost 10 people take your place. Thousands of people are coming here daily.
Aloha sorry if you dont like our rules we are only trying to keep our family’s safe, if mainlanders do not like our rules please stay away we are not ready for you anyways ….aloha
Sad to say that state and county officials are bad, they want our money but they don’t want us there.
Moved our family to Hawaii in June. Bureaucracy makes mistakes. But, id rather my tax dollars error on the side of caution than risk of infection. Our island home has so far maintained very low numbers of covid19. For each person who doesn’t want to come to Hawaii there are dozens who do.
Today is my 4th day in Hawaii. I took the test at bartell drugs on Monday Nov 2nd at 9:30 am and got the results on Wednesday Nov 3rd just before 9 am. My girlfriend Submitted the results online and created an account with the hawaiian health department or something like that . Got to Seattle airport Wednesday at 4 got in the plane and noone asked for the results so far. When I landed in Honolulu the army checked my temperature and got in line to show my results and ID, once they confirmed it was me the one in the picture and the result was legit I walked away. I would say only about 60% of people wear mask, pearl harbor is already open , dole plantation opens the 12th of this month , diamond head hiking trial is closed , all beaches access are open , most of the fancy restaurants are still closed but everything else is open. Not so much people which makes it even better . . Locals have treated me wonderful . Coming back to Seattle on Monday .
@Dougie Yes, please think twice before coming here. Your tourism isn’t needed here! We don’t need anymore foreigners bringing diseases to the islands.
@Michelle S
Aww! No income since April. Well welcome to the poor side of town! I hope your bankrupt like the rest of these assholes. Welcome to my world! The world have have nots.
We don’t need your tourism. You people are ignorant as hell. Go to Mexico and support the cartels and the corrupt Mexican government.
I live on Oahu. We have no problem with visitors that respect our guidelines and wear a mask etc. the issues that we had in the beginning was when mainlanders were coming and staying at illegal vacation rentals, not quarantining and giving major attitude when asked to wear masks. Our hospitals were filling up. Sucked. None of the masks/corona stuff is fun but it is necessary for us to get to a full reopening. Sadly there are bad apples on both sides but overall we just wanna get back to normal and share our beautiful islands with anyone that shows Aloha spirit. I have had multiple friends and family come to visit and they have had zero issues when they got their tests from the approved sources. Let’s just all show each other respect and relax… #livealoha.
Hawaii is run by Democrates….this is what Democrates do….beleave me they will be first to the Federal bailout trough for your mainland tax dollars…..
Thank you Scott Katsinas. I couldn’t have said it any better than you. We live here so we can strongly agree with your comments. Having said that, it hasn’t been easy for us locals. I truly don’t believe that restaurants are turning “mainlanders” away. That’s preposterous to say the least. We are welcoming anyone and everyone back with open arms. Being a local Tour Operator on Oahu, we’re very grateful to all visitors from around the globe. Everyone take a deep breathe, hang on, stay safe and stay positive. This too shall pass. Aloha
Well as a local in Hawaii, let me inform you for some incompetent fools. We don’t care that you visit our island, but to visit while the pandemic is occurring is downright disrespectful. There were multiple bunch of idiots from the mainland that came during our lockdown and tried to escape the quarantine and just made it worse for the rest of you all. Show respect. Hawaii is on a break and tourists come here and try to save couple dollars. Many of you are really incompetent and so oblivious. When you come here show respect and you will receive it. Don’t come here showing your snobby mainland attitude because it will get handed to you back with aloha
The system WAS poorly implemented- largely due to poor coordination by Governor Ige and Oahu’s Mayor Kirk Caldwell. It is now running smoothly. (I work for a large carrier here, we are seeing the difference.)
Separately there are many visitors who have ignored the requirements and have simply come in to our towns and businesses refusing to wear masks. A simple call to the police hotline has them talking to HPD within a few minutes. It is these people that locally we do not need in our small island community. Otherwise, all are welcome and received with aloha.
We had a similar issue. We used Walgreens in Phoenix (listed as a trusted partner), and they lost our test !!!!!
After waiting 7 days (5 in our Maui Jail cell/hotel room) we flew home.
The test results were at first said they were ‘misplaced’, then we’re ‘found’ 12 days later. We rec’d our results 15 days after the tests were taken by Walgreens. Since we went to Maui for 8 days it was all moot. Glad we came home early, but to pay several thousand $$’s is absurd.
Thank you Walgreens and State of Hawaii – spend my $$’s wisely as neither of you will be getting any more from me !
All Democrat states are going to be screwed up noone was going to stop this. It needs to take its course, wear a mask for yourself all others will just take there chance, unfortunately your not telling americans what to do. To many stuck-up people
We have been visiting Hawaii for 20 year . Everything it’s so complicated right now , that’s why we decided not to go this time. As a tourists we are always welcome there. People of Hawaii are not all the same. Remember that on Hawaii Island doesn’t live just Hawaii people . There are so many mainlander and believe me that they want you there , aspecially right know becouse they have financial problem to keep business floating. Efcorse some Hawaii people don’t like mainlanders . Some people don’t like you even when you get home. We don’t care !. We still have aloha spirit and we know the real problem it’s with the system !! You can’t blame Hawaii people becouse the system it’s wrong.!!! They just follow the orders.
Aloha
Tourist dollars make up for 20% of Hawaii income, you people cannot possibly think your travel here is for OUR benefit! You come to Hawaii to buy crap imported from China that is being sold to you by a lady who owns a store in Hawaii but lives in Nevada! Are you people that foolish? You don’t buy Hawaiian made products you shop at Walmart and Target. The idiots in this article made the comment of “taking their money else where”… this lady intended on buying her diapers from walmart. How does that help Hawaii? Your money never helped Hawaiians, your money helps support an illegal entity in Hawaii.
Thats right…. there is NO treaty between America and Hawaii. No annexation. America is in Hawaii illegally. The 1959 election was a hoax.
Do your research before you come to Hawaii.
Hawaii doesn’t hate visitors, we hate americas illegal presence.
Want to make your Hawaiian vacation a dream vacation come true?
Help free Hawaii, you would love Hawaiians when they are NOT under duress
On the flip side, my partner and I had a lovely experience on our recent trip to Hawaii. We took our covid tests at cvs within the required 72 hours prior to our departure and received the negative results in less than 48 hours. We completed all of the required online documentation timely and upon arrival in Hawaii with negative results in hand (and uploaded as required) we were cleared in less than 5 minutes to freely enjoy our trip without restrictions. I must say that we were treated with nothing but kindness by the locals and we were able to accomplish every activity that we hoped for with the exception of a Luau. We were also appreciative and impressed by the level of diligence Hawaii has with keeping their covid numbers one of the lowest in the nation and that made it easy for us to follow all rules they had set in place. I certainly wish my state of Arizona would follow suite and maybe nearly 6000 Arizonans wouldn’t have loss their lives. Mahalo Hawaii for welcoming us and making our birthday trip memorable.