# Pre-Travel COVID Testing Recommendations



## LA_Transplant (Apr 20, 2021)

My wife and I will be traveling to Maui at the end of May.  For those of you who have been to Maui recently, can you share your experience or recommendations regarding pre-travel COVID testing?  Since we live in Los Angeles and are flying Hawaiian Airlines, we planning on scheduling an appointment with Worksite Labs down by LAX.  I am just wondering if their might be a more convenient option that will guarantee our results back in a timely fashion.  Any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated.


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## gravitar (Apr 20, 2021)

Walgreens ID NOW test results are back in less than 24 hours and are accepted by Hawaii. Many Walgreens don't charge for the tests.

Just checked and it doesn't look like the test is offered by Walgreens in the LA area.

I arrived in Maui on April 15 and am departing now 


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## csodjd (Apr 21, 2021)

LA_Transplant said:


> My wife and I will be traveling to Maui at the end of May.  For those of you who have been to Maui recently, can you share your experience or recommendations regarding pre-travel COVID testing?  Since we live in Los Angeles and are flying Hawaiian Airlines, we planning on scheduling an appointment with Worksite Labs down by LAX.  I am just wondering if their might be a more convenient option that will guarantee our results back in a timely fashion.  Any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated.


We did the testing across from Terminal 6 at LAX last month. Was really quite simple. You pay when you make your reservation ($125). Park in the parking structure right across from Terminal 6. Walk over, give your name, test, leave. We both had results in < 24 hrs. Uploaded the PDF to Safe Travels and we were done. 

Before that we used a local urgent care in Agoura Hills. Had results in about 15 minutes (waited around for the results). More expensive though - $165 I believe.


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## pedro47 (Apr 21, 2021)

Gravitar,
Did you take a Covid test to leave Maui or will you have to take a Covid-19 test when you arrived in LA ?


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## gravitar (Apr 21, 2021)

pedro47 said:


> Gravitar,
> Did you take a Covid test to leave Maui or will you have to take a Covid-19 test when you arrived in LA ?


No test is required to leave for the mainland or for transit to HNL. You would need a test to travel to any other island. Some of that is changing with vaccine exemptions for intra island travel. That starts with Hawaii residents shortly and others later this summer.

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## pedro47 (Apr 21, 2021)

Thank you gravitar.


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## rcv82 (Apr 21, 2021)

Traveling DEN-OGG Saturday. Did Walgreens rapid ID Now NAAT test today. No cost and I got my results in 90 minutes. This is hard to beat! Sign up in evenings 4 days in advance for best availability. Look for the “red dot” locations for testing. 


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## MommaBear (Apr 22, 2021)

Did our Walgreen's ID now yesterday at 12:30, DH got his in 5 hours, 22 hours later I am still waiting


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## rcv82 (Apr 22, 2021)

MommaBear said:


> Did our Walgreen's ID now yesterday at 12:30, DH got his in 5 hours, 22 hours later I am still waiting



Try calling PWNHealth who sends the results. It’s possible your email got lost. I have called them on the same issue and they were helpful. And I reached somebody right away. 


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## gravitar (Apr 22, 2021)

MommaBear said:


> Did our Walgreen's ID now yesterday at 12:30, DH got his in 5 hours, 22 hours later I am still waiting


We did our tests at 4 different Walgreens, 3 of us had results in under 2 hours, mine took 20 hours.

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## critterchick (Apr 22, 2021)

rcv82 said:


> Traveling DEN-OGG Saturday. Did Walgreens rapid ID Now NAAT test today. No cost and I got my results in 90 minutes. This is hard to beat! Sign up in evenings 4 days in advance for best availability. Look for the “red dot” locations for testing.



If only we could get the red dot test in California. I asked Walgreens on FB why they don't offer it and the answer was, "we don't offer it."

We're thinking of getting two tests; the free Walgreens "slow boat to China" test at 72 hours and then have a backup at Clarity Labs at LAX ($120pp) in case the Walgreens results don't come back by the day before.  But at this point I'm leaning toward keeping it simple and just going straight to Clarity. But now I've heard that the Worksite Labs location near LBG (Long Beach) is only $20pp and they don't care what airline you're flying or what airport you're departing from.  Can you tell that I tend to overthink things?


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## Tucsonadventurer (Apr 23, 2021)

critterchick said:


> If only we could get the red dot test in California. I asked Walgreens on FB why they don't offer it and the answer was, "we don't offer it."
> 
> We're thinking of getting two tests; the free Walgreens "slow boat to China" test at 72 hours and then have a backup at Clarity Labs at LAX ($120pp) in case the Walgreens results don't come back by the day before.  But at this point I'm leaning toward keeping it simple and just going straight to Clarity. But now I've heard that the Worksite Labs location near LBG (Long Beach) is only $20pp and they don't care what airline you're flying or what airport you're departing from.  Can you tell that I tend to overthink things?


Is it the same 36 hr guarantee at Long Beach worksite labs? We are flying out of Long Beach in June


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## MommaBear (Apr 23, 2021)

gravitar said:


> We did our tests at 4 different Walgreens, 3 of us had results in under 2 hours, mine took 20 hours.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk


Walgreens had screwed up on documenting my test, so had to go back for a second test yesterday. Good to go, now, thank goodness


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## critterchick (May 8, 2021)

Tucsonadventurer said:


> Is it the same 36 hr guarantee at Long Beach worksite labs? We are flying out of Long Beach in June



I don't know. Thanks to a FB group, I also discovered City Health, which has an LGB location, and offers 5- hour turnaround (the people in the group reported getting results in as soon as 30 minutes). So we're trying that on Monday, still have Clarity as the backup on Wednesday (flight is Thursday).


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## gravitar (May 8, 2021)

MommaBear said:


> Walgreens had screwed up on documenting my test, so had to go back for a second test yesterday. Good to go, now, thank goodness


Did they screw up the time of test?

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## Tucsonadventurer (May 8, 2021)

critterchick said:


> I don't know. Thanks to a FB group, I also discovered City Health, which has an LGB location, and offers 5- hour turnaround (the people in the group reported getting results in as soon as 30 minutes). So we're trying that on Monday, still have Clarity as the backup on Wednesday (flight is Thursday).


Thank you! I will check them out!


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## Blues (May 9, 2021)

gravitar said:


> Walgreens ID NOW test results are back in less than 24 hours and are accepted by Hawaii. Many Walgreens don't charge for the tests.
> 
> Just checked and it doesn't look like the test is offered by Walgreens in the LA area.



Yep, no ID NOW anywhere in California.  What gives, Walgreens?

We go to Oahu in mid-July.  It looks like our choices are Walgreens PCR Testing, which is free but "Test results cannot be guaranteed in time for travel."  Or CVS, which is *"typically* 1-2 days", and costs $139 per person. Don't mind the expense, though free is better , but CVS is also not guaranteed.  

Is there any immediate testing at SJC (San Jose)?  Otherwise, what's everyone's advice?


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## 1Kflyerguy (May 10, 2021)

Blues said:


> Yep, no ID NOW anywhere in California.  What gives, Walgreens?
> 
> We go to Oahu in mid-July.  It looks like our choices are Walgreens PCR Testing, which is free but "Test results cannot be guaranteed in time for travel."  Or CVS, which is *"typically* 1-2 days", and costs $139 per person. Don't mind the expense, though free is better , but CVS is also not guaranteed.
> 
> Is there any immediate testing at SJC (San Jose)?  Otherwise, what's everyone's advice?



I live in San Jose,  as far as i know there are not any same day tests offered at SJC.  

We went to Maui in Feb and flew Hawaiian out of SJC..  We used Worksite Labs, which is the HA partner in San Jose.  They promised results in time for the flight, and that worked well.

Leave for the Big Island on United out of SFO tomorrow.  United offered same day tests at SFO, but our flight leaves too early for those.  We went with CityHealth, they have a number of travel testing locations including SJC.   Standard results are 48 hours, which is what we used.  They billed our health insurance for the test, and we paid $20 per person for the Hawaii documents prep.  I think the 24 hour testing is around $130 per person.  We actually got our results in 24 hours even though we didn't pay for the expedited fee.

Not sure how far south you are in Monterey County,  Making an extra trip to SJC for testing could work, but it obviously extra driving and time.

Otherwise, i would go with CVS and hope they come in on time.  In general i have found test results to come back pretty quick these days.  My wife works in healthcare, and both of us were getting tested by the county pretty regularly until we finalized our vaccinations.  Even Santa Clara country has been delivering the test results in 24 hour or so for last couple of months.


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## critterchick (May 10, 2021)

I'll give a report on our CityHealth experience today. I made our appointments a couple of weeks ago. We drove to Long Beach Airport, went in the airport entrance and followed the road around to the testing site (you can see if from Lakewood Blvd). We joined the line of cars, about 10 in front of us. Three women were working the intake, going to every third car to collect IDs and health insurance information. Then we drove up to a nurse practitioner, who asked the usual exposure questions and took our vaccination information. Then we pulled up to the actual tester, who gave us the sealed swabs, told us how to perform the test (go a little ways into each nostril and swirl for 10 seconds each), took them back and that was it. Results (negative) came in about two hours later, with the date AND TIME OF COLLECTION noted. The time was incorrect, but it was two hours later, not earlier, which would have put us outside the 72 hours. They were in .pdf format, which makes uploading a lot easier. Accepted by the state. Almost there...


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## critterchick (May 10, 2021)

1Kflyerguy said:


> I live in San Jose,  as far as i know there are not any same day tests offered at SJC.
> 
> We went to Maui in Feb and flew Hawaiian out of SJC..  We used Worksite Labs, which is the HA partner in San Jose.  They promised results in time for the flight, and that worked well.
> 
> ...



Weirdly, the rapid test is the same price as the regular test, $20. I'm assuming that they will bill Medicare for the cost of the test itself.


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## 1Kflyerguy (May 10, 2021)

critterchick said:


> Weirdly, the rapid test is the same price as the regular test, $20. I'm assuming that they will bill Medicare for the cost of the test itself.



I know when I registered with City Health they had list of which Insurance companies will pay for travel tests and which ones will not.


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## Blues (May 11, 2021)

1Kflyerguy said:


> I live in San Jose,  as far as i know there are not any same day tests offered at SJC.



Thanks 1Kflyerguy.  I just looked it up on the Alaska Airlines site, (the airline we're flying), and found this page:





						COVID Testing for Alaska Flyers | Alaska Airlines
					

COVID testing is available for flyers through our testing partner, Carbon Health. A negative test result must be collected within 72 hours of departure. Learn more.




					www.alaskaair.com
				




They have a section pointing to Carbon Health, which has a site at SJC, and they claim a 2 hour turnaround (rapid testing).  I called their number at SJC, and the recording claims the same.  Hmmm.  It would make me really nervous to arrive at the airport (probably 3 hrs early) and not have the requirements met, but it may be my best option.  I just now realized that, since we're travelling July 7, then 72 hrs before is Sunday July 4.  I'm not even sure if sites like CVS will be open on that day.  Hmmm.  Maybe, as the time approaches, we should try to get an appt on 7/4 at CVS.  If we get the appt and the results come back in time, fine.  Otherwise, Carbon Health could be our backup.

Sound right?


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## dyi27308 (May 11, 2021)

Flying to Lihue from Kahului May 15.  Can anyone recommend a reliable C-19 pre-travel location near the WKORV?  Mahalo


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## controller1 (May 11, 2021)

dyi27308 said:


> Flying to Lihue from Kahului May 15.  Can anyone recommend a reliable C-19 pre-travel location near the WKORV?  Mahalo



Call Long's Drugs in the Cannery Mall. They are a Trusted Partner.   808-667-4390


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## dyi27308 (May 12, 2021)

Thanks, however we ended up using Clinical Labs(Trusted Partner) 845 Wainee St, next to Lahaina Foodland and they did a great job.  We walked in and they took care of us, $150 per person, but what can you do.


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## 1Kflyerguy (May 12, 2021)

Blues said:


> Thanks 1Kflyerguy.  I just looked it up on the Alaska Airlines site, (the airline we're flying), and found this page:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yea, that's tough but your plan sounds pretty good to me.  I like having stuff nailed down in advance..


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## Blues (Jun 28, 2021)

Blues said:


> Thanks 1Kflyerguy.  I just looked it up on the Alaska Airlines site, (the airline we're flying), and found this page:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



ARRGH!  Hawaii's announcement that, as of July 8, we vaccinated people don't need testing comes a day too late for us!  We travel July 7.

To make matters worse, that would mean testing on July 4, for a 72 hour turnaround test.  But neither Walgreens or CVS administer tests on the 4th of July!  There are no other trusted testing sites anywhere nearby.

I just signed us up for Carbon Health at SJC for 9am on the day of our flight.  Our flight leaves at 12:20 pm, so in theory this should work (Carbon does say 2 hr turnaround).  That makes me very nervous, to show up at the airport on the day of our flight with no test yet.  But it appears that's all I can do.

I'm mad at myself and the system.  I made my reservation at HGVC Grand Waikikian about 6-9 months ago.  I figured a Wed-Wed trip would likely have the lowest airfares.  Booked the flight 10 weeks ago, and it was indeed the lowest fare day.  But it NEVER occurred to me that the state of Hawaii would mess us up so bad; nor that the 72 hours meant testing on a major holiday that falls on a Sunday.

ARRGH!


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## csodjd (Jun 28, 2021)

Blues said:


> ARRGH!  Hawaii's announcement that, as of July 8, we vaccinated people don't need testing comes a day too late for us!  We travel July 7.
> 
> To make matters worse, that would mean testing on July 4, for a 72 hour turnaround test.  But neither Walgreens or CVS administer tests on the 4th of July!  There are no other trusted testing sites anywhere nearby.
> 
> ...


You may still have time to use Vault. You'd have to do the math to see the impact of the July 4 weekend/holiday.


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## jackball (Jun 29, 2021)

We did the Walgreens ID Now and had results back literally within a couple of hours.


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## Blues (Jun 29, 2021)

Thanks folks.  Vault says on their web site that nothing will go out on July 4th or 5th.  There is little to no chance that something going out on the 6th will return a result by the 7th.

Walgreens does not do ID Now anywhere in California.


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## csodjd (Jun 30, 2021)

We went through the Safe Travel screening in Honolulu yesterday. It was empty! No line. Landed at 11:00, about 30 min earlier than scheduled and we were almost first out of the plane. Next trip back it will be with the “I’m vaccinated” exemption so it’ll be interest it see if it’s any different. I expect it will work much the same except that the QR code will come based on vaccination instead of a test upload.


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## 1Kflyerguy (Jun 30, 2021)

Blues said:


> ARRGH!  Hawaii's announcement that, as of July 8, we vaccinated people don't need testing comes a day too late for us!  We travel July 7.
> 
> To make matters worse, that would mean testing on July 4, for a 72 hour turnaround test.  But neither Walgreens or CVS administer tests on the 4th of July!  There are no other trusted testing sites anywhere nearby.
> 
> ...



Could you test earlier in San Jose,  either before your flight or a day earlier?  I know that's a haul from Monterey...   If they don't have anything available on their website, but might try calling or emailing the test center.  I was able to adjust one of my tests that way...


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## tahoe (Jul 1, 2021)

FWIW, we were tested by City Health at the Oakland Airport in California.  It was at an outdoor parking lot, and we swabbed ourselves in the car.  The whole process went smoothly.  They didn't strictly check appointment times - we were 30 minutes early.  Got results via test < 24 hours later.  Cost was $20/person + insurance.  Appointment slots are filing up fast - I think this is one of the few options in the Bay Area that didn't cost > $100.  San Jose was full when I checked, so we ended up driving to Oakland - plan ahead if you plan to use this company in the Bay Area.



			https://covidtesting.cityhealthuc.com/locations/san-jose


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## Blues (Jul 5, 2021)

So, we took the Walgreens free test this morning, since they weren't open on the 4th.  They said they should have results in 24-48 hours, so we'll see.  We leave in 48 hours.

In addition, we have appointments for Carbon Health at SJC for their 2 hr Rapid PCR.  9am appts, 12:20pm flight.  That's our backup if Walgreens doesn't come through.  My prediction - Walgreens will come through *after* we've already taken the rapid test at Carbon.

Wish us luck.


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## Blues (Jul 7, 2021)

Sitting at SJC now, with our wrist bands. Yay!  Got here 5 hours pre-flight, to deal with this nonsense.  Status --

Walgreens still hasn't sent my DW her result.  Got mine - invalid sample.  Came in via email just as Carbon nurse was about to stick a stick up my nose.

Carbon at SJC was great.  Except - at the last minute, their web site changed their status to a 3 hour turnaround, rather than 2.  I called to complain that we did our reservation with the  2 hour turnaround, which I had called twice to verify.  They simply said to come in early and they'd fit us in as possible.  In fact, we ended up being 2nd in line.  And when I pointed out that our plane leaves at noon, they said they'd expedite the test.  Which they did, in spades!  Got the result back in an hour, as we were sitting at Denny's having breakfast.  Used Denny's wifi (slow!!)  to upload to Hawaii Safe Travels.

All's well that ends well.  Proof will be when we go through the lines in Honolulu.


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## controller1 (Jul 7, 2021)

Blues said:


> Sitting at SJC now, with our wrist bands. Yay!  Got here 5 hours pre-flight, to deal with this nonsense.  Status --
> 
> Walgreens still hasn't sent my DW her result.  Got mine - invalid sample.  Came in via email just as Carbon nurse was about to stick a stick up my nose.
> 
> ...



And all this because today is July 7th and not July 8th!


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## Blues (Jul 10, 2021)

controller1 said:


> And all this because today is July 7th and not July 8th!



True.  But there may have been some advantage to that.  We got through the airport, taxi (Charleys) and checkin at Grand Waikikian with few lines.  Suddenly, on Thurs July 8, it seemed like the entire world descended on Hawaii/Waikiki.  I think everyone keyed in on that July 8 date.


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## Blues (Jul 10, 2021)

And oh, BTW, while Walgreens told me that my sample was defective, my wife never did get any results of any sort from Walgreens.  Glad we didn't depend on them.


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