Available Covid Tests in Utah

[2189]

I have been following the 72 hour Covid testing, only from trusted partners, needed for Hawaii travel. I live in Utah, and as i went through their list, and made a few calls, the only one that seemed possible in my state (which sends a lot of people vacationing to Hawaii) was Walgreens. And when I called them they were clueless on the whole Hawaii thing?

Is there anyone from utah that has had success getting a trusted hawaii covid test? Perhaps there are other states having the same issues?

 

[beachgirls67]

I'm having a hard time finding any trusted partners near me in New Jersey.

 

[controller1]

I'm having a hard time finding any trusted partners near me in New Jersey.

Wow. There are over 90 Walgreen's in NJ. Are none of them close to you?

 

[2189]

My experience in Utah, when I called the two Walgreens that did testing for Covid in my 50 mile radius, was complete ignorance on the Hawaii testing issue. I asked to talk with the manager of both stores. While they both said they did covid tests for those who qualified, they said they had NO knowledge of Walgreens doing pre-travel hawaii tests. As I tried to ask questions about getting results back, etc, they both reaffirmed that they only did tests for those who qualified, via symptoms.

This obviously concerned me -- if the people who are administering the test dont even know/understand the Hawaii testing relationship, can I even get a test without symptoms??? I noticed on CVS they had an option for Hawaii tests (though none are available in my State).

That was the reason for my original question. Just wanting to understand if people are using Walgreens, and how that is working. Especially since they didnt seem to understand their relationship in the hawaii testing process, and it's currently the only game in town in my state????

 

[stslc]

We used Walgreens in Utah for our trip. I didn't know which of the two tests would be accepted so we did the Point of Contact and the Full Lab test both. One in North Salt Lake and the other in Ogden. You can also do the Quest Diagnostics test at several Walmarts. You buy the test on Quest's site and make an appt at Walmart. The Walgreens test was free and fast. I'm not even sure which one they looked at when we arrived at the airport. The results are all done by PNW labs. With a test with your name and a date within 72 hours of leaving, you should be fine.
If you can get a flight from the mainland to the island you plan to visit, you will avoid having to go through the process twice. We changed our original flight to Kauai and got a non-stop with Alaska through SEA. It was pretty slick.
You can tell the rush is on. It was slow around here last weekend until about Wed and now it is quite busy.

 

[MOXJO7282]

We're using the Vault saliva test done via the mail and zoom. They are a trusted partner and many are using it successfully based on many posts from travelers to Hawaii. $150 and they expedite for Hawaii travelers.

 

[2189]

Thanks, stslc.

I live in Alpine. We are frequent visitors to the islands, particularly Kauai. A couple more questions:
1) when you signed up for the test on the walgreens website, was there an option for hawaii travel? is it free for hawaii pretravel tests (no symptoms), how did that work?
2) I just found a good forum on tripadvisor about walgreens pretravel testing. Many said they had trouble uploading to the safe travels website, and it still required manual verification?
3) How was the getting the rental car?

Much appreciate your help!

 

[stslc]

[QUOTE="2189, post: 2521197, member: 59611"
Thanks, stslc.

I live in Alpine. We are frequent visitors to the islands, particularly Kauai. A couple more questions:
1) when you signed up for the test on the walgreens website, was there an option for hawaii travel? is it free for hawaii pretravel tests (no symptoms), how did that work?
2) I just found a good forum on tripadvisor about walgreens pretravel testing. Many said they had trouble uploading to the safe travels website, and it still required manual verification?
3) How was the getting the rental car?

Much appreciate your help!
[/QUOTE]
There was no "travel to HI option" I just went to Walgreens website and entered the screening questions for a Covid test. You then select a date but they only go out three days so you'll have to wait until your trip. I actually did the Quest diagnostics test as well. I wanted to be sure we had a valid test. Quest is done through Walmarts.
Once you get your results, you upload them to the Safe Travels site. Ours did say they required manual verification. You just need to print or have your phone ready to log in to the results and show the person at the screening table. It was no big deal. He was just looking for the date of the test and a name match.
I rented a small SUV from Alamo using Costcotravel for $208 for the entire week. Once you check in upon arrival, they will update your Safe Travels app to show you are exempt from Quarantine. The Alamo agent asks you to show them your Safe Travels profile with your name and status and you are good to go. No hassle.

 

[beachgirls67]

Wow. There are over 90 Walgreen's in NJ. Are none of them close to you?

Tons of Walgreens close to me but the closest one that is doing testing is in Atlantic City which is an hour away.

 

[hurnik]

Yeah you don't want to end up like these poor folks:

Utah family flies to Hawaii, finds out negative COVID-19 results won't be accepted

Imagine flying all the way to Maui only to be told to you wouldn’t be allowed in. It was a worst-case scenario for one Utah family over the weekend. Caption: KUTV: Jim Spiewak reports Health safety measures require a negative COVID-19 test result before leaving the mainland, which the...

news3lv.com

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Yeah you don't want to end up like these poor folks:

Utah family flies to Hawaii, finds out negative COVID-19 results won't be accepted

Imagine flying all the way to Maui only to be told to you wouldn’t be allowed in. It was a worst-case scenario for one Utah family over the weekend. Caption: KUTV: Jim Spiewak reports Health safety measures require a negative COVID-19 test result before leaving the mainland, which the...

news3lv.com

I feel bad for this family, but main issue here is that they did not follow all of the instructions and had the testing done by someone not on the approved list.

Its unfortunate that the testing partners are limited, and not every city has place to get tested by an approved partner. But I can also understand that Hawaii can setup relationships with every single lab in the country.

 

[JanT]

Ok, first thing - they waited until the day of their flight to get tested?? Foolish at best.

The rules are very clear - you have to use a trusted partner. I’m not sure what the State of Utah told them but it’s very easy to see who the trusted partners are - you simply have to read the website.

The family is saying Hawaii wanted them to go to Las Vegas to get their tests? Why would Hawaii tell them that? There are CVS and Walgreens all over Utah where they could have had tests done and followed the 72 hr rule. I’m pretty sure they knew that so why go anywhere else? If they didn’t read the requirements and just said, “Oh! We have to have a test,” well...again, foolish at best.

It appears they simply didn’t do enough research to know what the requirements were. They shouldn’t have depended on what Utah told them - Utah doesn’t make the rules for Hawaii.

I’m sorry it happened to them but they really brought it on themselves. The fact that they got a QR code emailed to them doesn’t matter but it didn’t help. Bottom line is they didn’t follow the requirements and they paid a price for it. Difficult situation though.

 

[hurnik]

I feel bad for this family, but main issue here is that they did not follow all of the instructions and had the testing done by someone not on the approved list.

Its unfortunate that the testing partners are limited, and not every city has place to get tested by an approved partner. But I can also understand that Hawaii can setup relationships with every single lab in the country.

Completely agreed.

Just wanted to hopefully alert anyone in Utah so that they don't make the same mistake.

Would totally suck to have that situation happen.