Canceling our Waiohai week and our Big Island travel package to Mauna Kea Beach Resort. Advice for future Hawaii reservations welcome.

[Ann in CA]

We hoped we could return for my husband's birthday at his favorite place, but will cancel this week as the September 1 Kauai quarantine ending, or possible ending, is just too close to our late September check in at Mauna Kea, and our Waiohai October check in. Any thoughts on how soon we should try to return? We are in Northern California, and after such a good start, too many people here, maybe more in Southern CA, are now not serious about regaining our freedom and saving more lives in the process. Also have lots of MVC weeks and travel packages from cancelled April/May trip to Italy and Spain, and more from rescheduled July wedding in Scotland, and though we will put all our weeks into MVC points this year, I am concerned about how we will use all those weeks and points, and others already in II without wasting them. Have successfully rented a few times with Redweek, but it is not my favorite thing to do, even with full service. I'll keep reading as this board keeps me informed better than any other way. Thanks everyone!

Just saw this, so sad.

Polihale Beach Closed Indefinitely and More Troubles Abound

Unrest at Polihale. Other problems surface.

beatofhawaii.com

[Edited to fix link <--SueDonJ]

 

[Lv2Trvl]

Aloha.
Saw the Polihsle story this morning. Could not believe it! It makes me so mad. There are more state beavhes/parks probably closing for similar issues. Longer story in CivicBeat.

Your cancelations seem to mirror ours. Canceled 4 wks April-May on Big Island,Kauai and Oahu. Kept waiting for things to get better, but now have II week and Holding Points. Canceled ten days in September at Newport Coast to preserve the points. May try going there last minute with holding points.
Now trying to decide what to do with our November-December annual reservations on Big Island and Kauai. This year was to be Thanksgiving with grandkids on Hawaii! The way testing is I don't see how we can get the results back in time to fly. Don't even know where to start with our reservations for the next couple of years. It has been so easy all these years, decide where, reserve and go!

Good luck with it all.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[jancurious]

Ann......like you we really can't figure Hawaii out. We had June reservations (2 weeks) that we rescheduled to October and then recently decided to deposit those weeks into II before the sixty day time frame. I thought I would just put requests in to II for some time next year for multiple Marriott properties but to be honest.....I am sick of canceling reservations and I just don't have the confidence that I will be willing to board a plane during 2021 with how this virus is going in the U.S. For now, I am not doing anything with those weeks.

We, too, live in Northern California and so have been using our points that expire this year for Newport Coast Villas. We spent one week there in May and felt it was easy to social distance and have a wonderful change in scenery, and we have another 5 1/2 weeks scheduled before the end of the year.

With our location we have lots of wonderful Marriotts to book in easy driving distance (Newport, Palm Desert and Tahoe) and that's how we are going to getting a little break from staying at home until things change dramatically.

 

[dougp26364]

We ordinarily return to Hawaii every other year. March of 2021 would have been our targeted return date, but were not going. With cold/flu season around the corners, children likely heading back to school and people just not believing, I only see this getting worse come fall/winter, unless an effective vaccine is created.

Because of the distance we must travel (we live in the Midwest) I’m not planning a return until this has settled down around the world. My best guess is things will begin to settle down around next spring. Probably not what you want to hear.

 

[Luanne]

We were so lucky to go to Maui this year end February/beginning March for two weeks this year. We had a fabulous time, then came home just in time for everything to start shutting down. We've been going every year in March, and I'm hoping we can go March 2021. At this point we don't have anyplace booked. Dh is still unwilling to commit. He would like to have a vaccine in place before traveling.

 

[Ann in CA]

Ann......like you we really can't figure Hawaii out. We had June reservations (2 weeks) that we rescheduled to October and then recently decided to deposit those weeks into II before the sixty day time frame. I thought I would just put requests in to II for some time next year for multiple Marriott properties but to be honest.....I am sick of canceling reservations and I just don't have the confidence that I will be willing to board a plane during 2021 with how this virus is going in the U.S. For now, I am not doing anything with those weeks.

We, too, live in Northern California and so have been using our points that expire this year for Newport Coast Villas. We spent one week there in May and felt it was easy to social distance and have a wonderful change in scenery, and we have another 5 1/2 weeks scheduled before the end of the year.

With our location we have lots of wonderful Marriotts to book in easy driving distance (Newport, Palm Desert and Tahoe) and that's how we are going to getting a little break from staying at home until things change dramatically.

Ann......like you we really can't figure Hawaii out. We had June reservations (2 weeks) that we rescheduled to October and then recently decided to deposit those weeks into II before the sixty day time frame. I thought I would just put requests in to II for some time next year for multiple Marriott properties but to be honest.....I am sick of canceling reservations and I just don't have the confidence that I will be willing to board a plane during 2021 with how this virus is going in the U.S. For now, I am not doing anything with those weeks.

We, too, live in Northern California and so have been using our points that expire this year for Newport Coast Villas. We spent one week there in May and felt it was easy to social distance and have a wonderful change in scenery, and we have another 5 1/2 weeks scheduled before the end of the year.

With our location we have lots of wonderful Marriotts to book in easy driving distance (Newport, Palm Desert and Tahoe) and that's how we are going to getting a little break from staying at home until things change dramatically.

We have a week at Newport Coast Villas in October and again in May 2021 for those very reasons, but have had to retrade Timber Lodge from June to July and from July to a June 2021 week at Williamsburg, which we plan to retrade again as it gets closer, as there is not so much availability farther out and don't want to get caught in the 60 day exchange limit. Happy to hear you were fine with Newport Coast. We go often as it is driving distance and I grew up in San Diego, so always fun to be close. However, when I called to see if Timber Lodge was actually open, they said yes, but limited pool and gym and not so many restaurants, etc. We do not usually travel in summer anyway, just too many plants complain, even with a plant waterer! We only have outside restaurant dining, or pick up here now, so I should be used to that, but it is fun to have favorite restaurants open. We have a travel package in Scottsdale after the October NCV week, but are not counting on AZ being ready to have us there, so that may change to Palm Desert, depending how hot it is. We actually are pretty happy staying home and getting caught up. We love to travel, but had let lots get ahead of us in the yard especially. Good luck with your plans. We usually go every September to Waiohai and one other island, but that may have to wait longer than we'd like. After hearing all the truly terrible things happening to many people, I really can't complain.

 

[bbodb1]

We too were headed to Hawaii for our first visit there until COVID-19 forced us to cancel our plans.
And the way things are playing out there, it will be quite a long time before I entertain thoughts of making another attempt to schedule a vacation there. For now, we are concentrating on visiting several CONUS areas we have yet to check off our bucket list. Oregon is up next for us - Depoe Bay!

 

[Ann in CA]

We too were headed to Hawaii for our first visit there until COVID-19 forced us to cancel our plans.
And the way things are playing out there, it will be quite a long time before I entertain thoughts of making another attempt to schedule a vacation there. For now, we are concentrating on visiting several CONUS areas we have yet to check off our bucket list. Oregon is up next for us - Depoe Bay!

So sorry you will miss your first visit. But it is definitely worth the effort when things calm down. It is soooo beautiful and relaxing and the papayas never taste as good as they are in Hawaii! Good luck!

 

[Luanne]

We pulled the plug on our plans to go back to Maui in March 2021 and put in a request for March 2022. We trade with Trading Places Maui since we own at Maui Hill. I talked to the owner/manager and asked her if they are open. She said the rental side of the resort is closed down, but the timeshare portion is open. They have very few guests, only those who traveled inter island, or those willing to quarantine for 14 days. She said one couple who quarantined, had several other weeks with them, then ended up renting a house as they didn't want to return to California. She told me they did have a week for us March 2021, but we let that go. She found one week, end of March 2022 so we took that. I also have another request in for a consecutive week. When I got the confirmation email there are several things in the dealing with the pandemic.

 

[Quimby4]

Did you book Mauna Kea Travel Package before they changed categories? If so, you will need to rethink how to use your travel package. Was a Bonvoy Cat 6 now, Cat 7. I had Cat 6 point saver rates booked for late Sept and had to cancel, not sure I will be able to afford to go in 2021 with the point increase.

 

[Ann in CA]

Did you book Mauna Kea Travel Package before they changed categories? If so, you will need to rethink how to use your travel package. Was a Bonvoy Cat 6 now, Cat 7. I had Cat 6 point saver rates booked for late Sept and had to cancel, not sure I will be able to afford to go in 2021 with the point increase.

 

[Ann in CA]

Actually we have booked with travel packages in the past, but this time at Mauna Kea we just used points, and it was when it was still Category 6. So unfortunately it will cost more now, but we'll also have lots of points and weeks to use up, so we'll just use them. We love the Mauna Kea. For many people it would be too quiet, but that beach and water and views are just so relaxing. I have to cancel it soon, as already canceled Waiohai, but it is so hard to give that one up. Another that was hard to give up was a points res in Rome last April at the Piazza Naidi, which was leaving Marriott and we just got in before they stopped taking MR points reservations. We had been meaning to stay there since back when it was a Boscolo. We were just using points, so not travel package there, but we have a bunch of travel packages from this year's cancellations in Europe, and really no place to use them yet, and they expire January of 2021. At this point we are happy staying home, and don't want to go somewhere just to use them up. I hope they will let us extend them, but I think they were all due to expire last April or May which is why we were using them in Europe. I still have one booked for Scottsdale, AZ in October, but not so sure we want to be in AZ that soon. Juggling dates and years is frustrating, but no where near the frustration and tragedy some people are experiencing from this pandemic. So if we can just stay healthy, I'll be happy. Good luck going back to the Mauna Kea!

 

[Ricci]

Ann......like you we really can't figure Hawaii out. We had June reservations (2 weeks) that we rescheduled to October and then recently decided to deposit those weeks into II before the sixty day time frame. I thought I would just put requests in to II for some time next year for multiple Marriott properties but to be honest.....I am sick of canceling reservations and I just don't have the confidence that I will be willing to board a plane during 2021 with how this virus is going in the U.S. For now, I am not doing anything with those weeks.

We, too, live in Northern California and so have been using our points that expire this year for Newport Coast Villas. We spent one week there in May and felt it was easy to social distance and have a wonderful change in scenery, and we have another 5 1/2 weeks scheduled before the end of the year.

With our location we have lots of wonderful Marriotts to book in easy driving distance (Newport, Palm Desert and Tahoe) and that's how we are going to getting a little break from staying at home until things change dramatically.

We have 6 flights planned for late August/September with Southwest. A study was just published that you have a one in 7700 chance of catching Covid on a plane with the middle seat empty. I'll take those odds. The planes have never been cleaner.....thorough cleaning, masks, handing out sanitation wipes, and new air being circulated every 2 1/2 minutes.
And if you even cough on a plane, they open the door and throw you out.

 

[Luanne]

We have 6 flights planned for late August/September with Southwest. A study was just published that you have a one in 7700 chance of catching Covid on a plane with the middle seat empty. I'll take those odds. The planes have never been cleaner.....thorough cleaning, masks, handing out sanitation wipes, and new air being circulated every 2 1/2 minutes.
And if you even cough on a plane, they open the door and throw you out.

I'm still more concerned about the airports. On list of the 22 riskiest places to catch Covid 19 airports are #8 and airplanes are #9.

Some airlines are NOT keeping the middle seat empty. Southwest, which is, announced they are cutting back on the amount of time they are spending cleaning the planes between flights and will not longer be wiping down arm rests and seat belts.

So, personally I don't feel comfortable being in an airport, or an airplane. We all have to live within our comfort level.

 

[Ricci]

I'm still more concerned about the airports. On list of the 22 riskiest places to catch Covid 19 airports are #8 and airplanes are #9.

Some airlines are NOT keeping the middle seat empty. Southwest, which is, announced they are cutting back on the amount of time they are spending cleaning the planes between flights and will not longer be wiping down arm rests and seat belts.

So, personally I don't feel comfortable being in an airport, or an airplane. We all have to live within our comfort level.

Is this the list you are referring to? https://www.eatthis.com/covid-risk-places-experts/

This is not based on any data, just a small number of epidemiologist's opinions, rating places on a 1 - 10 scale. And the 22 "riskiest places" are basically anywhere you would go outside your home.

I also knew that Southwest was going to discontinue wiping down the armrests and seat belt. I have no problem doing that myself.

As you said, everyone has to live within their own comfort level.

 

[Luanne]

Is this the list you are referring to? https://www.eatthis.com/covid-risk-places-experts/

This is not based on any data, just a small number of epidemiologist's opinions, rating places on a 1 - 10 scale. And the 22 "riskiest places" are basically anywhere you would go outside your home.

And also knew that Southwest was going to discontinue wiping down the armrests and seat belt. I have no problem doing that myself.

As you said, everyone has to live within their own comfort level.

Yes, that was the list.

I have a question about something you posted. "A study was just published that you have a one in 7700 chance of catching Covid on a plane with the middle seat empty."

Which study was this from" And what happens to those chances if the middle seat isn't empty (as it is not for many airlines)?

 

[Ricci]

Yes, that was the list.

I have a question about something you posted. "A study was just published that you have a one in 7700 chance of catching Covid on a plane with the middle seat empty."

Which study was this from" And what happens to those chances if the middle seat isn't empty (as it is not for many airlines)?

The Odds of Catching Covid on a Flight Are Slim

Planes have not been the sites of superspreading events, at least so far.

www.bloomberg.com

If the middle seat is occupied..... one in 4300, according to the article.

 

[Luanne]

The Odds of Catching Covid on a Flight Are Slim

Planes have not been the sites of superspreading events, at least so far.

www.bloomberg.com

If the middle seat is occupied..... one in 4300, according to the article.

So this constitutes a "study" now? Doesn't sound any more scientific than the list I posted.

"Arnold Barnett, a professor of management science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been trying to quantify the odds of catching Covid-19 from flying. He’s factored in a bunch of variables, including the odds of being seated near someone in the infectious stage of the disease, and the odds that the protection of masks (now required on most flights) will fail. He’s accounted for the way air is constantly renewed in airplane cabins, which experts say makes it very unlikely you’ll contract the disease from people who aren’t in your immediate vicinity — your row, or, to a lesser extent, the person across the aisle, the people ahead of you or the people behind you. "

 

[Ricci]

So this constitutes a "study" now? Doesn't sound any more scientific than the list I posted.

"Arnold Barnett, a professor of management science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been trying to quantify the odds of catching Covid-19 from flying. He’s factored in a bunch of variables, including the odds of being seated near someone in the infectious stage of the disease, and the odds that the protection of masks (now required on most flights) will fail. He’s accounted for the way air is constantly renewed in airplane cabins, which experts say makes it very unlikely you’ll contract the disease from people who aren’t in your immediate vicinity — your row, or, to a lesser extent, the person across the aisle, the people ahead of you or the people behind you. "

You have a good evening.