I will be the guinea pig - I used an AC for Hawaii

[Tamaradarann]

I ALWAYS APPRECIATE your feedback. We did move our dates a week later so we don’t have to get testing done with processing over thanksgiving , especially since testing details (Hawaii partnership with CVS and Kaiser) not currently available here in Oregon. Of course, everything is cancelleable Accept our timeshare week (used our last eplus so not a AC), so we can back out if we don’t feel safe and/or can’t get Covid 19 results back prior to boarding.
[/QUOTE]

We have always stayed away from Holidays for travel even before the virus due to more crowds and higher rates except when we are making travel arrangements that included our Grandchildren who are in school. If you don't have to travel during those periods why do it?
Now with the Coronavirus Testing Results Requirement there is an additional reason not to travel during those times.

 

[kckaren21]

Aaaagh!! It looks like my Hawaii 3 island plan is not working out: it looks like we will not be able to travel inter-island without a 14 day quarantine.

Back to the drawing board...at least everything is able to be canceled without penalty...It may just be a 1-island trip after all.

Interisland Travel Won’t Return Any Time Soon | Big Island Now

If events unfold according to current plans, trans-Pacific travelers will return to the Hawaiian Islands with quarantine exemptions before the interisland quarantine is lifted.

bigislandnow.com

 

[amy241]

Aaaagh!! It looks like my Hawaii 3 island plan is not working out: it looks like we will not be able to travel inter-island without a 14 day quarantine.

Back to the drawing board...at least everything is able to be canceled without penalty...It may just be a 1-island trip after all.

Interisland Travel Won’t Return Any Time Soon | Big Island Now

If events unfold according to current plans, trans-Pacific travelers will return to the Hawaiian Islands with quarantine exemptions before the interisland quarantine is lifted.

bigislandnow.com

Yes, you should pick just one island right now - there are too many moving parts otherwise and too many chances of something going wrong with your trip. That is what we are doing as well.

 

[klpca]

So Hawaiian sent me an email last night and our return flight (Saturday) is canceled. Grrrr. Still trying to figure out if I should shorten the trip by a day or add one night.

 

[klpca]

Aaaagh!! It looks like my Hawaii 3 island plan is not working out: it looks like we will not be able to travel inter-island without a 14 day quarantine.

Back to the drawing board...at least everything is able to be canceled without penalty...It may just be a 1-island trip after all.

Interisland Travel Won’t Return Any Time Soon | Big Island Now

If events unfold according to current plans, trans-Pacific travelers will return to the Hawaiian Islands with quarantine exemptions before the interisland quarantine is lifted.

bigislandnow.com

Btw there is another thread in the Hawaii forum the "factual" thread where everyone is posting the travel news. It's a little easier to keep track of the changes to the rules in that thread.

 

[kckaren21]

deleted

 

[ljmiii]

Aaaagh!! It looks like my Hawaii 3 island plan is not working out: it looks like we will not be able to travel inter-island without a 14 day quarantine.

From our 'What it's worth department', you should be able to plan on a 2 island trip that starts on a neighbor island and ends on O'ahu - there is no inter-island quarantine travelling *to* O'ahu. This is course assumes you've lined up a local COVID-19 test facility that can give you a quick enough turn around (or are flying out of SFO or one of the other airports that have approved 'quick test' facilities) for your visit to the neighbor island.

 

[kckaren21]

From our 'What it's worth department', you should be able to plan on a 2 island trip that starts on a neighbor island and ends on O'ahu - there is no inter-island quarantine travelling *to* O'ahu.

Thanks! I hadn't thought of Oahu, since DH wasn't interested in going there and I was there in March right before the quarantines started. (I was chaperoning 50 teenagers - it was a blast!) I will float that by DH and see if I can sell that idea

 

[traveller1]

Answered in post #46

AC= Accommodations Certificate given by Interval International

Thank you!

 

[Jwerking]

I have been following this thread and the other HI reopening threads and become more discouraged that our annual 2 month trip to Kauai and the Big Island just isn’t going to happen this year. We have 3 exchanges confirmed on Kauai followed by 6 wks on the Big Island.

While the proposed Oct 15 date allowing a negative Covid test within 3 days of arrival to avoid the 14 day quarantine was encouraging; the mayors of Kauai, the Big Island, and Maui are not buying into this proposal and want to require a second test after a required 3 day quarantine. To boot, inter island travel is still subject to a 14 day quarantine without an option for a Covid pretest and currently the Big Island does not allow the quarantine be completed in a timeshare.

With all the uncertainties and the extra costs required for testing, probably time to throw in the towel and just cancel and try to book an alternative timeshare vacation to CA and AZ for the same time frame while some availability still exists. Maybe I should just wait another week to see if and how the Oct 15 Covid pretest plays out?? Too many hard decisions to make!

 

[klpca]

I have been following this thread and the other HI reopening threads and become more discouraged that our annual 2 month trip to Kauai and the Big Island just isn’t going to happen this year. We have 3 exchanges confirmed on Kauai followed by 6 wks on the Big Island.

While the proposed Oct 15 date allowing a negative Covid test within 3 days of arrival to avoid the 14 day quarantine was encouraging; the mayors of Kauai, the Big Island, and Maui are not buying into this proposal and want to require a second test after a required 3 day quarantine. To boot, inter island travel is still subject to a 14 day quarantine without an option for a Covid pretest and currently the Big Island does not allow the quarantine be completed in a timeshare.

With all the uncertainties and the extra costs required for testing, probably time to throw in the towel and just cancel and try to book an alternative timeshare vacation to CA and AZ for the same time frame while some availability still exists. Maybe I should just wait another week to see if and how the Oct 15 Covid pretest plays out?? Too many hard decisions to make!

We're still going to try but since the governor can be overruled by the mayors I'm not very positive about going. Honestly if I had known that going in I wouldn't have bothered. Live and learn. It's really no big deal other than wanting to see my uncle. If we don't go this year we'll be putting off a visit for the foreseeable future as Hawaii is a quick, easy trip for us but we have been many times and there really are other places that we want to see.

 

[Jwerking]

We're still going to try but since the governor can be overruled by the mayors I'm not very positive about going. Honestly if I had known that going in I wouldn't have bothered. Live and learn. It's really no big deal other than wanting to see my uncle. If we don't go this year we'll be putting off a visit for the foreseeable future as Hawaii is a quick, easy trip for us but we have been many times and there really are other places that we want to see.

Yes, I see you live in CA - so indeed an easy trip to HI for you. We too have visited Hawaii many times over the yrs and with staying for 2 months since retirement, we just chill in the condo much of the time with a periodic trip to the beach for snorkeling or whale watching. We do truly love snorkeling and is why we primarily go.

A few yrs ago, we took a break from HI and visited Palm Springs, the CA coast, and Sedona during Jan to Feb. We did enjoy hiking in Joshua NP, the Sedona area, and Arches NP during our trip. Got some exercise instead of lots of sitting in HI - Lol! However, it is a long cross country road trip from the East coast and we did get delayed by some major snow storms during the trip.

Just nice to get out of the house. We missed our 2 month fall trip to Europe this year as part of visiting our daughter who is working in Germany. Instead, we visited our other daughter in Milwaukee and continued on to our first Covid trip to Upper MI and WI along Lake Superior and Michigan- very scenic and some great hiking.

Maybe we will just stay home this winter?? We do live directly on a beach along the Chesapeake Bay so have a awesome water view but what am I going to do with all those timeshare weeks??

Good luck on your HI trip - what a deal on the Marriott Resorts as they are awesome resorts - we have enjoyed our stays at all of them.

 

[kckaren21]

With all the uncertainties and the extra costs required for testing, probably time to throw in the towel and just cancel and try to book an alternative timeshare vacation to CA and AZ for the same time frame while some availability still exists. Maybe I should just wait another week to see if and how the Oct 15 Covid pretest plays out?? Too many hard decisions to make!

I'm disappointed and ready to throw in the towel on this one, too. I wonder how my cancellations will work...hopefully at least get credit on our accounts for future use,because I don't think II, TP, or the airlines will refund...

 

[amy241]

We're still going to try but since the governor can be overruled by the mayors I'm not very positive about going. Honestly if I had known that going in I wouldn't have bothered. Live and learn. It's really no big deal other than wanting to see my uncle. If we don't go this year we'll be putting off a visit for the foreseeable future as Hawaii is a quick, easy trip for us but we have been many times and there really are other places that we want to see.

Why can the Governor be overruled by the mayors? I had never heard this before. In most states, the Governor can preempt local orders and policy.

 

[klpca]

Why can the Governor be overruled by the mayors? I had never heard this before. In most states, the Governor can preempt local orders and policy.

See post 110 above. The mayors are pushing back. I'm not sure what authority they have but it appears that they are able to influence the decision making. It seems odd but it's 2020 and nothing really surprises me anymore, lol.

 

[TSPam]

I have been following this thread and the other HI reopening threads and become more discouraged that our annual 2 month trip to Kauai and the Big Island just isn’t going to happen this year. We have 3 exchanges confirmed on Kauai followed by 6 wks on the Big Island.

While the proposed Oct 15 date allowing a negative Covid test within 3 days of arrival to avoid the 14 day quarantine was encouraging; the mayors of Kauai, the Big Island, and Maui are not buying into this proposal and want to require a second test after a required 3 day quarantine. To boot, inter island travel is still subject to a 14 day quarantine without an option for a Covid pretest and currently the Big Island does not allow the quarantine be completed in a timeshare.

With all the uncertainties and the extra costs required for testing, probably time to throw in the towel and just cancel and try to book an alternative timeshare vacation to CA and AZ for the same time frame while some availability still exists. Maybe I should just wait another week to see if and how the Oct 15 Covid pretest plays out?? Too many hard decisions to make!

The big island is not letting timeshares or short term rentals be used for quarantine ( unlike the other island) so you would have to quarantine in a hotel on the big island. The timeshare on the big island are still closed. We are quarantining in Kauai now and then have two weeks here after quarantine and then two weeks at Ko Olina. We hope that there is a plan by then for reduced inter island quarantine. We do have 15 days booked at a hotel on the big island but hope not to have to quarantine there and book a rental instead.

 

[Jwerking]

I'm disappointed and ready to throw in the towel on this one, too. I wonder how my cancellations will work...hopefully at least get credit on our accounts for future use,because I don't think II, TP, or the airlines will refund...

Eight of our exchanges are with RCI who recently instituted a new cancellation policy which will return all my trading power if I cancel prior to Dec 31, but I will lose the exchange fees. I have the option to purchase Enhanced Protection for $129 each which will allow a free exchange credit where new booking must be made prior to Mar 31 2021. Of course, there is the fee to extend the time limit on using the weeks. Ka ching - exchange companies stay up all night figuring out how to maximize their fees!

Our two II Marriott exchanges are free and we have free retrades to other Marriott resorts. Just need to retrade before 60 days of occupancy to not have any restrictions.

Our airline tixs are award tixs and I think that cancellation is free but not sure since rules have changed frequently during the pandemic.

Have already cancelled a trip in May - so not happy to go thru this again!

 

[ljmiii]

Why can the Governor be overruled by the mayors? I had never heard this before. In most states, the Governor can preempt local orders and policy.

Gov Ige's order allowing for a negative COVID-19 test dispensation from the 14-day quarantine allowed the Mayors to continue to require the quarantine.

Big Island opts out of pre-travel testing program

Hawaii island Mayor Harry Kim said he is opting out of the state’s pre-travel testing program starting on Oct. 15, which means mainland visitors going to the Big Island still will be required to quarantine for 14 days.

www.staradvertiser.com

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I have been intrigued by this thread but have never traded in II. I have some questions:

1) Pick an AC location more than 60 days in the future or there will be reduced benefits, correct?
2) buy ePlus so you can re-trade
3) If AC date doesn't work, trade in ePlus:

- Where do you find properties to trade for an AC?
- Do you need to re-trade prior to 60 days of the original AC?
- What if you pick a replacement that is within 60 days and you cannot go, does ePlus still work?
- What if there is no property you want to trade for when you want to cancel/ePlus your unit? What happens.
- How many times can you re-trade in EPlus?
- are there any additional costs to re-trading beyond the EPlus fee?

 

[klpca]

I have been intrigued by this thread but have never traded in II. I have some questions:

1) Pick an AC location more than 60 days in the future or there will be reduced benefits, correct?
2) buy ePlus so you can re-trade
3) If AC date doesn't work, trade in ePlus:

- Where do you find properties to trade for an AC?
- Do you need to re-trade prior to 60 days of the original AC?
- What if you pick a replacement that is within 60 days and you cannot go, does ePlus still work?
- What if there is no property you want to trade for when you want to cancel/ePlus your unit? What happens.
- How many times can you re-trade in EPlus?
- are there any additional costs to re-trading beyond the EPlus fee?

There is no eplus with an AC. It's essentially a "final sale". Eplus is used only with a regular exchange.

AC's are essentially bonus weeks. Unlike a regular exchange which lists availability by location, when using an AC to search you choose the month first, then see what is available for that month.

Usually the pickings are slim - lots of studios in off season locations. Finding Hawaii, especially 2 bedroom Marriotts, is unheard of.

 

[klpca]

Gov Ige's order allowing for a negative COVID-19 test dispensation from the 14-day quarantine allowed the Mayors to continue to require the quarantine.

Big Island opts out of pre-travel testing program

Hawaii island Mayor Harry Kim said he is opting out of the state’s pre-travel testing program starting on Oct. 15, which means mainland visitors going to the Big Island still will be required to quarantine for 14 days.

www.staradvertiser.com

I'm pretty sure that Kauai will be next - not sure where the Maui mayor is on this. The only wild card (imo) is Oahu. Not sure where they stand on this.

I sure wish that we knew! So much uncertainty. But *2020*, so par for the course, lol.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I'm pretty sure that Kauai will be next - not sure where the Maui mayor is on this. The only wild card (imo) is Oahu. Not sure where they stand on this.

I sure wish that we knew! So much uncertainty. But *2020*, so par for the course, lol.

I wonder if a person could get the Covid test, go to, say Oahu for 14 days and then go on to the big island having, in essence, completed the 14 day quarantine while vacationing on Oahu??

 

[slip]

I wonder if a person could get the Covid test, go to, say Oahu for 14 days and then go on to the big island having, in essence, completed the 14 day quarantine while vacationing on Oahu??

Not under the current rules. Going from Oahu to any other island requires a 14 day quarantine right now. There is supposed to be an announcement on inter-island travel this week so stay tuned.

 

[lynne]

County clarifies Mayor Harry Kim’s decision on pre-travel testing program - West Hawaii Today

Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim has not made a ‘definitive decision’ to opt out of the Oct. 15 pre-travel testing program.

www.westhawaiitoday.com

As always, this is a day to day decision

 

[Jwerking]

I have been following this thread and the other HI reopening threads and become more discouraged that our annual 2 month trip to Kauai and the Big Island just isn’t going to happen this year. We have 3 exchanges confirmed on Kauai followed by 6 wks on the Big Island.

While the proposed Oct 15 date allowing a negative Covid test within 3 days of arrival to avoid the 14 day quarantine was encouraging; the mayors of Kauai, the Big Island, and Maui are not buying into this proposal and want to require a second test after a required 3 day quarantine. To boot, inter island travel is still subject to a 14 day quarantine without an option for a Covid pretest and currently the Big Island does not allow the quarantine be completed in a timeshare.

With all the uncertainties and the extra costs required for testing, probably time to throw in the towel and just cancel and try to book an alternative timeshare vacation to CA and AZ for the same time frame while some availability still exists. Maybe I should just wait another week to see if and how the Oct 15 Covid pretest plays out?? Too many hard decisions to make!

Okay, I threw in the towel yesterday and cancelled all airline reservations and II exchanges for our planned trip for 9 weeks from Jan 9 to Mar 14. I just could not personally deal with all the HI drama and figured at my ripe old age, I shouldn't be hoping on an airplane for a very long flight and certainly didn't want to contract Covid in Kauai and Big Island where medical facilities are limited. We can skip this trip for a year!

AA re-deposited all our frequent flyer miles into our accounts for the tixs with no fees - thank you AA. I booked an alternative timeshare 6 week trip to Sedona, Palm Springs, and Lake Havasu for Jan thru Feb instead. I ended up booking the 4 RCI weeks as extra vacations given the rentals were only $350 for Sedona and $270 for Havasu - what a deal given the extra fees are about $240 per week now. Re-traded my Marriott weeks for their Palm Springs Resorts - which are very nice. Will lose all the $$ for the 7 RCI exchange fees which is about $1600 - ouch!

So another cross country road trip for us from the East Coast with a stop over in Milwaukee to visit our daughter and SIL for Xmas. Hope we don't encounter much snow like we did last time we did this same trip a few years ago. But should be fairly safe given it will mostly be an outdoor vacation with hiking the main focus!