WALK-THROUGH - HAWAII'S NEW TRAVEL POLICY: My experience traveling to Hawaii

[GregT]

Good morning TUGgers,

I hope that this is helpful, I arrived yesterday to Maui Ocean Club and describe below my experience, and what I would do differently. This looks like alot of steps, but it really turned out to be pretty easy. I only include each step to be very complete -- it went very smoothly.

1) I booked my flight in late-September, arriving October 30
2) Early in October, I created a login for myself on the Safe Travels website (travel.hawaii.gov)
3) My flights were from San Diego to Honolulu, and then connecting to Honolulu to Maui
4) The first task we have to complete on Safe Travels is to create records for each of your trips
5) I created a record for my first trip (San Diego to Honolulu) and then I created a second record for my second trip (Honolulu to Maui)
6) I know that my flight departed at 8:55am on Friday and that I needed a COVID test from an approved provider (https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/)
7) The Sunday before, I made an appointment with CVS to do a voluntary COVID test (https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing/voluntary-testing
8) I had first wasted time with CVS regular website for COVID testing, before realizing there was a separate one for voluntary COVID tests (that cost $139)
9) My appointment was for Tuesday at 2:30pm (~67 hours before departure) - the rule is to get the test no more than 72 hours from departure
10) The website FAQ says the 72 hours is measured from your last mainland leg to Hawaii (ie, Chicago-Seattle-Honolulu is measured from the Seattle departure)
11) I travel to CVS and it was a drive-through test that I administered on myself while the practitioner witnessed my self-test to make sure I did it right
12) When I checked in for the test, I received an email from CVS telling me to create a MyChart account where they would post my test results
13) When I got home, I created the MyChart account on my computer, and was able to find an app to also download it to my phone
14) On Thursday morning (within 24 hours of departure), I completed the Health Questionnaire on Safe Travels website (see #2 above) - this questionnaire can only be completed within 24 hours of departure
15) After completing the Health Questionnaire, the system emailed me a QR Code for my SAN-HNL flight and a separate email with the QR code for my HNL-OGG flight (this email is important)
16) I saved both emails with the QR Code in a separate folder for quick access
17) On Thursday at 2:20pm (about 48 hours after the COVID test), I received an email from CVS telling me my test results were available
18) I download my COVID results to my computer (saved as a PDF), then login into Safe Travels and I upload the PDF, which is one of the four tasks/options on the Safe Travels website — I’m now ready to go!!!
19) When I land in Honolulu, I retrieved my SAN-HNL email, which included the QR code at the bottom of the email.
20) Hawaii has set up stations at the Arrival gate (perhaps 10 stations at that gate in Honolulu) where an agent will scan your QR code and check your photo ID, and then let you through. Perhaps 60 seconds for them to review the materials and approve my travel.
21) A suggestion: Position yourself closer to the front of the plane -- I was mid-plane and had to wait about 15 minutes to get to agent
22) I then went to my connecting gate as per a normal layover
23) In Maui, I used the QR code in the second email (for the Honolulu-Maui flight) — there were about five agents checking the documents and my personal time was again about 60 seconds with the agent. I was near the front of the plane though and waited only a couple of minutes to be admitted
24) I reserved a rental car with Enterprise. I didn't realize I needed evidence that I was admitted without quarantine. The email with my QR code also has a link to my Safe Travels account, where the evidence was.
25) At the rental car agency, I had to connect to my Safe Travels account and find where it said I was admitted without quarantine. This evidence is included the flight record (that I'd set up in #5 above) for the Honolulu-Maui flight record.
26) At Maui Ocean Club, I again had to repeat Step #25 as they will neither rent a car to you, nor let you enter the room, without proof that you are exempt from Quarantine

The two things I would do differently are position myself as close to the front of the plane as possible, and I would try to print out hard copies of my QR code after my COVID test was uploaded and accepted (and indicated that I was admitted without Quarantine). Granted, having a hard copy of the QR code is probably overkill as it was easy to pull up on my phone.

I have uploaded two screen shots -- first is what the Safe Travels records showing that two flights have been entered. Second is the rrecord from the Honolulu-Maui trip, where it shows that I am exempt from Quarantine (for the rental car agency and your accommodations).

I hope this is helpful to another TUGger -- again it looks like alot of steps but it went smoothly and was very manageable. It is great to be here -- there are masks everywhere (except for people who are in the pool or ocean, or laying by the pool or ocean) and the property is probably at 50% occupancy.


Best,

Greg

 

[DaveNV]

Wow. That was a lot of steps! Thanks for posting it. Enjoy your vacation!!

Dave

 

[linsj]

Thanks for posting this, Greg. It's helpful to have all the steps in one place as a guide. I gave up going to Hawaii this year but still hoping to keep my February reservation.

 

[HGVC Lover]

Awesome.....some of the most useful information I have seen posted recently in regards to Hawaii travel. We leave in December so this is a great template for us to follow and not try and reinvent the wheel. One question. Does each travel, like a spouse, have to have a Safe Travel account too on their phone and separate QR code if they are on the same airline ticket locator record?

 

[mjm1]

Greg, thanks for sharing your experience with the process. Great detail. Have a fantastic time!

Best regards.

Mike

 

[GregT]

Awesome.....some of the most useful information I have seen posted recently in regards to Hawaii travel. We leave in December so this is a great template for us to follow and not try and reinvent the wheel. One question. Does each travel, like a spouse, have to have a Safe Travel account too on their phone and separate QR code if they are on the same airline ticket locator record?

You will each need your own accounts and will have separate QR codes. Have fun!

 

[DeniseM]

Excellent walk-through - I'm going to make this a Sticky!

 

[10spro]

Thanks for sharing. We're going to try it in a couple weeks. Fingers crossed.

 

[klpca]

I'll write more later but we arrived on Kauai on 10/31. What Greg said was accurate. I will add a few data points that may be specific to Kauai.

1. They expected a hard copy of our negative covid tests. We had ours, but it's not stated anywhere
2. They also expected us to login to the safe travels site (in front of them) and show them the negative test results in addition to the hard copy. Seems redundant, but you had to do it. So, set up a shortcut on your phone and save your login info since you will also have to do this at the car rental place and when checking into your lodging.
3. Our plane arrived 18 min early, almost at the same time as another flight. It was literally a hot mess at the gate and we waited in line for 35ish min. No social distancing. We were in row 12 so were off the plane quickly towards the front of the line. Our plane was not full. As the flights fill up the lines will take longer.

I received my test results about 40 hours after I was tested. My husband's did not arrive until 12 hours after mine, which was uncomfortably close as the first leg of our flight left at 7:30am. We had no options, I couldn't find any availability for a quick test so we had to roll the dice and hope that the test results would show up and that we wouldn't have to quarantine. I was so relieved when he received his results.

Edit to add photo of the line to show our documents:
Spent over 30 min here. It was hot with no air movement. Definitely the place that I am most worried about. No social distancing but at least people were wearing masks.

 

[klpca]

One more thing - your test needs to be saved as a pdf before uploading to safe travels. Screenshots won't work because the resolution is wrong.

 

[pedro47]

Wow , those are to many steps for a vacation travel to Hawaii .

 

[MommaBear]

Wow , those are to many steps for a vacation travel to Hawaii .

The value of travel makes these step worth it to me for peace of mind that my risk of contracting Covid will be decreased.

 

[klpca]

The value of travel makes these step worth it to me for peace of mind that my risk of contracting Covid will be decreased.

After our experience yesterday (airport, see above) I don't feel a lot safer! I think that they need to work out the kinks a bit better.

 

[Grandma2016]

Thanks for this information. We leave early January for Maui.

 

[GregT]

This is an amazing time to visit the islands. I’ve never before been able to drive to Honolua Bay and park right at the trailhead entrance (parking is very limited and most park on the roadside) — and my car is the only one there.

Same with D.T. Fleming Beach — six cars in the parking lot, including mine and two for the lifeguards. And no one was on the beach, so don’t know who owned those three other cars?

Maui is stunningly beautiful (it always has been!) and I am very happy to be here!

Best,

Greg

 

[klpca]

This is an amazing time to visit the islands. I’ve never before been able to drive to Honolua Bay and park right at the trailhead entrance (parking is very limited and most park on the roadside) — and my car is the only one there.

Same with D.T. Fleming Beach — six cars in the parking lot, including mine and two for the lifeguards. And no one was on the beach, so don’t know who owned those three other cars?

Maui is stunningly beautiful (it always has been!) and I am very happy to be here!

Best,

Greg

We stayed at the resort yesterday except for a walk around Poipu. It is very quiet once you are out of the resort. We are headed out to Hanalei today. I agree, it's a once in a lifetime thing.

 

[csodjd]

One more thing - your test needs to be saved as a pdf before uploading to safe travels. Screenshots won't work because the resolution is wrong.

Might be a nice idea to go a step further and create an email address, perhaps a gmail address, ONLY for this purpose -- for interacting with the safe travels site and for receiving your test results, and use a very easy password, so you have easy access without searching to what you need.

 

[flindberg]

We stayed at the resort yesterday except for a walk around Poipu. It is very quiet once you are out of the resort. We are headed out to Hanalei today. I agree, it's a once in a lifetime thing.

Would love to know how things are in Hanalei!

 

[klpca]

Would love to know how things are in Hanalei!

We were on the road early. Right now there is no traffic. It reminded us of our first trip in 1983.

Hanalei was Hanalei. It feels stuck in time....so perfect. We drove through on our way to Tunnels. At Tunnels the waves were rolling (full moon). We saw three monk seals, which was cool. After that walk we went back to Hanalei for lunch (Hanalei Gourmet), then for shave ice at the Wishing Well (closed!) before kayaking (rentals also closed!). It started to rain so we skipped the beach and drive back to Poipu where it was warm and mostly sunny, and spent some quality time floting around in the ocean. It's been a delightful trip so far. People are genuinely nice. It has exceeded our expectations by a large margin.

 

[gejone]

Had a similar experience as Greg, but when I got in front of the agent she told me my QR code was invalid. I had it on my phone, on paper and on the Safe Travel web site. All the required steps had been completed. She finally accepted my drivers license and paper COVID test result, that took 20+ minutes. In trying to figure out the issue I think it was my fault. When you sign up on Safe Travels it asks for additional travelers. I missed the statement, “additional travelers under 18”, so I listed my wife. When I printed my QR code and my wife didn’t receive one I removed her from my account and created hers. That probably messed up my QR code, but there was no way to know that. Additionally, I entered her birthday and the program should have caught the issue from the start.

Some people are traveling with a pending test result. A United passenger recently did that and it cost him dearly. Upon landing he turned on his phone and found a positive test result. He was advised he was quarantined for 14 days at his expense. He had to take a cab or Uber/Lyft to his approved quarantine location. He could not rent a car nor could his friends take him. You get a one use key and all food has to be delivered to the room. They are real serious out here.

Weather is great, no crowds and MMO is as nice as ever. Pic is Front St., Lahaina, Noon last Sunday.

 

[csodjd]

Had a similar experience as Greg, but when I got in front of the agent she told me my QR code was invalid. I had it on my phone, on paper and on the Safe Travel web site. All the required steps had been completed. She finally accepted my drivers license and paper COVID test result, that took 20+ minutes. In trying to figure out the issue I think it was my fault. When you sign up on Safe Travels it asks for additional travelers. I missed the statement, “additional travelers under 18”, so I listed my wife. When I printed my QR code and my wife didn’t receive one I removed her from my account and created hers. That probably messed up my QR code, but there was no way to know that. Additionally, I entered her birthday and the program should have caught the issue from the start.

Some people are traveling with a pending test result. A United passenger recently did that and it cost him dearly. Upon landing he turned on his phone and found a positive test result. He was advised he was quarantined for 14 days at his expense. He had to take a cab or Uber/Lyft to his approved quarantine location. He could not rent a car nor could his friends take him. You get a one use key and all food has to be delivered to the room. They are real serious out here.

Weather is great, no crowds and MMO is as nice as ever. Pic is Front St., Lahaina, Noon last Sunday.

Unless you've quarantined yourself for 10+ days before testing, it is very risky to take off to Hawaii without a negative test in hand.

 

[gejone]

Unless you've quarantined yourself for 10+ days before testing, it is very risky to take off to Hawaii without a negative test in hand.

The problem is HI wants a test done within 72 hours before the leg departs. CVS, an authorized HI vendor, says 2-3 days for test results. One needs to do the math and take the test as soon as they hit the 72 limit. Early morning or East coast flights eat into the allowable time. Mine was completed in 44.5 hours.

 

[TTSDavid]

Good morning TUGgers,

I hope that this is helpful, I arrived yesterday to Maui Ocean Club and describe below my experience, and what I would do differently. This looks like alot of steps, but it really turned out to be pretty easy. I only include each step to be very complete -- it went very smoothly.

1) I booked my flight in late-September, arriving October 30
2) Early in October, I created a login for myself on the Safe Travels website (travel.hawaii.gov)
3) My flights were from San Diego to Honolulu, and then connecting to Honolulu to Maui
4) The first task we have to complete on Safe Travels is to create records for each of your trips
5) I created a record for my first trip (San Diego to Honolulu) and then I created a second record for my second trip (Honolulu to Maui)
6) I know that my flight departed at 8:55am on Friday and that I needed a COVID test from an approved provider (https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/)
7) The Sunday before, I made an appointment with CVS to do a voluntary COVID test (https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing/voluntary-testing
8) I had first wasted time with CVS regular website for COVID testing, before realizing there was a separate one for voluntary COVID tests (that cost $139)
9) My appointment was for Tuesday at 2:30pm (~67 hours before departure) - the rule is to get the test no more than 72 hours from departure
10) The website FAQ says the 72 hours is measured from your last mainland leg to Hawaii (ie, Chicago-Seattle-Honolulu is measured from the Seattle departure)
11) I travel to CVS and it was a drive-through test that I administered on myself while the practitioner witnessed my self-test to make sure I did it right
12) When I checked in for the test, I received an email from CVS telling me to create a MyChart account where they would post my test results
13) When I got home, I created the MyChart account on my computer, and was able to find an app to also download it to my phone
14) On Thursday morning (within 24 hours of departure), I completed the Health Questionnaire on Safe Travels website (see #2 above) - this questionnaire can only be completed within 24 hours of departure
15) After completing the Health Questionnaire, the system emailed me a QR Code for my SAN-HNL flight and a separate email with the QR code for my HNL-OGG flight (this email is important)
16) I saved both emails with the QR Code in a separate folder for quick access
17) On Thursday at 2:20pm (about 48 hours after the COVID test), I received an email from CVS telling me my test results were available
18) I download my COVID results to my computer (saved as a PDF), then login into Safe Travels and I upload the PDF, which is one of the four tasks/options on the Safe Travels website — I’m now ready to go!!!
19) When I land in Honolulu, I retrieved my SAN-HNL email, which included the QR code at the bottom of the email.
20) Hawaii has set up stations at the Arrival gate (perhaps 10 stations at that gate in Honolulu) where an agent will scan your QR code and check your photo ID, and then let you through. Perhaps 60 seconds for them to review the materials and approve my travel.
21) A suggestion: Position yourself closer to the front of the plane -- I was mid-plane and had to wait about 15 minutes to get to agent
22) I then went to my connecting gate as per a normal layover
23) In Maui, I used the QR code in the second email (for the Honolulu-Maui flight) — there were about five agents checking the documents and my personal time was again about 60 seconds with the agent. I was near the front of the plane though and waited only a couple of minutes to be admitted
24) I reserved a rental car with Enterprise. I didn't realize I needed evidence that I was admitted without quarantine. The email with my QR code also has a link to my Safe Travels account, where the evidence was.
25) At the rental car agency, I had to connect to my Safe Travels account and find where it said I was admitted without quarantine. This evidence is included the flight record (that I'd set up in #5 above) for the Honolulu-Maui flight record.
26) At Maui Ocean Club, I again had to repeat Step #25 as they will neither rent a car to you, nor let you enter the room, without proof that you are exempt from Quarantine

The two things I would do differently are position myself as close to the front of the plane as possible, and I would try to print out hard copies of my QR code after my COVID test was uploaded and accepted (and indicated that I was admitted without Quarantine). Granted, having a hard copy of the QR code is probably overkill as it was easy to pull up on my phone.

I have uploaded two screen shots -- first is what the Safe Travels records showing that two flights have been entered. Second is the rrecord from the Honolulu-Maui trip, where it shows that I am exempt from Quarantine (for the rental car agency and your accommodations).

I hope this is helpful to another TUGger -- again it looks like alot of steps but it went smoothly and was very manageable. It is great to be here -- there are masks everywhere (except for people who are in the pool or ocean, or laying by the pool or ocean) and the property is probably at 50% occupancy.


Best,

Greg

Those seemed to be a lot of good steps to get ready to travel to Hawaii. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

 

[csodjd]

The problem is HI wants a test done within 72 hours before the leg departs. CVS, an authorized HI vendor, says 2-3 days for test results. One needs to do the math and take the test as soon as they hit the 72 limit. Early morning or East coast flights eat into the allowable time. Mine was completed in 44.5 hours.

The key is the self-quarantine ahead of time to ensure, as best one can, that you won't test positive and only find out when you land in Hawaii. Yes, it may be out of your control to have to depart before your test result comes back, but that's okay (not ideal, but okay) so long as you aren't positive. If you REALLY want to play it safe, start self-quarantine about 12-14 days ahead, and about 5 days before you leave take a test. That way you'll pretty much know for certain what the second test -- the one that counts -- will show.

 

[sjsharkie]

I thought I'd share my experiences here as well. I am currently at MKO enjoying the Hawaiian sunshine.

1. I also used a CVS minute clinic. Drive thru setup went smoothly -- test was taken ~67.5 hours prior to my departure time.
2. I did not receive my test results prior to departure. I was worried, because there are some horror stories online of people receiving tests in the SF Bay Area 6-7 days later.
3. Luckily, I received my results when I turned my phone back on after landing. They were sent at around 9AM Pacific time, so roughly 69 hours after I took my test. It felt like the old days when we deplaned as we walked out onto the tarmac and walked to the terminal entrance for screening.
4. I was able to upload the results via my phone to the website. Interestingly, the screener that checked my paperwork didn't accept the CVS app version of the test. She asked me to click on the text link which brought me to a different webpage -- this was accepted and I was approved for non-quarantine status. I was at the front of the plane, so there was no wait for me to be checked, though it did take about 10 minutes to sort out the paperwork. Greg's advice to be in the front of the plane is wise -- though there were about 9-10 stations at HNL checking people in.
5. Rental car and hotel both checked the app prior to letting me rent a car and check-in to the room. Check-in line was about 8 parties long when I arrived -- took about 20 minutes to get to the front. However, the resort itself does not seem to be that busy.

It rained yesterday and rain is in the forecast for the remainder of the week... but it's Hawaii so I'm not complaining.

Stay safe.

-ryan