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

[DaveNV]

I just take a screenshot of the screen with the screened and exempt information. This is available soon after you are screened at the airport or upon arrival. That way you don't have to rely on an internet connection to bring up the screen on the Sae Travels site. In Maui, I mostly just showed a picture of my vaccination card, but hotels and car rental agencies may still want to see that you've been screened and are exempt from quarantining.

Ha. That’s so obvious and simple… and I never thought of it.

So am I correct in thinking if you show them the screenshot, it looks like a live screen image? That's brilliant! (Other than the timestamp, but are they going to take the time to check for that?)

Dave

 

[klpca]

So am I correct in thinking if you show them the screenshot, it looks like a live screen image? That's brilliant! (Other than the timestamp, but are they going to take the time to check for that?)

Dave

FYI, sometimes screenshots of QR codes don't have enough resolution to work for scanners, so only use it for things that don't require the higher resolution.

 

[Henry M.]

All the rental companies outside the airport (cars, hotels, etc.) want to know is that you are exempt from quarantine. They didn't scan the QR code. They just looked at the information.

Most restaurants accept a photo of your covid vaccination card.

 

[DaveNV]

All the rental companies outside the airport (cars, hotels, etc.) want to know is that you are exempt from quarantine. They didn't scan the QR code. They just looked at the information.

Most restaurants accept a photo of your covid vaccination card.

Henry, was it you who posted that he took a picture of his license and Covid vaccine card together, and presented that at restaurants? Another brilliant idea.

Edit: I see now it was @csodjd. A really good idea, for sure.

Dave

 

[csodjd]

Hawaii just reported this morning they are 81.8% of eligible people now fully vaccinated. The restaurants have become very efficient at doing a quick check of your vax card, from what I’m seeing, and it’s not much of a burden. My guess is that the requirement will not last that much longer, there just are not that many unvaccinated left.

What I do notice, however, is that some (many?) of the nicer restaurants have scaled their menu back and offer fewer choices. We ate at Orchids in Waikiki last night, which just opened two weeks ago after closing last March. Their menu was quite limited, especially on the fish/seafood options. I suspect it’s a combination of overall fewer people around and staffing challenges.

 

[JIMinNC]

What I do notice, however, is that some (many?) of the nicer restaurants have scaled their menu back and offer fewer choices. We ate at Orchids in Waikiki last night, which just opened two weeks ago after closing last March. Their menu was quite limited, especially on the fish/seafood options. I suspect it’s a combination of overall fewer people around and staffing challenges.

We noticed the same thing last week in Kauai - very limited menu choices compared to normal times. That is one of the biggest negative impacts from the Hawaii Covid protocols that we have experienced so far in our trip. My expectation is that this week on Maui will likely also feature limited menus. My theory is with capacities so seriously limited by the state’s Covid rules, the restaurants can’t stock as wide a selection of ingredients since their number of diners are being so limited. It’s more cost effective to feature only one or two fish choices so they can buy in adequate quantities of each. When more people were allowed in the restaurants, they could offer more selections since they knew they would be selling significant quantities of each.

We have dined out every night but our first (too tired that night from 14 hour trip), and so far the only fish offerings have been Mahi Mahi (everywhere), coupled with either Ahi, Swordfish, or Monchong. No Ono, Opakapaka, etc.

I personally think when they instituted the vaccine mandate for restaurants, they should have allowed those restaurants to go back to 100% capacity. We will be back in Hawaii in early February, so I hope they allow restaurants to go back to normal by then. It’s so weird sitting in half empty places since we’ve been eating in 100% capacity restaurants in Hilton Head since April or May.

 

[slip]

We noticed the same thing last week in Kauai - very limited menu choices compared to normal times. That is one of the biggest negative impacts from the Hawaii Covid protocols that we have experienced so far in our trip. My expectation is that this week on Maui will likely also feature limited menus. My theory is with capacities so seriously limited by the state’s Covid rules, the restaurants can’t stock as wide a selection of ingredients since their number of diners are being so limited. It’s more cost effective to feature only one or two fish choices so they can buy in adequate quantities of each. When more people were allowed in the restaurants, they could offer more selections since they knew they would be selling significant quantities of each.

We have dined out every night but our first (too tired that night from 14 hour trip), and so far the only fish offerings have been Mahi Mahi (everywhere), coupled with either Ahi, Swordfish, or Monchong. No Ono, Opakapaka, etc.

I personally think when they instituted the vaccine mandate for restaurants, they should have allowed those restaurants to go back to 100% capacity. We will be back in Hawaii in early February, so I hope they allow restaurants to go back to normal by then. It’s so weird sitting in half empty places since we’ve been eating in 100% capacity restaurants in Hilton Head since April or May.

Yes, keeping those items gets expensive for them and with Hawaii changing back and forth on the capacity, they have been burned a few times and it hurts the cash flow. Our salespeople also say the staff shortage is also playing a large part. They try to keep things simple so the delays are not so long.

We have some items that we have had delays getting but other wise our inventory isn’t any different than before the pandemic.

 

[marmite]

My expectation is that this week on Maui will likely also feature limited menus. My theory is with capacities so seriously limited by the state’s Covid rules, the restaurants can’t stock as wide a selection of ingredients since their number of diners are being so limited. It’s more cost effective to feature only one or two fish choices so they can buy in adequate quantities of each. When more people were allowed in the restaurants, they could offer more selections since they knew they would be selling significant quantities of each.

We have dined out every night but our first (too tired that night from 14 hour trip), and so far the only fish offerings have been Mahi Mahi (everywhere), coupled with either Ahi, Swordfish, or Monchong. No Ono, Opakapaka, etc.

I came back a couple of weeks ago from Maui, and actually loved having the restaurants at half capacity with a bit more room between tables. I usually try new restaurants each trip, and am not a 'regular' anywhere so can't tell you if they had less of a selection (it's certainly possible). I never felt the menus looked limited though, but I did feel many restaurants had very similar menus and played it safe. I did have great Opakapaka at Honu Seafood in Lahaina, so if you choose a seafood restaurant hopefully you can find something beyond Mahi Mahi and Ahi tuna (which yes, is pretty much on menus everywhere). What I'm not sure of, is how much I would have paid for that same fish pre-Covid. Most fish are listed as market price, and usually were about $50-$60 a person (the Opakapaka we had there was $120 for the two of us).

Hopefully by the time you go, the restaurants are at full capacity or close to it. Even though I personally enjoyed having less people in the restaurants, I booked weeks in advance for most places, and even though I was booking that early there wasn't much selection as to dates/times. The lack of capacity really put a lot of pressure on the better restaurants, so some of them may not have dinner reservations available (if you want Mama's you might as well book now -- Mama's is booking 3-6 months ahead ). Some were also by reservation only and didn't take walk-ins.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Question. What if you don't have a phone?

 

[Henry M.]

Print out the forms. You'll have to do the line in Hawaii and they'll get you checked out.

 

[csodjd]

Question. What if you don't have a phone?

Is that a thing?

 

[mjm1]

We went through the process and arrived on Maui yesterday afternoon. Flew from Las Vegas to Honolulu then on to Maui. No issues the entire way. We did print everything in case we needed it, but used our phone successfully. Thank you to all you have shared their prior experiences.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Is that a thing?

Yes! I don't have a smart phone, I don't want a smart phone, and I refuse to pay for a smart phone.

 

[JIMinNC]

Hopefully by the time you go, the restaurants are at full capacity or close to it. Even though I personally enjoyed having less people in the restaurants, I booked weeks in advance for most places, and even though I was booking that early there wasn't much selection as to dates/times. The lack of capacity really put a lot of pressure on the better restaurants, so some of them may not have dinner reservations available (if you want Mama's you might as well book now -- Mama's is booking 3-6 months ahead ). Some were also by reservation only and didn't take walk-ins.

Yes, for our current trip we made some dinner reservations up to 90 days out, some at 60, and a couple that only reserved at 30 days. We already have Mama’s lined up for our February trip as well as Kimo’s, Hula Grill, and Lahaina Grill.

 

[DaveNV]

I was just asked a question, and couldn't provide the answer. Hoping someone with experience in this thread can help answer it:

Once the Safe Travels account is set up, and a photo of a vaccine card is uploaded, is it verified in some way? Or is that all that is needed? Then once the Health Questionnaire is filled out 24 hours before the flight, the green-check-mark QR code is provided, and life is good to go?

Trying to minimize potential problems.

Dave

 

[Henry M.]

When I went in September, I only needed to upload a photo of the vaccine card. The QR code is provided after you fill out the health questionnaire, but the green check mark is only added after someone verifies your information, either at the airline pre-check counter on the mainland or by an agent at whatever airport you arrive at in Hawaii.

In my case, I went through the American Airlines process in Dallas, and the green check mark appeared after AA checked my QR code and gave me a wristband. In Dallas, they set up a pre-check station at one particular gate in Terminal D. We went there before heading to our departure gate in Terminal A.

Once you get your wristband, you can bypass the checks in Hawaii and head straight to baggage claim or the car rental counter. They will want to see the green checkmark that says you are exempt from quarantine.

 

[DaveNV]

When I went in September, I only needed to upload a photo of the vaccine card. The QR code is provided after you fill out the health questionnaire, but the green check mark is only added after someone verifies your information, either at the airline pre-check counter on the mainland or by an agent at whatever airport you arrive at in Hawaii.

In my case, I went through the American Airlines process in Dallas, and the green check mark appeared after AA checked my QR code and gave me a wristband. In Dallas, they set up a pre-check station at one particular gate in Terminal D. We went there before heading to our departure gate in Terminal A.

Once you get your wristband, you can bypass the checks in Hawaii and head straight to baggage claim or the car rental counter. They will want to see the green checkmark that says you are exempt from quarantine.

Thanks, Henry. The question came up because my husband's vaccine card shows both (now three) Covid vaxx shots, but the State of Nevada's tracking website only shows the second shot. The pharmacy where he got his shots somehow messed up the recording of the first shot. We think they typoed his last name, or something. The concern was that if the Safe Travels people want to verify the shot data on the image we uploaded of the CDC vaccine card, there is a discrepancy in the number of reported shots.

We only learned about the issue when the State folks called him to ask when he was planning to get his second shot. He told them he'd already had both shots, on schedule, back in March. They said they only had a record of one shot, which turned out to be his second one. The data error has since been corrected (today, theoretically) but we didn't know if the Safe Travels people do anything more than receive the CDC shot record image, and then the Health Questionnaire when it's time to fly.

If they take the CDC card image at face value, no worries. But if they tried to do something when we first uploaded the image, they might have a problem. The last thing we want to do is arrive in Hawaii at nearly 11:00PM and learn things didn't go through.

Dave

 

[Henry M.]

In my case, I don't know if there is a way for Hawaii to do anything other than take the card at face value. I am not aware of a web site where I can search a Texas database on COVID shots. I don't remember the exact sequence that happened before the QR code showed up after I uploaded the picture of the card. I understand your concern. I'd have it too.

I guess you could always get a COVID test and get the exemption through that, rather than the vaccine. Walgreen's offers ID NOW tests that are valid for travel to Hawaii, and at least here, they are free.

 

[DaveNV]

I think we'll just go with what we've done, and cross our fingers. If we get a wristband (flying Southwest, and they do the wristbands), then we'll be fine. If we don't get a wristband for some reason, we'll deal with things manually on arrival. No sense overthinking things, right?

Dave

 

[Henry M.]

Sound's like a plan!

 

[controller1]

I think we'll just go with what we've done, and cross our fingers. If we get a wristband (flying Southwest, and they do the wristbands), then we'll be fine. If we don't get a wristband for some reason, we'll deal with things manually on arrival. No sense overthinking things, right?

Dave

I had a similar issue when the first pharmacy sent my shot information to the state health department with Middle Name/Last Name instead of First Name/Last Name. I went back to the pharmacy and they changed it and resubmitted it to the state. It took about a week before the state's records were correct but now it downloads correctly showing all three shots for me.

 

[DaveNV]

I had a similar issue when the first pharmacy sent my shot information to the state health department with Middle Name/Last Name instead of First Name/Last Name. I went back to the pharmacy and they changed it and resubmitted it to the state. It took about a week before the state's records were correct but now it downloads correctly showing all three shots for me.

We tried doing that. The pharmacy said they could see both shot records, but they're on different computer systems. Same name and birthdate in both places, but no explanation why they're on two different records. We said, "Well, since they're both him, can you just join them together in one account?" Nope. They don't have the ability to do that. "Can you call someone who has the ability?" We can try. Days later, no change. It was agonizing. Surely we aren't the first people to have a mistake made on a name. But in this case, apparently it's too complex for the pharmacy staff to correct on their own.

Today we called the Nevada state people who track such things, and who are the ones showing only the second shot. Talked to them about it, explained what we thought we knew. They checked, and in just a few seconds, they said, "Yes, we can see both shots. Yes, the name and birthdate is right. The issue seems to be that the first shot has an address in Washington state." Huh? We used to live in Washington state, and somehow, the pharmacy used that address instead of our Nevada address when they set up his account down here in Nevada expressly to get a Covid shot. Not sure how they even got hold of that old address - all the ID has the Nevada address on it. But the Nevada state people just fixed it right then and there. And now, finally, both shots appear on his State record. We've printed out that record, just in case, to show it's another validation of the shot history.

Needless to say, if we ever need to deal with that pharmacy again, we'll make sure they use the right address! And now, we'll also find out if the Safe Travels folks in Hawaii do more than just read the uploaded vaxx card image.

Dave

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

don't remember the exact sequence that happened before the QR code showed up after I uploaded the picture of the card.

When we traveled in August, the QR code showed up after we completed the health questionnaire the day before our departure. We had uploaded images of the vaccination records about one week earlier, when we created our accounts at SafeTravels.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

When I went in September, I only needed to upload a photo of the vaccine card. The QR code is provided after you fill out the health questionnaire, but the green check mark is only added after someone verifies your information, either at the airline pre-check counter on the mainland or by an agent at whatever airport you arrive at in Hawaii.

In my case, I went through the American Airlines process in Dallas, and the green check mark appeared after AA checked my QR code and gave me a wristband.

That's exactly how it worked for us in August when we flew to Kauai from Seattle on Alaska Air.

 

[controller1]

When we traveled in August, the QR code showed up after we completed the health questionnaire the day before our departure. We had uploaded images of the vaccination records about one week earlier, when we created our accounts at SafeTravels.

That's how it happened with us also but that doesn't mean it has been verified. When the AA agent scanned my QR code she said there was a problem as the upload did not take even though it showed an uploaded file name. I then uploaded the CDC card image again and when the agent scanned the QR code the app showed a green check mark. It is that green check mark that is more important than the QR code.