SavvyTravel

Yes we did LHR PHL LAX KOA in 2019 to get Gold and all were daytime flights. Hard work for sure.

World Traveller Fuss

DFW out with the unrushed overnight covid connection. But LAX back on the return? Quicker, can take the ‘upright’ seat at the start of the journey, and less fuss on the return.

ezefllying

As a (vaccinated) American, entering Hawaii earlier this year was more difficult than entering the EU this month. First, the testing requirement, which may only be done at a Hawaii-approved testing site, and second, the screening on arrival, which basically requires waiting in a potentially long line for 20 minutes until someone scans the QR code they sent you before departure to confirm your test was accepted.

It wasn't horrid, just annoying. I don't know whether Hawaii has since gone the way of various national governments and simply allowed the airline to verify digitally uploaded test documents prior to departure, which would be vastly smarter and hardly less secure. Unfortunately, I do not have great faith.

Anyway: One would hope that, by February, Hawaii would approve test locations in Europe, Japan, Korea and AUS/NZ. Given the U.S. foreign-visitor ban, it's understandable that they haven't. But, with the administration resuming EU/UK tourism next week, Hawaii ought to start accepting foreign test results.

HkCaGu

Hawaii may adjust its policy toward vaccinated European visitors, but has not announced anything solid yet. For now, you need to locate approved testers and their locations and hours before deciding on flight routing and timing.

gustavmahler

And even go back from HNL so you can take the early morning flight to connect back to LHR the same day. So far as I'm aware only HNL has this flight. You can route this on the same ticket with OGG-HNL the night before. Enjoy an evening in Waikiki and then a quick cab ride to HNL in the morning.

Furby

Hawaii is relaxing the rules for fully vaccinated international visitors to allow a PCR test from the UK. The governor announced the following earlier on Tuesday Nov 2nd. Good news for those in the UK wanting to visit Hawaii😎Starting Nov. 8

• Non-US citizens traveling directly to Hawaiʻi from an international destination must present BOTH a vaccination records AND a negative COVID-19 test result (NAAT or antigen) within three days of boarding a flight to the United States.
• US citizens flying directly to Hawaiʻi from an international destination have two options:
  • Provide proof of vaccination OR
  • Provide proof of negative COVID-19 test result within one day of boarding a flight to the US

mmxbreaks

Would airlines see this as a problem and deny boarding in the UK though? I have a potential UK to HI trip in December with the intention to take the long layover at DFW - fine to take the second test there - but as the final destination is KOA/HNL/OGG (TBC) I'm not sure how airlines will treat this?

Alan T

The rest of the Hawaii requirements from the 8th and how they apply to non-direct international entrants ( treat you like a domestic passenger so either a vacc proof or test).

https://governor.hawaii.gov/newsroom...-requirements/

Looking forward to our 1hr 50 mins connection in SEA on route to KOA in March! 😳

mmxbreaks

The 'directly' is a bit of a contentious word here...

LHR-DFW with 18+hrs before onward departure still count as 'direct' as it's wrapped into the one ticket?

T8191

Just so … in the first instance I wondered how many international flights flew directly to HI from UK/Europe. Writing regulations clearly and unambiguously is not an easy task.

HkCaGu

Airlines do not see Hawaii. They see USA and you're good to go. After all, in the worst case, you'll have to quarantine upon arrival. And even if they charge you criminally or "deport" you back to the mainland, there are no consequences to airlines, domestic or foreign.

SavvyTravel

snap. I simply can’t see that working out for us in Feb just because of the rules being ambiguous. Hence looking for alternatives with more time between flights.

Joeykins

The rules aren't ambiguous at all IMO:

• if it's a flight that originated outside of the US which lands in HI then the rules are slightly different for US citizens and non-US citizens, but effective from Monday that's true for any international flight arriving in the US so it's an alignment to the federal rules
• if it's a flight that originated from within the US then the only requirement is the Safe Travels Hawaiʻi program, which is just app-based attestation of vaccination status

Anyone coming from UK/EU is going to connect somewhere in the US, so effectively this is just a region-specific layer on top of the national restrictions: exactly the same as how the Canary Islands mandate a specific contact tracing app to be installed.

PJSMITH0

I've done the DFW routing and I found the overnight stop together with an onward 777 very good. I stopped at the Hampton inn DFW South which was very reasonable and offered a free airport shuttle

QT31415

Great news about the changes! Best is -"Tests do NOT have to be done with Trusted Travel Partners under the new international federal requirements, but they MUST be done with a Trusted Travel Partner for unvaccinated domestic travel."

If transiting in Seattle, be aware that you have to clear customs, gather your bags, and exit landside and check in with Alaska again (as of September, hopefully this will change back to previous) With a short connection, do not put your bags on the conveyor belt directly after customs - roll them onto the train and take them straight up to the Alaska desk. As a traveller in J, lines shouldn't be terrible, but there's a little fiddle factor if you want to obtain your wristband which pre-clears you for entry into Hawaii. The TSA lines have been long, unless you have CLEAR. My only worry would be the seasonal headwinds that you might find travelling from LHR to SEA - our flight last week left early and arrived late due to a storm, which is common in the Northwest this time of year.

Another vote for DFW.