Often1

Sounds as though your friends continue to look to blame someone other than themselves. It does not matter because the rules are clear and they chose to ignore them.

For the broader audience two items:

1. HI requires that one have in hand one's results before boarding or face quarantine. Those declining quarantine are returned to their origin. HI could care less in what cabin or what seats. Perhaps the lab they chose screwed up and perhaps they screwed up. It is immaterial. Until they had the test in hand, they should not have boarded and they, after all, knew that the test was not in hand.
2. The system is not a mess by any means. One may disagree with it and that is fine and it is perfectly understandable that a non-quarantine hotel might be somewhat miffed at the system because it is losing money. But, be assured that a mess it is not.

To be clear, this is not some OMNI/PR discussion of whether HI ought to impose these rules. It is a simple fact that they are there and that those seeking to travel there have a simple choice: abide by the rules or don't go. (I suppose there is a third choice, e.g. fly out and back).

bikenski

There are reports in the Hawaii news pretty much every day about travelers arriving and either being unaware of the rules or thinking "Eh, it's Hawaii, brah. They're laid back. I'm sure it'll be fine." And this doesn't just apply to mainlanders. Inter-island travelers have also proven to be naive.

Short of an all-caps sign at every Hawaii departure gate saying "IF YOU BOARD THIS FLIGHT WITHOUT ALREADY HAVING RESULTS FROM AN APPROVED TESTING PARTNER, YOU WILL BE FORCED TO SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND BE STUCK STARING OUT THE WINDOW OF A HOTEL ROOM FOR 10 DAYS" I'm not sure what else can be done to make people aware of the importance of closely tracking and following the rules.

Granted the rules are constantly changing, and many aspects don't make logical sense, but such is the world we're living in now.

WineCountryUA

Although UA was the transport carrier, this is thread is about Hawaii and Hawaii COVID rules. We move to the Hawaii forum

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

mduell

Your friends should fly well-regarded charter. Very nice seats and their concierge will make sure they understand the requirements and have their documents in order for a wonderful trip. White glove service all around.

HWGeeks

Happened to my friend, flew Delta JFK > SLC > Hawaii (not sure the airport code).

They had a negative covid test but learned at the airport that hawaii required it be from an authorized location (Not the free ones the city of NY gives) so they took the test in T4 at JFK at 200 a pop (3 people) and boarded the flight to SLC with hopes that the test results would hit their phones before they boarded the plane in SLC for Hawaii. It didn't she and her family boarded the flight to hwaii anyway, not sure if Delta put up a fight, but when she arrived in Hawaii she had her results on her phone.

Often1

DL has no reason to "put up a fight."

There is no requirement that one have a pre-departure negative test. It is simply that without one, one is subject to the fairly tough qauarantine regimen.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

There's no point in confusing current or future passengers to Hawaii by providing an outdated experience.

To be clear (again) - the airlines do not require (and NEVER have required) a test to board their planes to Hawaii. Delta (nor United, nor AA, nor whoever) does not check for Covid tests prior to boarding, so Delta would not have "put up a fight". Not sure where you got the idea they would.

At one time, one could board a plane and get test results while in flight and show on landing in Hawaii, but those days are long gone. Hawaii currently (as of September 1, 2020) requires a negative test to be IN HAND prior to boarding the flight to avoid quarantine.

Let's not confuse people who may be traveling to Hawaii with information suggesting they can get away with something not conforming to the current rules. No one can currently show a negative test received in flight after boarding to avoid quarantine - one could do that prior to September of last year, but no longer.

QT31415

absolutely correct. Am headed home to do a quick check of the house - have verified email for the Kauai health department that I do not need any pre-flight testing if planning to go straight home for a few days then return straight to the airport.

if I wasn’t fully vaccinated I would worry about potentially exposing people if I had the V.

HWGeeks

It was last week and all she had to do was upload the PDF that was sent to her email up to the safe travels website and present the code when requested in Hwaii.

malgudi

Hmmm ... not sure about any of those adjectives

mtofell

This is the root of the problem - Flying out on Tuesday they should have taken their tests on Saturday. I've flown to Hawaii roughly a half dozen times since the test-out process started and I get my test within minutes of T-72 hours to avoid this exact situation. Kaiser has been generally good but I still want to give them as much time as I can. I won't pile on your friends anymore than the others here have done but if anyone is looking at heading to Hawaii read, read, read the rules and plan for the worst.

Travelinangel

I just flew home from Maui yesterday and the whole system worked beautifully. It is definitely not broken, and I honestly do not know how anyone could miss the 2 options for arrival (either negative test or quarantine on arrival). I was bombarded with email from Alaska Airlines, the State of Hawaii and the hotel reiterating the requirements over and over again. It was very easy to follow the rules. I am glad to know from the OP that those who do not follow the rules are being caught and that there are consequences.

One tidbit I might add is that many hotels are requiring proof of a negative covid test to check in--preferably printed on paper. So if one is choosing the quarantine route, do not assume you can do so in a hotel.

747FC

You do know that you are required to stay at home in quarantine? What happens if your quick check of your house indicates you need to go to the hardware store to fix something?

ExplorerWannabe

He can call a repairman if he finds something needs fixing. Might just have to be the price he has to pay for abiding by quarantine.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Let's be clear on this. You can read it yourself - Hawaii requires a negative test within 3 days of departure time and receive that result before departure. The passenger does not need to upload it to the Hawaii Safe Travels site prior to departure, but it must have been received by the passenger prior to departure. If she does not show the valid test before departure, she must show it on arrival. If it was sitting in an e-mail, sure, she could show it on arrival and avoid quarantine.

Maybe there's a little confusion here - maybe your friend got the results before the flight, but did not upload it prior to departure. That is a common occurrence and presents no challenge to avoiding quarantine. I'm pretty sure she got her test results prior to departure if she avoided quarantine - maybe she didn't know it.

What I want to stress is that no one should be stating that a negative result received in flight is acceptable - it is not. Hundreds of people have been put into quarantine or opted to return to the mainland on return flights because they received the test results after departure. It is totally irresponsible to suggest one can expect to avoid quarantine by getting the results in flight. If one slips through somehow, that doesn't mean anyone else can expect the same.