After facing the challenges of isolation, restrictions, and anxiety due to the COVID pandemic, people are ready to do something different. As children approached their spring vacations from school, families decided it was a good time to throw off the restrictions and travel. For many going to the Hawaiian Islands sounded like a great opportunity. However, due to COVID getting there would prove to be a challenge.
As I have mentioned, my teacher daughter is an avid traveler. She has been disappointed by her lack of travel this past year. Back in December she asked if we would like to to go to Kauai with her over her spring break in April. With the COVID vaccines coming out, we had hopes that travel would be improved so we agreed and made our flight reservations.
When states went into lock-down last year, Hawaii had an advantage. Being an island, they were able to have greater control over who entered their state. As a result they developed very strict rules. Anyone coming in had to quarantine for two weeks. The state sent home people who tried to get around that rule. Earlier this year Hawaii finally began to open up. To avoid the two week quarantine, one could show a negative COVID test taken less than 72 hours before departure. Things were looking up.
However, Kauai decided not to follow the state guidelines. They had their own rules. While they didn’t require a two week quarantine, they did require a three day quarantine. This wasn’t just anywhere either. The county designated certain hotels as quarantine centers, and visitors had to stay in those hotels the whole time. Visitors could not even rent a car for fear they would break their quarantine. No other accommodations were permitted. It was a pretty strict situation.
Since we had booked to Kauai, we were following closely the restrictions there. One of our hopes was that they would lift the restrictions for those who were fully vaccinated. But that wasn’t happening. Our only consolation was knowing we could cancel the flight and get our money back.
Unfortunately the same could not be said for our accommodations. Since we were traveling with our daughter and staying in the same place for the whole week, we had decided to get a two bedroom condo. This would give us more privacy and space from each other. While we could cancel the reservation, it had to be cancelled well in advance of our trip. For a full refund we had to cancel two weeks before our arrival.
In the meantime we had read that Kauai had requested that they rejoin the rest of Hawaii that was allowing the test 72 hours before hand to exempt visitors from quarantine. This change was to take effect the Monday before our trip. At the same time we were also seeing in the news that COVID cases across the US were rising. We were uncertain if that would impact the decision of Kauai to allow visitors in with a negative test. Not wanting to pay for our condo if Kauai didn’t follow through, we cancelled our reservation before the deadline but indicated we hoped to rebook when things were more certain.
The other aspect of the trip we needed to consider was renting a car. Since I figured my daughter would do most of the driving, I asked her to rent a car in her name. Normally car rentals are easy to cancel because they don’t require payment ahead of the trip. I had talked with her about options in February, and we discussed the cost. I assumed she had taken care of it. Unfortunately she had procrastinated.
She called me a few weeks before our trip to say that she was looking at car rental prices, and they had more than doubled. I said I would check it out. She was right. The costs were astronomical. I tried to see if we could get around without a car, but public transportation was minimal. We needed a car so we bit the bullet and got one. I found a better price than she had so I went ahead and reserved it. I also had to pay for it up front which I had never had to do before. Apparently during COVID, rental car companies were having trouble getting cars out to Hawaii so there was a shortage of cars available resulting in higher prices. Lucky us!
The Monday before our vacation date came, and Kauai changed its requirements as promised. I rebooked the condo which was still available, and our plans were now in place. Now we just had to finish out all the paper work. That was stressful enough.
First, of course, we had to get our COVID tests. We had an appointment for Wednesday afternoon. There was no line so it was pretty quick and simple. We had our results the following morning, negative. Our daughter had her test about the same time down in California. However, she didn’t have her test results the following morning, nor in the afternoon. She began to panic. Fortunately they came in that evening, also negative.
With our test results we then had to fill out information on a website, Hawaii Safe Travels. Each adult has to create an account, answer questions and download a copy of their COVID test into the site. The site then gives you a QR code that can be scanned to find your information. All of this needs to be done and shown at the airport, or they won’t let you fly.
We filled out the information and had everything ready. They also suggested having a printed copy of your negative test result. On the morning of our flight we arrived to an airport that was crazy. Fortunately we were quite early. I had TSA precheck, but my wife did not. She had to wait nearly an hour to get through security. We then dashed over to the gate knowing we had to show our health documents. There was confusion there as well. There was no clear line for checking in, and people seemed to be cutting in line. Frustration showed.
Finally we made it to the desk and gave them our information. They gave us a wrist band which indicated that we had met the requirements. We were also told the QR code would be updated to show that we had been checked through. They recommended we take a screen shot to have it available. Finally we were on our way.
When we landed in Kauai, we expected to be grilled again or show documents, but getting through the airport was a breeze. We showed our wristbands, and that was it. We did go through an automatic temperature check, but we barely even noticed that. Everything seemed good. However, it wasn’t over yet.
Our first stop was for our overpriced rental car. The first thing they asked was to see our QR code. We tried to show the screen shot, but they wanted to see it on the actual website. I struggled to get it up on my phone. My daughter had to finally pull it up for me on her phone. Then we could rent a car.
Speaking of renting a car, they offered us two options, a 12 passenger van or a Camero convertible. My daughter chose the latter. My wife and I struggled to get in and out of the car throughout our trip, but it was fun to have the top down on a few occasions. This is the second time we were offered a car above the price range we had chosen with no additional charge. In Bozeman we were originally given a very large SUV. That one I returned the next day for something smaller. The lesson is don’t pay too much for a pricier car. They may give you one anyway.
From the car rental place we went to our condo, and the same thing happened. Before they would check us in, they had to see our QR codes on the Hawaii website. I again couldn’t get to it. My inability to use my phone was a bit embarrassing. Fortunately we didn’t have to show it again.
Compared to the procedures going to Kauai, returning to Seattle was easy. No health checks or paper work was required. It was much less stressful.
Even while we were there, Hawaii was continuing to change the travel rules. Maui has some different expectations from the other islands. The best advice is to make sure you check out the official information before you travel. Our experience may not be yours. Rules may change. However, Hawaii is a wonderful vacation land. Stay tuned as I share our trip with you in the coming weeks. The pictures in this post are a sneak preview of what’s to come.
Credit: Photo of us in convertible taken by Andrea Lee
Someday I’ll let you know about our trials trying to get to Hawaii in January!! Glad you got to go!
Sounds like you had a challenge as well. It was great once we were there.