Travel to Hawaii will be possible without a 14-day quarantine starting Oct. 15 - enabled through a quick test (at the airport); but be prepared to pay for the "convenience"!!
- Hawaiian has matched United in planning to offer pre-departure COVID-19 testing for their passengers. Hawaiian Airline’s partnership with Worksite Labs gives exclusive access to drive-through PCR testing ($90/results within 36 hours, or $150 day-of-travel express service) from dedicated, conveniently located labs near LAX and SFO. It's expected that the Droplet Digital PCR shallow nasal swab tests – a “gold standard” COVID-19 screening that meets state of Hawai‘i guidelines – will be available around Oct. 15.
- United has partnered with GoHealth Urgent Care at SFO, and testing will be available from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily to offer rapid tests to their Hawaii-bound passengers for $250 per person (or to save money, opt to use a self-administered sampling kit from a firm called Color, which requires longer lead time and costs $80 plus shipping).
Hawaii guidelines are not completely clear yet though and will need to be updated and clarified before booking any flights to avoid any possible unpleasant surprises.
Hawaii has lined up partnerships with Kaiser Permanente, CVS and Walgreens to provide necessary pre-departure testing on the mainland.
According to Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, the state’s point man for the testing plans, apparently - in addition to the standard deep nasal swab tests - Hawaii will also accept results from Abbott Labs’ Abbott ID Now test, which uses a swab from the front of the nose and produces results in less than 15 minutes.
Hawaii is currently also negotiating with the company Vault which provides saliva tests (especially for children under 12).
Stay tuned for more changes to undoubtedly come...
As always, you should work with your trusted Travel Professional to book your trip so that we can keep you apprised of all new developments!!
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