Is Summer of '21 Realistic?

JM23457

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Jun 13, 2020
I want to take my son to Hawaii next June. Am thinking of a 2 or 3 island trip. Definitely Oahu (Aulani) and Kauai, two islands I've never visited, and maybe also Maui, where I have been (and loved). My son's never been at all, and at 16 he'll be at a great age to go and get a lot out of it.

Is it crazy to really plan for next summer now? I think plane tickets at certain airlines will be changeable without a fee if I book by the end of June. That's one reason I'm considering booking now. I've also done some research and am starting to get pretty excited about resorts & natural wonders.

Thoughts? Will Hawaii be really open to visitors in a year? That's my main concern, that things be open.
 
IMO it’s not crazy to plan for next summer. I‘ve already rescheduled my European trip from this summer to next and I’m making Hawaii reservations now for December 2021. Only you can decide if you’re comfortable traveling given whatever the conditions are at that time.

My recommendation would be to make your plans, but only make reservations at places that don’t require a deposit or payment in full before hand. That way, if travel is impacted by a second wave of the virus you only have to worry about getting a credit for your plane ticket.
 
We are planning on going to Hawaii in June of 2021. We already have our rooms booked and ready to go. I'm hoping to add another week or two.
 
Now I'm not saying COVID won't be a concern. However, we were encouraged that Hawaii has moved to a negative test model and we wouldn't have any issues getting tests for our family to make the trip happen.
 


I think June next year will turn out fine. But we can't be 100% certain. By Feb it should be apparent if June will be OK or not. If you have the ability to change plans for the trip at 4 months out, go for it! Feb is 8 months from now and so much will change over that time, including positive progress.
 
IMO, the bigger concern for me would be what restrictions Hawaii and your home state have in place regarding travel at that time. Hawaii has been very strict on travel and tourism from jump street on all of this. Their numbers are low and they want to keep it that way. This is why the state has been closed to tourism and it keeps extending. Here in NY, the numbers have slowed, and they want to keep it that way, so they are mandating quarantine if you're coming from a state that has high numbers, based on a formula. Which means the states can change at any given time. So if we were to fly from HNL to Charlotte to Buffalo (just for example), we'd be required to quarantine for 14 days because we are flying from North Carolina.

Another thing to keep in mind is that masks may very well still be required at that time. Key West has already announced mandatory masks in public through June 2021, at least. Key West is another island that has low numbers. For me, it would be a tough pill to swallow to have to wear a mask in the heat of Hawaii and also for 5-10+ hours on an airplane (depending where you're flying from).
 
I should be on my way 2 weeks from right now. I have rescheduled that to 55 weeks from now. (ouch!) I hope things will be as normal as possible by then, but seeing what happened this year, I'm not getting my hopes up. Seeing how much has changed so drastically in the past 4 months makes me realize we have no idea what next July will look like. :(
 


I’m having this same struggle with planning for April ‘21. Like a previous poster said masks will likely still be mandatory when flying at that point. We are coming from the east coast so looking at I think 15ish? Hours on a plane in a mask. I do it for work daily for 8 hours but I can’t stand it. Waiting to see what type of restrictions Aulani reopens with too.
 
I’m having this same struggle with planning for April ‘21. Like a previous poster said masks will likely still be mandatory when flying at that point. We are coming from the east coast so looking at I think 15ish? Hours on a plane in a mask. I do it for work daily for 8 hours but I can’t stand it. Waiting to see what type of restrictions Aulani reopens with too.
We flew from the east coast as well. Buffalo to Atlanta was a 2 hour flight, 2 hour layover, 8 hours to HNL. Plus time spent in the airport and in a taxi. So it would definitely be at least a 15 hour day in a mask. That's pretty tough. Makes it difficult to sleep and get comfortable on a plane, making an already long and uncomfortable journey even worse.
 
We flew from the east coast as well. Buffalo to Atlanta was a 2 hour flight, 2 hour layover, 8 hours to HNL. Plus time spent in the airport and in a taxi. So it would definitely be at least a 15 hour day in a mask. That's pretty tough. Makes it difficult to sleep and get comfortable on a plane, making an already long and uncomfortable journey even worse.
This is my fear! I’m tall, at least 6’6ish so uncomfortable on a plane is an understatement. It’s only 8 hours from Atlanta to HNL? I thought it was much longer for some reason.
 
This is my fear! I’m tall, at least 6’6ish so uncomfortable on a plane is an understatement. It’s only 8 hours from Atlanta to HNL? I thought it was much longer for some reason.
I think our scheduled time was roughly 9 hours, but we had good weather and speed on the way there, so it ended up being just over 8 hours. On the way home, it was closer to 9 hours. This was an Airbus 330, I'm guessing the travel time could vary slightly depending on the plane.
 
I think our scheduled time was roughly 9 hours, but we had good weather and speed on the way there, so it ended up being just over 8 hours. On the way home, it was closer to 9 hours. This was an Airbus 330, I'm guessing the travel time could vary slightly depending on the plane.
Good to know! I was thinking the flight was that long from the west coast there! As a tall person, like 6’7ish flying is always uncomfortable. The thought of flying for that long with a mask sounds awful. We really wanted to get out there next year but I’m not willing to commit yet.
 
Restrictions they might put on visitors from certain states is something I never considered. Good point. No one knows what a given state will be like in terms of numbers next summer. I think I'll wait to book flights or anything nonrefundable.

I'm not worried about the flight or wearing a mask in Hawaii. We'll have been wearing masks all day for several months (in Texas heat) by that time, anyway, and I'm not going to schedule a long series of flights. Travel will be broken up each way by at least one night in California. We'll spend a ton of time at the pool, anyway, and will be traveling on land by rental car.
 
Restrictions they might put on visitors from certain states is something I never considered. Good point. No one knows what a given state will be like in terms of numbers next summer. I think I'll wait to book flights or anything nonrefundable.
I would expect Hawaii to have restrictions on visitors from certain states, but its also possible your home state may implement restrictions as well. Currently here in NY, we have to quarantine for 14 days once we return home if we travel to certain states. I think the number is close to 30 states on the list now. Hawaii is not one of them currently, but I would not be surprised if they eventually say we have to quarantine for 14 days when traveling outside the state no matter what. This is also the only thing holding us up from our WDW trip in the Fall as well.
 
I would expect Hawaii to have restrictions on visitors from certain states, but its also possible your home state may implement restrictions as well. Currently here in NY, we have to quarantine for 14 days once we return home if we travel to certain states. I think the number is close to 30 states on the list now. Hawaii is not one of them currently, but I would not be surprised if they eventually say we have to quarantine for 14 days when traveling outside the state no matter what. This is also the only thing holding us up from our WDW trip in the Fall as well.
I'm a Texan and would be very surprised for our governor to put those kind of restrictions on interstate travel a year from now. He's really tried to minimize restrictions to people's freedom. There were some travel restrictions at the beginning of this when the panic was fresh, but overall he's focusing on things like encouraging mask-wearing, over restricting people's movements. Hawaii, New York, etc. have very different governors (and Florida as a state has a lot more to be fearful about from the virus, in terms of the median age of its population.) So my real concern is what limitations Hawaii will place on letting visitors in, as they've been extremely reluctant to open. A surge is inevitable there once they do relax restrictions, which will probably lead to more restrictions again. Sigh.
 
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I think our scheduled time was roughly 9 hours, but we had good weather and speed on the way there, so it ended up being just over 8 hours. On the way home, it was closer to 9 hours. This was an Airbus 330, I'm guessing the travel time could vary slightly depending on the plane.
Just to add to this good info. The times mentioned are actual flight time. It doesn't include the boarding process at the beginning and getting off the plane at the end. That can add a bit.

We've always flown first class and thus get on the plane earlier. Probably 30+ minutes before actual departure time.
 
Just to add to this good info. The times mentioned are actual flight time. It doesn't include the boarding process at the beginning and getting off the plane at the end. That can add a bit.

We've always flown first class and thus get on the plane earlier. Probably 30+ minutes before actual departure time.
I may be the exception here, but if I buy a first class ticket, I would like to be one of the last passengers to board. That way, I won’t need to be at the gate 45 minutes before departure, but could just show up 10 minutes before scheduled flight time and still be able to board. This will minimize my contact with other passengers as they begin to board. I am sure airlines will rethink the boarding process for first class passengers in the current COVID environment.
 
We are also planning for June 2021. We had a trip planned for June 2020 which obviously got canceled. Hoping to do the same trip during the same time in 2021.
 
I may be the exception here, but if I buy a first class ticket, I would like to be one of the last passengers to board. That way, I won’t need to be at the gate 45 minutes before departure, but could just show up 10 minutes before scheduled flight time and still be able to board. This will minimize my contact with other passengers as they begin to board. I am sure airlines will rethink the boarding process for first class passengers in the current COVID environment.
Indeed we may reconsider. In the past it was nice to get on board early. Especially on this flight. We could get settled in and have a mai tai (or two) before takeoff.

I'm wondering about the boarding process on the plane where you come in mid-cabin like most of these long-haul flights do. They could fairly easily board the back of the plane and the front of the plane together as long as they maintain spacing in the gate area and on the jet bridge.
 

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