Hawaii Tourism Not Starting Up Until Late Summer

[BlueRibbon]

Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but how do we know that the tests that HI approves of are $120? I'm planning to go in October, but for my family of 7 that's a crazy "incidental" cost.

 

[kverdon]

It’s all conjecture at this point currently that is price set by CVS. If it flies, some or all of it may be subsidized by the Hawaiian Gov’t. The Lt. Gov and the Gov don’t appear to be on the same page. There was some thinking that they could use federal recovery funds to subsidize the cost. But given the disconnect if you are planning to go to Hawaii:

a) Plan to go somewhere else no chance they get this sorted out any time soon. Any decision before a vaccine or the November Elections could be better predicted with a Quija Board.

b) Plan on your tax dollars paying to fund their indecision.

 

[Galun]

Mandatory 14 day quarantine for out of state visitors has just been extended to July 31st.

Thanks for posting this. I rescheduled everything to the last 2 - 3 weeks of August.

 

[gregf71]

Well, with the official extension today, it sure made our decision about out July 7th arrival easier. Managed to get a chat session with Hawaiian Airlines tonight and at first they pressed the "future travel voucher" option. I questioned if our flights were still active because I couldn't find them online for new bookings...highly doubted that they could've been sold out, but possible I suppose. Suddenly, the HA person came back to me with an apology, telling me that the flights were indeed canceled. Full refund in process. Emailed myself the chat session log...which popped onto my Inbox 5 seconds before the flight cancellation email from Hawaiian Airlines arrived. Amazing timing!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We have a trip planned for first week of August: split stay Aulani and North Shire. Might lose half if our rental, but cancelling tomorrow. Don’t want to be guinea pigs if they open in August. Highly unlikely now. They should have just called summer off.

 

[SeanCLV]

It’s all conjecture at this point currently that is price set by CVS. If it flies, some or all of it may be subsidized by the Hawaiian Gov’t. The Lt. Gov and the Gov don’t appear to be on the same page. There was some thinking that they could use federal recovery funds to subsidize the cost. But given the disconnect if you are planning to go to Hawaii:

a) Plan to go somewhere else no chance they get this sorted out any time soon. Any decision before a vaccine or the November Elections could be better predicted with a Quija Board.

b) Plan on your tax dollars paying to fund their indecision.

This testing seems to be an ambitious plan by the Hawaiian Lt Governor. The guy is in local/state government in HI and doesn't wear a Hawaiian shirt when he speaks on TV, so I am sure his colleagues and constituents don't take him seriously... ;-)

 

[emilymad]

I am sorry for everyone's trips but I guess some information is better than no information. I am thinking on not planning our trip for next May. I have no desire to get tested before a vacation and if there is a second wave who knows what will happen. This was supposed to be our 10th anniversary trip which got canceled this year. I don't want to plan and cancel another trip.

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

Thanks for posting this. I rescheduled everything to the last 2 - 3 weeks of August.

We were scheduled to go in September and moved the condo reservation to next April. Im still holding the airfare in case the quarantine gets extended into September then Hawaiian must refund for the canceled flight. Since airfare went down in price if I moved it right now we'll be owed a credit which more than likely wouldn't get used as we don't travel to Hawaii every year.

I do hope they find some system they can all agree upon to open up travel because at this route their shutdown is gonna last longer than the hardest hit areas of the US.

 

[SeanCLV]

Well, with the official extension today, it sure made our decision about out July 7th arrival easier. Managed to get a chat session with Hawaiian Airlines tonight and at first they pressed the "future travel voucher" option. I questioned if our flights were still active because I couldn't find them online for new bookings...highly doubted that they could've been sold out, but possible I suppose. Suddenly, the HA person came back to me with an apology, telling me that the flights were indeed canceled. Full refund in process. Emailed myself the chat session log...which popped onto my Inbox 5 seconds before the flight cancellation email from Hawaiian Airlines arrived. Amazing timing!

That's promising news regarding HA giving money back. If you don't mind me asking, were your tickets originally non-refundable?

 

[gregf71]

That's promising news regarding HA giving money back. If you don't mind me asking, were your tickets originally non-refundable?

Yes, they were "non-refundable" at the time of purchase. I just confirmed on my receipt. As I understand it, the fact that they canceled our flights overrode that status. Glad I double checked to see if the flights still existed before I started the chat session and pushed back on that fact before settling for the credit for future flights. Now I just need to cross my fingers that the refund actually processes correctly and in the time described.

 

[SeanCLV]

Yes, they were "non-refundable" at the time of purchase. I just confirmed on my receipt. As I understand it, the fact that they canceled our flights overrode that status. Glad I double checked to see if the flights still existed before I started the chat session and pushed back on that fact before settling for the credit for future flights. Now I just need to cross my fingers that the refund actually processes correctly and in the time described.

Thanks for that info. It looks like as of all flights out of Las Vegas to Honolulu are cancelled through July 15th. My flights on 7/25 and returning 7/31 still exist, so I guess I have to wait until those flights don't show on their booking system before contacting them. This puts me a little more at ease.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Seems to be that tough line between protecting their citizens and losing the much-needed tourism dollars (and some of those will be people forced to cancel now who won't bother rebooking and going back in the future). With yet another extension, and some wild plans for required testing and facial recognition and tracing, we're finally going to give up on our long-awaited first trip to Aulani. We'll take our $s and spend them someplace else in the US. At this point, I don't see us rescheduling the chance to visit the islands anytime soon- if ever. Very disappointing. But then, the health emergency has caused much heartache and many disappointments.

 

[dennis99ss]

It is absolutely crazy what Hawaii is doing. They have less cases than a major metropolitan area, in fact they have less cases than the county I live in, but have double the people. There virus rate is something like 7 10,000's of a percent. The economy is toast. There is some thought that the commuter airlines will go under because of the extensions. But, worst of all, if you get onto the facebook pages of the Gov. and Lt. Gov. as well as comments to news articles, Hawaii news now, etc., you see people absolutely freaking out because there were 3, or 6, or some other single digit reporting of a new case. The hospitals are not overrun. The Hawaiian government has done a fine job in scarring the living daylights out of their people that they are willing to have 50% unemployment on some islands because of an unfounded fear. The "Plan" to reopen--makes no sense--testing before you arrive? well, what about getting exposed during the days between the test and your getting on a plane and or arriving. What about exposure in the plane, in the hotel, etc. Hawaii is digging a hole that in all likelihood will take a long time to pull out of. They will have lost an entire season of travelers by the time they pull their heads out. They will have a budget deficit that is outrageous and worst of all, the train from the airport still wont be built. In the meantime, their tourist infrastructure -- shops, tours, hotels, restaurants, etc., will have disappeared because of bankruptcy or other financial reasons. The tourists will have found new destinations in the year, which will cause additional issues in the future for the state. There are a fair amount of folks in Hawaii that say good riddance to the tourists. However, I don't think they have run into the economic calamity that may befall the state once the PPP runs out, unemployment increases run out, etc. Come the third and fourth quarters of this year, I think Hawaii will be hurting and there will be a full on revolt by the out of work majority, and, of course, wondering why those millions and millions of tourists who used to come by the hundreds of thousands each day are not coming anymore.

 

[VandVsmama]

It is absolutely crazy what Hawaii is doing. They have less cases than a major metropolitan area, in fact they have less cases than the county I live in, but have double the people. There virus rate is something like 7 10,000's of a percent. The economy is toast. There is some thought that the commuter airlines will go under because of the extensions. But, worst of all, if you get onto the facebook pages of the Gov. and Lt. Gov. as well as comments to news articles, Hawaii news now, etc., you see people absolutely freaking out because there were 3, or 6, or some other single digit reporting of a new case. The hospitals are not overrun. The Hawaiian government has done a fine job in scarring the living daylights out of their people that they are willing to have 50% unemployment on some islands because of an unfounded fear. The "Plan" to reopen--makes no sense--testing before you arrive? well, what about getting exposed during the days between the test and your getting on a plane and or arriving. What about exposure in the plane, in the hotel, etc. Hawaii is digging a hole that in all likelihood will take a long time to pull out of. They will have lost an entire season of travelers by the time they pull their heads out. They will have a budget deficit that is outrageous and worst of all, the train from the airport still wont be built. In the meantime, their tourist infrastructure -- shops, tours, hotels, restaurants, etc., will have disappeared because of bankruptcy or other financial reasons. The tourists will have found new destinations in the year, which will cause additional issues in the future for the state. There are a fair amount of folks in Hawaii that say good riddance to the tourists. However, I don't think they have run into the economic calamity that may befall the state once the PPP runs out, unemployment increases run out, etc. Come the third and fourth quarters of this year, I think Hawaii will be hurting and there will be a full on revolt by the out of work majority, and, of course, wondering why those millions and millions of tourists who used to come by the hundreds of thousands each day are not coming anymore.

I totally agree. All of their shenanigans have left our family with absolutely zero desire to go to Hawaii for a couple of years.

 

[gregf71]

Well, we are not going to Hawaii this year, but we are looking to bringing a little of Hawaii to us! Scoping out a few of our favorite Hawaiian vendor sites to place some orders. Hawaiian sweet bread and honey from the Big Island will be nice!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Yes, I ordered so Kona and Aulani coffe from Joffrey’s to ease the pain.

 

[dennis99ss]

We have used bigislandcandies for gift baskets and the like in the past.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We finally pulled the plug on our August trip and cancelled. I was already 99% there in my mind but couldn't bring myself to do it until we heard the announcement yesterday. We have no desire to be the guinea pigs for the first wave of travelers anywhere, not just Hawaii. We'll let the enthusiasts work out those bugs!

I've had conflicting emotions about pushback against tourists, but when I spoke to actual people today who were helping me cancel, we've had really nice conversations. It was a good reminder to look at the individual and not lump everyone into the actions of a few. One woman and I talked for 5 minutes longer than we had to, she was so nice. She was very surprised about yesterday's announcement and sounded worried. Best of luck to everyone. I'm not sure when we'll go back, next year's trips are already planned and I'm eying the Caribbean for sometime in the future.

 

[corgi_monster]

I think the quarantine will be extended indefinitely at this point. The news we're all anxious for is some sort of announcement on how to obtain a quarantine exemption and when that program will start.

The state has been working on the CVS testing plan for a while now. It doesn't make sense for them to spend all that time and energy on a testing program only to drop the quarantine in 1-2 months.

I've had conflicting emotions about pushback against tourists, but when I spoke to actual people today who were helping me cancel, we've had really nice conversations.

The pushback is concentrated against those who are knowingly breaking the quarantine. Hawaii has a lot of aloha for considerate tourists like yourself who respect the quarantine requirement.

Well, we are not going to Hawaii this year, but we are looking to bringing a little of Hawaii to us! Scoping out a few of our favorite Hawaiian vendor sites to place some orders. Hawaiian sweet bread and honey from the Big Island will be nice!

A Made in Hawaii marketplace website will be launching mid-August and will feature 100's of vendors. The Made in Hawaii Festival is Hawaii's largest local shopping event, attracting 50k+ people, and it's going virtual this year. You can find more info and a list of potential vendors at www.madeinhawaiifestival.com

 

[stagmite]

Okay, thank you for the information. I see resident inter island travel as being a separate matter to foreign travel into Hawaii. They are not one in the same. Combined, yes home run case. Separately, not so much.

Well it finally happened. I guess we'll see soon enough how far his powers of authority can go.

https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2020/06/10/law-firm-files-lawsuit-against-ige.html