How to Travel To Hawaii During Covid - My First Trip To Maui
So every other week me and my best gal pal go to our favorite local brewery and have a beer with some sort of appetizer. Normally we get the pretzels with beer cheese, but that is beside the point. lol . Now, I have known this chick since I was in first grade. Seriously it has been almost 30 years! We have been through the absolute worst times and the absolute best times together.
We were sitting there just chatting, drinking our beer, and talking about the crazy past couple of months (covid, breakups, moving cities, our mental state of mind, our happiness and our issues) when all of these sudden a flight deal to Maui came up on her phone. She looked at me and said "Do you want to go to Maui in September?"
I sat there for the matter of two seconds and said "hell ya!". Within 5 minutes we had plain tickets booked to Maui. Honestly there is nothing like being spontaneous and in the moment to make things extra exciting.
"Say yes to great adventures"
Well, unfortunately our flight was cancelled due to covid restrictions. We had the option to refund our money or postpone our trip. We chose to postpone our trip because we still wanted the adventure.
Fast forward 7 months and here we are sitting in Maui! I can't even believe it! We opted to make this trip easy going and spontaneous so we chose not to make very many plans. With that we rented a Jeep and just plan to explore. The few things that we are going to do is:
1. Doors Open Helicopter Ride
2. Road to Hana
3. Lots of Sun and Beach Time
4. Lots of Sunrises and sunsets
In the next couple of posts I will be sharing our trip and all the awesomeness to come!
I honestly don't have any problems with getting on an airplane, but the airport is the worst. I get so dang nervous! It is just all the people, the logistics, worrying that I am going to lose something, and really just getting through the check point.
Well, this trip was extra stressful because of Covid. It has made travel nearly impossible, but somehow we were able to navigate the crazy. There are quite a few things that you will need to know prior to booking your flight and prior to going to the airport so lets dive in!
How to Travel To Hawaii During Covid
Before we get started I do want to say that the Covid rules and restrictions are ever changing. What is working today might be completely different tomorrow so make sure that you check all the rules and regulations yourself to ensure you don't get denied boarding your plain, or that you don't get stuck in a location that you don't want to be.
As of April 19th 2021
Here is how we were able to travel to Hawaii
During Covid:
Covid Test:
You are going to need to take a covid test 72 hours prior to your flight.
You will need to ensure to get the results prior to your flight in order to show proof that you are in fact negative.
I purchased the in home covid test kit through Costco. It was approximately $120. The kit arrived 3 days after I bought it. You will get a confirmation from Costco explaining that you made a transaction. That is not the important email. The important email is an email from Azova. This is the place that you are going to set up a meeting for a video observation to take the test and it is also the place where you are going to send your test results
Download the Azova App
Schedule an appointment for a video observation 72 hours prior to your flight
Create your profile and update all the necessary fields. You are going to need to ensure to upload an image of your Drivers License in order for this to work.
Attend your appointment. The employee with walk you through all the steps.
Note: Honestly this was kinda weird for me. The employee asks you about your flight logistics (time, is it a direct flight, which airline, etc). Then you proceed to spit in a tube until you spit enough to hit the black line. Ya you spit while someone watches you spit . Weird.
After your observation you need to head to a UPS store and overnight the test. YOU HAVE TO OVERNIGHT IT. Ensure you get the test to the UPS store before 3pm in order for your test to arrive at Azova the next day.
Azova will run your test and you will receive an email with your test results.
Fingers crossed you are negative. This way you can actually fly!
Download your PDF for Hawaii. You need this for the next step
** Some Airports allow you to take the test when you arrive at your departing airport. It is much more expensive this way. You will need to check and see if your airport allows this.
Things to consider to take to Hawaii:
Travel Save - Hawaii
Next you will need to create an account on the Travel Safe Hawaii website. This is where you are going to enter all your information
Enter in all your personal information
Enter all your flight information
Upload your Covid test results in the documents section
You will then need to screenshot your QR code as you are going to need this when you check in at the airport
Airport:
Have your ID and QR code ready for the attendant at your check in.
Check in. The attendant will scan your QR code, check your ID, and scan your ticket.
You will then get a pink wrist band to prove that you have gone through all the Covid testing and that you are negative.
You will have to wear your mask at all times. From when you enter the airport to when you exit the airport that you land
Must haves for airports:
Don’t forget to save this one for later by pinning it to Pinterest :)
And there you have it. The craziness of traveling during Covid. Honestly, it was just a bit stressful but it wasn't hard. The whole time I was worried that I was going to miss a step. I thought I was going to mess up somewhere along the way and that they wouldn't let me on the plane. Even though there are a lot of hoops to jump through you can still get to Hawaii at the moment. Again, I am going to reiterate that this is the protocol at the time. Things are constantly changing so you MUST check your travel rules and restrictions prior to planning your trip. I mean this trip is really the perfect example of just that. When we first booked our flight we were planning on traveling in September, but then Hawaii ended up having a full blown lock down and made travel impossible. Everything got cancelled.
The other thing to remember, is there are going to be changes with people getting the Covid shot. Also, don't forget that you will eventually need a real ID in California if you don't have one already.
Stay tuned for more goodness from Maui and all of our adventures that we go on. I can't wait to share them with you.
Wishing you nothing but incredibly amazing adventures.
Bess