Hawaii arrival Covid Testing Question

[plasmo]

Our family will be going to Aulani in 2 weeks. We are arriving from Chicago, and had a couple of quick questions if anyone knew the answers to them.

1. We are going to use our local Walgreens Covid testing which looks like one of HI's acceptable locations, but which test is the one to pick? The "Diagnostic Lab PCR", or the "Rapid Diagnostic Test ID NOW" test?

2. When creating your Traveler account on travel.hawaii.gov website, do I make a SEPARATE account for my kids (under 18) as well, or put their names in my account?

3. If answer #2 puts my kids under my account, I assume I upload their Covid test results in my account, right?

Thanks!

 

[MaggieDerm]

Hi! We are traveling from Chicago as well but a couple weeks after you. From what I understand, Hawaii accepts the ID Now test and that is preferred as it is one of the only rapid tests they accept. I’ve seen online some mixed results with the PCR test.

 

[reisdawg]

1. PCR Tests appear to be the one that Hawaii accepts. That is what we got for our trip 2 weeks ago and it was accepted
2. You put each person under 18 on your account. My wife and I had separate accounts but you list anyone under 18 on one of the parent accounts
3. You will load each result to your account

 

[WiscMomof2]

I’ve been researching this for our upcoming trip and everything I’ve read indicates it’s the ID Now at Walgreens. I was thinking of contacting Hawaii safe travels to confirm. This is the one part of the trip that’s slightly stressing me out.

 

[monsterkitty]

This is a link to the official Hawaii site that lists tests and providers: https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/

Walgreens is on the list. Others here have stated in other COVID testing threads that they did the ID Now test and it was accepted.

 

[braysmommy]

I’ve been researching this for our upcoming trip and everything I’ve read indicates it’s the ID Now at Walgreens. I was thinking of contacting Hawaii safe travels to confirm. This is the one part of the trip that’s slightly stressing me out.

If ID NOW is available in your state it seems like the way to go. A lot of talk on trip advisor forum about people using this option and will be what we use for our upcoming trip in June.

 

[tidefan]

At Walgreens, either the PCR or the ID NOW is classified as a NAAT test that is recognized by Hawaii.

You don't want the Rapid Antigen (I think that one is BinaxNow).

 

[jimmymc]

Get the ID Now test from Walgreens. The other tests take several days and you might not get results in time.

Your children can be under your account. Any other adults with you must make their own accounts.

You will upload the kids' test results on your account.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

What time of day do the Walgreen appts drop for the next window? Was there a predictable pattern anyone noticed?

 

[Debbie R.]

We booked our WAG appointments yesterday morning for Thursday afternoon tests .... we leave Sunday. I booked all of the kids under my account.

 

[madisonwi]

We did the ID NOW at Walgreens today at noon and had our results by 3pm, so good to go!

 

[tidefan]

Did ID Now today. Results were back in about 2 hours (All Negative!!!).

Uploaded both Lab PDF and Patient Friendly PDF to Safe Travels as I wasn't sure which one it needed. A couple seconds after upload, one of those (not sure which one) switched from "Verification is Pending" to "COVID Negative"...

 

[rangermom]

We did the rapid 2 days ago and had our results in less than 2 hours. By that evening DH an my tests were verified as negative through the Hawaii site. The kids registered under me and for some reason their tests are still in the verification process. I called Hawaii and they said just make sure we have paper copies and that it is not unusably to test still in verification process.

I'm so glad we did Walgreens as it was free under our insurance. Other approved companies were charging about $140 a tests.

 

[rangermom]

What time of day do the Walgreen appts drop for the next window? Was there a predictable pattern anyone noticed?

Ours had appointments three days before and new appoints dropped early evening on the fourth day before. We were able to book Friday evening for a Tuesday appt.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Ours had appointments three days before and new appoints dropped early evening on the fourth day before. We were able to book Friday evening for a Tuesday appt.

Thanks!!!

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Anyone have a experience with testing on a Sunday? Our flights leave in Tuesday so we are thinking of doing the late Saturday or early Sunday tests (Walgreens id now).

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

This is our second time going to Hawaii during COVID. We live in the Bay Area (near Oakland airport). Last time we paid extra at the Oakland airport testing site to have the results back in 24 hours. ($129 each). This time we went through the Southwest portal and decided to only do the $20 version at the same Oakland airport testing place. It says results back in 48 hours. We also did a free backup at Walgreens this morning for Hawaii.

Northern California does not have the ID Now test at it's Walgreens. My closest option was Reno, which I may actually do next time. Our flight is Thursday at 6:10 pm so now we wait.

I erred in choosing that late flight BTW. I didn't even think about the 72 hour requirement when booking, but basically none of our local testing facilities are open late enough (i.e. until 7 pm) to be able to meet the 72 hour requirement. So cross your fingers for us that one of the testing places comes back in 48+ hours.

I'm tired of the COVID nickel and diming so I refused to pay the extra $300 to have all of us expedited. Our flights were only a little more than that (all three of us RT was $400, which was actually "free" with credit card travel credits).

If the resultts don't come back in time, I'll call and plead my case to Southwest to try to get a Friday early flight. If not, we just won't go. We go frequently, so it's not as big of a deal and this was kind of a last minute/low cost trip.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Updating myself ... I guess we are going! I couldn't believe it last night when we all got texts that our results were back from the Oakland Airport testing place (City Health). It was only 12 hours or so with the non-expedited service via the Southwest Airlines link. Last time our expedited ($100 more each) took almost 48 hours. Wonder if the link was the difference? Still nothing back from Walgreens ... 30 hours or so.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Updating again ... All three Walgreens tests came back at 5 pm today, so less than 36 hours on those--and they were free. Very relieved, but it would be nice if you didn't have to have a backup. I hope vaccine passports are in effect for our next trip. This is our second time doing this, and it is so stressful. But tests are uploaded and QR codes printed. Ready to go!

 

[Karebear]

Really stupid question here. When you get your results back, can you upload them right away or do you need to wait until you are within 24 hours of your flight? I thought that I read that somewhere? We are going soon and I am trying to figure this out. Thanks!