Hawaii, Florida & Covid testing - can I pick your brain?

[Torontogal]

So...we have our trip booked for Hawaii (Aulani) end of April. We are excited but very worried about testing positive the night before we fly. We are being super careful.....

Our plan B is to drive to Florida if we do in order to not waste the vacation time. Wondering what the chances of getting a DVC booking 1 bedroom at the last minute would be? Any recommendations on where to get tested before our flight? Do we still have to prebook a park day? What are the chances of getting a park day booking for end of April/early May?

I cannot believe how difficult travel plans are nowadays!

 

[spewey]

Unless I misread your post, are you saying if you test positive, as you cannot then fly to the U.S., you plan to drive to Florida right away? You will of course be required to quarantine for a minimum of five days (in Ontario) after a positive test.

As for testing, we use our local pharmacy - many offer this, usually around $40, including Shoppers. I hear tell that Costco and Walmart are cheaper, but have never used them.

The CDC usually reviews all their travel guidance and mandates around mid-month; I'm not sure that this will be the month they don't extend the testing to fly order, but I am hoping that does come in the next month or two. We also have flights booked to Hawaii - to Kauai in June - and are equally as stressed about the testing and what it could mean.

 

[Torontogal]

Unless I misread your post, are you saying if you test positive, as you cannot then fly to the U.S., you plan to drive to Florida right away? You will of course be required to quarantine for a minimum of five days (in Ontario) after a positive test.

As for testing, we use our local pharmacy - many offer this, usually around $40, including Shoppers. I hear tell that Costco and Walmart are cheaper, but have never used them.

The CDC usually reviews all their travel guidance and mandates around mid-month; I'm not sure that this will be the month they don't extend the testing to fly order, but I am hoping that does come in the next month or two. We also have flights booked to Hawaii - to Kauai in June - and are equally as stressed about the testing and what it could mean.

Thank you for your reply. Obviously, if we test positive and are ill, we wouldn't make an attempt to drive but wondering about a potential false positive?
Nice to hear I am not the only one stressed about travel. We intend on booking our tests at Shoppers but also wondering about booking a test at IDA or Costco in case we do get a false positive. Wishing you a great trip!

 

[mort1331]

To answer the question about last minute booking,,,,,,very slim,,,now your looking for 1bdrm,,, the good thing is they are the last to be booked....look at SSR,OKW, and AKL they are your 3 biggest,,,and best chance,,,might have to split stay some...The other choice,,which we love is Hilton Head,,,good choice there too. Hopefully Hawaii it is for you, we are going for the 1st time this July so let us know how it is.

 

[Torontogal]

To answer the question about last minute booking,,,,,,very slim,,,now your looking for 1bdrm,,, the good thing is they are the last to be booked....look at SSR,OKW, and AKL they are your 3 biggest,,,and best chance,,,might have to split stay some...The other choice,,which we love is Hilton Head,,,good choice there too. Hopefully Hawaii it is for you, we are going for the 1st time this July so let us know how it is.

I have been to Aulani before and loved it. Do you think it would be difficult to get a booking for a 1 bedroom end of April/early May? Schools are still open...?

 

[mort1331]

DVC runs at almost 95% booking all year round,,,,but 1bdrms are the last to be booked...As I mentioned you might be able to put something together with split stays,,,,I assume you are DVC member,,,look now on the website and see what is available.

 

[mort1331]

just did a quick look,,,nothing I can see except a lone day here or there,,,,remember there is a glut of points out there from all being shut down and everyone wants to use them...We splurged in Hawaii because of the excess points we had and staying 11 nights in a 1bdrm.

 

[Torontogal]

just did a quick look,,,nothing I can see except a lone day here or there,,,,remember there is a glut of points out there from all being shut down and everyone wants to use them...We splurged in Hawaii because of the excess points we had and staying 11 nights in a 1bdrm.

Thanks for checking. Hoping at Aulani works out for us and we stay negative prior to our flight.

 

[Aug2020distrip]

I hear you. Even though we all had covid back in January, I am extremely worried about testing positive in a few weeks the day before we leave. I feel I really can’t be excited about the trip fully because of this. I am still holding out hope that the USA travel testing requirement is lifted really soon. I would LOVE to cancel our test and not have to worry about it!! I think the rules are currently in place until April 18 so really hoping they let it go by then!

 

[Susan2771]

We are also travelling to California and Hawaii the end of June. The covid testing the day before to fly has me stressed. Hoping things in Ontario are much better case wise and there will be less spread. Our girls have dance recitals and other crowd events leading up to the trip. Would love to keep us grounded at home for a week leading up to the trip, but that is impossible.

 

[Sue M]

I opted to drive down to Seattle for my flight to MCO. Saves me $200 in testing. It’s not cheap in BC. But I know many aren’t close enough to the border to do this.

Usually the week before we travel we’re all super careful and avoid crowded places, going out for dinner, wear masks etc to try to lessen chances of getting Covid.
Have a great vacay.

 

[kuhltiffany]

We traveled in March and ended up having to test 5 times (x 4 people). Best deal is to use the free green boxes given out here, and do the supervised testing using the Azova app, only $20 each!

 

[zillayen]

Thank you for your reply. Obviously, if we test positive and are ill, we wouldn't make an attempt to drive but wondering about a potential false positive?
Nice to hear I am not the only one stressed about travel. We intend on booking our tests at Shoppers but also wondering about booking a test at IDA or Costco in case we do get a false positive. Wishing you a great trip!

If you’re worried about a false positive I think the first step would be to get a second test before you drive to Florida and potentially expose people to COVID.

 

[YoungatheartCanadianguy]

I hear you. Even though we all had covid back in January, I am extremely worried about testing positive in a few weeks the day before we leave. I feel I really can’t be excited about the trip fully because of this. I am still holding out hope that the USA travel testing requirement is lifted really soon. I would LOVE to cancel our test and not have to worry about it!! I think the rules are currently in place until April 18 so really hoping they let it go by then!

search for” cdc covid test travel” on bing or Google and hit the cdc website


Hit up the cdc website. It’ll explain what you need if you recovered from covid

 

[YoungatheartCanadianguy]

search for” cdc covid test travel” on bing or Google and hit the cdc website


Hit up the cdc website. It’ll explain what you need if you recovered from covid

Tried to share the link directly with a snippet from the site but the forum antispam software kept thinking the post was spam

 

[Aug2020distrip]

search for” cdc covid test travel” on bing or Google and hit the cdc website


Hit up the cdc website. It’ll explain what you need if you recovered from covid

Unfortunately at the time our province was no longer doing pcr’s for everyone so I never got pcr confirmation. A private one would have cost $250 and I didn’t want to pay that for all 4 of us. Maybe I should have to avoid this stress lol

 

[Sue M]

Unfortunately at the time our province was no longer doing pcr’s for everyone so I never got pcr confirmation. A private one would have cost $250 and I didn’t want to pay that for all 4 of us. Maybe I should have to avoid this stress lol

what province are you in? Even in BC I can find an antigen test for $100 or under. You don’t need a pcr test to fly into the US. Just an antigen test.

 

[damo]

what province are you in? Even in BC I can find an antigen test for $100 or under. You don’t need a pcr test to fly into the US. Just an antigen test.

No but you need a PCR test result as proof that you already had covid (plus a doctor's note). I think that is what the poster is referring to.

 

[Sue M]

No but you need a PCR test result as proof that you already had covid (plus a doctor's note). I think that is what the poster is referring to.

I suppose so, but doesn’t make any sense to me because you can get it again.

 

[Aug2020distrip]

No but you need a PCR test result as proof that you already had covid (plus a doctor's note). I think that is what the poster is referring to.

I suppose so, but doesn’t make any sense to me because you can get it again.

I think that proof is only good for 3 months for that very reason.