Traveling to Hawaii During COVID

The last flights we took we were to coming home from Australia back in January of 2020...and we hadn't flown since. That is until last week when we took a much needed family vacation to Hawaii (rescheduled from June 2020)! 

Traveling to Hawaii right now can seem a little daunting due to all the extra requirements you need to meet prior to arrival. But once all is done you're relieved and ready for travel!

Testing for Hawaii

First you'll need to create an account with the state of Hawaii's Safe Travels website; here you'll input all your personal and flight information, you'll also upload an up-to-date picture of yourself and upload your negative COVID-19 NAAT test results once you have them.

For us, at the time, our only testing option was Walgreens. This was due to location and our daughter's age (she is under the age of 12) and we needed a NAAT test in less than 72 hours from our departure to Hawaii. Walgreens has a 24 hour NAAT test for ages 3 and up. We tested at 9:15am and had our negative test results in hand by 11:30am the same day. We also chose to test within a 48 hour window of our departing flight to Hawaii due to possible weather delays (we were flying through Chicago and Denver in early March). 

At the Airport

Due to where we live we visited three airports on our way to Hawaii (ugh, connections). The main two were O'Hare and Denver. Both airports made frequent announcements about keeping your mask on, washing hands and social distancing. Many shops and restaurants were closed but the basics were open like fast food places and news stands. I would suggest packing your own food if you have a short connection or don't want McDonalds. 

We ended up literally running from Concourse F to B since our flight arrived late and we already had a short connection. And we did this in masks, which immediately made my mouth and throat dry up. 

Everyone was wearing a mask unless actively eating or drinking.  

On the Plane

Everyone complied with the federal mask laws/guidelines and the flight attendants were constantly making sure people were wearing them properly. 

We flew United and I felt like they were doing a good job with making sure people were wearing their masks properly and that the planes were clean. I could smell the cleaner as we boarded and they handed out a sanitizing wipe as you entered. You also got another wipe in your snack bag. 

Business class were the only passengers that received actual food and I think it was just United's snack boxes that you can normally purchase inflight. Economy was only offered the snack bags that included a wipe, two snacks and a small bottle of water. They also offered beverage service as usual but just gave you the can vs pouring the drink for you. They also had PLENTY of additional snacks in the back should you want more food.

Our flights to Hawaii were fairly full. We had a 2-2, 3-4-3 and 3-3 configurations. One the 2-2 my husband did not have to sit with anyone and since we're a family of 3 the 3-seater options were perfect. And our flights home were fairly empty which gave us some room to stretch out. 

United Clubs

The one thing I don't understand about the airline clubs is why close all but one? Then you're funneling all your passengers who have passes into one area...not good for social distancing. We visited the United Club in SFO from 8:30pm to 11pm and it was empty. Warm food offering was a bean burrito and other options were pre-packaged snacks like chips, crackers and string cheese. Here you also had to ask the bar tender for any beverage, whether it was a beer or water. 

We also visited the United Club at ORD from 5:45am to about 8:30am. It was empty when we first arrived but around 8am it really started to fill up. It started to get really busy to the point where you couldn't social distance and the noise level was getting annoying. So we left and headed to our gate a little early. The warm food here was an egg and cheese burrito or a warm bagel (warm, not toasted) and they had the dry packages of oatmeal you could make with hot water. They also had cereal and fruit. And unlike the club at SFO, you could get your own soda, juice and water at this club.