I recently booked a trip to Hawaii as my options are limited by the State Department who has had my second passport since July 14th.
Today is the official start of the trip as Hawaii is requiring all visitors from the mainland to take a COVID PCR test within 72 hours of departure. More details on the program including the approved testing facilities are in the link below. Perhaps the link will become inactive after the pandemic is over.
A second test is required when flying between the islands except for arriving on Oahu, so I booked a week on Kaua`i before a week in Oahu.
I booked an appointment through Quest Diagnostics (was $10 cheaper than CVS). They seem to advertise that the results will be available in 1-2 days, so I am hoping that is true. The appointment was at a Walmart drive-through pharmacy. The Pharmacist gave me a ziplock bag with a vial and a long q-tip (very scientific). I had to inset the q-tip about 1 inch into both sides of my nose for about 15 seconds on each side and twirl it 3 times. It wasn’t painful and it was self-administered. They never checked our ID and I guess I could have sent anyone there to take the test for me. I don’t believe I have ever had the virus, although there were a couple of days where I was lethargic.
The flight I booked is from Austin (for some reason leaving from the Intergalactic airport in Houston is much more expensive), which in all honesty isn”t much further than the airport in Houston (2 hours instead of 1). On the way back I used one of my systemwide upgrades to first class, which will be nice since it is a red-eye leaving at midnight.
The flight from Kaua`i to Oahu was only $39 on Southwest – including checked bags.