International Arrivals at HNL

[Maddysdaddy]

Just wondering if anyone would be willing to share their recent experiences with arriving at HNL from an international destination (specifically, Canada).

I was watching what I thought was a recent trip video on YT which spoke about spending an hour and a half in line at HNL going through the State's vax confirmation process, prior to being permitted to leave the airport. As an international arrival, I understand that we are excluded from using the Safe Travels shortcut.

Panicking a bit (a lot) if what I saw is reflective of reality at the airport, as (theoretically) we land on a at 9:30 pm flight from Vancouver and Alamo closes their doors at 11. I figured that with normal deplaning and baggage issues, timing would be tight, but if we have to spend additional time in line to prove that we're vaxxed and boosted, we won't make it in time.

Thanks, in advance, for any and all responses.

 

[Willow1213]

One of our board members is currently in Hawaii and travelled in from Canada directly.

Read through her first few trip report posts!
https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...t-1-7-feb-4-20-2022-now-aulani.3870510/unread

 

[Inga]

I have details in my recent trip report in this forum. We are here now, and flew in direct from Canada. Airline takes care of ensuring you meet requirements…and you just step off the plane and you are on your way in Honolulu

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Thanks, Inga.

I've been following your posts and it's as a result of your experience being so different from the video that I watched that I wanted to reach out to see if you managed to hit the 6/49 of flight arrivals or whether things had truly changed from the video I had watched. I knew things had gotten much better for those travelling to HNL from US locations on US carriers, but thought that things were still much more complicated flying in on WestJet from YVR.

I have details in my recent trip report in this forum. We are here now, and flew in direct from Canada. Airline takes care of ensuring you meet requirements…and you just step off the plane and you are on your way in Honolulu

 

[Inga]

No I don’t think so, Hawaii depends heavily on the international carriers to follow their rules, and as we saw it there was a lot of trust by the state that the airlines have it covered, thereby making it easier on us travellers (for a change). The key piece is whether your carrier is flying directly from Canada vs via the US to Hawaii.

 

[modavi]

Yes, we just landed in Maui 10 days ago from Canada (on our way home today) and had a similar experience. Was a piece of cake and we definitely didn’t have to wait in any lines for any vaccine compliance verification.

 

[modavi]

Yes, we just landed in Maui 10 days ago from Canada (on our way home today) and had a similar experience. Was a piece of cake and we definitely didn’t have to wait in any lines for any vaccine compliance verification.

Also flew west jet from YVR

 

[modavi]

I will also say that we’ve flown into Maui (HNL may differ) before and our flight was delayed by a few hours which got us in after Alamo closed, and they had actually brought someone in in the middle of the night to process the new arrivals. Not sure if that’s standard practice or anything but it was sure helpful in our case.

I would also go on to suggest considering renting a car from Turo rather than a traditional car rental service. That’s what we did this trip and we’ll never go back. It was cheaper, and the car was just waiting for us in the airport parking lot. Get in and go. No complicated drop off or pickups or lineups to collect your car. And no worries with situations like this where you’re concerned your flight might arrive after the rental agency closes for the night.

Just something to consider!

Edit: Apologies for the 3 separate posts… could t find the edit button on my mobile

 

[FinnFogg]

Thanks, Inga.

I've been following your posts and it's as a result of your experience being so different from the video that I watched that I wanted to reach out to see if you managed to hit the 6/49 of flight arrivals or whether things had truly changed from the video I had watched. I knew things had gotten much better for those travelling to HNL from US locations on US carriers, but thought that things were still much more complicated flying in on WestJet from YVR.

Our family of 5 flew westjet from yvr to hnl right after Xmas. Easy peasy. Same experience as Inga.