Alaska Airlines introduces Hawaii Pre-Clear program

[mickeee]

Alaska Airlines introduces Hawaii pre-clearance. I look forward to other airlines being certified for pre-clearance by the state of Hawaii as we are flying to HNL on Dec 21.

https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2020-12-11-Alaska-Airlines-introduces-Hawaii-Pre-Clear-program

 

[Great3]

My main concern is getting that negative COVID test results on time before boarding time. But this is nice to hear, like you said, hopefully all major airlines can get on board.

Great3

 

[tidefan]

Hopefully, Southwest can get on this by March...

 

[jacobzking]

Hopefully, Southwest can get on this by March...

this!

 

[mickeee]

I must say though we went to Aulani in Dec during the holidays on United and it was very well managed in Honolulu.

The pre screening will provide a piece of mind but if you have the QR code it took only an extra 5-10 minutes to clear on landing.

 

[Great3]

I must say though we went to Aulani in Dec during the holidays on United and it was very well managed in Honolulu.

The pre screening will provide a piece of mind but if you have the QR code it took only an extra 5-10 minutes to clear on landing.

Thanks for the update. That doesn't sound too bad than, I though it might could be a couple hours, kinda like arriving back the to the US, waiting to clear immigrations and customs without trusted traveler status.

I originally was going to book American Airlines for my May trip to Hawaii, but ended up booking Alaska Airlines partly because of the Hawaii pre-clear program that Alaska Airlines have, but I am glad it's isn't too cumbersome for travelers of other airlines, that's good to hear.

Great3

 

[mickeee]

Thanks for the update. That doesn't sound too bad than, I though it might could be a couple hours, kinda like arriving back the to the US, waiting to clear immigrations and customs without trusted traveler status.

I originally was going to book American Airlines for my May trip to Hawaii, but ended up booking Alaska Airlines partly because of the Hawaii pre-clear program that Alaska Airlines have, but I am glad it's isn't too cumbersome for travelers of other airlines, that's good to hear.

Great3

You

We flew United non stop from the east coast to Honolulu. On arrival they deplaned 5 rows at a time and there was a single line to get our QR code’s checked but there were about 20 folks working with iPads who scanned out QR code’s and it was quite smoother than I anticipated. I was even looking for a separate Ko Olina line and the lady at the jetway told me not to worry about it as it is not going to take more than 10 mins to clear the line. We were 5 of us in the family and each one of us went to a different person and we were out in 5 minutes.

Note that both the car rental and Aulani require you to log in to your safe travels website on your phone for all members and check your quarantine and exception status. They don’t scan the QR code to check for your status so you will need to log in and show them your quarantine exception rather than just show them the code that the airport accepted.They don’t have the ability to scan the code.

Everything was a breeze as long as you are tech savvy and follow the rules. We didn’t even consider it a hassle for a minute. My three 20 year olds were more than comfortable and didn’t even feel this was a hassle. It was like signing in to their Tik Tok accounts.

I think folks are running into problems because they don’t upload their results correctly and then they are not comfortable with the technology. We actually felt safe thru out our trip than back home on the east coast.

Also as a piece of advice we just did the rapid test at the airport a day before our flight and we didn’t have to worry about getting our results in time. They were available in about 30
Minutes and we uploaded them to the safe travels site and answered the health questionnaire. The QR code came immediately for all of us. The only disadvantage of the airport rapid test was $200 per person and they don’t accept insurance but considering you are going to Hawaii for a vacation that was a small price to pay for our peace of mind. I rather forgo a couple of sit down dinners in Hawaii and get this rapid test done.

My two cents...

 

[Pagosa Springs]

We

You

We flew United non stop from the east coast to Honolulu. On arrival they deplaned 5 rows at a time and there was a single line to get our QR code’s checked but there were about 20 folks working with iPads who scanned out QR code’s and it was quite smoother than I anticipated. I was even looking for a separate Ko Olina line and the lady at the jetway told me not to worry about it as it is not going to take more than 10 mins to clear the line. We were 5 of us in the family and each one of us went to a different person and we were out in 5 minutes.

Note that both the car rental and Aulani require you to log in to your safe travels website on your phone for all members and check your quarantine and exception status. They don’t scan the QR code to check for your status so you will need to log in and show them your quarantine exception rather than just show them the code that the airport accepted.They don’t have the ability to scan the code.

Everything was a breeze as long as you are tech savvy and follow the rules. We didn’t even consider it a hassle for a minute. My three 20 year olds were more than comfortable and didn’t even feel this was a hassle. It was like signing in to their Tik Tok accounts.

I think folks are running into problems because they don’t upload their results correctly and then they are not comfortable with the technology. We actually felt safe thru out our trip than back home on the east coast.

Also as a piece of advice we just did the rapid test at the airport a day before our flight and we didn’t have to worry about getting our results in time. They were available in about 30
Minutes and we uploaded them to the safe travels site and answered the health questionnaire. The QR code came immediately for all of us. The only disadvantage of the airport rapid test was $200 per person and they don’t accept insurance but considering you are going to Hawaii for a vacation that was a small price to pay for our peace of mind. I rather forgo a couple of sit down dinners in Hawaii and get this rapid test done.

My two cents...

Where on the east coast did you fly from? We are leaving out of Orlando and I don’t believe they have a testing site here at airport.

 

[mickeee]

We flew non-stop from Newark, NJ. Perhaps check other Hawaii approved providers in Orlando that offer rapid test.