Postpone your flight home if COVID positive in Hawaii

HONOLULU (KHON2) – If you started to feel sick on vacation you are asked to isolate and get a COVID test. However, how many people actually do that?

According to the CDC you should not travel home and instead push back your departure plans if you have COVID-19 symptoms, even if you recovered from COVID-19 within the past 90 days or are up to date with COVID-19 vaccine.

If you do test positive while on vacation with COVID you are asked to not travel for a full 10 days after your symptoms started or the date of your positive test was taken if you had no symptoms.

For groups traveling together and are considered a close contact you are asked to not travel until a full five days after your last close contact with the person with COVID-19. However, it is best to avoid travel for a full 10 days after your last exposure. 

Many airlines will accommodate changes to flights due to testing positive with COVID-19.

According to Hawaiian Airlines’ COVID policy you are able to cancel your reservation at any time and use the value towards the purchase of a new flight. 

The credit must be used, and travel must begin no later than Dec. 31, 2022. A fare difference may apply if your new ticket exceeds the price of your original ticket.

United Airlines has permanently gotten rid of change fees for most Economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S.

This means if you test positive or need to quarantine from being a close contact you can push back your flight until you are safe to travel once again. 

But what if you feel fine while traveling, however, the person next to you is sick. According to the CDC they have a team to look into contagious diseases on flights.

Under current federal regulations, pilots must report all illnesses and deaths to CDC before arriving to a U.S. destination. 

According to CDC protocols, if a sick traveler has a contagious disease that is a risk to others on board the airplane, CDC works with local and state health departments and international public health agencies to contact exposed passengers and crew.

Be sure to give the airline your current contact information when booking your ticket so you can be notified if you are exposed to a sick traveler on a flight.

For more information on what to do if you come down with COVID on vacation or for more information on the CDC’s investigations on contagious diseases on flights head to their website.