I don't mind that Hawaii requires a specific type of Covid-19 test - I'm a big fan of having everyone on my plane be tested, but to restrict who can provide the test is too much. The City of Irvine has a free one day turnaround test that is NAAT compliant but because they chose not to apply to Hawaii, they are not on the approved list, so I can't use them. The test is good but not the site. Really?? I wonder what kind of kickback is going on with these approved sites which of course can charge a higher premium.
Another big problem I have with them is the 72 hour rule instead of a 3 day rule. My flight leaves at 6 PM on Friday which means I can get tested no earlier than 6 PM on Tuesday, but test sites and/or overnight deliveries are not available after 5 PM so essentially I have to wait until first thing Wednesday morning which just took 16 hours off my time table. A 3 day window would have allowed testing all day on Tuesday.
Walgreens is on the approved list and the process for their PCR test would be as follows: I would have to schedule a drive-thru test Wednesday morning, the courier would pick up the test in the afternoon and it would be delivered the next day to their laboratory partners. If it goes to Aegis Science they generally process the test the same day so I would have the results late Thursday, but no guarantee. If it goes to LabCore their processing time is listed 1-2 day after receipt. (edit: I believe LabCore labs are local so the swab would get delivered that night). Really tight and no guarantees - I would be at the airport praying my results arrive in time. The local Walgreens tells me the lab partner varies between each Walgreens so you need to check but that sometimes shipments get delayed. So it's possible that Walgreens would work but it's a risk. Funny Walgreens offers a Rapid Diagnostic test (ID NOW) with results in less than a day but not in California?! I can get this in Las Vegas. That would be perfect.
American Airlines (my flight) uses "Let's Get Checked" for $119 as a "service" to their customers. They mail you an at-home self-testing kit so you get on Zoom and they make sure you do the test correctly at a set time and that you are actually you! Unfortunately you must return the test to them via UPS which has the latest drop off around 5 PM. So I could take the test Tuesday night, have UPS get it on Wednesday, delivered to the lab on Thursday and then they process it 1-3 days. That's too risky so not an option. Good to see that American is on top of things! Hawaiian Airlines has a better at the airport solution, but it is restricted to their customers only leaving from that airport.
So I'm stuck using a Rapid Diagnostic testing site on Hawaii's approved list. There are two of those locally - one is AFC Urgent care in Lake Forest - they do the test in a few hours and charge $250 per person with no insurance options. The City of Irvine free test is the same BUT they are not on that damn approved list! The other choice is Clarity Lab at LAX - they give results in 3-5 hours and charge $125 with no insurance options. The Hoag testing site at OC Airport is not an approved test nor site.
So back to my gripe - there are only two Rapid Diagnostic testing options in SoCal on Hawaii's approved list. All the other options that require more than a day have timing issues - you may get your result in time, you may not. The Hawaii list of approved sites even warn passengers about timing concerns, so why are they even approved? Without your results, you ain't getting on the plane. I like the idea of testing but Hawaii is hell bent on making it as stressful as possible. Only two Rapid Test sites in all of SoCal!!
Looks like I'm getting tested at LAX...