Ok, but why a link to fox news?
Boycott Fox News.
Fox Lies always gets my downvotes.
Here's a non-Fox link. BBC version of the same story.
We encourage people to do this for Fox News links.
While Fox News isn't actively blacklisted at this time, our stance is that we do prefer other sources/outlets if the same story is available. As I mentioned in another comment, we read both of these articles and they contain basically the same content, so we left this post up, and that is basically how these posts are being evaluated at this time (checking to make sure they aren't misleading/reporting incorrect information).
Also as mentioned in my other comment, we do also understand that a lot of users do not want to click Fox News links and support them, so I do also encourage people to post links to other outlets in the comments so users can still read the article if they choose to do so.
sourcing an article from fox "news" is insane, so many other places for the same story. fuck fox. really.
Our stance is that we prefer if people use other outlets if the same story is available elsewhere, although it isn't outright blacklisted (at this time).
We skimmed this article and the article posted above from BBC, and they contain basically the same information so we are leaving it up as it seems this article wasn't written in bad faith.
That said, we do understand that users do not want to click Fox News links and support them.
This is a constant talking point between the mods that is actively monitored and discussed on whether we should continue to allow it, but for the time being, we are just doing our best to encourage users to use other outlets and reading the articles and comparing them to what other outlets have reported to ensure they aren't misleading or reporting incorrect information before we decide to leave it up.
My neighbors are going for 2 weeks in a week. They've been planning for more than a year. This will be their last chance to go as a family of 4. I can't see them canceling.
Visiting a burning, inhospitable hellscape where people are actively dying and the rest are having their entire lives destroyed, and doing it for fun because "well, we've been planning it for a while, and want to go somewhere as a family and can't come up with anything else exotic enough for our standards on short notice" is incredibly trashy and selfish.
They sound like shitty people, honestly, and I hope they have an awful time.
Are hotels and travel companies offering refunds?
We were planning to go in a month and we’re trying to cancel. Virtually none of the companies were willing to offer a refund (including a luau in Lahaina)
Once the fire started threatening kaanapali our hotel & such has started to offer refunds with an understandably long wait time.
We just switched islands, but we’re pretty privileged to afford to buy a whole different vacation while waiting on refunds.
Damn. I am on the same boat and planning to try and get refunds this week. The resort already offered a credit for up to 2 years but I don’t want a credit, just a refund. How is it going for you?
That’s what we were told too. We made a post on Facebook tagging them and what their protocol was, and they reached out and changed their mind.
Who knows when I’ll get the money back though.
We booked Kauai and we’re really excited. Definitely cost a couple grand extra for the trip, and we’re owed about 4K in refunds. My heart goes out to those that can’t simply fork out that kinda cash.
Also if you paid for the hotel with a credit card, most cards offer free travel insurance. You can file a claim there and get a refund.
Talking of ‘having their whole lives destroyed’ - presumably the people actually working in and running the hotels want them there - or else they would be closed
presumably the people actually working in and running the hotels want them there - or else they would be closed
It might not be up to them. I imagine some places are run by shitty corporate overlords that don't give two shits about the devastation.
REITs own a large portion of hotels in Maui, and they’re required by law to do what is most profitable to the shareholders.
Many hotels are going to be housing displaced residents, including their own employees.
We went to the big island during an eruption in 2018. I didn't want to go but my family wouldn't cancel. The air was full of vog. It was gross and everyone in our group was cranky. I'm sure your neighbor will not get the trip they planned for.
vog
Is that a typo or the actual term?
It's the actual term.
"volcano fog", separating it from pedestrian fog due to bonus toxic gases, etc
I’ve seen VOC for Volatile Organic Compounds, maybe that’s Volatile Organic Gasses.
If we forced airlines to honor rescheduling for not a huge cost then this wouldn't be as much of an issue. But I imagine those thousands in ticket prices can't really be burned without canceling the trip for the foreseeable future.
Nows the time for them to use that travel insurance and get a full refund. They may be putting themselves in danger and, regardless, they will be vacationing where people are actively suffering.
Are they staying near Lahaina?
I do not know their detailed plans.
Ask them to leave the keys to their house with you, and give you the alarm codes. 🤫
They usually do.
The fox website should be banned on here.
Fuck Fox, but ignoring the source, it's not wrong.
I know this is more "celebrity" than news, but I'd seen discussions on whether it was better to visit (as a misguided attempt to help via tourism dollars) or stay away.
I think there's a strong argument for traveling there to spend tourist dollars and help them recover economically.
But like...not when the fires are still raging out of control, maybe? You'll just be in the way.
These aren't from this current crisis, but I have a feeling the sentiments haven't changed much:
https://mymodernmet.com/lily-hiilani-okimura-hawaii-tourism/
https://www.irreview.org/articles/hawaii-tourism-opposite-of-a-paradise-for-locals
https://taiswim.co/blogs/bikini-blog/why-you-should-not-come-to-hawaii-for-your-next-vacation
Yeah, every touristy place hates tourists. Who wouldn't? They're noisy, they crowd the beaches and sights and restaurants. Everybody hates tourists...until they stop showing up. It turns out that tourist dollars are pretty intimately connected with tourists.
If you'd actually bothered reading any of those, you would have realise that that wasn't actually true (almost none of the money actually goes to the natives and nor do many of the jobs), but sure, keep your head in the sand, I hear it's cosy, just like the fantasy that you know better than the people actually living there.
Tourist money doesn't go into a hotel employee's pocket and just sit there forever. Employees involved in the tourist industry buy food, clothing, and entertainment, and hire plumbers and painters and construction workers, and pay taxes, which in turn fund schools and roads and emergency services (like, say, firefighters).
You can't get rid of tourism and the 25% of GDP it represents, and just go on with the same quality of life.
But I mean, if Hawaiian want to stop tourism, they should vote to stop tourism. There's nothing stopping them from banning hotels or whatever.
We need the hotel rooms for displaced residents and support personnel arriving to help with the efforts.
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