Travel USA travel tips and tricks

[jerry springer]

Been here a week now.Just out of st Louis.Loving it. a few thoughts

1.As others have mentioned,clothes shopping is so ridiculously cheap over here.Its makes me angry how much we pay in Australia,If you go to the outlet stores you pick up designer label clothing up to 75% off the price. Im picking up nike, adidas,under amour etc t-shirts for $8....designer shirts from $14.. There are heaps of shoe deals, Buy 1 get the 2nd half price, so you end up with 2 pairs of good shoes for $65

I'm already considering just coming back in 2-3 years just to buy clothes

2.alcohol is even cheaper,I would be a fulltime drunk if i lived here. went to a party the other day and ended up getting blind on moonshine

3. Food is bum,but the range is huge,if you want to eat healthy you just have to look through the menu a bit. Buffalo wings is awesome, wall to wall sport, you can get a control pad and play poker against your mates or other tables on big screens whilst you watch NBA or whatevers on, A great way to meet chicks too. Decent food and a good range of beer

4. Interstates are have a road trip to Tulsa tomorrow(will checkout a Indian casino) then to oklahoma city the next day to see the Thunder - lakers game 2 .Tickets were very easy to get, as others have recommended stubhub is fantastic

5. People are so nice. i don't think there are many Australians here in the mid-west. I have managed to bring taco-bell and subway to a halt just by talking whilst people stared at me

6. Wal-mart(or wallys world they call it here) is full of freaks

 

[peejay]

Here is a tip when you come to NYC.

235th

It's a roof top bar at 230 5th avenue www.230-fifth.com

It's on top of an office block and has the best night views I have seen here in NYC , and I am a regular visitor having been here about 15 times.

It's gets crowded after say 11pm so if you rock up at 9 you can get a seat and the best vies in NYC as the lights come on. They serve Asian inspired snack food, you could go here and get enough to eat for dinner without blowing your budget. They play good music and the vibe is great, beers are a little pricey - 9 bucks and wine is about 7 and up and mixed drinks (they call cocktails here) are reasonable.

There is no cover charge and after having been here you could understand if they charged a 10 or 15 buck cover charge.

Really worth it - it's right year Madison park, the flatiron building, eataly and the museum of sex.

It really is a must do IMO.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Been here a week now.Just out of st Louis.Loving it. a few thoughts

1.As others have mentioned,clothes shopping is so ridiculously cheap over here.Its makes me angry how much we pay in Australia,If you go to the outlet stores you pick up designer label clothing up to 75% off the price. Im picking up nike, adidas,under amour etc t-shirts for $8....designer shirts from $14.. There are heaps of shoe deals, Buy 1 get the 2nd half price, so you end up with 2 pairs of good shoes for $65

I'm already considering just coming back in 2-3 years just to buy clothes

Had the same thought. Incredible prices.

2.alcohol is even cheaper,I would be a fulltime drunk if i lived here. went to a party the other day and ended up getting blind on moonshine

When I saw the aisles of cheap alcohol in Walmart, I thought of those stereotypical alcoholic mother type movies where there are bottles of gin hiding in every cupboard, and now I know why the families could afford to pour it down the sink!

5. People are so nice. i don't think there are many Australians here in the mid-west. I have managed to bring taco-bell and subway to a halt just by talking whilst people stared at me

Found the same thing. People very friendly and also fascinated by our apparently very cool accent. Plus, I think we get points for backing them in their various conflicts around the world. I heard it is really just some travelling Americans that are obnoxious.

 

[deeman12]

Going for my B2 visa tomorrow morning. Bit nervous about it, but should hopefully convince them that I'm legitimate.

 

[Espe]

35 days till I'm off to the States for just under a 2 month road trip in the Uni break. Just a couple of questions for you experienced travellers as this is my first time overseas.

1. Money - What travel card is the best? Probably just going to go with Travelex

2. I'm in New York for 4 days, staying at the Hostel International. What are the 'must do's' for 4 days in New York. I know for sure that going to the WTC memorial is a must, also the token bus tour. Or if anyone else has stayed at HI New York, what's some good tips.

3. What's a nice but not insanely pricey hotel really close to LAX, plan to treat myself with a comfortable last night before the trek back home.

4. This is my first international flight (Flying Melbourne-Auckland- LAX, road tripping the west coast, then LAX - NY, road tripping down to Miami, then Miami - LAX then home). What's some good tips for a newbie, especially a first timer in American airports.

5. How much spending money - purely for just blowing, plus food. At the moment I've saved up about 4 grand for 6 and a bit weeks, however I think I'm being on the safe side as everyone tells me how cheap it is over there. I had a friend come back recently from a 7 week trip and only spent $2500 on goodies.

6. Clothes - I'm really unsure what to pack as I'm doing a mixture of camping, hostelling, and hotelling. Obviously it will be warm in June/July/August. But I've heard it can get quite cold at night over in the west, so I'm probably going to throw in some jeans and jumpers and "night out" clothes (or is it better to just buy that stuff over there?)

I have made an effort to read a chunk of the thread, but not all, so I apologize if I have repeated anything.

Im sure I will think of a few more over the coming weeks

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

35 days till I'm off to the States for just under a 2 month road trip in the Uni break. Just a couple of questions for you experienced travellers as this is my first time overseas.

1. Money - What travel card is the best? Probably just going to go with Travelex

Travelex is everywhere. I used a CBA travel card. Did the job nicely.

2. I'm in New York for 4 days, staying at the Hostel International. What are the 'must do's' for 4 days in New York. I know for sure that going to the WTC memorial is a must, also the token bus tour. Or if anyone else has stayed at HI New York, what's some good tips.

Extensive list and 4 days is not a lot. Get yourself a New York Pass and it gets you into a lot of things you normally have to pay to see. Top of the Rock is a must, a cruise around Liberty and Ellis Island or the whole of Manhattan for that matter. These are free after you buy the card. Probably want to see Central Park and ride the subway.

Have you booked for a visit to the Memorial? Will be busy in Summer you would think.

3. What's a nice but not insanely pricey hotel really close to LAX, plan to treat myself with a comfortable last night before the trek back home.

I'd stay closer to some activity and book a shuttle a little earlier in the morning. Expedia was full of nice inexpensive hotels but again you are travelling in their warmer weather so it might be harder to find a lot of variety.

4. This is my first international flight (Flying Melbourne-Auckland- LAX, road tripping the west coast, then LAX - NY, road tripping down to Miami, then Miami - LAX then home). What's some good tips for a newbie, especially a first timer in American airports.

Just get your airport security routine down pat so as not to waste TSAs time. Shoes off, carry on liquids in right amounts, shrapnel out of your pockets and be very polite. When you change planes in Auckland, even though you do not leave the secure area, you still have to board through security again. They were more daunting than LAX for me, surprisingly.

5. How much spending money - purely for just blowing, plus food. At the moment I've saved up about 4 grand for 6 and a bit weeks, however I think I'm being on the safe side as everyone tells me how cheap it is over there. I had a friend come back recently from a 7 week trip and only spent $2500 on goodies.

Factor in activities that might cost money, not just stuff you are buying. Food, water etc (a lot of walking in some places) I factored in about $40 per day per person. That's very comfortable with a diner meal, breakfast, snack during the day and a drink here or there. You also have to factor in tipping, cabs, etc.

6. Clothes - I'm really unsure what to pack as I'm doing a mixture of camping, hostelling, and hotelling. Obviously it will be warm in June/July/August. But I've heard it can get quite cold at night over in the west, so I'm probably going to throw in some jeans and jumpers and "night out" clothes (or is it better to just buy that stuff over there?)

Pack very light, buy it over there. You pay for your luggage on domestic flights and if you come over packed and then try to fit in all the stuff you are no doubt going to be compelled to buy, you start worrying about weight limits. Read up on each airlines baggage policies and plan ahead.

It really is shopping nirvana over there, even for guys.

 

[_Mike_]

1. Money - What travel card is the best? Probably just going to go with Travelex

You can use your ATM card, but check first with your bank on fees and which US banks you can use.

2. I'm in New York for 4 days, staying at the Hostel International. What are the 'must do's' for 4 days in New York. I know for sure that going to the WTC memorial is a must, also the token bus tour. Or if anyone else has stayed at HI New York, what's some good tips.

I stay at a place near 47th & Lexington

Whatever attraction you're going to see, GO EARLY. Everything in New York involves waiting in queues, so the earlier you go, the less time you have to wait

Do the following things
- Statue of Liberty - Travel to Batery Park, but remember that before you queue for the ferry, you must have purchased your ticket. we made the mistake of queuing for an hour realising that the ticket had to be purchased from the ticket office in the middle of Battery Park
- Empire State Building - go in the morning
- Rockerfeller Centre - another tourist attraction
- Museum of American History
- Hire a bike and ride Central Park
- Take the train to Brooklyn and walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge
- There are plenty of comedy clubs around NYC that do nightly shows. You can usually find tickets for $10-$20 from promotors standing around Times Square
- If you want to see a Broadway production, you can line up for tickets on any day in Times Square. There is a ticket booth smack bang in the middle that has steps which people sit on, but queue EARLY. You have no guarantee of what tickets you'll get as they often sell excess seats for shows that are playing that day
- See Chinatown, Soho and other places south of the Island.


- For shopping
- Century 21 which is just across from Ground Zero
- Macey's which isnt far from Times Square
- JR's which is their version of our JB HiFi

For every days needs, go to Duane Reade's. They are like your local IGA

3. What's a nice but not insanely pricey hotel really close to LAX, plan to treat myself with a comfortable last night before the trek back home.

LAX is next to Inglewood and there aint much around there (suburbs & gangs).

Go north to Santa Monica or Holywood if you want to stay somewhere that you can actually do something while you're there

4. This is my first international flight (Flying Melbourne-Auckland- LAX, road tripping the west coast, then LAX - NY, road tripping down to Miami, then Miami - LAX then home). What's some good tips for a newbie, especially a first timer in American airports.

So you're going Air New Zeland? Last I went was with them, and had a 1 hour & 50 minute stop in Auckland with a plane change. Was a comfortable ride.

Flying over the Pacific, once your about 12 hours in to the flight you'll experience turbulence for a short while. Its normal for that region

LAX is huge but dont get overwhelmed by it. Dont act suspicious and ask for help if you're lost. There are a lot of terminals there, so it helps to know well in advance which one you need to be at for connecting flights

5. How much spending money - purely for just blowing, plus food. At the moment I've saved up about 4 grand for 6 and a bit weeks, however I think I'm being on the safe side as everyone tells me how cheap it is over there. I had a friend come back recently from a 7 week trip and only spent $2500 on goodies.

Thats fine as long as you dont go crazy. Remember, tipping is an obligation over there, but tip as to how you enjoyed the service. If the service was shitty, a buck will suffice. Usually they want a tip as a % of the bill. If you dont tip, they let you know about it.

Make sure you have US currency on you when you land. Dont go to the currency converters over there, they rip you off on rates. Get $400-$500 USD from the bank here so when you're there, you have it ready to go

6. Clothes - I'm really unsure what to pack as I'm doing a mixture of camping, hostelling, and hotelling. Obviously it will be warm in June/July/August. But I've heard it can get quite cold at night over in the west, so I'm probably going to throw in some jeans and jumpers and "night out" clothes (or is it better to just buy that stuff over there?)

Take the bare essentials, you end up buying plenty of stuff when you're there

 

[Lets Roar like '44]

My tip for LAX. Spend as little time as possible there. The MOST BORING airport you could ever imagine. A couple of eateries, couple of gift shops, no wi- fi and absolutely bugger all there.

 

[wce4premiership]

1. Money - What travel card is the best? Probably just going to go with Travelex

28 Degrees mastercard.
Easily the best I can find, I've done a fair amount of research.

The best pre-paid card imo is ANZ, but you can use the 28 degrees card as a pre-paid card if you put your own money on it, it's free of all fees bar the ATM fees of the actual machine itself.


Also. I was wondering about what to pack, I was thinking mainly summer clothes, should I pack many jumpers/pants?
Are there good prices in all towns or just certain outlet stores?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Are there good prices in all towns or just certain outlet stores?

Put it this way, we pretty much filled a suitcase in Manhattan. There is a really cheap clothing department store called Conways, either Broadway or 6th Avenue around Midtown.

Bugger, there is one on 34th St but just found out they closed the large one on Broadway. Pity, that place was brilliant. $15 Levi jeans, heavy New York style jackets for $20, all the socks and jocks for like $1, cheap shoes everything.

Still, you could find a Walmart and still do pretty well.

 

[wce4premiership]

Thanks.

Has tipped my view of packing on its head. I was going to do the majority here and then buy small things along the way. I might have to leave some room now and buy in bulk

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I threw some of my old clothes away so I could buy more stuff over there and keep under the weight limits. Everybody told us not to pack a lot but we didn't listen.

 

[Shell]

The NYC ep of The Simpsons was on TV the other night.


Anyone looking for tips for NYC just watch that episode.

"No later than 5 o'clock- cause after sundown thats when all the weirdos turn crazy..... IM ONTO YOU".

 

[Shell]

My tip for LAX. Spend as little time as possible there. The MOST BORING airport you could ever imagine. A couple of eateries, couple of gift shops, no wi- fi and absolutely bugger all there.

I had a massive stop over in LAX once. Just caught the bus to Santa Monica and had a look around, went to the beach.

Much better than sitting around the airport.

 

[peejay]

My tip For cheap clothes is Burlington on 6th avenue near 23rd St.

Very cheap stuff there.

 

[Special Agent Utah]

I Have been researching flights flights over christmas as well for New York and return leaving on 21st Nov until 3rd Jan on United airlines is $1447 Return! (On webjet and with Harvey World Travel)

And as for Accomodation has anyone used Hotels website??

 

[wce4premiership]

I can see myself throwing out clothes along the way, considering I am taking lots of phuket clothes, they will mostly be getting left behind to save washing

 

[Fire Storm]

Heard that if in Texas and a man calls you a liar, you can shoot him. Not sure if that's true though.


Make sure to bring a full suitcase back filled with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and Stubbs Wing Sauce. A crime if you don't.

 

[daniel_93]

Happy i got seat 80a on the flight there, on May 30th.. Had to settle with 77K on the way home on Sept 16th. Oh well..

 

[WCErevival]

Are sim cards easy enough to get over there?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Shoes: Take old ones, buy new ones over there and throw the old away. That's what I did when I bought Nikes in the Vegas outlet store.

 

[daniel_93]

Shoes: Take old ones, buy new ones over there and throw the old away. That's what I did when I bought Nikes in the Vegas outlet store.

Brought a tonne of stuff from the Outlets in vegas. Stupid us last year, had to buy 2 extra luggage bags just so we could fit new clothes in.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Shoes: Take old ones, buy new ones over there and throw the old away. That's what I did when I bought Nikes in the Vegas outlet store.

ha ha yep, did the same thing.

Brought a tonne of stuff from the Outlets in vegas. Stupid us last year, had to buy 2 extra luggage bags just so we could fit new clothes in.

That's one of the good thing (among many) about travelling to the US. You are allowed 2 bags.

we went with empty suitcases (one change of cloths) and came home with 2 full suitcases that went way over the allowed luggage weight.

 

[peejay]

Happy i got seat 80a on the flight there, on May 30th.. Had to settle with 77K on the way home on Sept 16th. Oh well..

You got the prime seat . 80 a and 80k are the dream seats in economy on the 380. Don't fly economy much these days but when i do i always get it due to my Frequent flyer status..

 

[BERT]

I've got 71D on the A380. No seat in front.