USA Travel Tips

Written by a English girl travelling to America!

My first trip to the United States was when I was 6 years old. I was lucky enough to visit Orlando, Florida – such a real life magical kingdom at that age and from that point on, I’ve been in love with visiting the United States!

I’ve been back 16 times so far and visited 19 states. I hope to visit all 50 one day! When I tell some Americans this, they often say I can skip a few – but I can’t – I have every intention of seeing them all!

With this in mind I decided to pull together all the travel tips I’ve learnt along the way to help fellow visitors to the US, as there are some things that are slightly different. For example; it took us a while to figure out the pay system after a meal and filling up at the petrol station – getting gas as they say!

First, lets cover getting into the country

• Foreign visitors will need an ESTA (visa application) – get this in advance here. You have to renew your ESTA every 2 years.

.Joe got a new passport after our first year to America. When it came round to year 2 of us going to America, we didn’t think anything about ESTA’s because they were valid for our second year – WRONG! Joe had a new passport and you can’t transfer an existing ESTA over to a new passport, you have to get a new one! It was 48 hours before we were due to fly to Washington DC when we found this out and we were frantically ringing the ESTA Application Team to check if we could get approved ASAP!! They say to allow 72 hours for approval!

The team were helpful but unfortunately no guarantees! We were chatting through all of our options, which included me going to Washington DC on my own and Joe following once it arrived – we had a bit of scope as we were in DC for 2 nights but it was complete panic stations! THANKFULLY it came within a few hours but again make sure you apply with plenty of time! Thank you ESTA gods!

• You need to have six months validity left on your passport
• Holiday Insurance is essential. Remember they don’t have the NHS equivalent over there so you will have to pay for any health care you receive.
• Border Control – from our experience there is one word for this LONG! Be prepared to wait in line.

Getting around the US

The US is very car dependent. Public transport isn’t as popular in the US as it is in Europe and the UK! I remember when I was 21 and visiting LA with a friend, we didn’t have a car and we walked everywhere or got on the bus! The bus is okay (ish) but you will encounter a very mixed bag of people and as a young girl, it didn’t feel the safest! I remember sitting at the bus stop where there was one other person waiting and this car pulled up in the traffic right in front of us and shouted at the person “I didn’t know you couldn’t drive!!” as if in shock! Compare this to my friends in London, many of them can’t drive – they didn’t need to – everything is so accessible.

If you are in the City I would recommend using Uber or Lyft if you don’t have a car, especially if the place isn’t really walkable. Be prepared – a lot of Cities and even small towns in the US are quite large. I’ve used Uber plenty of times in the US and it’s just like using the app in the UK. In San Francisco there are actual driverless taxis – people sitting in the back of driverless cars!! It’s incredible to witness.

Just to note, if you are hiring a car in the US, it will be an automatic drive and you will be driving on the right side of the road.

Filling up the car

Rule one, at pick up know what fuel your vehicle takes, and be super careful at the pumps – unlike the UK, diesel is green and petrol is the black pump in America.

After taking care of your rental paperwork with the clerk, one of their crew will show you to your car. Do not be afraid to ask how to open the fuel cap (many have slightly hidden releases in the cabin) and take this opportunity to check which side of the vehicle you fill up. Sure there could be long hoses at the station, but make life easy for yourself.

Many stations offer a slight discount for cash payments on fuel. Some pumps accept debit / credit card at the pump itself, but I often found my UK card wouldn’t work, so I just made the habit of heading to the Kiosk.

You prepay first, then you fill. If you have prepaid say $60 and it was $55 to ‘fill her up’, don’t worry – you will automatically be refunded the difference to your card – usually within 24hrs. If you pay by cash, take your receipt back to the kiosk and get a cash refund.

In some places, you will find station forecourts with staff more than happy to help take care of business and fill up for you – go for it – and consider a small tip if you can!

Phone Data

You will need data roaming whilst you are abroad. Some phone contracts include Europe but will exclude ‘rest of world’ so double check your contract and what you have included. If you need to purchase additional data roaming for the US then check how much it will be with your provider for the month vs a week.

During my last three years of travelling to the US, the amount I paid increased every year; now I have it included in my contract. It’s worth it as I aim to travel multiple times a year. Once you have it you can use your phone as normal within the US. I won’t ever make a regular phone call from my phone whilst abroad – I’m too scared. I’m 41 and of the generation where we would accidentally rack up huge phone bills when on holiday. Nowadays I always phone via WhatsApp (over wifi). You can also buy a local sim to use whilst you’re but make sure your phone is unlocked and able to accept it.

Hospitality

I really believe hospitality is one of the BIG reasons we keep going back to America! It is fantastic! It is so rare not to get a friendly hello when you walk in the door. For us this is so important to be welcomed in and the Americans do perfectly! It makes you want to stay and spend your money! Joe and I will often sit up at the bar; there is more of an option to do so, compared to in the UK.

Tipping and Tax

Tipping is part of the culture in the US and part of the wage system. It is not like the UK where you only tip if you get good service – it is partly that – but mainly it contributes to their wages. Tipping applies not only to the hospitality you receive but housekeeping, taxi’s, hotel concierge etc.

Whenever I am visiting the States and I see a ‘price tag’, whether it be the price of the hotel stay / a souvenier in a shop / or an item on a menu; I always think in my head ‘add a bit on’. Sales tax is often added to a price you see on a menu or in a shop so the tipping is just part of the ‘adding a bit on’.

It does sound a little counterintuitive when you are from a UK culture, that you have to tip on a $2.50 cup of coffee that you stood in line to get, with no ‘table service’ or additional ‘service’ that would enable a tip in the UK. But when you find out what that barista is getting paid, you’ll realise why they add it on!

A rough guide that Joe and I will normally use when tipping:

• Restaurant 18% to 22% – more if exceptional service
• Taxi $5 or if it’s a longer journey then 10%
• Housekeeping $2 per day
• Coffee shop / Bar $1 – $2 per drink

Paying by card – Hospitality

Paying by card for a meal out can be a little different! This is one that took us a while to get to grips with. Here’s what happens:

1. Once you have asked for the bill (“the check” is the common phrase) and it arrives, if you are happy, you say you are paying by card.
2. They will then take your card away – yes that’s right, away – you should of seen my face when this first happened to us – sheer panic is the word! In the UK this does NOT happen. This is totally normal in the US; they will take your card away to the till and present you with a SECOND bill generated from swiping (charging) the card. Breathe easy – your card no longer leaves your sight.
3. You will then have the original bill plus the second bill in front of you. The first is for you, on the second; confirm the total and your tip amount and total it up yourself. I hope you are good at maths! Then sign. You are free to go.
4. The restaurant will then update the charge on your card with the tip, so in essence it’s two charges to your card. One for the bill and one for the tip.

I know what you are thinking, unnecessarily complex right?! You’ll get used to it though or just pay the tip in cash! Just sign the second bill stating zero in the tip section and leave the cash tip in the wallet / book thing!

There are a high number of places where you can’t use contactless payments compared with the UK, especially outside the main Cities. It’s getting more and more accepted now but ALWAYS take your physical card with you at all times just incase.

Other points to note

Portion sizes are huge!

We love it! The salads are the best in the US, they are real salads in my opinion, they fill you up and have tons of ingredients! You won’t get a pizza with 5 pieces of pepperoni, you’ll get 25 pieces! Much more my type of place! It’s common to ask for a doggy bag (take leftovers home) so don’t be afraid to ask, they are set up for this.

Free refills!

You will likely get free refills in many places, usually on fizzy drinks; including Iced Tea! Another nice thing that I like is when you sit down somewhere, most of the time you will automatically get water. I like not having to ask for it!

Measurements

They will refer to a ‘pint’ of beer as 16oz and they also commonly serve 12oz beers. Ounces are the go to measurement in the US. I drink margaritas and they always seem stronger in the US – I then realised a ‘normal’ shot is around 44ml in the US vs 25 / 35ml in the UK! 150ml is also the standard pour of a glass of wine, whereas the small in the UK is 125ml. In my (extensive) experience with ordering wine in the US, they always seem to be bigger measurements than you get in the UK.

Do NOT talk about politics!

Unless you love politics of course or have a lot of time on your hands. It’s not a subject Joe and I gravitate towards, especially on holiday, but Americans are particularly passionate about politics so don’t get into it. Joe and I have had to make our excuses a couple of times when this type of conversation has begun, one time we had to get out of a hot tub in the middle of Mammoth Lakes – most upsetting!

Over to you…

If you are visiting the US for the first time, let me know how you got on. If you have any questions or tip suggestions get in touch and I’ll get it added!