The USA is a paradise for the traveler. However, an unprepared trip can add more headaches than pleasant memories. In order to plan a trip to this country, the tourist will have to find a lot of necessary information. But no matter how carefully he didn’t prepare for the trip, some moments still fall out of his spotlight. Just in this case, we have collected all the basic tips from experienced travelers. The list includes recommendations on finding cheap housing and a convenient way of traveling, as well as tips on dining and financial issues. So, let’s go!
Don’t be afraid of renting a car in the USA
Many people even with a driver’s license in their pocket are afraid of driving a car, even in the native country. Thus, thinking about going on the road abroad plunges them into shock!
(photo by Mike Coulsonn)
It’s true for many countries, but not for the United States. It’s easy and pleasant to drive there, especially due to a good transport infrastructure, a convenient traffic system and adequate behavior of other drivers. Don’t be afraid of anything and rent a car in the USA. The cost of car rental, especially if using Enterprise promo code USA is one of the cheapest in the world.
Choose lodging carefully
It’s not a secret that hotels in the US can be very expensive! You can hardly find a suitable hotel in a good area in a big tourist city for less than $120-150 per night.
Therefore, it’s recommended to use AirBNB – an apartments search engine. They are much preferable to hotels, since they are cheaper – $50-70 per room and $100-120 for a good apartment. There’s always a kitchen, which is also excellent for the budget traveler. Also, this option allows you to see how local people live.
Find a place to eat in advance
This item is also more concerned with long car trips between cities and national parks. On the road, you will have to spend a lot of time, which means you have to look for places where you can eat well and tasty.
Everywhere you will come across McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC billboards. The main advantage of such establishments – the food is absolutely safe, cheap and tasty there, but their drawback is that it’s impossible to eat such food for a long time. Of course, it can be much more difficult to find places with more familiar food on the way!
Thus, you need to check out several good cafes or restaurants on the way to your destination in advance so that you don’t have to search for them on the spot.
Remember the following financial tips
You also need to be aware of some points related to different financial issues, the knowledge of which separately will save only a couple of dollars, but using them all together will help save a significant amount of money:
- Despite the fact that in America you can pay with a credit card everywhere, it’s advisable to carry some cash with you in small denominations, as there can be problems with paying with a credit cards. Also, there are places where it’s more profitable to pay in cash, since you don’t have to pay an extra fee.
- Sometimes when paying for goods with a credit card, you will be asked to enter a ZIP code. Of course, you don’t have any ZIP code. Therefore, you can take a risk and enter something like “00000” or “99999”, or pick up any advertising booklet and enter the ZIP code from there.
- Cash withdrawals from a foreign credit card in the United States can be very expensive. The reason is that if the amount is large (for example, $1,000) it won’t be possible to withdraw it the first time, since many ATMs have a limit on cash withdrawal – about $200-500 per session. In order to collect the required amount of cash, you will have to withdraw several times. But the most important thing is that ATMs in the USA charge a commission for each withdrawal of money from a card from 0.5 to 2%, but no less than $3-5. So the withdrawal of $1,000 can cost you extra $15-25.
In case you need cash in the US, then either buy traveler’s checks, or find out in advance in which American bank the conditions for cash withdrawal are better.
- When self-paying for gasoline with a bank card, $1 is withdrawn from your account to verify successful completion of the operation. If your payment wasn’t successful the first time, and you try to pay again, $1 will be charged again. Of course, in case of an unsuccessful attempt, no one will return the written off dollars to you. So if you are not sure that you can pay by card, pay for gasoline through the cashier.
- It’s impossible to get used to the fact that prices in the USA are indicated without taxes, and the amount at the checkout will be different. Each state has its own taxes, and therefore the final price will be different. It’s hard to keep in mind all the nuances of US taxation, just know that you need more money on the account or in your pocket than what is written on the counter.