5 Things to Remember When Travelling to the USA

Travelling to the USA from the UK is a relatively simple task, however there are a few things you need to remember to organise before you travel and also what to expect upon arrival.  This is my advice for first time travellers to the United States.

Make sure you apply for an ESTA

What is an ESTA?  The Electronic System for Travel Authorisation was brought in to strengthen security measures and to ensure the safety of all visitors travelling to the USA.  Basically it’s a screening process to determine whether you’re eligible to travel to the US and is a very straight forward process to apply for.  However if you are in doubt on how to correctly fill out the online form, there’s a very useful glossary on the ESTA USA page.

You should apply for an ESTA as soon as you know when you’re travelling the America because if you arrive at the airport and don’t have the application completed it’s likely you’ll be unable to board your booked flight.

Once you are authorised to travel to the USA, the ESTA remains valid for 2 years or until your passport expires (whichever comes first).

Applying for an ESTA yourself does cost and is currently charged at $14 / £9 per application.  However if you wish to use a 3rd party site to assist in your application you can do this starting from around $74.

Strict Airport Security

Don’t be surprised when you reach the TSA (Airport security) when you’re asked to remove your shoes and belts along with any metal items.  This is a necessary process that is undertaken most seriously…It’s also worth noting that any terrorism jokes you may wish to voice here are best kept to yourselves!

Travel Insurance

Quite an obvious one to mention (hopefully!) but do make sure you have adequate insurance cover for your trip, coming from a land of free healthcare and into the American healthcare may come as an expensive shock should you need to make a visit.  Even better, try and carry your documents at all times should you need to make an emergency visit, if that’s not possible make a note of the necessary details on your phone.

Tipping

Be prepared to tip pretty much everyone… Tipping is an inescapable fact when in America, be prepared to tip up to 15% when paying for a restaurant meal, you may find that some restaurants add this tip on your bill in order for you pay it, so do check this before making any additional payments.  A good tip is to keep a good stock of dollar bills in your purse so if the need arises when you are required to tip, you have some handy.

Driving in America

Preparing to drive around when in America is a fairly frequent occurrence, but one you should research thoroughly before getting behind the wheel.

Firstly, fairly obviously, Americans drive on the right hand side of the road.

Each state has its own set of driving rules, albeit they are very similar but you should make sure you read depending on where you’re heading so you’re knowledged up as best as possible.

The speed limit in most states is now 65mph, except where signs tell you otherwise.

When at a traffic light and you want to turn right, you can turn on a red light…quite a strange habit to get used to when coming from the UK but it’s a generally a legal thing to be able to do in the US…but I would advise to double check this depending on which state you are heading to.

These are my 5 tips for travelling to the USA, what would you add?