What do I need to know about travelling to the USA

[SherbetSorbet]

Going to America in a few weeks and I have done the ESTA application.

Is there anything else I need to do/know before travelling?

When we went last year we had to have a DVLA code to hire a car. I can't remember exactly how we did it but have a look at the DVLA website. I think you need your driving licence number. Don't do too early though as it only lasts a number of days. Don't forget your driving licence - useful for ID too if you look under 25. Expect long queues at passport control. I've been to Florida and NY and at both we have queued to have fingerprints/passports then queued again to have passports checked again. Allow plenty of time on your return journey, it can take a long time to be through security again and may be asked to remove shoes/belts. I opted for the gold package travel insurance with Boots so we were fully covered as healthcare is all private.

Forgot to mention in Florida they wanted the full details of our itinerary, where we were staying, including zip codes and reason for visit.

This is going a bit off topic, but this is Alamo's policy for accepting debit cards in the US
www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental-faqs/debit-card-policy.html

ShotsFired
If you have a Starling card, why are you even changing money?

whoareyou123
I personally like to have some local currency with me in case there is a problem with my card when I arrive.

I have been overseas probably about 15-20 times in the last 2 years or so. Lots of different places, some city, some remote, worldwide.

Have only had one occasion where my card wasn't accepted by one ATM, so just used a different bank's machine and it was fine. I may have a few pounds of local currency leftover from the last visit, but certainly not anything meaningful or really useful.

I can't remember the last time I changed money - probably pre-Euro? I do also have 3 other credit/debit cards as backup though, so maybe that's why I'm not fazed.

One thing to be aware of, when we hired a car whatever level of insurance we got turned out not to be enough as most insurance in the states attached to the driver so they were effectively only adding a 'top up'- it seemed they were used to most car rentals being domestic. We may have been unlucky, and this was five years ago, but it ultimately ended up with our car rental costing double what we'd planned and paid for in advance.

If you are with T mobile you might be able to use your calls & data in the US. I bought a T mobile SIM last year for this purpose.

Go to 3 and get their pay as you go sim. It’s £20 and you get texts, minutes and data included in the USA so no roaming charges.

Go to 3 and get their pay as you go sim.

Don't you only get 3g speeds? Better than nothing but probably not as good as what you get in the UK.

Oops I meant 3 as well.

This is all great advice. Thanks for the Alamo link, just before I came on here I'd checked Budget and they accept Debit Cards too.

I'll pick up a pay as you go sim, sounds like the easiest option.