US help.

[ceecookie]

May I ask how much does the ESTA application costs and which website should I apply from ?

From the united airlines website I have the link https://visacentral.co.uk/esta-order wich charges 27 UK pounds (Service fees are per application and are inclusive of Consular fees but exclusive of VAT and third party fees.)
while https://www.estausa.com/ it is USD 83.

Not sure why there i such a big difference.

Appreciate any advice over this. thanks

Only apply from official website https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

US$14 fee per person

 

[lcpteck]

Only apply from official website https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

US$14 fee per person

It will be valid for 2 years if anyone was wondering. Do remember to have a copy/printout of the approval cause you will need to show it during customs. When I went through immigration in JFK airport earlier this year, the guy directing people through the immigration queues wanted to see the approval so be prepared to have it on hand before entering customs. I think the customs agent also need to see it as well, can't remember.

 

[lcpteck]

Global Entry

I went for my Global Entry interview yesterday and it was approved. They had to process my passport into their system and take my fingerprints and picture. There was also a Global Entry machine for you to try it out so you know how it roughly works. A small guide booklet was also provided. It also comes with TSA Pre-Check which is also sort of a fast lane for security when departing eligible US airports. Do note Global Entry is only valid for most of the major airports in the US (including some smaller ones as well) including some outstation airports like Abu Dhabi (AUH).

Do note that this is just a Trusted Traveler's Program so that you can supposedly breeze through the US customs and immigration via a separate queue (like the automated gates here in Singapore). Luggage will still need to be inspected of course if needed by the customs officers. This does not exempt you from a Visa, so you would still need to have an approved ESTA.

Global Entry is valid for 5 years. If your passport changes, you can update the new passport details on the website.

 

[purplewave]

I've been there 3 times and never once asked for ESTA slips in the US. twice Newark, once JFK

It will be valid for 2 years if anyone was wondering. Do remember to have a copy/printout of the approval cause you will need to show it during customs. When I went through immigration in JFK airport earlier this year, the guy directing people through the immigration queues wanted to see the approval so be prepared to have it on hand before entering customs. I think the customs agent also need to see it as well, can't remember.

 

[Desmond_]

I went for my Global Entry interview yesterday and it was approved. They had to process my passport into their system and take my fingerprints and picture. There was also a Global Entry machine for you to try it out so you know how it roughly works. A small guide booklet was also provided. It also comes with TSA Pre-Check which is also sort of a fast lane for security when departing eligible US airports. Do note Global Entry is only valid for most of the major airports in the US (including some smaller ones as well) including some outstation airports like Abu Dhabi (AUH).

Do note that this is just a Trusted Traveler's Program so that you can supposedly breeze through the US customs and immigration via a separate queue (like the automated gates here in Singapore). Luggage will still need to be inspected of course if needed by the customs officers. This does not exempt you from a Visa, so you would still need to have an approved ESTA.

Global Entry is valid for 5 years. If your passport changes, you can update the new passport details on the website.

The interview ask alot of question related to your travel pattern?

 

[lcpteck]

The interview ask alot of question related to your travel pattern?

I'm not sure if they ask the same questions for every applicant but the officer wanted to know my travel patterns and my purpose of traveling to the US. Just answer the questions truthfully and it will be fine. I haven't been to any of the middle eastern countries or hot spots so I guess it didn't raise any red flags.

 

[Shiny Things]

I will be doing a road trip from san francisco to atlanta GA and return.

Stopping a few places along the way.

Will be a relax pace drive. Anyone ever tried this?

That's gonna be a pretty relaxed drive - you could easily spend three weeks on that trip. I'd only do it one way, unless you REALLY want to make it a long trip.

There are a few ways you could go, and all of them are about 35-40 hours' drive time:

• I-80 to Cheyenne, WY; I-25 to Denver, CO; I-70 to St Louis; then snake down through Nashville and Chattanooga to Atlanta. This is going to be dull as dishwater from Denver to STL, and through Nevada, but it'll give you a nice drive close to a few national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountains), and you'll get to see Salt Lake City and Denver and Laramie, all of which are pretty fun.
• I-5 to Bakersfield; I-40 to Memphis; I-22 to Birmingham, AL; I-20 to Atlanta. This is the quickest, and it runs closest to Vegas, Grand Canyon, Mojave; and Memphis is pretty fun from what I've heard.
• I-5 to LA; I-10 Mobile, AL; then I-65 to I-85 to Atlanta. This is pretty quick too, and it's a bit heavier on cities; you get LA, Phoenix (boring), the Hill Country of East Texas (drop by Prada Marfa!), Austin (super cool), New Orleans (huge fun), and then into Atlanta.

If it were me, I'd take a mix - take the south road (the 5 to the 10 to the 65 to the 85) to Atlanta, then either fly back, or take the slow road through some unique cities; something like Atlanta-Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Jackson-Shreveport-Dallas-Lubbock-Roswell-Santa Fe-Durango-Moab-SLC-Reno-Truckee-SF might be fun.

 

[socrates]

Anybody here can recommend a Alcatraz tour (san Francisco ) that have been on? Do i need to book online and early?

 

[andrewkb]

Any recommendation on where to park at SF Fisherman Wharf ?

I'll be driving into SF Fisherman wharf after travelling down from Napa, before travelling south to my accommodation. So I'm pretty much stuck with my car.

Also, any good winery at Napa/Sonoma that offers free tasting

 

[patryn33]

Any recommendation on where to park at SF Fisherman Wharf ?

I'll be driving into SF Fisherman wharf after travelling down from Napa, before travelling south to my accommodation. So I'm pretty much stuck with my car.

Also, any good winery at Napa/Sonoma that offers free tasting

Napa few, more in Sonoma
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/blog/free-wine-tasting-in-napa-valley/
http://www.sonomacounty.com/articles/free-wine-tasting-sonoma-county

 

[Shiny Things]

Any recommendation on where to park at SF Fisherman Wharf ?

I'll be driving into SF Fisherman wharf after travelling down from Napa, before travelling south to my accommodation. So I'm pretty much stuck with my car.

Yeah, my recommendation is "don't". Driving around Fisherman's Wharf is a nightmare. If you absolutely have to, the Northpoint Center garage, on Bay Street near Mason Street, is OK, but expect to pay a truckload of cash for parking.

Also, any good winery at Napa/Sonoma that offers free tasting

Not a lot. Nearly all of the Napa wineries charge for tasting, but you get what you pay for: my personal fave for tastings is Paraduxx Winery, which gives you a taste of four very good (and very pricey) wines, plus a pretty decent selection of cheeses, served out in their back garden. Cliff Lede Vineyards is pretty great too, with some charming rose gardens out the back and a pretty cool tasting room as well.

Anybody here can recommend a Alcatraz tour (san Francisco ) that have been on? Do i need to book online and early?

Alcatraz Cruises is perfectly good, but you do need to book early.

 

[lcpteck]

Hmm, AA cancelled my current connecting flight from LAX and instead of reaching at 2pm, I'll be reaching at 6pm instead... Wonder if I should still go to San Francisco for 2 nights. I will only have 1 full day there since I'm arriving late night. Or maybe I should stay put in San Jose instead....

 

[andrewkb]

I'll be spending my Thanksgiving weekend in LA (with 2 teenagers)...cracking my head if we should go Universal Studio/Disney....bet it'll be super crowded

 

[ceecookie]

Starting tomorrow, passport photos for US visas cannot contain eye glasses at all

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/photos.html

 

[5star_pundit]

Best buy in USA are dell products which are discount by 50% as compared to locally

 

[funnyclown]

Spices should be OK. I'm not sure about the cakes; if they're individually wrapped (like, not hand-made) you should probably be fine. Make sure you declare them on the customs form, though - if you say "yes, I'm carrying food, and here's what I've got", then the worst that'll happen is that they say "you can't bring that in; but if you lie to customs, you can get arrested and punted straight back to Singapore.

Sure you can. The closest is Muir Woods - it's like three-quarters of an hour's drive from downtown. It's unbelievably lovely but it's crowded as heck, so you'll want to take a tour to get there.

Planning to bring over some store bought tapioca kuehs and pandan cake, bkt and chicken rice mixes. All will be unopen, and declare accordingly, hope it can go though thou.

To be honest, I have yet to build the confident of left-hand drive, hence won't be renting a car. Furthermore considering is winter with short day-light, not sure if it's worth taking a day tour to see the sequoia trees? (my daughter would very much love to see it thou). But we have a 4 person, a tour would possibly cost us approx $180 per person ($720). Surely a one day car rental should not cost so much including insurance? Is it an easy drive from SFO city? Do we need to apply an international licence in advance from our home country?

Thanks much!

 

[lcpteck]

Starting tomorrow, passport photos for US visas cannot contain eye glasses at all

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/photos.html

The photographer at ICA building always asks me to take off my glasses when making passport photo. Maybe it's a standard procedure.

 

[patryn33]

Planning to bring over some store bought tapioca kuehs and pandan cake, bkt and chicken rice mixes. All will be unopen, and declare accordingly, hope it can go though thou.

To be honest, I have yet to build the confident of left-hand drive, hence won't be renting a car. Furthermore considering is winter with short day-light, not sure if it's worth taking a day tour to see the sequoia trees? (my daughter would very much love to see it thou). But we have a 4 person, a tour would possibly cost us approx $180 per person ($720). Surely a one day car rental should not cost so much including insurance? Is it an easy drive from SFO city? Do we need to apply an international licence in advance from our home country?

Thanks much!

These kind of spices and cakes no issue with customs
Winter in San Fran no diff from Singapore road condition
sequoia National park roads will be icy, drive slow.

 

[andrewkb]

Here's my upcoming 14 days trip itinerary, appreciate some advise:

Day1 (LA): Land LA noon, visit Hollywood, rest
Day2 (LA): Santa Monica Beach, Desert Hill Outlet Mall
Day3 (LA): Disney (Full day)
Day4 (LV): Drive to Vegas. Enjoy evening performance
Day5 (LV): Day tour to GrandCanyon (By plane: US$299 each ??) and driving tour to Hoover Dam
Day6 (LV): Valley of Fire (any other area along the route?)
Day7 (DeathValley): DeathValley (3.5hr) and spend 2hr or so visiting DV. Drive to Mammoth Lake (another 3hr drive - too long for a day ? - Potentially dark and snowy?)
Day8 (Mammoth Lake-Tahoe): Snow fun for kids, after lunch drive to Tahoe
Day9 (Vacaville): After lunch, drive to Vacaville (~3hr) ... visit NAPA vicinity and outlet store
Day10 (SF): Drive to Miurwood (1hr drive), follow by Golden Gate Bridge (45min) - Vista Pt, Fort Point and Baker Beach. Drive to Fisherman Wharf (Any alternative beside driving and stuck in traffic?) Chinatown etc. Drive to Monterey (HW1)
Day11 (Monterey): Whalewatch, visit Big Spur
Day12 (Gilroy): Gilroy Outlet shopping
Day13 (SF): Visit Apple, Google, Stanford U, etc
Day14 (SF): Probably visit SF Downtown again before Returning

Personally I think Day 7-9 is too tight .... I can afford to expand a day in between. My concern is Day 7, reaching Mammoth Lake late in the evening and worst in snowy condition.

Appreciate feedback on from the experience traveler !

 

[Shiny Things]

Here's my upcoming 14 days trip itinerary, appreciate some advise:

Day1 (LA): Land LA noon, visit Hollywood, rest
Day2 (LA): Santa Monica Beach, Desert Hill Outlet Mall
Day3 (LA): Disney (Full day)
Day4 (LV): Drive to Vegas. Enjoy evening performance
Day5 (LV): Day tour to GrandCanyon (By plane: US$299 each ??) and driving tour to Hoover Dam
Day6 (LV): Valley of Fire (any other area along the route?)
Day7 (DeathValley): DeathValley (3.5hr) and spend 2hr or so visiting DV. Drive to Mammoth Lake (another 3hr drive - too long for a day ? - Potentially dark and snowy?)
Day8 (Mammoth Lake-Tahoe): Snow fun for kids, after lunch drive to Tahoe
Day9 (Vacaville): After lunch, drive to Vacaville (~3hr) ... visit NAPA vicinity and outlet store
Day10 (SF): Drive to Miurwood (1hr drive), follow by Golden Gate Bridge (45min) - Vista Pt, Fort Point and Baker Beach. Drive to Fisherman Wharf (Any alternative beside driving and stuck in traffic?) Chinatown etc. Drive to Monterey (HW1)
Day11 (Monterey): Whalewatch, visit Big Spur
Day12 (Gilroy): Gilroy Outlet shopping
Day13 (SF): Visit Apple, Google, Stanford U, etc
Day14 (SF): Probably visit SF Downtown again before Returning

Personally I think Day 7-9 is too tight .... I can afford to expand a day in between. My concern is Day 7, reaching Mammoth Lake late in the evening and worst in snowy condition.

Appreciate feedback on from the experience traveler !

Wow, you should probably have a look at the map. If you draw everywhere you're planning to go on the map, it's going to look like a squashed spider.

Anyway. So you want to hit Disneyland, a truckload of outlet malls, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley; spend two days in SF; Monterey; and pop in to the Apple HQ (skip Google, the only thing to see is the giant fiberglass Androids out the front; Apple HQ at least has the Company store).

Let's start from scratch.

Day 1: Land at LAX; drive to Anaheim. Santa Monica's nice, but skip it, you're short on time. If you're a real outlet mall obsessive, you can hit the Citadel Outlets, on I-5 between downtown LA and Anaheim.
Day 2: Disneyland
Day 3: Drive to Las Vegas via Desert Hills outlet mall. At this point you have honestly done all the outlet mall shopping you could ever possibly need, so stop looking for outlet malls and enjoy your holiday
Day 4: Vegas. Do a day trip to Hoover Dam during the day; see the Strip in the evening.
Day 5: Grand Canyon day trip.
Day 6: Get on the road and head to Death Valley.
Day 7: Head out of Death Valley to the north and aim for Reno / Truckee.
During the winter, the only guaranteed way to get over the Sierras is on I-80, from Reno to Sacramento - it'll occasionally close at night, or during a heavy snowstorm - but it'll reopen quickly, and your worst case is you'll have to spend the night in Reno instead of Truckee. Making it to Truckee should be easy; you can try to get to North Lake Tahoe as well. Skip Mammoth - it's a long way from there to Tahoe and you can't guarantee that road's going to be open.

Day 7: head down the hill (slowly) to Napa. Spend a night in Napa.
Day 8: SF. Drive into SF (take a side trip to Muir Woods!); stay the night somewhere downtown
Day 9: Spend a day in SF
Day 10: Drive to Monterey and Big Sur; night in Monterey.
Day 11: Take a whale-watching trip if you like; drive back to SF in the afternoon via the Apple campus; drop the car off at SFO.
Day 12/13/14: Free days in SF.

...and you'll be doing this in the winter, so you're going to need a 4WD car, and plenty of patience if you run into a snowstorm (if there's snow, the Sierras will be closed everywhere between Bakersfield and Reno).

To be honest, I have yet to build the confident of left-hand drive, hence won't be renting a car. Furthermore considering is winter with short day-light, not sure if it's worth taking a day tour to see the sequoia trees? (my daughter would very much love to see it thou). But we have a 4 person, a tour would possibly cost us approx $180 per person ($720). Surely a one day car rental should not cost so much including insurance? Is it an easy drive from SFO city?

SF to Muir Woods is an hour drive, tops - even if you pick your car up from SFO airport instead of SF city it'll only be an hour-and-a-half. You can rent a frickin' Porsche Panamera for the day, for less than half of what you're looking at for that tour.

Do this during the week, though. Parking at Muir Woods on weekends and public holidays is an absolute nightmare.

Do we need to apply an international licence in advance from our home country?

No, your Singapore license is fine.