US help.

[Avizoa]

So i've booked my flight there! havent booked the return yet tho. will get to that this weekend or something.

Gonna take away DC.. to open up more time in NY (eg, to go niagara) and MI and just to soak the 2 cities in more.

Trip will be excluding the flights, reach NY on the 4th March and leave MI in the evening on 17th March.

How I imagine my trip now.
NYC - Experience the city, wall st, madison avenue, central park.
Miami - beach, campervan, cuba town, and more beach.

How should i split the trip in terms of the days i spend in each state.. think 50/50 good?

Should i be looking at accommodation asap?

look for your accom in MIA asap as that period is high season. There are lots of convention and festivals going on.

 

[patryn33]

So i've booked my flight there! havent booked the return yet tho. will get to that this weekend or something.

Gonna take away DC.. to open up more time in NY (eg, to go niagara) and MI and just to soak the 2 cities in more.

Trip will be excluding the flights, reach NY on the 4th March and leave MI in the evening on 17th March.

How I imagine my trip now.
NYC - Experience the city, wall st, madison avenue, central park.
Miami - beach, campervan, cuba town, and more beach.

How should i split the trip in terms of the days i spend in each state.. think 50/50 good?

Should i be looking at accommodation asap?

NY is New York state? MI is Michigan?
NYC and Miami not states, u planning to do more in NY and FL state?

1st 3 week of march it is spring break from schools and Universities. do book accommodations early in touristy area.

 

[liteScribble]

Right right..

Will start looking out for accommodation.. Would book my flight back in the weekend.

Thanks for correcting as well.. Edited the post to avoid confusion.

 

[Debuantu]

Anyone has excess usd wanna change back to sgd?

 

[ssian84]

This guy here

Jus back from Cambodia.. looking to clear 6000usd worth.. any bro need it can let me know..

Anyone has excess usd wanna change back to sgd?

 

[Shiny Things]

So i've booked my flight there! havent booked the return yet tho. will get to that this weekend or something.

Gonna take away DC.. to open up more time in NYC (eg, to go niagara) and Miami and just to soak the 2 cities in more.

Trip will be excluding the flights, reach NYC on the 4th March and leave Miami in the evening on 17th March.

How I imagine my trip now.
NYC - Experience the city, wall st, madison avenue, central park.
Miami - beach, campervan, cuba town, and more beach.

How should i split the trip in terms of the days i spend in each state.. think 50/50 good?

Should i be looking at accommodation asap?

Yeah, book your accommodation ASAP, especially for Miami Beach. Like someone mentioned, that's getting into Spring Break season, when Miami gets invaded by college kids. This may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your tastes.

Also, NYC in March might still be a bit cold and grim, so I wouldn't spend too long there.

13 days is actually a fairly long time. I'd maybe split it up like:
* 5 days in NYC (gives you time to do a day trip to Niagara);
* 1 day's travel time;
* 5 days in Miami;
* 2 days in Key West.

You've probably got a pretty good grip on NYC already, but let me give you some tips for Miami:

1) Stay on Miami Beach. Specifically, stay on Ocean Drive. Specifically specifically, stay anywhere on Ocean Drive south of Fifth, or north of about Tenth and south of Lincoln Road.

If you're going to Miami Beach, it makes sense to stay on Miami Beach, and Ocean Drive is the iconic stretch of Miami Beach—it's got the gorgeous Art Deco low-rise hotels, the beach bars, the palm trees, you name it. South of Fifth is quiet and residential; Fifth to Tenth is a horrible mess of noisy tourist bars (though it's fun to visit!); north of Tenth is very classy and personally my favorite stretch.

My pick for hotels is either the Winter Garden, or the Royal Palm South Beach. Trust me on this.

2) Do a day in Little Havana. I can't find it right now, but there's a Little Havana food walking tour I've done before: you wander around Calle Ocho, try some sandwiches, cafecitos, etc etc etc, and basically get the flavor of the place.

3) Absolutely do the Art Deco walking tour. It starts from the Miami Design Preservation League at 10th and Ocean Drive; takes about two hours and you'll get a great appreciation for Miami Beach's gorgeous architecture (and how Miami Vice saved the city).

4) You've got long enough that you could do a trip down to Key West, and fly home from there. If you don't want to drive, there are bus services that run all the way down the Keys, over the Overseas Highway... which is one of the most beautiful roads in the country, up there with Utah Route 12 and California Route 1. I mean! Get a load of this!

Key West is pretty small, and two nights there should be plenty, but it's a fun town, and it's totally worth it. If you like cats, go hang out at Hemingway's house (where there are lots of very cute cats); if you don't, go hang out on Duval Street and chill out in the bars.

 

[faithgurl]

Car rental in Orlando

Hi,

This is our 1st trip to US and we are heading to Orlando in December. We intend to rent a car for our trip and have been searching for reputable car rental companies with reasonable rates. Anybody can share which car rental company is a safe bet? So far, my search shows Alamo, Hertz, National as one of those popular companies but would like to find out more if you guys have any experiences from them? Anyone has experiences from undercovertourist? In fact, they have car rental services and I have actually checked out with them and was quite surprised that they told me Alamo is not available for non US residents. Is it true? Can anybody advise? Thanks!

 

[Avizoa]

Hi,

This is our 1st trip to US and we are heading to Orlando in December. We intend to rent a car for our trip and have been searching for reputable car rental companies with reasonable rates. Anybody can share which car rental company is a safe bet? So far, my search shows Alamo, Hertz, National as one of those popular companies but would like to find out more if you guys have any experiences from them? Anyone has experiences from undercovertourist? In fact, they have car rental services and I have actually checked out with them and was quite surprised that they told me Alamo is not available for non US residents. Is it true? Can anybody advise? Thanks!

you can always book from car rental OTA. choose which ever company that are within your budget. Do note that there are brother and sisters company i.e hertz and thrifty and so forth

 

[Avizoa]

Yeah, book your accommodation ASAP, especially for Miami Beach. Like someone mentioned, that's getting into Spring Break season, when Miami gets invaded by college kids. This may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your tastes.

Also, NYC in March might still be a bit cold and grim, so I wouldn't spend too long there.

13 days is actually a fairly long time. I'd maybe split it up like:
* 5 days in NYC (gives you time to do a day trip to Niagara);
* 1 day's travel time;
* 5 days in Miami;
* 2 days in Key West.

You've probably got a pretty good grip on NYC already, but let me give you some tips for Miami:

1) Stay on Miami Beach. Specifically, stay on Ocean Drive. Specifically specifically, stay anywhere on Ocean Drive south of Fifth, or north of about Tenth and south of Lincoln Road.

If you're going to Miami Beach, it makes sense to stay on Miami Beach, and Ocean Drive is the iconic stretch of Miami Beach—it's got the gorgeous Art Deco low-rise hotels, the beach bars, the palm trees, you name it. South of Fifth is quiet and residential; Fifth to Tenth is a horrible mess of noisy tourist bars (though it's fun to visit!); north of Tenth is very classy and personally my favorite stretch.

My pick for hotels is either the Winter Garden, or the Royal Palm South Beach. Trust me on this.

2) Do a day in Little Havana. I can't find it right now, but there's a Little Havana food walking tour I've done before: you wander around Calle Ocho, try some sandwiches, cafecitos, etc etc etc, and basically get the flavor of the place.

3) Absolutely do the Art Deco walking tour. It starts from the Miami Design Preservation League at 10th and Ocean Drive; takes about two hours and you'll get a great appreciation for Miami Beach's gorgeous architecture (and how Miami Vice saved the city).

4) You've got long enough that you could do a trip down to Key West, and fly home from there. If you don't want to drive, there are bus services that run all the way down the Keys, over the Overseas Highway... which is one of the most beautiful roads in the country, up there with Utah Route 12 and California Route 1. I mean! Get a load of this!

Key West is pretty small, and two nights there should be plenty, but it's a fun town, and it's totally worth it. If you like cats, go hang out at Hemingway's house (where there are lots of very cute cats); if you don't, go hang out on Duval Street and chill out in the bars.

i won't recommend spending so many days in miami beach areas though unless you are partying everyday.
Spend sometime in downtown area like brickell or the up and if you want it to be cheap and try coconut grove area. But there is no cheap accom for miami during march season tho...

I would suggest to spend some time and drive towards key west as suggested by shiny things too.

p.s i do hope that you know some spanish cause they mostly speak spanish in miami.

 

[Shiny Things]

Hi,

This is our 1st trip to US and we are heading to Orlando in December. We intend to rent a car for our trip and have been searching for reputable car rental companies with reasonable rates. Anybody can share which car rental company is a safe bet?

I've used Hertz and Avis many times before, they're both fine.

 

[rizhal]

I've used Hertz and Avis many times before, they're both fine.

Yes worth to pay more to get Hertz or Avis.
I have bad experience with budget cars rental.

 

[fzhfzh]

Yeah don’t save that little money for budget, had bad experience as well. I personally prefer national/enterprise. Got budget once, and waited 2 hrs in the queue to get the car, and got a car with bottom panel that dropped out half way.

 

[faithgurl]

Car rental in Orlando

Hi all,

Thanks for giving your valuable advices. Will be zooming into Hertz, Avis & National then. Anybody tried Alamo? It seems to have quite good reviews too.
By the way, rent directly will be cheaper or any better platform to rent?

 

[patryn33]

Enterprise, national and Alamo own by same company
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Holdings

Avis and budget same parent company

 

[anytime]

Hi,

I will be staying in LAS LAX and SFO. May I ask if anyone has experience in hotel booking and aware of restriction.

If I click 2 adults and 2 kids (2-11), the price is 180/night exclude taxes/fee for 2 queen room type. If I insert 2 adults only, the price drops to 90/night. Can I book one double queen and bring along 2 more kids? Will hotel/resort stop us? I am aware breakfast is meant for 2 only if I input 2 sleepers.

Anyone can advise?

 

[faithgurl]

Enterprise, national and Alamo own by same company
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Holdings

Avis and budget same parent company

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Avizoa]

Hi,

I will be staying in LAS LAX and SFO. May I ask if anyone has experience in hotel booking and aware of restriction.

If I click 2 adults and 2 kids (2-11), the price is 180/night exclude taxes/fee for 2 queen room type. If I insert 2 adults only, the price drops to 90/night. Can I book one double queen and bring along 2 more kids? Will hotel/resort stop us? I am aware breakfast is meant for 2 only if I input 2 sleepers.

Anyone can advise?

get a double room, put in two person.
a double room consist of 2 queen size bed.
No one will stop you imo unless you make a scene.

 

[Pseudomonas]

West Coast

Hello everyone!

Would appreciate your input and advice for the itinerary planned for my trip to West Coast next April

We will be taking Lyft/Uber for our travels in SF and renting a car for our trip down to LA/LV.


Day 1 SF (4/4/2020)

Arrival San Francisco (0925hrs)
Fisherman’s wharf
Pier 39

Day 2 SF (5/4/2020)

Chinatown
Union Square

Day 3 SF (6/4/2020)

Golden Gate Bridge
Lombard Street

Day 4 Big Surr (7/4/2020)
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Pfeiffer Beach
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Stay overnight at Big Surr

Day 5 LA (8/4/2020)
Drive to LA

Day 6 LA (9/4/2020)
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Rodeo Drive
Famer’s Market

Day 7 LA (10/4/2020)
Universal Studios Hollywood

Day 8 LA (11/4/2020)
Santa Monica and Venice Beach

Day 9 LV (12/4/2020)
Drive to LV

Day 10 LV (13/4/2020)
Las Vegas Premium outlet Malls
Shows/Musicals

Day 11 Arizona (14/4/2020)
Antelope and Horseshoe Bend
Stay over night at Arizona

Day 12 LV (15/4/2020)
Grand Canyon
Back to Las Vegas

Day 13-15 Missouri (16-18/4/2020)
Fly to Missouri from Vegas to visit a friend

Day 16 SF (19/4/2020)
Missouri to SF and back to Singapore (1910hrs on 20/4/2020)


Lastly, would love to hear your recommendations and experiences of hotels in SF,LA and LV.

Thank you and have a great week ahead!

 

[patryn33]

Hi,

I will be staying in LAS LAX and SFO. May I ask if anyone has experience in hotel booking and aware of restriction.

If I click 2 adults and 2 kids (2-11), the price is 180/night exclude taxes/fee for 2 queen room type. If I insert 2 adults only, the price drops to 90/night. Can I book one double queen and bring along 2 more kids? Will hotel/resort stop us? I am aware breakfast is meant for 2 only if I input 2 sleepers.

Anyone can advise?

can do and not suppose to do. if U choose to be dishonest just dont do it and get caught.

if U hang around at the front desk when they can see obviously u have party of 4, they will charge U.

of course hotel can put u a single room for party of 2 if somehow system screw up. its uncommon but does happened. It happened to be for Marriott and since I have explicitly put party of 4 they must accommodate. if u put party of 2 but secretly want to bring 4.. U have no grounds to make them accommodate.

 

[Shiny Things]

If I click 2 adults and 2 kids (2-11), the price is 180/night exclude taxes/fee for 2 queen room type. If I insert 2 adults only, the price drops to 90/night. Can I book one double queen and bring along 2 more kids? Will hotel/resort stop us? I am aware breakfast is meant for 2 only if I input 2 sleepers.
?

What kind of cheapass place are you staying for ninety bucks a night?

Anyway, look, they probably won't do anything to stop you, but if the check-in desk clerk is having a rough one they might say "look, here's the deal, you have to pay extra".