US help.

[dipznpipz]

Didnt know this thread existed....would like to ask a couple of questions from the bros here..

im going on my honeymoon to west coast USA in oct....flying to hawaii, then to san fran, then to vegas and lastly LA....

1stly, where is good to shop for those factory outlet? I am only in san fran for 2 days.....issit worth it to rent a car one day to drive to the factory outlet there? I heard that Vegas has the best factory outlet...correct me if i am wrong..

2nd, is it safe to drive in San Fran or Vegas? Thinking of renting a car in vegas for one day and driving to grand canyon or factory outlet....can anyone tell me the proper procedure? and if i need any other license? i have a class 3 singapore license already...

thanks in advance!

 

[cormet]

Didnt know this thread existed....would like to ask a couple of questions from the bros here..

im going on my honeymoon to west coast USA in oct....flying to hawaii, then to san fran, then to vegas and lastly LA....

1stly, where is good to shop for those factory outlet? I am only in san fran for 2 days.....issit worth it to rent a car one day to drive to the factory outlet there? I heard that Vegas has the best factory outlet...correct me if i am wrong..

2nd, is it safe to drive in San Fran or Vegas? Thinking of renting a car in vegas for one day and driving to grand canyon or factory outlet....can anyone tell me the proper procedure? and if i need any other license? i have a class 3 singapore license already...

thanks in advance!

It's safe. Both times I was there didn't require international driving permit (but I had one in case). I did not go to the Gilroy outlets near SF but went to the Vegas one. Generally my observation after the many outlets is that they're all rather similar, about the same shops there, only discount may vary depending on the season.

You can drive to Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and then visit the outlets which are near the strip itself.

 

[dipznpipz]

It's safe. Both times I was there didn't require international driving permit (but I had one in case). I did not go to the Gilroy outlets near SF but went to the Vegas one. Generally my observation after the many outlets is that they're all rather similar, about the same shops there, only discount may vary depending on the season.

You can drive to Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and then visit the outlets which are near the strip itself.

thanks so much cormet! Appreciate ur help! Guess i wont bother driving in san fran then...

do you mind telling me like the entire procedure of renting a car? Any insurance involved? Heard it can be quite ex....i actually just need to go to grand canyon and back...probably one full day of driving thats all...

 

[invisible999]

Sorry to crash this thread.. was wondering which airline is considered cheap to USA (San Francisco)

So far I heard that Delta airlines is cheapest to fly from Singapore to San Francisco. Any other guys got great deals to fly?
haha just trying to plan a long road trip in california and budgeting

Depends on many factors:

- What class do you fly? Economy or Business?
- If Economy, do you want to accumulate miles from the flight? Cheapest flights offered by Asian airlines do not accrue miles. Learned this hard way
- If you want to accrue miles, which airline/alliance is preferable?
- If flying economy, what are important factors for you? Seat pitch, width or in-flight entertainment and food?

In general:
- Avoid going thru China, especially Beijing due to huge delays there. Put at least 5 hours connection time if you do.
- United's Economy Plus (E+) gives you additional 10cm extra legroom with appx $100 extra, if legroom is important for you.
- If you decide to fly on United, avoid going thru Hong Kong and/or flying on 747 which is the worst. Rather go via NRT/Tokyo on 777
- Asian airliners have much better IFE and service comparing to US airliners
- ANA's economy class seats do not recline.

You can fly directly to Los Angeles from Singapore on world's longest, 18 hour flight, but it is only business class and tickets start from $9K return.

 

[cormet]

thanks so much cormet! Appreciate ur help! Guess i wont bother driving in san fran then...

do you mind telling me like the entire procedure of renting a car? Any insurance involved? Heard it can be quite ex....i actually just need to go to grand canyon and back...probably one full day of driving thats all...

I'm under 25 so I had to pay underage charge. If you can rent through NATAS you can get good rates, or go through AA singapore website, think there's 10%.

I only rented from Hertz and Thrifty before, both problem free. I generally buy all the insurance except the personal accident one. You can't go wrong with more insurance and it might be a small price to pay, so I play safe.

They'll also ask if you want to pre-pay a full tank of petrol. The rate they offer will be cheaper than outside kiosks. However since it's only 1 day, there's no point. Just use whatever you need and fill back to full before returning.

 

[archcherub]

You'll want to use ITA Matrix's airline search engine for this. When I search SIN-SFO, the absolute rock-bottom cheapest is usually Eva Air via Taipei.

And if Delta does turn out the cheapest, go up to the second cheapest: the old-line American airlines (United, AA, Delta, US Airways) are pretty much uniformly terrible.

yeah all the search engines turn up Air China (NOT china airlines) as the cheapest... with a long layover of 5hours. haha.
anyway yeah i taken Air China before and the service is really not bad.
definitely hands down over Delta.

 

[dipznpipz]

I'm under 25 so I had to pay underage charge. If you can rent through NATAS you can get good rates, or go through AA singapore website, think there's 10%.

I only rented from Hertz and Thrifty before, both problem free. I generally buy all the insurance except the personal accident one. You can't go wrong with more insurance and it might be a small price to pay, so I play safe.

They'll also ask if you want to pre-pay a full tank of petrol. The rate they offer will be cheaper than outside kiosks. However since it's only 1 day, there's no point. Just use whatever you need and fill back to full before returning.

cool...im 28, shouldnt be a prob right?

Do i have to book online first? Or can I just arrive in vegas, and then go to some car rental shop there to book for the next day?

Thanks for giving me the tip of not getting the pre-pay full tank though!

 

[cormet]

cool...im 28, shouldnt be a prob right?

Do i have to book online first? Or can I just arrive in vegas, and then go to some car rental shop there to book for the next day?

Thanks for giving me the tip of not getting the pre-pay full tank though!

If you drive to grand canyon, you'll probably exhuast the whole tank so it will be worth to buy pre-paid. It all depends on your distance.

You can just go to some car rental shop, but if you book online, you are guaranteed there's a car for you, and you might get lucky and get free upgrades. I got lucky with Hertz in vegas. And if you find discount codes online, booking online gives you discount.

 

[BiG_FisH]

woohoo~ flying off tomorrow

San Francisco here I come

 

[ah_paul]

woohoo~ flying off tomorrow

San Francisco here I come

Cool dude!

I'm flying off tml to LA too!!

 

[Dr.Vijay]

Museums there are lovely!
Set aside many days to really spend time and explore.

I haven't touched US soil since 1994, hope to visit the museums in DC next year.

 

[reksgwee]

Hey guys,

Will like to check and seek some advices from bros who have been to nyc, canada and boston.

Is there any tour that will depart from nyc, goes to canada to see the nigara falls and then goes to boston? Anyone has experience with tours in nyc?

 

[cormet]

Hey guys,

Will like to check and seek some advices from bros who have been to nyc, canada and boston.

Is there any tour that will depart from nyc, goes to canada to see the nigara falls and then goes to boston? Anyone has experience with tours in nyc?

If you can drive you can go on your own. Technically you're just crossing the rainbow bridge into Toronto for Niagara. There is a tour on victor that does niagara from NYC and a couple of tours that do that route (found when I was planning Boston). But most of the reviews aren't fantastic, saying things like many ppl from China in tour and tour guide tends to speak chinese.

 

[tokyofanboi]

new york natural history museum that big big whale. wow

 

[tokyofanboi]

yeah all the search engines turn up Air China (NOT china airlines) as the cheapest... with a long layover of 5hours. haha.
anyway yeah i taken Air China before and the service is really not bad.
definitely hands down over Delta.

VISA just ended their promotion with SIA, travel period 1st Sep till next year (if i remember), SQA380 to Narita to LA or SF and back to Narita to Singapore at $1.7K nett per pax inclusive all the taxes, usual $2.3K. economy class. If you wanna travel with SIA must look for their Super Sweet Deal.

 

[tokyofanboi]

Didnt know this thread existed....would like to ask a couple of questions from the bros here..

im going on my honeymoon to west coast USA in oct....flying to hawaii, then to san fran, then to vegas and lastly LA....

1stly, where is good to shop for those factory outlet? I am only in san fran for 2 days.....issit worth it to rent a car one day to drive to the factory outlet there? I heard that Vegas has the best factory outlet...correct me if i am wrong..

2nd, is it safe to drive in San Fran or Vegas? Thinking of renting a car in vegas for one day and driving to grand canyon or factory outlet....can anyone tell me the proper procedure? and if i need any other license? i have a class 3 singapore license already...

thanks in advance!

I believe you should be flying to LA first then transfer to Hawaii. Don't think got direct flight to Hawaii (long time never update liao, hehe). If lets say you fly direct to Hawaii, from there fly to LA then vegas then to SF and Singapore. SF easily can board the tram, no need to rent a car. LA nothing much except beverly, hollywood, santa monica, venice and etc. Stay near to hollywood and beverly, purchase hop on hop off bus.

For Vegas, join a local tour such as luxamerica, 3 days 2 nights to vegas and grand canyon. Vegas have 3 premium outlets, Barstow very rundown, not worth to visit at all. There's South and North premium outlet Premium Outlets: Locations in the United States and primm. Major hotels have shuttle to either with a small fee

 

[ceecookie]

Hope no one's visiting the US during this immediate period(first week or two of October). The federal government shutdown has started and it will result in all national park and museum closures across United States

Parks and museums: The National Park Service will close more than 400 national parks and museums, including Yosemite National Park in California, Alcatraz in San Francisco, and the Statue of Liberty in New York. The last time this happened during the 1995-96 shutdown, some 7 million visitors were turned away. (One big exception was the south rim of the Grand Canyon, which stayed open only because Arizona agreed to pick up the tab.)

Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work

 

[pete98]

Hope no one's visiting the US during this immediate period(first week or two of October). The federal government shutdown has started and it will result in all national park and museum closures across United States

Parks and museums: The National Park Service will close more than 400 national parks and museums, including Yosemite National Park in California, Alcatraz in San Francisco, and the Statue of Liberty in New York. The last time this happened during the 1995-96 shutdown, some 7 million visitors were turned away. (One big exception was the south rim of the Grand Canyon, which stayed open only because Arizona agreed to pick up the tab.)

Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work

Going to west coast USA for honeymoon on 1st Nov. Hope the matter resolved by then or my visit to the grand canyon will be cancelled
Lucky I did not plan for visit to Yosemite park.

 

[iridiot]

Going to west coast USA for honeymoon on 1st Nov. Hope the matter resolved by then or my visit to the grand canyon will be cancelled
Lucky I did not plan for visit to Yosemite park.

The previous shutdown in 95/96 took 28 days... Lets hope this time would be earlier or at most bout the same

 

[xtwis7]

My gf is in SFO now. Well, Alcatraz was closed but they did offer her the refund of the ticket. So if you've prebooked anything, I'm sure you can request for the refund or change it to something else.