US help.

[Els_Ang]

Need some help/ advise here:

23-26 Apr @ SFO Hotel Booked
26-28 Apr @ Monterey Hotel Booked
28 Apr Did not book Htl, thinking whether to stay 1 more night in Monterey or drive to LA
29- 2 May @ LA Hotel Booked
2 May Did not book Htl. Wondering whether to drive to Grand Canyon, stay 1 night, then proceed to LV. But, am thinking HARD coz driving dist is bout 800km, gonna take bout 8 hrs. Worry that Hb & Toddler girl can't take it.
3-8 May @ LV Hotel Booked

For 28 April, should we stay in Monterey? Already spending 2 nights there. Main plan is to go to the Aquarium & 1 day should be catching the Whales Spotting Cruise.

Any suggestions for 2 May? Really wanna go Grand Canyon... But, I think the driving is gonna kill all 3 of us... ~_~

 

[fone]

No... Going Sao Paolo from ny. So it's international flight

International to international?

If using sg passport, would have to apply for esta visa then, if u want to go into nyc.

As mentioned by Hisashiburi, you need to apply for esta or relevant visa. Most US airports do not have facilities for international transit, so technically, you would still be entering US (immigrations and customs), then exit US for the connecting flight.

 

[genie47]

I see that Grand Canyon is being mentioned. Well, there is the North Rim and South Rim.

I went to the North Rim and if I am not wrong, a lot of tourist head for the South Rim. So which is better. There is no better. I used the link below to help me decide.

South Rim or North Rim: Which Should You Visit? — http://www.grandcanyon.net/

Go through and check your dates then decide.

 

[fone]

2 May Did not book Htl. Wondering whether to drive to Grand Canyon, stay 1 night, then proceed to LV. But, am thinking HARD coz driving dist is bout 800km, gonna take bout 8 hrs. Worry that Hb & Toddler girl can't take it.

You can either splurge on the helicopter ride, or join tours from your Las Vegas hotel, if you do not want the long drive, though they probably go to the West Rim.

Firstly, how many drivers do you have and how accustom the drivers are to long distance driving? Otherwise, you might want to plan for one break in between, if there are towns there, stay for the night.

For toddler, you might need a proper car seat or booster seat, then some sort of in car entertainment (aka iPad), she will probably sleep most of the journey. Just need to worry about diaper change (or toilet breaks if toilet trained), snacks and water.

 

[Shiny Things]

2 May Did not book Htl. Wondering whether to drive to Grand Canyon, stay 1 night, then proceed to LV. But, am thinking HARD coz driving dist is bout 800km, gonna take bout 8 hrs. Worry that Hb & Toddler girl can't take it.
3-8 May @ LV Hotel Booked

Any suggestions for 2 May? Really wanna go Grand Canyon... But, I think the driving is gonna kill all 3 of us... ~_~

...that's the wrong way around, dude. Look at a map: the Grand Canyon is on the far side of Las Vegas.

Better idea: do Vegas for three or four nights, then drive to the Grand Canyon and spend a night or two there. Then you can double back to Vegas for a night and head out from there. (Also, for what it's worth, three nights in Vegas is already a looong time; you'll want to head out to Red Rock Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and the Hoover Dam for day trips, otherwise you're going to get a bit bored.)

If you're really insistent on heading to the GC and then doubling back to Vegas, then you probably want to break your trip at Laughlin; it's pretty cheap to stay at the Golden Nugget casino (I paid about sixty bucks for a nice room with a river view the one time I went there), and the restaurant downstairs is surprisingly good.

Edit: Remember you can usually do 10mph over the limit on the interstates, so that'll trim a bit off your travel time. 8 hours for 800km is still pretty much right, though, once you factor in rest stops.

Edit to the edit: If you want to give your husband an incentive to do the driving, rent a Ford Mustang. No self-respecting dude is going to turn down a chance to blat a Mustang across the wide open US of A.

 

[patryn33]

Need some help/ advise here:

23-26 Apr @ SFO Hotel Booked
26-28 Apr @ Monterey Hotel Booked
28 Apr Did not book Htl, thinking whether to stay 1 more night in Monterey or drive to LA
29- 2 May @ LA Hotel Booked
2 May Did not book Htl. Wondering whether to drive to Grand Canyon, stay 1 night, then proceed to LV. But, am thinking HARD coz driving dist is bout 800km, gonna take bout 8 hrs. Worry that Hb & Toddler girl can't take it.
3-8 May @ LV Hotel Booked

For 28 April, should we stay in Monterey? Already spending 2 nights there. Main plan is to go to the Aquarium & 1 day should be catching the Whales Spotting Cruise.

Any suggestions for 2 May? Really wanna go Grand Canyon... But, I think the driving is gonna kill all 3 of us... ~_~

most tours from Grand Canyon do the west rim.
U can do the tour or the heli ride.
driving.. its best for u to stay in Grand Canyon for the nite. U drove for 7hrs there and it will be tiring for U all. ipad in the car bad for eyes and some kids have motion sickness. if not U will get alot of "are we there yet?" "how long" may kill the parents. toddler may not want to get back into the car, my boy is ~26mth old and he didn't like 1.5hr drive already, my gal was like that when she is around 3 too. wet diapers stuck in traffic.. constant crying... terrible. Safety issue do not take her out of the car seat even u stuck in traffic.
even after 1.5hrs drive and rest for say 30mins that didn't change his attitude towards getting back into the car. My Ang Mo's daughter she is no go even they rested overnite! and they drove from the North to Florida!
you husband is a grown man can take it, your 2.5 yr old gal may be the bigger issue. really depends on your gal. if she will sleep great, if not u maybe in alot of hurt.
we have rear seat entertainment, books, snacks, music. Video is the best but wife don't want them to spend too much time on it, bad for eyes.

LA to Grand Canyon is a bad idea. I would go from LA to Kingman (4.5hrs) and kingman to Grand Canyon (2.5hrs). or stop at Williams just 1hr away from Grand Canyon. don't have to book hotel is adv if u planning to stop mid way. if U are staying in Grand Canyon that can be tricky esp its in spring break.

4 nites LV for me little too much. toddler cannot hang around Casino mostly shopping. 2.5 yr old she may want to push buttons on the slots machine but it's no no

28th I wouldn't stay in Monterey, tourist place expensive plus U are there 2 days already. go somewhere

 

[starfish.starfish]

As mentioned by Hisashiburi, you need to apply for esta or relevant visa. Most US airports do not have facilities for international transit, so technically, you would still be entering US (immigrations and customs), then exit US for the connecting flight.

Thanks all for the advise. In the end too tired and lazy to go downtown. Maybe next time.

On a side note, that was my plane... So missed my connecting flight. Was quite an experience.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/jfk-flight-grounded-bomb-threat-twitter-article-1.1759106

Happy Easter!

 

[TiOnGSquare]

anyone can recommend any 1 day Niagara falls tour from new york which i can sign up for 3? be it online or local signup. thx!

 

[ceecookie]

Thanks all for the advise. In the end too tired and lazy to go downtown. Maybe next time.

On a side note, that was my plane... So missed my connecting flight. Was quite an experience.

United Airlines flight temporarily grounded at JFK Airport by bomb threat made on Twitter - NY Daily News

Happy Easter!

Sorry to hear that. Did United rebook u on the next connecting flight quickly?

 

[invisible999]

Coming back to Bay Area

Subj. May 4th-14th. Work related, but I managed to put aside three days and on May 10th-12th will go to SJC->LAS (get a car, then non-stop)->Zion NP where I will stay for two days.

If anyone wanna to join on Angel Landing, The Narrows, West Rim (google) - you are welcome.

 

[TiOnGSquare]

just wondering is there a limitation on the number of branded bags we can get in usa? and how will we be tax? thanks!

 

[patryn33]

just wondering is there a limitation on the number of branded bags we can get in usa? and how will we be tax? thanks!

No limit and u wouldn't be tax extra.

 

[Hisashiburi]

Seems like there is no limit on number of bags but there is a max of $600 value of goods limit if overseas for more than 48 hrs.

So if u bring back new items for personal use and the total is above $600, should declare to customs and pay GST for it.
Dont think people actually do that though.

IRAS: Travellers bringing goods into Singapore

 

[TiOnGSquare]

just now went the arcade money changer..tio 8 pieces of old usd 100 dollars notes..din koe will have problem changing it back to sgd when i come back

 

[TiOnGSquare]

anyone can recommend any 1 day Niagara falls tour from new york which i can sign up for 3? be it online or local signup. thx!

anyone

 

[starfish.starfish]

Sorry to hear that. Did United rebook u on the next connecting flight quickly?

There was a long q at the customer service due to various flight cancellation so had to q for more than an hour before I managed to speak to customer service. They tried to put me on the next flight which is 24 hrs after but it means I would miss another connecting flight so in the end it was pretty messy. Had to cancel my flight and redeem via another route. By time settle everything was 2am and so had to spend the night at the airport. They did not provide free hotel stay, only gave a generic "voucher" for some discounts for the airport hotel cos they said the delay was due to security, they only provide free lodging if it's due to weather that caused the delay.

Anyone knows if I will be able to claim travel insurance for such incidents?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dontbyteme]

Flight to USA

Looking to book open jaw flight from 1) Singapore to LA/SF then from 2) NY back to SG. Travelling in the month of Aug.

My friend is looking to travel on SIA but so far the recent promotion is only for travel before July. Does anyone knows if SIA will have another round of promotion for travel in Aug?

Alternatively, we are open to travel on other airlines. Not necessarily looking at the cheapest tickets, since its a long flight we want something comfortable as well. E.g. ANA, Asiana, Cathay.

 

[TiOnGSquare]

comparing these 2 niagara tour grp
which one the better one?

2-Day Niagara Falls and Thousand Islands Bus Tour (Budget Tour)

2-Day Niagara Falls Tour from New York/New Jersey

 

[nomoreliaola]

hi guys, i just reserved a 5.5 days of "Chevrolet Impala or similar" from hertz using krisflyer promotion (15% off) from LAX-SNA, total cost is 317.05 USD including LDW.

the above does not include Liability Insurance Supplement daily @ 13.95 USD and Personal Accident Insurance / Personal Effects Coverage daily @ 6.95 USD.

any view if this rate is reasonable? thanks

 

[fone]

hi guys, i just reserved a 5.5 days of "Chevrolet Impala or similar" from hertz using krisflyer promotion (15% off) from LAX-SNA, total cost is 317.05 USD including LDW.

the above does not include Liability Insurance Supplement daily @ 13.95 USD and Personal Accident Insurance / Personal Effects Coverage daily @ 6.95 USD.

any view if this rate is reasonable? thanks

Looks not bad, for 6 days, that's about $50 a day for full sized, just full size consumes more fuel than smaller cars, if you do not need such a car size.