This is a long and changeable subject, but let me try to cover some of the basics. I travel to the US mostly from the UK, so information here will be most relevant for those travelling from Britain but I will try to cover some universal basics.
Transatlantic routes are some of the busiest in the world, which means there is plenty of choice. I am definitely a budget traveller, so the most important factor for me is the price. My rule number one is never to fly in high season which generally means July and August. Prices in these months tend to hike to sometimes ridiculous levels and things get very busy, especially planes, accommodation, attractions etc. For me this is a definite no, no. Similarly Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving and other holidays are dates to be avoided. Flying during the midweek can also save you quite a few bucks, pounds or euros.
Your choice of the airport is equally important. The best rates available are often to the big hub airports like JFK, LAX, ORD, ATL or DAL. Apart from the cheap rates they offer the advantage of direct flights and save you the hassle of changing planes in the USA. And it is a hassle since in most American airports you have to collect your luggage, go through immigration and customs and then recheck your luggage again for the internal flight. In my opinion, it is better to plan your trip in such a way that it starts and ends in a hub airport with direct flights from Europe. So instead of flying to, let’s, Charleston or Savannah and starting your trip there, go to Atlanta instead which is a big hub of Delta Airlines. For example, at the moment I’m at the stage of planning my trip to Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia and I will definitely fly to Atlanta rather than Nashville, Louisville or Cincinnati.
Nowadays most people (including myself) search for and buy tickets themselves online. I really don’t see the point of visiting the travel agent any more as long as you are not planning some complicated multi-stop itinerary around the world with a few different airlines.
You can obviously check the prices directly on the airlines’ websites, but there are thousands of websites offering searches among the multiple airlines and travel agents. My favourites are Kayak, Skyscanner and Travelsupermarket. However, I never completely trust them. Theoretically, they are supposed to redirect you to the sellers’ sites offering the best deals. I tend to check the chosen flights directly with the airlines as well since sometimes you can get them even cheaper than on the price comparison sites. A couple of years ago Travelsupermarket was offering flights to Washington DC directly from the British Airways site, which were £25 more expensive than the same flight if searched for on the BA site. Also, some of the cheapest offers always seem to sell out as soon as you click on them. It might be my Polish cynicism, but they are probably there to redirect you to some of these sellers’ websites. However you look at it, the more you search, the more you can save, so be patient.
Remember that most of the cheap deals have severe restrictions when it comes to changing dates and other details once you book. If you have to change something it will increase your fare significantly, if it is possible at all. So only book your flights when you are 100% sure when you are going. Some people still recommend booking flights as far ahead as possible, but I realised that it doesn’t really make sense to book flights many months before any more. I usually follow prices online for a few months and buy them no more than two months or even six weeks in advance of my travels. I never noticed any huge price hikes and sometimes they even drop. For example, I booked my flight to Atlanta about two months before flying out, but I noticed that 2-3 weeks before my trip prices dropped a good £30 or more. Damn, I should have waited even longer.
Another way of saving money is to travel light. I still remember the good old days when you could take two pieces of checked luggage up to 32kg each. Unfortunately, in these stringent times all of the airlines cut their allowance to one piece of up to 23kg. If you want to take something like camping equipment or other heavy stuff, think twice about it as it might be cheaper to buy it in the US rather than paying the airlines for extra bags. Especially when so many things are actually cheaper in the US than in the UK.
At the end a few words about formalities when crossing the US border. Most Europeans don’t need to apply for a paper visa as most Western European countries are covered by the visa waiver program. You still have to fill in the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) form online and you should do it at least 72 hours before you fly.
The rest of us (including me) need a valid US visa to enter America. You’d better apply well in advance of your travels to avoid disappointment.
At the American airport remember that security officials and immigration officers are among the most humourless people on the entire planet. It is to a degree true about immigration and security personnel all over the world (especially in my native Poland), but Americans are definitely in the top of this league. It is especially weird as Americans are normally very outgoing people. Having said that, I have never had a particularly bad experience with US Immigration. They tend to be professional and efficient, even if sometimes they ask weird questions. Once in Boston, the officer asked me why I was not married to my girlfriend. What the hell was I suppose to answer?
After immigration you collect your bags and go through customs. Remember that you can’t bring fruit, vegetables, meat or any fresh produce into the USA. Theoretically, you can be fined a good few hundred dollars just for forgetting about the apple in your bag.
Finally, you are out of the airport and ready to go. From my experience it takes about an hour (plus/minus 15 min) to clear most US airports. My usual next step is the car rental agency desk. More about this next time.
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Author: Gregor Swiderek