USA – Before the trip
2:30:00 PM
Look out for the gold stars ('★') in the posts for extras on how to save money on your trip.
So let's go! In June 2016, I went on my first ever trip to the USA with my cousin, Cee, who is doing summer exchange in Berkeley. We covered New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in 14 days, with a bonus full-day stopover in Dubai (previous post here). Many of the blogs I've read prior to the trip are self-drive, but since both of us can't drive yet, we got around via public transport or Lyft.
Let me assure you that it definitely isn't that difficult if you're only covering sights in the city centre (main shopping or touristy spots)! The only downside is you don't get to go to the nearby cities (e.g. Washington <-> NYC, Las Vegas <-> LA or Sacramento <-> SF) and the Great Nature (e.g. Grand Canyon when in LA or Yosemite when in SF). Anyway, if you only have 5 days or so in each city, you should keep it to the city itself and not waste time traveling to another one I guess? One thing though, all the commuting made us appreciate the 'efficient' MRT and bus services back home, haha!
At the time of travel, exchange rate is approx US$1 = S$1.355 to S$1.37 (cash) or S$1.389 (credit).
Let's begin with entry into the United States. If you are from any of the countries listed below, you do not have to apply for Visa as it is part of the Visa Waiver Program.
"What is the Visa Waiver Program?
The visa waiver program is a U.S. government program that enables citizens and nationals from 38 countries to enter the United States for business or visitor purposes for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. The advantage of entering the United States under the visa waiver program is that you can travel to the United States on short notice without obtaining a visa. Visa Waiver Travelers are required to have an approved travel authorization (ESTA) to enter the United States by air or sea."
Apply for ESTA here.
It should take about 20 minutes to complete the form. Do not hit backspace or leave the page unattended as you have to start over once the page time-out. You should have your personal, passport and travel details ready before application. Payment is required at the end of the application, so get ready your credit card too. Make sure your computer is connected to a printer as you will have to print out a physical copy of the approved ESTA and present it together with your passport at the immigration counter.
This should be completed at least 72 hrs before your trip. Kiasu Singaporean here got it done right when my air ticket was confirmed (approx 2 months prior) hahaha.
Got your ESTA settled? Well done! Moving on to the other necessities...
"What is the Visa Waiver Program?
The visa waiver program is a U.S. government program that enables citizens and nationals from 38 countries to enter the United States for business or visitor purposes for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. The advantage of entering the United States under the visa waiver program is that you can travel to the United States on short notice without obtaining a visa. Visa Waiver Travelers are required to have an approved travel authorization (ESTA) to enter the United States by air or sea."
Apply for ESTA here.
It should take about 20 minutes to complete the form. Do not hit backspace or leave the page unattended as you have to start over once the page time-out. You should have your personal, passport and travel details ready before application. Payment is required at the end of the application, so get ready your credit card too. Make sure your computer is connected to a printer as you will have to print out a physical copy of the approved ESTA and present it together with your passport at the immigration counter.
This should be completed at least 72 hrs before your trip. Kiasu Singaporean here got it done right when my air ticket was confirmed (approx 2 months prior) hahaha.
Got your ESTA settled? Well done! Moving on to the other necessities...
(1) Have data on your mobile
M1 post-paid subscribers are in luck because they offer Data Passport service, but if you are subscribed to other telcos, you can consider getting T-Mobile's prepaid plans here. It *should* still be significantly cheaper than any of your telco's roaming plans.
Back to Data Passport - it allows you to use your local data plan overseas at local rates! Sounds too good to be true? I was skeptical at first, but after checking my bill via the M1 app almost daily (scared lah), I was convinced that there were no extra charges on data roaming. Here's how it goes.
Back to Data Passport - it allows you to use your local data plan overseas at local rates! Sounds too good to be true? I was skeptical at first, but after checking my bill via the M1 app almost daily (scared lah), I was convinced that there were no extra charges on data roaming. Here's how it goes.
A few things to take note - there is a one time S$2 activation fee per country and costs S$10 per country per billing cycle (i.e. charged S$10 for usage in Jun-16, another S$10 for usage in Jul-16, etc). You must select T-Mobile as the carrier, otherwise roaming rates apply. To prevent accidental switch of carriers (e.g. to AT&T where you will be charged ROAMING rates by the kb), you can activate Network Lock at no extra charge. Terminate this service (just Data Passport so Network Lock will resume when you activate Data Passport again in the future) upon return, otherwise it will be billed monthly even if you did not use it overseas.
★ Helpful tip: upsize your data before activating Data Passport to have a peace of mind while surfing overseas! I am on the iPhone Reg+ plan so I receive 3GB extra data at only S$5.90 on top of the existing plan (rolling till end of contract).
That's 7GB of data monthly and it is sufficient at least for me, to upload a few album full of pictures to facebook, refresh instagram every other hour, endlessly routing on google maps and so much more without even coming close to hitting the cap.
Grand total payment for data roaming usage for this trip (Jun-July)?
(S$10*2) + (S$5.90*2) + S$2 = S$33.80
1. S$33.80 won't even get you 3 days of portable wifi device rental. It costs S$12 per day to rent a portable wifi device with capped usage of 400MB a day and that would have came up to S$192 for the entire trip. Savings = S$158!
2. S$33.80 is only the cost to use Unlimited Data Roaming for 2 days on any telco. It costs S$15 per day with unlimited data usage. That would've been S$240 for the entire trip. Savings = S$206!
2. S$33.80 is only the cost to use Unlimited Data Roaming for 2 days on any telco. It costs S$15 per day with unlimited data usage. That would've been S$240 for the entire trip. Savings = S$206!
(Damn, I wish M1 would pay me for telling the world about this but I guess that means lesser earnings for them as more people learn about this little hack. Okay I've hit the daily limit for shoutouts to M1 so I will stop.)
(2a) Public Transport
★ It would save you some money if you have a rough idea of where you will be visiting because then you can plan your transit route in advance. Depending on the areas and your length of stay, it could be cheaper to go for the unlimited rides option.
(i) New York City
If you were born early enough you would probably have some kinda distant memory about the old SG bus cards before ezlink and nets flashpay card. It's this thin, flimsy card with a magnetic stripe on one side and it's so slim, it can fit into anything! Lol at that bad toothbrush ad pun but yeah the metropass looks like that.
(i) New York City
If you were born early enough you would probably have some kinda distant memory about the old SG bus cards before ezlink and nets flashpay card. It's this thin, flimsy card with a magnetic stripe on one side and it's so slim, it can fit into anything! Lol at that bad toothbrush ad pun but yeah the metropass looks like that.
A $1 charge applies for purchase of new metrocards. A single ride on the NYC metro costs $2.75 inclusive of transfers (within 2 hrs of starting your journey) and it is flat rate regardless of distance.
Also if you have no idea where to get one in Singapore, neither do I. HAHAHAHHAHA we got ours at Sutphin Blvd-Archer Av Metro Station's automatic ticketing machine after alighting from the AirTrain JFK side. Top up $5.50 or more on your card and receive 11% bonus - that's $0.11 extra with every $10 loaded.
★ A 7-day unlimited pass goes for $31 and is valid on all metros and local buses. You only need to take 12 rides to breakeven! It would be a pretty good deal if your trip is more than 4 days (assuming min. 3 rides per day).
As a gauge, we topped up approximately $25 for a 4 day stay in NYC. Most of the time, we walked.
(ii) Los Angeles
As a gauge, we topped up approximately $25 for a 4 day stay in NYC. Most of the time, we walked.
(ii) Los Angeles
Interestingly, a 1-day unlimited pass goes for $7 and 7-day unlimited pass goes for only $25 in LA. Both passes are valid on all metros and local buses, except for Silver Line and Express buses, where an extra $0.75 will be charged to your card. If you transfer to a non-metro bus, e.g. Muni bus, an extra $0.50 applies.
You have to tap your card again when transferring between metro lines (e.g. Red line to Blue line) even if you don't exit the station.
As a gauge, we topped up approximately $15 for a 5 day stay in LA. Most of the time, we Lyfted.
(iii) San Francisco
1-day unlimited pass is $20 and 7-day unlimited pass goes for $31 in SF, but valid for rides on the MUNI only. It's a bit tougher to work out the most cost-effective option for SF, so we went for the pay as you go option. That $3 cost for card though, not cool.
As a gauge, we topped up approximately $25 for a 4 day stay in SF. We took buses most of the time as bus 37 goes straight to our place and the muni was really convenient!
(2b) Lyft as an alternative to Uber and Cabs
★ It's significantly cheaper to ride on Lyft when you factor in the $5 credit for your first 10 rides. Download the Lyft app on your mobile via the link here to receive the credits! Valid for 14 days from your first ride.
Lyft is a ride sharing app like Uber and Grab. It is relatively newer in the market and drivers are said to be more friendly than Uber as they give off less 'professional' vibes. Also, there are more female Drivers on Lyft – in fact I had 3 rides with them and they're all so nice and welcoming! Particularly Jenna, who we met in LA. She's just like an old time friend and I only regret not keeping in touch. :( but ok la that would be mega creepy of me so...
Anyway. I only Lyfted once in NYC and here's a breakdown of the charges:
Confused? Here's a sample of my ride receipt with the breakdown:
Like Uber, it requires you to make payment via credit card. There are no extra or hidden charges at all! If you are not familiar with how it is being calculated...
Base fare + time taken round up to nearest minute + distance in miles + toll (if any) + tips (if any) - ride credit (if any) = Total Lyft fare
★ Minimum fare is charged when the total cost of your ride is below $8. Taking base charge into consideration, if your journey is less than 1.5 miles (approx 2.4km), why not walk to your destination? Save money and get a bit of workout at the same time!
Most drivers use the Waze app to navigate so you shouldn't be taken for a ride. Hehe. Will share more on the different prices in LA and SF in the respective posts, because this post is getting waaaay too long.
Also, tipping is not necessary at all, but I do it for all my rides because why not? There is a $1, $2, $5 and 'other' option at the tipping page (before clicking confirm to finalize payment) and if you feel a little fancy + the driver's nice... Go on and make their day!
(3) Sales Tax in USA
If there was one thing that I always forget when shopping in NYC (the whole of US, in fact), it would be the sales tax. Always remember that the tagged price of items you see is not the final price*, always add the sales tax to avoid bill shock. For ease of calculation across all the cities, I always add 10% to the tagged price.
In NYC, clothing and shoes priced below $110 individually are exempted from tax. However I seem to always see the tax amount charged on my receipt, even for purchases accumulating to less than $110 in a single bill, so I don't know how that crap works. Cosmetics and accessories are taxed. Somebody tell me why............. Anyway, sales tax varies across states and cities.
Sales Tax in New York = 8.875%
Sales Tax in Los Angeles = 9%
Sales Tax in San Francisco = 8.75%
Again, somebody tell me why............. Bottom line is, take note of the sales tax, but don't let it bother you to the extend that you hold off shopping until your last stop. As prices and product assortment MAY vary across the cities (urgh why is this even happening), you may not find what you want in another city, even though it is from the same brand.
I did most of my shopping in SFO, because I did not want to have to pay for excess baggage when traveling to LAX and from LAX to SFO. I only bought cosmetics and some clothes in NYC, because I ran out of lipstick and some skincare products (yeah, on the first leg of the trip).
(4) Tipping in USA = 15% ~ 20%
This Asian here really can't bear to part with her money. When you choose to dine at any restaurants, be prepared to add an additional 15% to 20% tipping to your bill. That's approx 9% + 20% right there...........
A fast way to calculate the amount of tips to give (without having to whip out your phone) is to double the sales tax stated on the bill (they call it 'check' right?) = approx 18%.
So your $20 meal will cost you $20 + $1.75 + $3.50 = $25.25 at least.
(5) Accomodation
★ It would save you some money if you stayed in Airbnb apartments instead of hotels - a bigger room/space for the same (usually lower) price and you get to experience how it is like for locals. It is also equally convenient to get around, especially if you stay in the NYC Manhattan/LA WeHo/SF SoMa area.
I'll talk more about the apartments in the respective posts but here are quick links to the listings if you're interested to check it out.
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That's all everyone, thanks so much for reading. I hope you're ready to get started on the prep work before your US trip now, haha!
Psst, a full NYC post is in the works, so do check back for updates! Have a great weekend all xx
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