Travel to America / USA

LQueue2Queue on 27/03/2012 - 01:39

Hi Everyone,

I'm traveling to Los Angeles in mid April. I haven't done an overseas trip in a few years and would like to know some tips on how I could make my dollar go further.

  1. What is the best way of taking out cash?

- previously I had used an ANZ travel card for Europe in 2009 to lock in an exchange rate when the dollar was unstable.
- Zero Degrees Card? yeah really not sure.

  1. Booking hotels in Las Vegas?

- i will be there weekdays only, i heard there are some great deals using lastminute.com , or should I book before hand ?

  1. Any other tips?

Thank you in advance for any info

Travel

Comments

  • bbqwer on 27/03/2012 - 01:49
    +2

    for money issue.

    1. get 28degree mastercard.
    2. or apply for NAB gold visa debit card.

    you cant go wrong with this 2 cards. best travelling card !

    • Chongy288 on 27/03/2012 - 10:35

      Yeah i agree, I brought over aust cash to convert over in the states but they just don't have any currency exchanges there…. well not as abundant as every where else i have travelled to.

    • YadaYadaYada on 27/03/2012 - 13:04

      The bankwest platinum zero fee card also has recently waived international transaction fees. See http://www.bankwest.com.au/product-comparison?dropFilter=Or+…

      Not available for the other zero fee cards with Bankwest though.

    • Queue2Queue on 27/03/2012 - 18:54

      Looks like i'll look into the 28degree card.
      I've heard many good things about it on ozB

  • undercut on 27/03/2012 - 09:12
    +2

    Citibank Plus transaction account lets you withdraw cash from overseas ATMs without fees. Best bet in USA is to use your 28 Degrees credit card to pay for everything, therefore avoiding any transaction fees. You can pay for pretty much everything with a credit card in the US.

    For hotels in Vegas, check out Priceline.com for the best prices (use betterbidding.com to find out how much people have been buying their hotel rooms for). Otherwise Hotwire.com. Also worth getting onto the hotels' websites and signing up for special offers. I have bought really cheap weekday rooms at Treasure Island Hotel using their special rates codes.
    Use retailmenot.com to find codes for hotel discounts also.

    • neil on 27/03/2012 - 12:33

      +1 for priceline via betterbidding. It's also worth checking the US bargain sites )dealnews and slickdeals) as they occasionally have Vegas hotel deals.

      • YadaYadaYada on 27/03/2012 - 13:09

        Also start checking the major group buy deal sites for LA daily if possible. Sometimes some good deals for stuff you want to do come up, and stuff you never thought of doing as well. Some of the major players over there are also here, eg livingsocial, groupon so you might be able to use an existing account! Just be mindful of the expiry dates and if you need bookings etc. Also some of these group buy vouchers don't include tax, so you might have to pay a little more when you get there.

    • LittleMiss on 30/03/2012 - 03:15

      RE: Citibank Plus transaction account

      Do you recommend this? However you suggested 28 Degrees is the best bet, why is it better?? Please help… :)

      I'm doubtful I will receive my 28Deg card in time so was thinking of popping into a Citibank to sign up for one of these cards. Are there any downsides to this??

      Thanks :)

    • idago on 01/04/2012 - 04:45

      I lived in the US and have been to Las Vegas many times, and I recommend against websites like Priceline.com and Hotwire.com, or at least have a very good idea of what you're getting yourself into. Hotels allocate the least desirable rooms to people who book through those sites and others like them, so you end up getting exactly what you pay for. This happened so consistently to me and to pretty much everyone I've spoken to most of the time that I just ended up signing up to hotel newsletters well ahead of any trips and taking up those deals instead. This also makes it a lot easier to score a free room upgrade, which is pretty much impossible if you're paying bottom dollar to start with.

      I second using a NAB Gold Visa Debit, except for hotels, car rentals, or anything that requires the funds to be held. This is because it can take over a week for these purchase authorisations to drop off your account, and in the meantime you don't have access to that money. For example, say you have a $5000 balance and you check in at a hotel that holds $500, then charges you $500 when you leave. You'll end up with a $4000 balance for at least a few days until the original held amount drops off, and the only way to speed this process up (get the hotel to fax a purchase authorisation release request to NAB) is a huge hassle and will still take a day or two if you're lucky. Better to use a credit card to hold the purchase and the NAB Gold Visa Debit to pay. $10 a month (or deposit $5000) and no international transaction fees or ATM fees (depending on the ATM), and you can revert to a classic fee-free account when you get back.

  • alwayscheaper on 27/03/2012 - 10:07

    For Las Vegas, I stayed in Imperial Palace before and it was great value. Hotel itself is not fancy on the outside, but rooms are ok. I stayed for US$40 per night in weekdays, and it's in the middle of the strip!

    Check here for more deals:
    http://www.vegashotelspecial.com/index.php/month/April/

    I had a buffet of buffets package as well which is a 24 hour buffet for 7 hotels, but I don't seem to find this package anymore. We started at 8pm one night dinner and then the next day brekkie, lunch and early dinner (as long as u enter before 8pm but be cautious of any queue which may take up to 1 hour), it was great, maybe research this.

  • Chongy288 on 27/03/2012 - 10:39

    Other tips,
    get ready for the security checks at the airport.. they can be nasty.
    Homeless people are everywhere!
    Tax and tipping on everything (so you never know immediately what you are paying up front).
    ALWAYS carry small change around with you.
    and ofcause say G'day to everyone there.

    • abbz0id on 27/03/2012 - 10:44

      In addition to tipping, if someone gives you atrocious service, tip them $0.01. Learnt that AFTER I had some pretty atrocious service and thought no tip was an insult, but it isn't compared to tipping a cent!

      Also, the amount you tip is ~10% BEFORE tax.

      • neil on 27/03/2012 - 12:30

        Not so good service ~10%
        15% for good
        20% for very good

        of the total bill.

        I generally give between 15-20%. I rarely if ever got bad service in my 20 years living in the US. I mean why would you if you work on tips.

        • abbz0id on 27/03/2012 - 17:37

          I got really atrocious service at hollywood by one of the bus companies that take you around hollywood and other theme parks. I think people in Anaheim are a lot more friendlier and provide considerable better service than people in Hollywood… that place is overrated.

  • VeganJerky on 27/03/2012 - 13:00

    I used http://smartervegas.com/ to find a good deal in vegas.

    Can't go wrong with NAB gold visa debit card, but make sure you test it here first. NAB stuffed mine up so I had everything set up, cash in the account, but there was a lock on it, so couldn't access it.

    Also, do you use a smart phone? you might want to get a pre-paid sim card over there so you can use things like Yelp and Google maps on the go. I used one from AT & T.

    • YadaYadaYada on 27/03/2012 - 13:06

      Is that because you didn't tell the bank that you were going to xxx a place overseas before leaving the country? Otherwise they could freeze your account because of potential fraud.

      • VeganJerky on 27/03/2012 - 13:53

        No, it was frozen before I even left Australia, I told them where I was going, opened the account just to go overseas. I tested an account ballance here, but stupidly did not try and get cash out.

        I rang them from overseas twice, the first time they said I used the wrong ATM, the second time they said it was locked and couldn't help me.

        When I got back to Australia and went into a branch the guy simply said "Oh, that shouldn't be there"….. and took the lock off. I then took all my $$$ out and ran.

        So yeah, great account, but I would never touch it from my bad experience.

    • Queue2Queue on 27/03/2012 - 22:05

      Oh cheers,
      I was wondering about mobile data service over there. I was bringing an iPad to help out.
      Seems pretty hard to find a prepaid phone plan with data online. I'll probably check it when i'm there.

      • VeganJerky on 27/03/2012 - 22:53

        Looks like T-mobile has the best deal right now - http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

        Get the sim, then just $2 a day for unlimited calls and data. The catch is, you can't get a micro sim there, so you'll either need to cut it down, or (like I did) grab a sim cutter off ebay before you go.

        By the way, when in Vegas don't miss Hash House a go go - http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/ , the chicken and waffles are pretty bloody good.

        • neil on 28/03/2012 - 00:33

          Hmm. Are the 2g speeds with T-Mobile any good?

        • VeganJerky on 28/03/2012 - 09:17

          2g speeds are ok, trust me their networks are nowhere near as good as the ones in Australia.

          I was over there July last year though, I think they've upgraded to 4G since then, could make a difference.

          The two viable options for prepaid there are AT&T and T-Mobile.

  • Blitzen on 27/03/2012 - 17:16

    Just went to LA last year September. My advise is if you are not afraid of driving in LA, renting a car is pretty cheap. We rented a car for only $17 a day + $9 for GPS from Fox Rent A Car at LAX airport. On top of that we parked our car at the world trade center in downtown LA for only $8/ 24hours.
    Also for the hotels we used Hotwire.com to compare with Priceline.com. Make sure you do a lot of research on buying/ booking tickets and sorting out transportation before you go there because Cabs can be quite pricey with the tips.
    Shopping is awesome and a hot tip for you, make sure you keep the receipts and bring it with you because most of them have a 14 days price policy where they refund you the difference if the item you bought got further discounted in 14 days.

    • Queue2Queue on 27/03/2012 - 18:53
      +1

      Great advice!
      I heard from many people to rent a car is the best way, so i've gone ahead and done that.
      cheers

  • Queue2Queue on 27/03/2012 - 21:14

    I do have another Question.

    Travel Insurance.
    Who should i go with?
    The 28 Degrees Card does not provide travel insurance and my CBA Awards Card does not as well.
    Anyone recommend anything ?

    • VeganJerky on 27/03/2012 - 22:56

      I've got an ANZ platinum card, good insurance included with that. I used that card over there for most of my purchases too, and it worked out pretty good.

      • YadaYadaYada on 28/03/2012 - 00:30

        Any of the gold or platinum credit cards have free travel insurance if you book flights and /or accommodation with the card. It varies from card to card though. Insurance in the US is a must because medical costs over there are quit exorbitant compared to here.

  • LittleMiss on 28/03/2012 - 03:44

    This 28Degrees card sounds terrific. However, I only just found out about it last night…how long did it take to receive your cards? Any way to speed up the process??

    I signed up last night and fly next Wed :(

    Can anyone suggest the next best alternative that I can sign up and get before then?? Thank you in advance!!!

  • krum on 28/03/2012 - 09:57

    anyone know of any cheap deals for SYD to LAX or SFO (SFO preferred) end of june/start of july till the end of july.

  • Matt P on 07/04/2012 - 23:21

    for hotels in vegas, i keep an eye on http://www.vegas-hotels-online.com/

    they list all the promos that the hotels run. You can usually pick up something sweet. I mostly stay at the higher end hotels (i.e. thehotel, aria, cosmopolitan) so they often don't offer anything on the supercheap hotel bidding sites

  • After Dark on 05/05/2012 - 03:26

    Not sure of your budget but we stayed in the Signature at MGM apartments and would highly recommend them - best deal was direct with the hotel using one of their deals. http://www.signaturemgmgrand.com/

    • cakegirl10 on 09/05/2012 - 19:03

      I stayed here (MGM Grand) a few years back and they had an amazing deal - room was upgraded, included buffet for lunch and dinner, casino credit, free entry to club in hotel, and I think one or two other things. With that deal, budget didn't matter because it was so cheap.

      I usually check out expedia.com, or even for some things kayak.com and then go to the hotel site once I find what I like and see if they can do better. Worth even calling (through Skype or something) the hotel and asking what they can do.

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