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USA general advice

  • 22-11-2013 11:30am
    #1
    dead_tree
    Registered Users Posts: 19 ✭


    Hi,

    I'm heading to the USA at the weekend for a week and just looking for some general advice as I've never been there before and am just a bit unsure.

    Travel Checklist:
    Passport + ESTA payment receipt- that is all that's required to gain access?

    Tipping:
    Do you tip EVERYONE? taxi drivers? if I buy a bar of chocolate at a corner shop? If I buy a jumper in a clothes shop? If I buy a camera or dvd in an electronics shop. Do you tip them all?

    I know for services like in restaurants you'd tip. Is it generally 10%?
    What about buying a drink in a bar? Do you tip?
    When you pay for your accommodation - is a tip expected on top of that?

    Shopping and customs:
    If I bought a laptop and it was well packaged, would I be better off putting it in my suitcase or bringing it on board my hand luggage? Just worried that my case might get pulled or else if it's in my hand luggage then I might get pulled and caught for customs?



    Thanks!


Comments

  • #2
    bennyineire
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,492 ✭✭✭bennyineire


    Tip for services not for goods, ie tip a waiter, taxi driver, hairdresser, don't tip when your buying stuff in a shop,
    As regards buying drinks it depends really, if your in a bar and staying for a few drinks the bar tender can set you up a tab and you pa for all your drinks when your finished, then tip him, they usually give you every 4th or 5th drink on the house so you can factor that in your tip, in busy bars you will pay by the drink and give a small tip for each round but again you will usually get a free round, where are you going.
    As regards laptop, get rid of all the packaging and try to set it up over there, even if its just to set your password, that way you can say you brought it over with (lets say you had to do a bit of work on it)


  • #3
    schemingbohemia
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,606 ✭✭✭schemingbohemia


    You don't tip everyone, tip in restaurants and bars and a lot more than 10%, think it's more like 15-20%, I'd tip the taxi driver but not by that much.

    Not going to advise on breaking the law re customs.


  • #4
    ProudDUB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,569 ✭✭✭✭ProudDUB


    Agree with the others. Tip for food and drinks in restaurants, not when you are buying things in shops.

    If Customs pull you aside when you get home, they will inspect ALL of your luggage, both your checked in bags and your hand luggage. Your putting the lap top in either bag makes no difference if you are trying to hide it. They will find it either way. However, airlines do suggest that you put all valuable electronic items in you hand luggage, for security reasons. Checked in bags get put thru a security scanner before they are loaded onto the plane. Electronic items show up on that scan & sometimes they can be a easy pickings for light fingered airport employees.


  • #5
    Yamanoto
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,489 ✭✭✭Yamanoto


    dead_tree wrote: »
    Hi,
    Travel Checklist:
    Passport + ESTA payment receipt- that is all that's required to gain access?

    Tipping:
    Do you tip EVERYONE? taxi drivers? if I buy a bar of chocolate at a corner shop? If I buy a jumper in a clothes shop? If I buy a camera or dvd in an electronics shop. Do you tip them all?

    I know for services like in restaurants you'd tip. Is it generally 10%?
    What about buying a drink in a bar? Do you tip?
    When you pay for your accommodation - is a tip expected on top of that?

    ESTA receipt is not necessary - if you've been authorised to travel, CBP will know this.

    Tipping 20% is kinda standard to wait staff, 15-20% to cab drivers in the bigger cities. If you use an airport shuttle and have your bags managed by the driver a couple of dollars will suffice, same with bellboys. Exercise common sense though i.e. if your service is cruddy (which it very occasionally can be), reflect that in the tip.

    I'll usually tip about $5 per day to housekeeping also, though reading a recent thread in AH, this is one many folks apparently choose to avoid.


  • #6
    jjbrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭jjbrien


    ProudDUB wrote: »
    Agree with the others. Tip for food and drinks in restaurants, not when you are buying things in shops.

    If Customs pull you aside when you get home, they will inspect ALL of your luggage, both your checked in bags and your hand luggage. Your putting the lap top in either bag makes no difference if you are trying to hide it. They will find it either way. However, airlines do suggest that you put all valuable electronic items in you hand luggage, for security reasons. Checked in bags get put thru a security scanner before they are loaded onto the plane. Electronic items show up on that scan & sometimes they can be a easy pickings for light fingered airport employees.

    Worked for an airline and another reason to put your electronics in your carry on bag is the baggage hold is not heated unless they are carrying animals in the hold. So temperatures can be -20 degrees or more in the hold. Which would do serious damage to a laptop


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  • #7
    Stinicker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7,102 ✭✭✭Stinicker


    dead_tree wrote: »
    Shopping and customs:
    If I bought a laptop and it was well packaged, would I be better off putting it in my suitcase or bringing it on board my hand luggage? Just worried that my case might get pulled or else if it's in my hand luggage then I might get pulled and caught for customs?



    Thanks!

    Throw away the packaging and unimportant stuff and just keep the receipt which you can hide discreetly somewhere in your checked luggage. Buy a laptop bag out there and bring back the laptop and charger with you as an additional piece of your carry-on luggage. You are allowed to bring a laptop bag separate to your carryon with most airlines.

    It will then just appear as if you brought the laptop from Ireland ;) As it will have an american two pin plug buy a an Irish laptop plug here which you can fit into the american charger. Should they be extremely investigative you can then just claim you have an american two pin plug and an Irish plug for travel.

    Remove all tags and prices from any purchased clothes, then ball them all up and make them wrinkled and messy and mix them in with Irish clothes, once again the goal here is to make them look like clothes you brought with you from Ireland. Don't mention shopping as a reason to visit the US if asked emphasize visiting friends or family. If your a woman put your lingerie and maybe a few condoms at the top of the bag (a vibrator for best effect if you've watched Love/Hate), this along with some oh my gods and embarrassment should be enough to throw any nosey customs officer off the scent of taxing your american purchases.

    Bring back 200 cigs back even if not a smoker, the main thing customs are looking for is cigarettes and usually once they see you are within the limit for cigarettes they won't bother you for anything else, but if they do the previous methods should give you the best change of avoiding getting taxed on them should they go through things with a fine tooth comb.


  • #8
    Atlantic Dawn
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83,480 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    Stinicker wrote: »

    It will then just appear as if you brought the laptop from Ireland ;) As it will have an american two pin plug buy a an Irish laptop plug here which you can fit into the american charger. Should they be extremely investigative you can then just claim you have an american two pin plug and an Irish plug for travel.

    Keyboard layout for a US laptop will give it away that it wasn't purchased in Ireland or the UK.


  • #9
    BabysCoffee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,713 ✭✭✭BabysCoffee


    Tips are about 20% for wait staff (10% tips were probably standard back in the eighties)

    In bars I tip a dollar a drink.

    Housekeeping: $3-5 a night

    If you are unsure of tipping, rule of thumb is it is better to tip than not!


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