1. Most hotels in the United States do not provide toothbrushes, toothpaste, slippers and other related toiletries. Please prepare yourself.
Please bring appropriate clothes, especially comfortable, light and casual clothes. Please take a coat in summer in case it gets cold at night. It is very cold in winter in the eastern United States. Please keep warm. In addition, because the sunshine in the United States is very strong, umbrellas, sun hats, sunglasses and sunscreen lotion can be prepared, so pay attention to sun protection.
Because American Customs has strict restrictions and regulations on the entry of agricultural products, please pay attention when preparing food. Do not bring fresh or preserved animal and plant products such as meat, eggs, vegetables and fruits into the country. If you bring any food, you must declare it. If you bring any food, it is recommended to tell the tour leader before entering the customs for reference.
4. If you have emergency medicine for travel, please use parcel tape as far as possible, preferably with English name, and store it uniformly. I suggest you inform the tour leader for reference before entering the customs.
The second thing to pay attention to in American tourism: entry and exit
1. Entry Notes:
According to the immigration law of the United States, all people who enter the country from land ports, airport ports or seaports in the United States are subject to inspection. If you fly to the United States, the flight attendant will give you an I-94 form, that is, an arrival/departure record, which records the personal information of immigrants and their addresses in the United States.
There are four main inspection items at American ports of entry:
1, public health; 2. Immigration status; 3. Customs inspection; 4. Agricultural inspection.
These four inspections can be conducted by one official or several officials.
On the way to the United States, flight attendants will distribute the I-94 form to passengers for everyone to fill out. Passengers fill in the basic personal information and address in the United States on this form.
At the port of entry, the immigration officer will check the documents and valid visas held by immigrants and examine the reasons for going to the United States, and decide whether to allow the inspected to enter the country and how long they can stay in the United States. If allowed to enter the country, the immigration officer will stamp the I-94 form of the entrant, and indicate the date of entry, visa status and length of stay in the United States.
It should be noted that holding a valid American visa does not guarantee entry, and ultimately it is up to the immigration officials at American ports to decide whether to allow you to enter the country. The I-94 form approved by the port immigration officer is the proof of legal entry into the United States and needs to be properly kept. If it is lost or damaged, you should report it to the nearby immigrants in time and apply for a replacement. Form I-94 should be returned to the port immigration officer when leaving the United States.
Passports must be valid for more than six months beyond the scheduled stay in the United States.
2, safety regulations
In order to improve the safety of passengers, the United States has restrictions on liquids, sprays and hairspray carried by inbound and outbound flights. These regulations are necessary to protect you from the threat of liquid explosion.
The size of liquid, spray or hair spray container in hand luggage must be equal to or less than 100 ml. All containers must be sealed in a transparent plastic bag with a capacity of one liter, and each person is limited to one plastic bag. Passengers are allowed to use self-sealing bags with a capacity of 1 liter or less.
Prescription drugs can still pass the security check. Passengers can bring baby products and prescription drugs that need to be used on the flight, but you may need to show proof of demand.
When you arrive at the security checkpoint, you must hand over any liquids, sprays and hairspray you still carry with you, including duty-free goods. The new regulations will also increase random body searches during security inspection.
Please prepare a plastic bag before check-in so that you have time to put the oversized container in the check-in baggage.
Step 3 follow the steps
Before check-in
Tidy up the liquid, spray and hair gel you are going to bring. If possible, please make preparations before going to the airport.
The liquid, spray and hair gel to be packed in hand luggage must be packed in containers with a capacity of 100 ml or less (the weight is about 100 g).
Containers exceeding 100 ml should be packed in checked baggage or taken away.
Half-full containers with capacity exceeding 100 ml cannot be carried.
Please put the container in your hand luggage in a transparent self-sealing plastic bag.
The capacity of plastic bags should not exceed 1 liter, that is, about 20X20 or 15X25. Most supermarkets sell this kind of plastic bags.
Plastic bags should be easily sealed after being filled with articles. If it is not well sealed, you should take some things with you, and each person is limited to one plastic bag.
Please put the plastic bag where it is easy to get in your hand luggage. Plastic bags should be shown to security personnel for inspection.
At the security checkpoint, you have to show the plastic bag to the security personnel separately for inspection.
Security personnel may ask for proof that you need to take medicine aboard, such as comparing the name on the prescription with your boarding pass.
Please take off your coat.
You may also be searched.
These regulations also apply to passengers who transfer at American international airports.
Many airports can buy duty-free goods, drinks and other items as long as they enter the safe area through the security checkpoint, and these items can be carried on board.
The Third Characteristic of American Tourism: Hotel Accommodation
1. Generally, the check-in time of the hotel is 14: 00 p.m., and the check-out time is before noon 12: 00 p.m., and extra charges will be charged for overtime.
2. Hotels generally do not provide personal items such as toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, slippers and shaver. Please bring your own things. If you really forget it, you can check with the hotel front desk, and some hotel front desks can provide it for free.
3. The tap water of the hotel cold water faucet can be drunk directly, but the hot water of the faucet can't be drunk directly.
The hotel provides free and pay TV. Some hotels also provide TV Internet service. Please refer to the fee description before making a decision before watching CCTV or using TV Internet.
There is a charge for calling outside the hotel room, which is more expensive. It is recommended to buy calling cards locally.
6. The United States uses 1 10V 60Hz alternating current, and the three-eye socket is different from China, so it needs to use a conversion socket. Please get ready before you leave.
7. Please pay attention to protect the hotel's equipment and facilities. Generally, hotels compensate more for the damage of equipment and facilities.
9. Smoking is not allowed in most hotel rooms, and some hotels have completely banned smoking. If you need to smoke, you should ask the smoking room before you check in, or ask where you can smoke. All the losses caused by smoking in the non-smoking room will be borne by the smoker.
10, the star standard of local hotels is higher than that of China.
1 1. Please pay attention to personal finance. You can make full use of the safe in your room, and don't put your personal money under the pillow or in the pillow when you leave the room, except for the daily tip for the room cleaner. The cleaning union thought you paid the tip and took it.
The fourth thing to pay attention to about American tourism: time difference
1. If new york time is noon 12, then Chicago is morning 1 1, Denver is morning 10, Los Angeles is 9 am, Alaska is 8 am and Hawaii is 7 am.
Daylight saving time is practiced in most parts of the United States. The current implementation method is to advance the time by one hour 1 1 between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in June. Note: Arizona and Hawaii chose not to implement this system.
3. US Eastern Time is 13 hour later than Beijing Time and 12 hour later than Daylight Saving Time. Pacific Time is 16 hours later than Beijing Time and 15 hours later than Daylight Saving Time. Hawaii is behind Beijing time 18 hours.
The United States is divided into six time zones, each adjacent time zone is separated by one hour. Among them, the United States has four, from east to west:
1. Major cities in the eastern time zone: new york, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami.
2. Major cities in Central Time Zone: Chicago, Detroit, Houston and Dallas.
3. Mountain Time (MST) Major cities: Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.
4. Major cities in the Pacific time zone: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle and San Diego.
Besides, two states outside the United States have their own time.
Five Points for Attention in American Tourism: Credit Card and Exchange Rate
At present, China UnionPay cards can be used in many cities in the United States, such as new york, Los Angeles, Hawaii, San Francisco, Washington, and Las Vegas.
money
The monetary unit in the United States is the dollar. There are seven denominations of paper money: 100 yuan, 50 yuan, 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan, 2 yuan, 1 USD. There are 25 quarters, 65,438+00 cents, 5 nickels and 65,438 coins. There is a foreign currency exchange service counter at the international airport. Foreign currency or traveler's checks can also be exchanged in many banks and hotels.
exchange rate
The exchange rate changes frequently, and the average monthly exchange rate in the past three months has changed above 10%. Please pay attention to the latest exchange rate.
Exchange tips:
Before leaving the country, you can bring your ID card and a copy to the nearest bank that can handle foreign exchange business. Every China resident can buy foreign currency equivalent to $50,000 or equivalent every year. For specific foreign exchange information and business outlets, please refer to the information inquired by bank staff or banks.
If you use a debit card to withdraw money, the exchange rate is the selling price of US dollars against RMB in the domestic bank on the day of the transaction, which is directly converted into RMB and deducted from the card. Therefore, tourists do not need to deposit US dollars before going abroad, but only need to deposit enough RMB. In addition, there is no need to pay any handling fee for using a debit card to swipe your card. It is more convenient to enter the password without signing the purchase order when spending, which is in line with the habit of using the card of China citizens.
According to the regulations, each debit card can withdraw RMB equivalent to $5,000 per day. During your stay in the United States, if you expect more demand for cash withdrawal in one day, you can bring more UnionPay debit cards.
What needs special reminder is that if the trip is only short-term, it is recommended to buy a round-trip air ticket when purchasing an air ticket. You can go to rainblow official website to buy some special discount air tickets.
The sixth book of American tourism: telephone communication
Millennium Park
The mobile phones that can be used in the United States are tri-band mobile phones (tri-band refers to 900M, 1800M and 1900M GSM). If your mobile phone system meets the requirements, you can open an international roaming call yourself.
Most public telephones in America are pay phones. There are two ways to make public calls: coin-operated and calling cards.
To make an international call back to China from a local telephone in the United States, the dialing method is: international live broadcast (0 1 1)+ country code (86)+ area code (2 1)+ telephone number (12345678). If your mobile phone has applied for international roaming, call back to China as above.
To make a long distance call in the United States, dial 1+ area code (2 12)+ phone number. Make a local call, just dial the local number directly.
If you don't have an international roaming phone, I suggest you buy a local calling card.
In most parts of the United States, the directory number is 4 1 1.
Emergency call: The unified number for emergency calls in the United States is 9 1 1.
International access number
0 1 1
American long distance area code 1
The seventh thing that American tourism should pay attention to: safety
Many cities in the United States have a high crime rate, but crimes are mainly concentrated in specific blocks of the city. As tourists from China carry a lot of cash, they are concerned by pickpockets, and property theft happens from time to time. Generally speaking, the western part of the United States is safer than the eastern part, outside the city is safer than the city, and during the day is safer than at night. It must be pointed out that:
1. When traveling in the United States, don't carry a lot of cash, try to use credit cards, checks or check cards or traveler's checks;
2. Take care of your belongings and check whether there are any left-over items or money when you leave the hotel;
Please don't talk to strangers when members go out. It is best not to act alone, especially at night.
Don't resist when you are robbed. Guns are rampant in the United States, and gangsters often carry guns. Deal with it calmly. After the robbery, if the loss is large, you should call 9 1 1 or call the police nearby.
5. Don't leave the team easily. If a person runs around the streets of America, it is easy to have some unexpected problems. So, remember, go with the group. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the fact that when choosing a tour group, we must choose a large international travel agency that is formal and well-qualified and generally has offices at home and abroad. For example, rainblow International Travel Service should check some documents, qualifications, services, word of mouth, the establishment time of the travel agency, etc. before choosing.
Tips for American travel: 8.
USA-Washington-Capitol
In the United States, almost all personal services require clients to pay tips. If you don't tip, you are extremely dissatisfied with his or her service. If there is nothing wrong with the service itself and you don't tip, you may be refused service next time.
When eating in a restaurant, it is generally necessary to tip the waiter 65438+ 05% of the total meal fee (unless it is a fast food or buffet, or the bill indicates that tipping is included, there is no need to tip).
For every drink ordered in a bar, the bartender should get 1 USD.
Taxi drivers usually have to pay an extra 15% as a tip.
For tour bus drivers and tour guides, each passenger has to pay $ 5~ 10 every day.
Hotel room cleaners usually need a tip of $2 to $3 per bed every day.
You need to pay a tip of 1 USD for each piece of luggage that the bellboy helps you carry.
If the hotel doorman calls a taxi for you, you need to tip him 1 USD. If the taxi stops at the door, there is no need to tip.
The masseur in the spa needs to pay 20% of the spa fee as a tip.
If you win money in the casino, you usually have to give the dealer 10% profit (but generally it doesn't need to exceed $25).
Nine Points for Attention in American Tourism: Custom Taboos
As an immigrant country, the United States respects the customs of all ethnic groups and has no special taboos.
Because every state in the United States has its own laws, and there are some differences. Free travellers should pay attention to the differences of traffic regulations in different places.
American police patrol everywhere by car when they are on duty, so please obey the traffic rules even in places with few people and cars. Pedestrians who jaywalk may be fined by the police 100 USD.
Since the American police are armed with guns, if you need to communicate with the police, please try to follow the instructions in front of them and don't make any sudden movements, especially don't suddenly put your hand into the inner pocket of your coat to avoid misunderstanding. If you hear "freeze" or "stop" asking you to stop immediately, please do it. If you have communication difficulties, you can tell the police "I can't speak English" and they will try their best to solve it.
It should also be noted that smoking is not allowed in government buildings, most vehicles, public places and most indoors. Many non-smoking hotels are equipped with testing equipment.
If you accidentally hit someone, say "sorry"; Ask others to make way and say "I'm sorry"; Don't smoke in public places. Before smoking in other places, ask people around you, "May I smoke?" ; Follow the western habit of "ladies first" and let the ladies go first; Say "hi" first when greeting people.
Ten Points for Attention in American Tourism: Shopping and Tax Refund
In major cities in the United States, there is a difference between urban areas and suburbs. Shopping has its own characteristics. Under normal circumstances, shops and commercial organizations are open as usual at noon.
Metropolitan areas are usually located in the city center, with dense office buildings and concentrated government agencies and large commercial organizations. It is very lively during the day, but at night, these areas are sparsely populated and unsafe. Business organizations usually work from 9 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday. Shops in the city center usually close from 5 pm to 6 pm.
Suburbs are residential areas where most Americans live. Most people do their daily shopping in suburban shopping centers. Generally, there is at least one supermarket and one drugstore in this place, which mainly sells all kinds of food.
Plus various other shops and commercial services. Ordinary shops are usually open from Monday to Saturday at 9: 00 am or 10: 00 am and stay open until 9: 00 pm or 9: 30 pm. Supermarkets are generally open on sundays, and even some supermarkets are open 24 hours a day. Another kind of shopping place is the shopping center. It usually includes one or two large department stores, as well as many brand stores, dealing in clothing, accessories, entertainment, catering and so on. The business hours of these shops are usually 10: 00 am, and the business hours are 5: 00 pm or 9: 00 pm depending on the city.
In America, credit cards are widely used. Banks, credit card companies, gasoline companies and department stores, and even some public utility companies and automobile manufacturers issue credit cards for people to use when shopping.
The United States does not accept federal consumption tax, so there is no national tax rebate system. States and cities will levy state and local taxes, with tax rates ranging from 0% to 9%. The more prosperous the city, the higher the tax rate. For example, the tax rates in new york, Los Angeles and San Francisco are all around 8.5-9%. On the contrary, there is no state consumption tax for shopping in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. The prices of goods marked in the United States are tax-free. You can ask the sales staff about the after-tax price.
There is a DFS duty-free shop at the international airport for your last purchase before boarding an international flight: the main products are cosmetics, cigarettes, wine, chocolate and so on. Please note that in the United States, you must be over 2 1 year old to buy or drink any kind of alcoholic beverages.