It goes without saying, but we’re still going to say it, that you need a valid passport to enter the US! Your passport only needs to be valid until the last day of your vacation – it doesn’t need to be valid for a period of time after you leave the US, like many European countries require.
You also need a visa to enter the US or have an approved travel authorisation (ESTA) in place before you fly. Most travellers, like us, will fly under the ESTA scheme. All visitors, regardless of age, require an individual ESTA.
You register for the ESTA approval online, it costs $21 per ESTA, it’s valid for two years (or until your passport expires), takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete, and approval generally comes through in up to 48 hours.
Most credit and debit cards that we use at home will work fine in the US (and pretty much all other countries), but most will charge you a significant privilege for doing so.
Using a non-specialist card overseas can attract a “non-sterling transaction fee” of around 3% of each overseas transaction. So, spending £1,000 worth of dollar transactions in the US on your card will cost you £1,030.
And debit cards will generally charge you a fee of between 50p and £1.50 for each overseas transaction, on top of the non-sterling fee!
And if you’re being charged for these fees, then it’s likely you’re also going to be charged for taking cash out of an overseas ATM, should you wish to.
So, before you travel, check what charges – if any – your home credit card makes for any use overseas.
If, like us, you are charged both the non-sterling fee and the transaction fee, then get a credit or debit card that doesn’t charge you for any overseas use and just use it for your overseas trips.
And a credit card that doesn’t charge you for overseas use will also give you a near-perfect foreign exchange rate – even better than the rate you’ll get for buying your overseas currency before you depart.
When we travel, we take our Santander Zero credit cards with us, and the kids take their Monzo debit cards, and none of us are charged for overseas use (you can even open a Monzo account just a few days before you fly and have it active for your trip).
For impartial and thorough advice on travel credit cards, take a look at Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert.com.
