How to start your travel
-Huamei Jiang(Megan)
----Updated by Zhengming Rui(Jamie)
Siting Fan (Doris)
After settling the destination and time, you have to start plan the trip. Planning is the most important and difficult part of traveling. To help you start quickly, I will list the four major forms of transportation in the United States and state the pros and cons for different travel choices. Since this information is based on my own experience, I do believe that it is very accurate and helpful.
1. Trouble traveling to the USA
Traveling by car is the most effective way. With just a car, a GPS, and a driver——you can go anywhere you like. In reality, most of us have no car, so for us this is not the first choice.
The US air industry is well developed. Thousands of air lines are able to meet the diverse needs of customers. High efficiency and relative economical price are attractive for travelers. This is generally my choice.
Traveling long distance by train in America is really expensive, almost like an air ticket’s price. https://www.amtrak.com I don’t recommend it. But for short distance, you can take NJ transit & SEPTA.
Traveling by bus, such as Greyhound, is a good choice for foreign students,but every coin has two sides. Greyhound can negate hotel expenses, but it is really uncomfortable to sleep on the bus. If your destination is far, I recommend choosing air.
2. Pros and Cons for different ways of travel
A. Chinese Travel Agency: Pro—More places and less costs
Con—Time limitation, flying visit
Note: Extra charges along the way/ little time to explore in detail. Personally, this is my last choice.
B. Online Vacation Package: Pro—Well designed, economical
Con—Limited destination choices
Note: Plan includes hotel and air/ supply admission tickets and airport shuttles.
Recommend websites: Travelzoo, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline
C. Independent tour (Backpackers): Pro—Flexibility, more choices and better experiences
Con—Require research time, involve risk-taking
Note: The need for an advance detailed travel plan.
Find the places you want to go from newspaper, web, magazines, TV, friends, others’ experience, etc. Here are some travel agencies I recommend to you.
1. Cal Sunshine Travel Co. (https://www.7-usa.com/ustour.htm)
If you want to travel the west coast of America, this is a good choice for you. They provide a variety of travel packages to satisfy your different needs.
2. Travel zoo (https://top20.travelzoo.com) Hot
Travel zoo is strongly recommended. You can book travel packages by your e-mail. The will send you the Top 20 travel deals. You can easily book whole suites and round-trip air tickets all at a very low price. This website is perfect for traveling the east coast.
3. Usitrip (https://www.usitrip.com/index.asp)
Usitrip provides a lot of tour routes to satisfy your needs and the price is very reasonable. What’s more, they provide lots of choices to go to the west coast, Hawaii, and Canada.
After you decide where to go, go to www.tripadvisor.com to look for the city and see the attractions, restaurants, hotels, etc.
You can find trip deals, air tickets, hotels, cars, etc, here: www.expedia.com, www.orbitz.com,www.hotels.com.
www.priceline.com (recommend).
The uniqueness of priceline is that you can bid on a ticket or hotel at a very low price compared to other companies and also enjoy excellent service.
Before you reserve hotels, be sure to check the location and reviews, using google.com. You need to learn from other’s experience about the hotels, in order to not book hotels with a ton of bad reviews.
Remember to get a city map from the train station, airport or tourist information. You can always ask for a map at the hotel front desk.