Know before you go
Things to know about traveling to the USA
All information on this page is supposed to be for German tourists visiting the USA from Europe. So, for example, immigration conditions may be different for other countries.
Entering the USA as a tourist
ESTA
For German citizens, entry into the U.S. through the Visa Waver Program (ESTA) is quite simple. In addition to an approved ESTA application, you also need a valid German passport and a valid return ticket.
The Esta application can be made at the following link https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. The forms can also be displayed in German, to be sure that you understand and fill in everything correctly. The fee for the application is $14. It can be payed either by credit card or Paypal. Approval can be immediate, but it can also take a few hours or days. So don't get impatient if it takes a little while.
However, an approved application is no guarantee that you will actually be allowed to enter the USA. The decision is made by the immigration officer on site at the respective airport of entry. ESTA is only valid for tourists and for a maximum stay of 90 days.
APIS
The abbreviation stands for Advance Passenger Information System. This allows additional relevant passenger data to be collected by the authorities prior to flight departure. APIS data can be submitted in various ways:
- When booking a flight
- When booking a flight with the airline via an online form.
- Filling out a paper form e.g. at the check-in at the airport
Immigration and customs
At the airport of entry, you are automatically guided to the hall where immigration to the US takes place. For some time now there are machines that speed up and facilitate the entry. Here, too, you can register at the machines in your native language. To make sure that you fill in anything correctly, we would recommend this. At the machines you get a printout with which you then proceed to the immigration officer. From the officer you get the stamp in your passport. Then you pick up your suitcase and go through customs. Everyone has to go through this procedure, even if you have a connecting flight within the USA.
If you have a connecting flight, you again have to check in your luggage right after customs. Most of the time you also have to go through security again. Afterward you can head on to your new gate to continue your flight. For such a connecting flight in the USA we would recommend to plan at least 2 hours time.
Juli 2023: Currently, there are no longer restrictions for entry into the USA due to the Corona Pandemic.
Time zones
- EST -5 Stunden; DST -4 Stunden
- CST -6 Stunden; DST -5 Stunden
- MST -7 Stunden; DST -6 Stunden
- PST -8 Stunden; DST -7 Stunden
- AST -9 Stunden; DST -8 Stunden
- HST -10Stunden; DST -9Stunden
EST (Eastern Standard Time), CST (Central Standard Time), MST (Mountain Standard Time), PST (Pacific Standard Time), AKST (Alaskan Standard Time), HST (Hawaiian Standard Time)
In the USA, too, the time is changed from winter to summer time. But it's not as simple as it sounds.
The time is normally changed to daylight saving time on the second Sunday in March and back to winter time on the first Sunday in November. However, this changeover only occurs on the continent. Alaska and Hawaii do not change the time.
....The exception on the continent is Arizona. Here, the time is also not changed over. To make things a little more complicated, the Navajo Nation, which is located in Arizona, already changes its clocks to daylight saving time.
Winter time is referred to as Standard Time, and summer time is referred to as Daylight Saving Time (DST).
2024 werden die Uhren am 10.März auf Daylight Saving Time und am 3.November auf Standard Time umgestellt.
Public holidays
- New Years Day - 1.Januar - 01.01.2024
- Martin Luther King Day - Dritter Montag im Januar - 15.01.2024
- Presidents Day - Dritter Montag im Februar - 19.02.2024
- Memorial Day - Letzter Montag im Mai - 27.05.2024
- Juneteenth - 19.Juni - 19.06.2024
- Independence Day - 4.Juli - 04.07.2024
- Labor Day - Erster Montag im September - 02.09.2024
- Columbus Day - Zweiter Montag im Oktober - 14.10.2024
- Veterans Day - 11.November - 11.11.2024
- Thanksgiving - Vierter Donnerstag im November - 28.11.2024
- Christmas - 25.Dezember - 25.12.2024
A few comments about the holidays in the US:
Since there are only very few holidays in the U.S. and the average employee has far fewer vacation days than we are used to in Germany, the few days off, especially around the holidays, are of course used extensively.
As a result, it is very crowded almost everywhere on these holidays and also on the weekends before. We would recommend everyone to stay away from big cities, national parks, national monuments, state parks etc. especially on Memorial and Labor Day and the weekends before. Especially in the parks it will be more than crowded on these days and the enjoyment of nature is completely lost. It is possible that you can't visit certain places at all, simply because certain locations are so crowded.
Two examples:
Memorial Day 2013 in Yosemite NP. We didn't even drive into the Valley, because there was already traffic jam at the entrance. We tried it then with the Glacier Point. But since there was a waiting time of 2 hours, just to be able to go up, we left without having achieved anything.
Memorial Day 2017 in Chicago. The wait to get on the Willis Tower was 7 hours!!!! and that's not a joke or an exaggeration. The only day of the year when it is supposed to be worse is the 4th of July. But we didn't check that. Also the wait to get into one of the balconies with the glass floors was another hour. So nothing you necessarily need again.
Another recommendation would be to book rooms well in advance if you plan to stay somewhere near attractions. That the prices on holiday weekends are correspondingly higher does not need to be mentioned.
Phone and Internet on the Road
Until our 2019 vacation in California, we never used a SIM card during our vacation. Somehow we never needed it, because you have free wifi in almost every hotel and now there are also free hotspots in almost every store, restaurant and coffee shop.
We would continue to say that you don't really need a SIM card in the U.S., but nevertheless we did experience the advantages of it. The biggest benefit was navigating via the Internet browser. This saved us the additional cost of an extra navigation device. That alone amortized the cost of the SIM card. Another nice gimmick is the use of WhatsApp with your German number. Even if you get your own American number, you can set WhatsApp to keep your German one. On long car trips, I had fun chatting and sending recent photos home. Of the available 4GB, we didn't even use half during the four weeks of vacation.
We purchased the card from "Funtravel - USA H2O Wireless Prepaid SIM card". The whole transaction was professional and super easy. There were no problems and we were very satisfied. Explicitly, we would like to emphasize that we give out this recommendation because we had a very good experience with it. We are not paid or compensated for this in any way!!!
Free Entrance Days in the National Parks
15.01.2024
20.04.2024
19.06.2024
04.08.2024
28.09.2024
11.11.2024
Days with free admission to parks managed by the National Park Service:
As every year, there are six days in 2024 when you don't have to pay an entrance fee in the areas managed by the National Park Service. All information can be found on the official webpage.
However, it should be said that it will be extremely crowded on these days, especially in the popular national parks. We can only recommend to everyone who wants to enjoy nature in peace to rather avoid these days.
The Anual Pass, offers free entry to all areas managed by the National Park Service. You pay a one-time fee of $80 and can visit any national park, national monument, etc. free of charge for 13 months. Such a pass is worthwhile from the third national park that you visit within the 13 months and you are not tied to days when all the people of the planet gather in one place.