International Travellers

Entering the United States

• The vast majority of visitors can enter the US without a visa using the ESTA/Visa Waiver Program. An ESTA application is valid for any number of visits for two years. Anyone ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program, or holding a passport from a country ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program, will require a visa (probably a B2); please let us know if you need any help with this!
  When in doubt, just do whatever your government's website or the US government's website tells you to do:

  Argentina

  Belgium

  Lithuania

  Poland

  UK

• If you have a flight connection in the US, bear in mind that you must cross the border at your first port of arrival in the US, and you must factor this time into any layover. US airports do not have eGates or any automated passport checks for non-citizens and rely on cantankerous border agents, which often leads to long queues at the border. Allow 2 hours (seriously).

Tipping & Tax

• Prices in shops, restaurants and bars will not include sales tax, and this will be added on to the final bill at the expense of the customer. You should mentally add about 10% to any price you see listed on a shelf or menu (actual sales tax in Coronado is 7.75%, and can be as high as 8.75% depending on where you are in San Diego).
• Tipping is a non-optional fact of life in the US. Failure to tip, or even failure to tip enough, can be met with confusion, resentment, and confrontation. Tipping too much is rarely an issue. Aim to tip 15-20% of the pre-tax amount at restaurants, bars, cafes, coffee shops and taxis.
  • It is completely acceptable not to tip at shops, kiosks, or anywhere where staff aren't preparing anything to order. You may still see a tip screen on the Point of Sale system. They will tell you it's not possible to disable the tipping option. They are lying.

Survival Guide

• Bars will frequently deny entry or service to anyone without an acceptable ID, regardless of their actual age. Bars will also frequently reject foreign driving licences as these are commonly used as fake IDs by local students, so passports are unfortunately the only reliable ID for international travellers.