Advice on travelling to the American West Coast

[EnglishMan]

Hey guys

So as my profile tells you, im in England and my girlfriend is over in Oregon, a part of the world I have never been to. I've had a look into stuff a little bit (plane journeys and the like) and it all looks a little confusing for someone who has never organised a flight before. Im kinda just looking for experiences from people who have made these trips (ideally anybody from England who has travelled to the West coast, but any accounts would be good ), stuff like plane ticket costs, how the flight was, where you stayed when you were there, what you and your SO did together. Just anything you care to mention

[snow_girl]

Flights aren't so difficult. Just google (your location) to (her location) flights and a whole bunch of airlines should pop up. Can you stay with her while you are there?

[Moon]

Try www.kayak.com for the flights, it'll show you all the flights from your city to hers, and if you filter it right, the nearby cities as well. Once you've booked a flight, you'll need to fill out an ESTA form to get into the US, which is what everyone from a country on the VWP (visa waiver program) needs to do. You need to fill it out every two years, or when your passport expires. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ Sorry, we make it difficult to get in here, apparently.

Oregon is a big state, I can't tell you about hotels without knowing where in Oregon she is, but try www.hotels.com and have a look. As far as what to do, here's another link for ya https://traveloregon.com/ Good luck.

[EnglishMan]

Yeah ive looked into flights a bit, it all seems a little overwhelming with how many there are, but research will get my mind around that. They are so expensive, which is kind of a bummer, but they're a realistic option without having to save up forever/bankrupt myself lol.

Staying with her is kinda difficult as of right now, but would likely be fine in the future. Her parents know about me, but I feel they would like to get to know me a lot better before they would let me stay there, which is understandable. That I hope will come with time, and wouldn't be a problem I hope, but if I was to say go tomorrow they would likely be very skeptical and want to get to know me rather than let me spend time with her. Again fair enough, but I would rather get their complete acceptance beforehand so that all of my time there can fully be with her.

She's nearish to Portland, should've specified. Thanks for the info I feel as though finding out as much as I can about it would be a good idea

[Kiyama]

Also check the website skyscanner and united airlines have often good deals from Europe. Now flights are super expensive but a couple of months from now prices will have gone down I have a mileage plus number to collect miles so if you will fly over a few times a year, you should sign up for it from the start because flights from Europe to the west coast give you a lot of miles!
I personally prefer direct flights because I find it much easier. There are direct flights available from Germany to San Francisco. I'm not sure how it will be in your case and if you can invest the money. Sometimes the prices are the same but sometimes you pay less for a stop over somewhere. It's a long flight (11 1/2 hours) and I prefer a seat at the aisle so I can get up and move around any time I want or get drinks and such but if you are the kind of person who likes to sleep you're better of with a window seat so you don't have to get out for others.

I always stay with my SO but I know hostel.com from other travels. People give reviews about them, which is extremely helpful but why don't you also ask your girl's familiy for help? They know the area and I'm sure they are happy to sort out a nice and affordable place for you.

[EnglishMan]

Thats a lotta useful info about the flights there, had no idea on some of that lol. Thank you.

As far as flights go, tbh whatever's cheapest works for me, I can handle messing about travelling there for the best part of a day if it'll save me a fair bit of money. I knew a little about air mileage but thanks for that, sounds like something I should sign up for. I was looking up flight times and some of them went up to about 21 hours? Which seemed ridiculous, but maybe the site wasn't reliable. I would probably sleep lol.

Yeah thats a good point, asking them about their area might be an idea . Im sure they would know better than me the cheaper reliable places to stay, but as I say, it probably wouldn't be an issue by the time Im able to visit, as I hope to think we would've built up enough of a trust by then.

[Bher]

As i sent ye in the message....prices are...quirky? to say the least with 1-way flights costing double that of returns (twice the flying half the price?) and even return flights, direct ones seem to cost almost double those that require you take get on a 2nd or 3rd plane....makes no sense whatsoever ._.

[EnglishMan]

Yeh indeed, plane tickets are just so confusing to approach on face value, with the massive variation of prices, flight times, its pretty difficult to know if you're getting it right lol. But I guess choice isn't a bad thing.

[Kiyama]

21 hours are definitely possible as crazy as it sounds
Maybe there are two stops or a long stop or something. You will need time in between the flights with a stop over because of the immigration process. When I arrived in the US this time, I was in the line for two hours! I had fast ones with only 10 minutes wait but it depends how many flights arrive at the same time so you'll never know.

[13000km]

I live in Oregon, about two hours away from Portland. There's plenty of things to do, a lot of outdoorsy things if you like them and some stuff in the city as well. As for the flights, everyone has given you great advice, and, honestly, everything nowadays starts with a simple google search. Flights are pricey, but not difficult to find. If you choose to travel during the off peak months (January-April, October), flight prices will be significantly cheaper.

[EnglishMan]

Blimey, cant wait for those 21 hour flights.. . Or those 2 hour queues....

Thanks 13000km, ideally a summer visit would be better, but due to the money side of things maybe off-peak would be the better option. The advice im getting is exactly why I opened this thread, so thank you

[CaptainKaz]

Watch out for sales. Everyone always says booking early gets cheaper flights - which is true - but I have got some blinding bargains on last minute trips to the States by catching airline sales. Lots of people have mentioned good sites to find flights - sign up to as many as you can so you get lots of emails about sales and last-minute deals. Be flexible as you can with time/date of flight. Flying out on a Tuesday, say, instead of a Friday/Saturday is usually, in my experience, much cheaper.

[oneaussieboy]

My best advice on flights: go to a travel agent.
I was iffy about this at first as well because I assumed they'd charge a fee for their services but it turned out to be quite a lot cheaper ($400AUD and I got insurance as well) than anything I found online and they actually pointed out that the flights the online thing picked for me wouldn't have worked anyway. Also they won't charge you anything unless you actually book flights through them so it can't hurt to go and get their price before you book anything regardless.

And yeah for entry go with visa waiver program. Make sure you go to the actual US government site though. There are a lot of third party sites offering "faster approval times" but it's all lies. As long as you have no criminal convictions or communicable diseases or anything you should get instant approval anyway. I can't link but if you google USA visa waiver program you should find it. The right one costs exactly $14.

Good luck

[Tooki]

On flights: look everywhere. Depending on your circumstances, it can be cheaper to buy it directly from an airline.

Sometimes a travel agent is good, other times they aren't.

AND KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR SALES.

[SoFarAway]

I think moon actually posted the correct website for ESTA already in her post. It shouldn't cost more than $14 US! If it does, you ended up on a scam site that will file your ESTA, but charges hidden fees.

An advice when you go through immigration. The officer will ask you a couple of questions. This is really important: do NOT tell the officer that you are visiting your LD girlfriend!!! You visit the US for vacation and are traveling by yourself. You also have to provide an address of where you stay. I wouldn't use your SOs address either, but a simple hotel address should be good enough.