What To Expect When You Travel Within the USA

I’ve been back in the USA for four months now and I’ve flown both locally and internationally. Since I’m a ‘newbie’ again, I find myself noticing the small things when I travel. Today, I’m sharing five things to expect when you travel within the United States of America (USA).

More Expensive Flights:

Not going to lie, I squirm when I look up some local flights within the USA, especially having just been a frequent customer of EasyJet and Ryan air (and any cheap European airline really). Even with a few low-cost carriers, it is more expensive to travel within the US than it is within Europe or Asia. Booking flight tickets in advance and being flexible to travel on less popular days (and times) can make a huge difference on airfare expenses. Plan accordingly.

 

Longer Distances:

The USA is kind of… big! Getting from one city to another can be the equivalent (or even further than travel from one country in Europe to another, and we’re not even talking about traveling to places like Hawaii or Alaska. Many first time travelers to the USA may not realize this; I totally fell into this bucket when I first moved here.

 

Wi-Fi and In-Flight Entertainment on Most Flights:

I was shocked when no single airline offered Wi-Fi in Europe. It was something I took for granted within the US. On the plus side, as a business traveller I used to be able to work/send emails etc. while being in flight (never used it as a leisure traveller unless it was absolutely necessary). However, I can see how the downside is that people are never fully offline. I do appreciate that I can watch the news; catch a movie or a show on a domestic flight on the airline’s app or entertainment system. A good number of US airlines also have free messaging inflight so iMessage and Whatsapp away! So if you get stuck on a long flight in the USA, know that you will be entertained J.

 

Public Transportation is not the Best Everywhere:

Cities like NYC, Washington DC, Boston, and Chicago have amazing metro networks that work. However, most of the USA is not like these cities and this is often surprising for many visitors. The first time my dad visited the US, I was a final year student (Senior) without a car and a frequent bus user. The only problem was that in my little town (where my University was located), buses ran only every half hour. My dad could not believe it. He went back to Nigeria to tell my mom that we were suffering in America walking everywhere and no one else was walking in the streets.

True enough, walking was not popular with locals, at least it kept us fit and built character. My friends and I made an event of our long walks from Payless on the weekends after missing the last bus ;). Anyway, the point is, expect to pay for Taxis or Ubers in certain areas, do your research in advance, and budget accordingly.

 

Pilots That Communicate:

I honestly forgot what it was like to have pilots that communicate well in-flight. From my experience, pilots on US airlines are best at this. They don’t just do the normal welcome at the beginning of the flight and before landing. They do the welcome speech; they’ll keep you updated when they get to the flying altitude (and they’ll tell you what it is). They’ll tell you what to expect in flight weather wise, they’ll give you a heads up when they turn on the seat belt sign in flight. If there’ll be the lightest turbulence they’ll give you a heads-up on how long it may last. In contrast, I don’t think I ever got a turbulence warning flying in Europe. For those that sleep through flights, it may be unnecessary, but for team ‘no sleep’, I appreciate the heads up!

 

For anyone that has recently travelled within the USA for the first time or after a long break, what else would you share with anyone planning a visit? Please share your thoughts/experiences in the comment section below!

 

Till next week,

Ms. Heels