Advice Needed - 1st Time Visit To U.S.A.

[Aussie Gal]

We are finally making it to the U.S. in July this year and so looking forward to it. We fly directly into New York from Singapore and we have a query.

 

I remember reading on the Board last year about locking and unlocking of suitcases. Here in Australia we are able to lock our cases and they are not searched unless it is requested and then you are present so the locks are not damaged.

 

Is it a rule to have all cases unlocked. We have Samonsite cases and they have inbuilt locks. I do not want them broken because we have not observed the rules.

 

Thanks for the answer to this question.

 

Jennie

[RuthC]

Jennie, just a semi-educated guess here: luggage is left unlocked so it can be searched before it is loaded on the planes.

Sooooo, if your luggage is to be checked straight through to NYC you should be all right locking it before leaving home.

If you have a stop-over in Singapore and will have to re-check your luggage you would have to use the rules in effect there.

[Wennfred]

The new rules are, TSA Approved Locks, these are locks that the TSA luggage checkers at the Airport will be able to open with their Federal key. If you use your own Lock it will be cut open and they will place a nice sign inside your luggage for you to read that it was cut due to Security reasons etc.

 

Here is some info:

http://www.thereareplaces.com/infgdes/Luggage/appvdlks.htm

 

The lock here:

http://www.travelsentry.org/

[Aussie Gal]

Ruth,

 

Thanks for your answer. We are spending the night in Singapore and we know their rules as we use Singapore as a stopover city every year. So, because we are flying into the States, we can lock our cases but if we were flying out of the States we would have to leave our cases unlocked. Have I got this right?

 

Jennie.

[Peggy Sue]

http://www.magellans.com/store/Packing_Aids___Locks___StrapsSL432?Args=

 

see the above link. these are locks you can put on your suitcase .. and tasa has a "master" key to these. We use them, and have had no problems with them.

 

You may lock your luggage, but if your luggage is selected for a search, they will break any lock that isn't tasa approved..and then leave you a note on top of your clothes etc. advising that they entered your suitcase.

 

You can also ask to be present when your luggage goes through the scanners, and if tasa wants to search you can provide the keys and stand there while they search..we did this before we got the tasa locks. Not sure if all airports do this, but ft. lauderdale and boston did.

 

if you are comfortable leaving your suitcases unlocked, you may want to do that if you don't want to risk tasa breaking into your suitcases.

 

Welcome to the USA! We're glad you're coming for a visit. if we can assist with any questions .. ask away!!

 

Peggy Sue

[dakrewser]

Jennie -

 

Please note that many of us do not consider New York City to be an actual part of the United States. It's similar to how Aussies think about Sydney, but worse.

 

It's also a very, very long flight from Singapore! Consider stopping off in, say, SAn Francisco for a day or two as you adjust to jet-lag and see what is the US's prettiest, most livable big city. :)

 

-dave

(who's off to SF for a couple of days at the weekend)

[jbailey]

If you have cases that zipper closed, you can use the plastic locking ties that are available at your local hardware and are used to attach pipes together or to walls. I don't know exactly what these are called, but when used properly, they cannot be opened unless they are cut.

 

I carry a dozen or so of these in the small size and fasten all zippers together on my suitcases. If they need to be cut and opened by customs, they will usually replace them with similar locking ties. I have traveled back and forth to Europe without any problems with these.

 

At least you can tell if your luggage has been opened and they are helpful when you need to check luggage at a hotel.

 

Remember to bring nail clippers to cut these when you arrive at your destination. I have never had my nail clippers confiscated, and I supposed if they were I could get someone at a hotel to cut them for me.

[bronbeth]

Jennie,

 

According to my recent experiences, you and Ruth would seem to have it right. When flying into the USA it is okay to have locks on cases. When flying outbound (or within the US) bags should not be locked.

 

By the way, are you on the non-stop Singapore - New York flight?

 

Beth

[jhannah]

So, because we are flying into the States, we can lock our cases but if we were flying out of the States we would have to leave our cases unlocked. Have I got this right?

Yes, you do. As noted already, you may lock them when leaving here with the TSA-approved locks. Not every airport will let you observe the scanning process. Here in Las Vegas you can't do that. They started letting you do it, but have since quit.

 

While SFO is lovely, Las Vegas is the nation's fastest-growing and most dynamic city (IMO, of course.) So a stopover here would really enhance your visit to the United States. The Las Vegas contingent would even buy your dinner!

[KSCnCA]

Quote:If you have cases that zipper closed, you can use the plastic locking ties that are available at your local hardware and are used to attach pipes together or to walls. I don't know exactly what these are called, but when used properly, they cannot be opened unless they are cut.

These are called zip ties, and we have used them to keep people out of our bags. Choose a different color so if it is cut and replaced you will notice the difference.

 

My daughter flew out of San Diego summer of 2003 on a one-way and she was randomly selected for a search. The TSA would not let us watch while they searched, but we stood within about 10 yards of the inspection station. We think she was singled out because she traveled one-way on her way to study abroad. No big deal, but just remember never to pack valuables in your checked luggage. You never know who could have access to it before you get to your destination.

[Iggipolka]

J Consider stopping off in, say, SAn Francisco for a day or two as you adjust to jet-lag and see what is the US's prettiest, most livable big city. :)

 

-dave

(who's off to SF for a couple of days at the weekend)

 

 

WOohoo! Welcome to my city! :D It will be absolutely lovely here this weekend too. Nice and sunny and warm. Have a great time!

[Aussie Gal]

Thanks everyone for your input. First of all our cases are the Oyster Samonsite so there are no zippers and they are hard sided. We are also in a bind because we cannot buy the locks that are TASA approved down here, I would have to send for them if I can get them through our customs! Hopefully Beth and Ruth are correct.

 

Dave, Beth and Vegas Jim,

 

You are right Beth. We are on the non stop Singapore-New York flight, which is the longest non stop flight in the world - 18 hours!!! It is on a new 340-500 plane and there are only 180 Economy seats so we will all be very comfortable. If you have never flown with Singapore airlines you have missed out on service! We Aussies are used to long flights, we were diverted a couple of years ago to Dacca on our way back from Rome to Singapore and that ended up being nearly an 18 hour flight.

 

Sorry Jim can't make it this time to Las Vegas and Dave, I would dearly love to visit S.F. and hopefully in the future we will do a Crystal cruise to Alaska that either leaves or returns to S.F. It is one city I must see in the U.S.

 

Jennie

[dougnewmanatsea]

Jennie - are you visiting anywhere else in the US other than NYC? Actually I guess that is a silly question as your flight lands across the river in New Jersey, but the airlines and the Port Authority like to pretend that Newark is in New York anyway. So, aside from the airport, are you going to go anywhere else? It's a long way to go from Australia to the US just to visit one place, even if it is the greatest city in the world ;) .

 

NYC is naturally the undisputed best city in the US ;) (and I don't say this just because I'm fourth-generation native-born New Yorker even though I live on Long Island) but it is by no means representative of the whole country, to say the least. In fact it is quite unlike anywhere else in the US at all, though you can get some of the same feeling in the other Northeast Corridor cities and San Francisco and maybe Chicago which I've never been to (amazingly enough).

 

I love San Francisco a lot, so much that I would have less trouble picking up and moving there than just about anywhere else in the US, but truth be told it's a lot like New York... Except that it's smaller, has nicer (to me) weather, the occasional earthquake, and to me it seemed like there was more dirt, graffiti, and homelessness in downtown SF than there is in Manhattan (but maybe I just ignore it in NYC). Oh, and they have cable cars and lots of hills. But to me, the atmosphere is very similar; more similar than I'd have ever imagined before I visited SF. (I also never thought they'd have palm trees. It's far cooler there than anywhere else that I've seen palm trees. I have no idea why they have them, but they're there and to me they seem terribly out of place.)

 

I really don't know where I'd suggest you go as a foil to NYC... One might suggest LA as the atmosphere is really, really different but people would balk at that since they're still big coastal cities and the two capitals of America's entertainment business. I guess the real foil to NYC would be someplace in the rural south; this may someday be confirmed if a New Yorker ever accidentally winds up there or vice versa ;) .

 

At any rate, don't worry too much about the TSA (at least in my experience, they can cause hassles but they are pretty benign) and have an absolutely wonderful trip. I am sure you will love NYC, it is an amazing place even to me and I was born there and have lived right next to it for my entire life!

[dakrewser]

Baltimore.

 

There's no other city in the US like Baltimore. The natives think that makes them special. You know, like "special ed."?

 

or San Antonio, the biggest city in the US (outside of Nevada) whoose biggest industry in tourism. It's also second, third and fourth.

[Ziggy7]

Jennie,

 

You can get luggage straps to keep your luggage from popping open from not being locked. I dont think TSA locks would work for your luggage, they are embedded locks in the latches right ???

[Aussie Gal]

Doug,

 

Thanks for your concern re our trip to New York. We are also going on to Boston. The reason for seeing only these two cities at this time is that we will be boarding the Maasdam for the Transatlantic crossing via Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland etc. We chose New York out of all the cities because it is the one we have most wanted to visit in the States. We will also want to visit Washington, S.F. and others but do not have the time this trip. As it is we will be away from home over 5 weeks.

 

Ziggy,

 

You are so right. Our locks are embedded in the sides and also the one on the front is near the handle. We do use luggage straps so we could leave them unlocked but would rather not.

 

Jennie

[Time2sail]

east, west, north are directions but the South is a place. New Orleans, Nashville, Savannah, Charleston, Tampa-St Pete, Louisville, Mobile, Biloxi, Asheville, and all of the beautiful National Parks such as The Great Smoky Mountains and The Everglades should be included when you make your plans to visit the United States. Yes, San Franciso, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and New York are good places to stop but the United States is too big and wonderful to not see more of it:)

[CDRMark]

have a GREAT visit! (and cruise!)

Cheers

MarkB

[xpcdoojk]

Well Jennie, you are going to have fun in the big cities. I wish you were coming somewhere close enough that I could go visit with you, but alas, I live in the great flyover country in the middle of the US. We just visited NYC last month and had a blast. You really should try to go see a broadway show, as Broadway and the West End in London are simply tops. We saw Wicked and it is great, and we saw Spamalot in Chicago before they opened on Broadway, and if you like Monty Python you will absolutely love it.

 

You will need to leave your bags unlocked when you fly out of the US, and I think that the luggage straps are a pretty good idea. All of my luggage has zippers and I use ty raps on them (zip ties). Boston has some great history, and is a very pleasant place to visit for a few days, but it is not really like NYC at all. The US of A is an amazing place to visit and you owe it to yourself to come and really see more of the country than two of the biggest cities. There are so many great tourists spots all over the country that we Americans forget what a great destination our country is.

 

 

jc

[TedC]

Jennie,

 

In addition to the possible lock hassle, I understand that all "foreigners" are fingerprinted and photographed upon entry to the US.

 

As citizens, we only know the hassle we have to go through in the name of "security" but we really don't know what visitors to our nation have to go through.

 

Welcome to the US and I sincerely hope you are treated well. Someday you'll have to come back to see more of our country.

 

CathyC and I are looking forward to meeting you on the Maasdam in July. We don't go to NYC very often, other than to change planes.

 

But I do know there's a TKTS booth near Broadway where you can get discounted theater tickets. The regular rates are VERY high. Also try a corned beef (salt beef?) sandwich at one of the NYC delicatessens - you can make a meal out of it!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Hi Jennie! If you can only visit one city in the U.S., then you've picked the right one. I lived on 57th Street in NYC for 20 years so it is "my" city in many ways. But everyone is right that it is certainly not a microcosm of life in these United States:D.

 

But it is exciting and it is magnificent. Many will tell you New York has no heart, but it does ... part of mine is there:) .

 

You have all the info you could ever need about those locks.;)

[dakrewser]

We are also going on to Boston. The reason for seeing only these two cities at this time is that we will be boarding the Maasdam for the Transatlantic crossing via Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland etc. We chose New York out of all the cities because it is the one we have most wanted to visit in the States.

 

I do understand your reasoning, it's why on our first visit to Australia we never got much farther than Sydney, although we did drive along the coast north to Port Macquarie and south to just below Wollongong.

 

If you'll be driving from New York to Boston, let me suggest you take Route 1 (rather than Interstate 95) - it'll take longer, but you will go through some of the prettiest areas of the US, the southern New England coast.

[K&RCurt]

Not to argue with Dave but.......

 

I would avoid trying to get to Boston from NYC on Rt 1 like a plague!

 

I grew up in Stamford, CT, which US 1 goes through. You DO NOT want to drive up US 1 through the Bronx, through Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport or New Haven, CT for either traffic or personal safety reasons or both! I would suggest taking the Merritt / Wilbur Cross Parkways and see more of what New England used to look like before urban blight and corporate office mania invaded. Once past New Haven US 1 would be nice (but take alot more time).

 

You might want to consider taking AMTRAK, and avoid driving on the "right" side of the road entirely!

 

Whatever way you go enjoy your stay here in the USA.

[dakrewser]

OK, I'll compromise on Merritt Parkway through the New Haven (or even the Groton) exit.

 

 

:) -dave

[dougnewmanatsea]

Thanks for your concern re our trip to New York. We are also going on to Boston.

Boston is very nice also - very different from New York, much smaller of course.

 

Anyhow, if you could only go one place in the US, NYC is definitely it, so enjoy!