Discounts for traveling to the United States

Getting travel insurance for the United States is something you absolutely must do when planning your trip. The U.S. is one of the countries with the most expensive healthcare systems in the world, so even a minor incident can end up costing you a small fortune.

We always travel insured with Heymondo, and although we haven’t needed to use it in the United States yet, we've used it in Canada (where the bill exceeded $1,000) and in other countries such as Vietnam, Panama, Bolivia, and Laos. Our experience has always been excellent!

As a reader of Your Trip to USA, you get a 5% discount on any Heymondo travel insurance policy, plus an additional discount if you’re traveling as a group or with family.

We’ve also put together a comparison of the 3 best travel insurance policies for the United States, including prices and coverage, so you can decide if you’d rather choose a different insurance provider.

And if you do—don’t worry, we’ve got discounts for you too:

• 5% off IATI travel insurance
• 10% off Intermundial travel insurance

No trip to the United States is complete without accommodation, and the search engine we recommend using is Booking.com. It usually offers the widest selection of both hotels and apartments and allows you to use plenty of filters to find exactly what you’re looking for—based on rating, price, location, and more.

You should know that at certain times of the year, Booking offers discounts of up to 15% on selected hotels. Plus, the more reservations you make through your account, the more personalized discounts and free room upgrades you’ll unlock.

Want another great tip to save on accommodation? Download the Booking app—sometimes the same hotel is cheaper in the app than when booking from your computer.

Here are a few articles you might find useful:

• Where to Stay in New York
• Where to Stay in San Francisco

It’s very likely that you’ll need to rent a car for your U.S. itinerary. We’ve used many car rental comparison sites during our travels, and the one we like the most is Discover Cars.

On the one hand, it offers a wide selection of destinations around the world, and on the other, its prices are very competitive. Plus, you get free cancellation up to 48 hours in advance, and you can book full coverage insurance at a lower cost than booking it directly with the rental company (with the same coverage!).

After traveling across almost the entire American continent in our campervan, we can confidently say that exploring the United States by RV or campervan is an absolute pleasure. There're very few countries in the world with such a strong culture and infrastructure for this type of travel!

Since accommodation and eating out every day can be expensive in the U.S., renting a campervan or motorhome can often be a very cost-effective option.

If that’s the case for you, we recommend using Motorhome Republic. Their search engine compares all the companies operating in the country—often at even better prices than booking directly with the rental company. You can also add insurance through their website!

Don’t miss out on their deals—you can save a LOT of money.

Want to stay connected during your trip? Unless you’re happy relying on public Wi-Fi along the way, you’ll need to buy a data SIM for the United States. While it can be more expensive, buying one at the airport means you’ll have internet access from the moment you arrive.

If you prefer to have everything sorted before leaving home, the best option is to buy an eSIM (electronic SIM)—as long as your phone supports it. That way, once you arrive in the U.S., you won’t have to worry about connectivity. eSIMs can be activated just before departure and only take a few seconds to set up. It’s quick and easy!

We have three recommended providers with exclusive discounts for you. The best approach is to compare prices and choose the one that suits you best:

• eSIMFlag: If you’re looking for unlimited data in the United States, this provider offers some of the best prices. We can assure you it works great and the purchase process is very simple! Take a look here (10% off with code TRIPTOUSA10)
• Holafly: The most popular eSIM provider. We’ve used it several times with a great experience, although it’s not usually the cheapest option. Check prices here (5% discount directly applied through our link)
• SimLocal: Also offers unlimited data, but with the option to buy data packages by gigabytes, which can be more affordable. You can see the options here (10% discount directly applied through our link)

If you’re planning to visit cities in the United States, we’re sure that for some of them you’ll want a tourist pass that includes multiple attractions.

For example, New York tourist passes are a must when visiting the city, as they can help you save a LOT of money!

To make it even more affordable, we offer you a 5% discount on all Go City passes with the code YOURTRIPTOUSA5 — including the New York Pass.

Just click here, choose your destination and the pass you want, and enter our discount code ☺️
We also recommend comparing prices with Civitatis, where you can find several of these passes and sometimes get a better deal (with the added benefit of paying in other currencies than dollar).

Keep in mind that Go City offers passes in the following cities: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia, Orlando, Miami, Boston, and Las Vegas.

Did you know that traditional banks usually charge between 3% and 4% in fees every time you withdraw money abroad or pay in a foreign currency? By the end of a trip, that can add up to a LOT of money!

For these reason, it’s highly recommended to travel to the United States with a card that helps you save on fees. These is our favorite:

Wise

Allows you to withdraw up to €200 per month for free and spend up to €30,000 per month in foreign currency. For card payments, a small fee applies (around 0.42%, depending on the currency).
You can order your Wise card here at no cost (you only pay the shipping fee).

N26

This card lets you withdraw cash from ATMs with no limit, but charges a 1.7% fee for withdrawals in currencies other than Euros. Foreign currency card payments are unlimited and commission-free, even on weekends. If you order N26 here, after making your first card payment of over €20, you’ll earn 15€.

What better way to discover a destination than with the help of an expert guide!

Civitatis and GetYourGuide are our favorite tour operators, because they both offers a wide range of tours around the world and in many different languages.

• Some of their most popular tours in the United States are New York Contrasts, San Francisco with Alcatraz and Best of Los Angeles.
• Take a look on their websites to discover more!

If you’d like to explore the United States using public transportation, it’s possible in some destinations!

We recommend a couple of websites where you can book bus and train journeys:

• 12Go: Offers bus and train routes, private transfers and even flights.
• Bookaway: Lets you book train, bus, and ferry tickets.

If your flight to the United States has been delayed or canceled, this will interest you!

As a passenger, your rights may entitle you to compensation ranging from €250 to €600, depending on the flight distance, the length of the delay, and whether your departure or arrival airport is within the European Union. That said, filing a claim on your own can sometimes be a dead end, as airlines often reject these requests.

For this reason, we use AirHelp, a company that handles the compensation claim on your behalf. You simply need to fill in a few details on their website to start the process, and they’ll request any additional documentation they need along the way.

Best of all, you don’t have to pay anything upfront. The entire process is free, and AirHelp only takes a commission from the compensation the airline pays you. From our point of view, it’s absolutely worth it—you can forget about everything and let them handle it.

Although requirements vary depending on nationality, to travel to the United States for tourism you’ll need to apply in advance for either an ESTA or a B-2 visa.

If you’re applying for an ESTA and find the process confusing, you can choose to use iVisa’s services. To be completely honest, it’s more expensive than applying directly through the official website, but the entire process can be done in your own language, and it’s quick and very easy. You simply fill in your details, and they take care of everything!

We’ve used their services for Vietnam, and the experience was excellent.

To wrap things up, one more useful tool for your trip is a VPN. In short, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) allows you—among other things—to browse securely when connected to public Wi-Fi networks.

We use NordVPN because it offers a very affordable annual plan, which becomes even cheaper if you subscribe for two years. All you need to do is install the app on your phone and computer, open it, and connect to the country of your choice from the available list.

When do we use NordVPN?

• Checking bank accounts on public Wi-Fi. It’s essential to access your online banking and card apps through a VPN to keep your data safe.
• Finding cheaper flights. Sometimes flight prices vary depending on the country you’re searching from. For example, when booking a domestic flight within the United States, connecting your VPN to the U.S. may result in a lower price than searching from other country.
• Using streaming platforms. If you’re in the United States and want to watch Netflix, HBO, Apple TV, Amazon Prime or any other streaming service, it’s best to connect through a VPN. As you know, content libraries change by country, but using a VPN lets you keep watching your favorite shows and movies without issues.