First family holiday abroad to San Francisco help please

bagand96

To add to the good advice given above:

Travelling on British Passports, you will need to get an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Organisation). This allows you to travel to the US without a full visa. It is a simple online process and costs $14 each. The ONLY place to get one is the official US Government website https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ Use this website only, other websites will "sell" you one and charge you more, but this is the only official site. You MUST get one before travelling.

You're going to have many flight options. I don't know where abouts in the UK you are but the only direct flights will be from Heathrow. You can get connecting flights from many UK regional airports i.e. Aer Lingus via Dublin or KLM via Amsterdam

One thing to avoid is connecting in the USA (i.e. Birmingham - New York - San Francisco). This is a pain because due to US rules, you must clear customs and then collect your baggage, go to check in and the re-check it in for the onward flight. Even with a decent connection time this can be a stressful experience, especially with a little one and not being a frequent traveller. Connecting at a European airport you would not have this problem, your bags would be through-checked to San Francisco and you wouldnt have to see them at the connecting airport.

In terms of worrying about flying to Disney, internal flights are very easy in the US, like getting a bus. Its also very easy to book from the UK. Use sites like kayak.co.uk or skyscanner.net to compare.

John259

eggyteapot wrote: »

I am american/British my partner/daughter British.

Once you've got your passports sorted, you'll need to investigate who will need to apply for an ESTA.

Are your relations actually in San Francisco or somewhere nearby? If it's some distance from San Francisco then obtaining public transport might prove difficult. In that case you might want to rent a car (assuming that you or your partner has a driving licence).

Will you want to stay in one place or take the opportunity to tour around? For example, it's not all that far from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park. Another possibility is to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles but that would take three days each way. But without a car touring round in the USA isn't really viable. If you tour round then motels can be inexpensive places to stay.

Disneyland is in Anaheim which is a suburb of Los Angeles.

You might want to have a look on a map to see where the places are and how far apart they are. For example, Google Maps: https://www.google.co.uk/maps?ll=36.553775,-118.883057&spn=6.396477,13.392334&t=m&z=7

Murphy_The_Cat

bagand96 wrote: »

One thing to avoid is connecting in the USA (i.e. Birmingham - New York - San Francisco). This is a pain because due to US rules, you must clear customs and then collect your baggage, go to check in and the re-check it in for the onward flight. Even with a decent connection time this can be a stressful experience, especially with a little one and not being a frequent traveller.

IF you do end up connecting in the US, Chicago O Hare has a small children playground (they call it a childrens museum !) whic my two have spent plenty of connecting time in. (previously from Manchester, our choices of flights/destinations was very small. It has improved massively in the last few years).

all of bagands advice is spot on.

Murph

p.s. also consider places like Germany, Switzerland, Spain for connecting flights

*j*

Oops, this was the third link I meant to give:

http://blog.tsa.gov/2012/06/traveling-with-crematory-remains.html

agrinnall

Given your lack of experience in travelling and the importance of your trip, I would suggest that you at least consider using a good independent travel agent to arrange the whole thing for you. It might cost a little more, but they could save you money and it'll certainly be a lot less worry for you. Ask around among your friends and colleagues for local recommendations - avoid the High Street chains, but there are still some good independents around.

wallbash

avoid the High Street chains,

Why , these days the major operators will ALL tailor produce an individual package.

but there are still some good independents around.

and every year some go bust.

John259

If you live a long way from London, it would be worth investigating flying from a British regional airport via Amsterdam (Schiphol). From Norwich we find that very convenient. When comparing overall costs bear in mind the cost of travelling to Heathrow or Gatwick and possibly needing overnight accommodation near one of them.

duchy

An ESTA will only apply if you have a UK passport -but you won't need one if you have a US passport. Odds are you could have either however a British one would be easier to get.


Take a look at chains like Embassy suites, Residence Inns and Homewood suites. Rather than a rental you'll probably find these fit your needs as well if not better as you won't be isolated in a stand alone property but will have a reception available- as well as space , a lounge as well as bedroom and a kitchen ,maybe a pool etc. The SanFran area is huge so ask your relatives which area you should be looking in .


This probably feels huge at the moment but divide it up into manageable chunks and it's fairly straightforward.


For things to do whilst there take a look at tripadvisor.com


One thing- maybe look around locally for both adult and child language classes (most seem to start in September) in a year you could gain enough to really add to the experience meeting your Spanish speaking family. Kids especially pick it up really quickly.


Travelling with a four year old is pretty straightforward- I was dreading my first flight with my then five year old as it was a ten hour flight(pretty much the same as you'll be flying to SFO) but I packed books and a portable DVD player (he barely looked at the AVOD) and he was fine.


Is there any particular reason it must be June as flights are most expensive June-August and flying out the end of May would be cheaper. Also if little one has just started school be aware you may be fined for taking her out in term time.

duchy

John259 wrote: »

If you live a long way from London, it would be worth investigating flying from a British regional airport via Amsterdam (Schiphol). From Norwich we find that very convenient. When comparing overall costs bear in mind the cost of travelling to Heathrow or Gatwick and possibly needing overnight accommodation near one of them.

OP lives in Bedfordshire so not really applicable

martindow

SF has excellent public transport - buses, trams

http://www.sfmta.com/

there is a railway service to San Jose

http://www.caltrain.com/

and an underground system

http://www.bart.gov/

It may be worth finding somewhere to stay near a station so you are not dependant on a car and only hire one if you want to do a trip along the coast or Yosemite for example. We stayed with friends in Mountain View and travelled on Caltrain to get into the city. Most of the time we didn't need a car.

I would buy a guidebook so you can read up on the city and area around to plan things you would like to do. We used Lonely Planet's San Francisco guide which is pocket sized.