Spring and autumn tourism price

American tourism price

How much it costs to travel to the United States is mainly determined by the number of days of travel. The longer you play, the higher the cost. Generally speaking, if you go to the United States for 10-15 days, the per capita cost is about 20,000-30,000 yuan.

American tourist season

The United States is rich in climate types, and the vast area of the United States is also a good thing for travelers. Although some places are stormy, there are definitely some places that are always sunny and dry. In other words, the destination or travel time needs to be adjusted according to different seasons.

Usually March-May is spring, June-August is summer, September-November is autumn, and December-February is winter. Summer is naturally the peak tourist season. Americans usually take vacations in summer, and spring and autumn are often the best time to travel, but in some mountainous areas, spring will not come until June. And with careful planning, you can complete a winter trip to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the United States.

Best travel time in America

In the United States, summer is the peak tourist season, the climate in spring and autumn is pleasant, and there are relatively few tourists, which is the best travel time, or it is also a good choice to come to the United States for skiing in winter.

Local currency and exchange

The American currency is the dollar, with the symbol $.

Generally speaking, banks are the best places to exchange foreign currencies. Banks in most metropolises provide currency exchange services, while banks in rural areas may not. If you want to exchange money at the airport or the passenger information center, you'd better ask about the charge before you exchange money, because the exchange rate between the airport and the passenger information center is often very low.

UnionPay and Credit Card

Common credit cards are basically universal.

In fact, if you don't have a credit card, you can't rent a car or make a phone reservation (but some flights require that your credit card billing address is in the United States-this may be a trouble for people who have just arrived in the United States to book domestic flights). It is strongly recommended that you carry at least one credit card with you in case of emergency.

refund a tax

1. CUSTOM DUTY collected by the US federal government on import and export goods. Tariffs are under the jurisdiction and responsibility of the federal government. What you buy in the DUTY－FREE STORE at the airport is exempt from this tax. This tax rate varies according to the commodity and the place where the commodity is produced.

2. SALES TAX levied by American states. Sales tax is levied by the American state governments themselves. Expropriated goods are tangible goods sold by the retail industry. This tax varies from state to state. New York and California are two states with higher sales tax. On the basis of state tax, each administrative county, locality or city can also collect sales tax on its own. For example, the total sales tax in Los Angeles is 8.25% (the components are 6% state tax, 0.25% county tax, 1% combined state and county tax and 1% regional tax). This tax has nothing to do with the federal government.

Taking shopping in Galleria, Houston, Texas as an example, the details of tax refund for shopping in the United States are as follows:

1. Overview: Based on the principles of trust, being trusted, equality and reasonableness, the United States has formulated a tax refund system for goods that foreigners buy before leaving the country and take out of the United States for use. It is required to go through the relevant formalities through the tax refund handling agency with the departure ticket (including the transit ticket in the United States), my passport, the goods purchased and the bills of the goods purchased, and then get the tax refund for the goods purchased within 3~7 months after leaving the country.

2. The date on the bill of purchased goods must be within 29 days before departure.

3. The tax refund should reach 10$ (the shopping tax in Houston is 8.25%, that is, the single item purchased is at least 125$). Shopping must be paid with your own redit card or purchased in cash. Hotel, supermarket, car rental and other consumption can not be refunded. The goods you buy must be taken away by plane.

4. Individuals or shops can't handle the tax refund alone, and they must have the help of the relevant tax refund handling agencies (regularly contact the US exit management department to determine whether the tax refund payers really leave the country on time), and the tax refund handling agencies will charge a handling fee of about 33% of the tax (cash paid on the spot). That is, in fact, only 5.50% of the shopping tax can be refunded.

5. A person can only apply for an exit tax refund once when leaving the country. When I presented my departure ticket, my passport, the goods I bought (including the complete package) and the bill of the goods I bought to the staff of the handling institution for inspection, the tax refund handler suggested that I should collect the goods I bought within one month before leaving the country and handle them in the handling institution a few days before leaving the country. After the goods are checked by and only by the staff of the tax refund agency, copy the air ticket and passport, and then fill out an attention foreign shoppers recover.

Your State Sales Tax form, and signed. ("You and only you" means that you don't have to be checked at the airport to see if you have the goods with you and leave the country together, which is very different from the idea of tax refund in Europe. )

6. Get the tax refund: After the tax refund agency verifies and confirms, the store will refund the tax received from you to yourself. There are three kinds of tax refund: cash, check and travelers check. cash can be obtained by visa card or Master Card (debit card is not available), and the check will be sent to you through the post office. But it is all done within 3~7 months after you have left the country. (This will actually be different, and the tax refund handling agency will say: it can only be handled by visa card or Master Card. )

7. Store requirements: The store that conducts shopping must be a store that can handle tax refund.

tip

Tips are usually given unless you feel that the service you have received is extremely bad.

The tip of porters in airports and hotels is $2 per bag, not less than $5 per car.

2. The bartender's tip accounts for 10% to 15% of each consumption, and each wine is not less than $1.

The tip of the hotel maid is 2 to 4 dollars per night, which can be put under the card provided.

The tip of the waiter in the restaurant accounts for 15%-20% of the meal fee, unless the tip has been collected in advance on the bill.

The taxi driver's tip is 10% to 15% of the fare, rounded down.

6. The parking attendant should tip him at least $2 when he returns the key.

traffic rules

1) The car is driving on the right road. All states stipulate that seat belts and child safety seats must be used. In most car rental companies, you can rent a child safety seat at the price of about 12 yuan every day, but you must declare at the time of booking that in some states, you must wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle.

2) On the interstate highway, the speed is limited to 75 miles per hour. Unless otherwise announced, the speed limit on expressways is generally 55 or 65 miles per hour, 25 or 35 miles in cities and towns, and as low as 15 miles per hour in school areas (the speed is strictly prohibited to exceed 15 miles during school hours). When the indicator light of the school bus flashes, overtaking is prohibited.

3) The laws of most states oppose (and impose huge fines on) littering along highways. Nowadays, in more and more states, it is illegal to talk with a mobile phone while driving, but it is legal to use a hands-free device.

4) Drivers can drive when the alcohol concentration in blood is below 0.08%. If it is exceeded, the punishment of "DUI" (driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs) is very severe. The police can check and evaluate the roadside drivers to confirm whether you are driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. If you can't pass the test, they will ask you for breath test, urine test or blood test to determine the alcohol or drug content in your body. If you refuse to accept the test, it will be considered as a failure. It is illegal to carry open alcohol bottles in cars in some states, even if they are empty.

Mobile phone and calling card

Mobile phone: If your mobile phone is not compatible, you can also buy a cheap contract-free (prepaid) mobile phone, which comes with a local number and a set number of talk time, which can be renewed as needed. Virgin Mobile, T-Mobile,AT&T and other vendors sell phones starting at $15 with 400 minutes of talk time starting at $40. There is no cell phone signal in a huge area of rural America, including many national parks and entertainment places. Please check the coverage of your mobile phone provider.

Calling cards: Prepaid calling cards are a good choice for budget-conscious tourists. Read the fine print on the card carefully, because many cards add hidden fees such as "activation fee" or "connection fee" to the basic rate.

network environment

There are not many internet cafes in America. If you bring your own computer, there are wireless networks in coffee shops such as Starbucks. Most hotels also offer free Wi-Fi. In addition, Apple Store and other mobile phone stores have free wireless network, which is very fast. If you often surf the Internet, it is recommended to bring American portable wifi devices, so you can surf the Internet freely anytime and anywhere in the United States.

Power supply and voltage

The standard voltage is 110V V. If you need to use non-American standard electronic devices, please prepare an adapter.

medical service

911 is an emergency call in the United States. You can call it in any emergency. The fire alarm, police and medical team in the United States are very efficient, and they are guaranteed to appear immediately within a few minutes. The law stipulates that patients must be treated first under any circumstances. But without insurance, medical expenses will be very expensive. So be sure to buy travel medical insurance before you leave. If it is an over-the-counter drug, you can buy it at pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreen. It should be noted that if it is a prescription drug, an American doctor must write a prescription to buy it.

Recommendation of American tourist routes

To travel to the United States, I recommend you to go on road trip. The roads in the United States are very developed, and go on road trip is more convenient. There are many famous scenic spots. Yellowstone National Park, Colorado Grand Canyon, Highway No.1, walk of fame, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and new york Square are all worth visiting. Here are a few free-running depth routes that we have tailored for our customers before. Please refer to them:

99 yuan, 199 yuan, 299 yuan, if you are lucky, you can also get a free ticket with a price tag of "zero yuan". If this airline, whose ticket is cheaper than the train sleeper, can still make a profit, you must think it is a bit of a fantasy-especially for the aviation industry in the economic recession. Generally speaking, the profits earned by airlines in the traditional peak season in the second and third quarters accounted for 80% of the whole year. However, in the third quarter of 2008, affected by high oil prices and declining demand, the three major airlines in China handed over a performance sheet of collective losses, with the net profits of China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines losing 810 million yuan, 1.94 billion yuan and 2.334 billion yuan respectively. Wang Zhenghua and his Spring Airlines are trying to achieve the "impossible". At this terrible moment when major airlines are competing for the loss quota, on January 8, this private airline, which was established only four years ago, announced that it had achieved profits for three consecutive years. Last year, the company's operating income was 1.62 billion yuan and its profit was about 20 million yuan. Of course, this is about 50 million yuan less than the profit of more than 70 million yuan in 2007. This small airline, which does not advertise and has no ticket counter, has just been established. There are no meals, no newspapers, no blankets and pillows, no microwave ovens and ice cubes on the plane, and only a 350 ml small bottle of mineral water is free. However, from July 2005 to October 2008, the average attendance rate of Spring Airlines was as high as 95.4%. Until November 2008, when the market environment turned cold,This figure has only fallen to 92%. Correspondingly, in the first three quarters of 2008, the average load factor of the three major state-owned airlines was only slightly higher than 70%. Now, Spring Airlines, whose scale is less than 1/20 of those powerful competitors, has made them feel threatened. On some highly competitive routes, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Air China have also joined the team with deep discounts. The first low-cost airline in China, which aims at low-cost operation, has always regarded Southwest Airlines, the founder of low-cost airlines with a profit record of more than 30 years, as a model. Of course, in this year, it is not easy to maintain profitability. "In order to increase revenue, other airlines have very low fares. The pressure is really great. " Wang Zhenghua said. The 65-year-old Wang's hair is gray, and the combination of a simple suit and a backpack is not so harmonious. Like the airline he founded, he is also famous in the industry for his eccentricity and uniqueness. From January to October, 2008, the profit of Spring Airlines dropped by 70% compared with the same period in 2007, and in November, 2008, the company had already incurred losses. In the spring and autumn, the special ticket on each route was also forced to increase from 30% in the usual off-season to 50%. Including Wang Zhenghua, the board of directors of Spring Airlines has reduced the salaries of all senior managers by one third, and even confiscated some office air-conditioning remote controls. But some costs can't be reduced if you want to. "2008 was the saddest year for Spring Airlines.From now until June 2009, it will be the most difficult period after the Spring and Autumn Period was founded. Wang Zhenghua said in an interview with China Business News last November. The company's cash flow suddenly became tense, and Spring Airlines applied for a loan from the bank for the first time since its establishment. "In order to buy a plane, I just negotiated with the North Bank of Germany and borrowed more than 20 million US dollars to pay for the introduction of several planes in the future." Wang Zhenghua said he didn't like to owe anyone money, but at this juncture, the cost of buying a plane was really high. Even after the darkest year of the aviation industry in recent years, even Buffett said that investing in this industry was his biggest failure, and Wang Zhenghua still did not regret his decision to enter low-cost airlines. "It's not up to our grassroots companies to make money easily, so we can only face the difficulties. Even if it is a stone, I will let it come out of oil. " Wang Zhenghua said. Five years ago, when he entered this high-input, high-risk and low-profit industry from the familiar tourism industry, his friends thought he was crazy. The head of Asiana Airlines in China told him that Asiana made its maiden voyage in 1978 and made its first profit in 1987, so it is necessary to be prepared to lose money for ten years. From the beginning of its establishment, it imitated the traditional low-cost airline business model of Southwest Airlines, and now Spring Airlines is inclined to learn from the business models of AirAsia and Ryanair, trying to push the extra service costs to the limit. Wang Zhenghua hopes to maximize the price of air tickets,Let everyone take the plane like a ground bus, and the plane can also "fly into the homes of ordinary people." Apart from tourists-a huge tourist network organized by Spring and Autumn International Travel Service with 2 million passengers a year as the guarantee of attendance rate-it can contribute nearly 40% of the passengers to Spring Airlines every year, and Spring Airlines focuses on targeting young urban white-collar workers and business people who are price-sensitive. On the one hand, they have a certain consumption power and strong demand for flying. On the other hand, they have a strong ability to buy air tickets online, which will greatly reduce the marketing cost of Spring Airlines. Except on the flights of Spring Airlines, it's really hard to find the advertisements of Spring Airlines, and even the ticket counter can't be found. In order to save the commission to the agent and the cost of renting the counter, its air tickets are only sold online, which makes the sales cost of Spring Airlines only 3% of the total cost, while the sales of traditional airlines are successful.