Travel and transport
Please note information supplied on this page is for the benefit of Fulbright Scholars travelling to the U.S., to assist with travel preparations and also to support Scholars in their transition to life in the U.S. Please note: the information has been extracted from recent Fulbright Scholar Final Reports and is not necessarily the views or recommendations of the Fulbright Commission.
| Know the terms and conditions prior to booking and paying for flights as you may not be entitled to refunds if your plans change |
| As excess baggage costs can be high, suggest posting items prior to US address prior to leaving |
| Report all traffic accidents to police no matter how minor. This will expedite and ensure any insurance claims are finalised. |
| Plan ahead where possible and investigate visa, immigration and re-entry requirements prior to travelling. |
| Allow for significant delays for check-in inspections as this can be particularly time consuming |
| On weekends, we often hired a car to explore the vast areas of wilderness in the Pacific Northwest. High mountains, lakes, forests and rivers surround Seattle, so there were plenty of opportunities for bushwalking and picnics. 2006 Senior Scholar |
| Purchase guidebooks for the local area of your host institution, and search the web for information. 2006 Senior Scholar |
| Many US cities now have car-sharing cooperatives which allow you to sign up and use local cars at cheap rates. The catch – you must have documentary proof from your local (i.e. Australian state) transport department that you have a blemish-free record. this can take months to organize in Australia, so do this before you leave home. Also, take your car insurance record from your local insurer with you, and take an international driving licence. 2006 Senior Scholar |
| Local transport: check to see whether Flexcar services are available in your destination city (www.flexcar.com). This is a car-sharing service that can be immensely practical, flexible and much cheaper than owning or renting a vehicle, especially for short stays. 2006 Senior Scholar |
| We were amazed at the public transit services available in all of the metropolitan centres we visited – LA, NY, Seattle and Boston and Washington DC. All had extremely detailed timetables, fare and route information on websites that could be searched easily. The services were reliable, fast and cheap. 2007 Senior Scholar |
| The sheer abundance of choice in relation to everything, including travel, in the US is daunting. For example, New York City – Washington DC. Aside from numerous car rental, bus and train options, each city has three airports. In DC, air travel in and out of Dulles and BWI airports may be cheaper, but for the extra few dollars, and convenience to the city, use the Reagan International airport. The DC public transport is excellent – buying a Metro SmarTrip card makes commuting very easy. Cabs in DC tend to be expensive, yet I found New York City cabs a lot cheaper. The China Town bus is a very cheap and efficient way to get between Washington DC and New York City. 2006 Professional Scholar |
| The domestic airline service in America is unreliable and poorly organized. It is wise to allow two hours for checking in for a domestic flight. Consider using the rail system operated by Amtrak, which has a more reliable and sophisticated operation. 2006 Professional Scholar |
| Getting around the US is still very expensive, and the large distances make train or bus largely prohibitive. I basically booked all my travel and accommodation through hotwire.com, orbitz.com and similar low-cost travel websites, and checked regularly for specials ahead of time. Car hire is also very expensive. As for traveling through airports, expect long waits in security lines, to be harassed no more or less than Americans, and make sure you adhere to all the restrictions in place to save yourself a lot of time and hassle. Each airport seems to have a randomly chosen set of security protocols (for example, some allow knitting needles, some do not), enforced by paranoid staff, so be prepared for anything! 2006 Postdoctoral Scholar |
| Within the US, you can get really good deals on airfares (sub $50) during specials. You’ll definitely need a credit or debit card for purchases on the Internet. I found that having a car was vital and while public transport is ok, a car is very useful in buying groceries and carrying them back. 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| If you need to make reservations for domestic flights, check out low cost carriers like Southwest and Jet Blue. Often bookings can only be made with these airlines online and sometimes they do not show up on travel agent search engines. 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Beware the line at customs at LAX if you have connecting flights (especially early in the morning, ie before 6 AM). I always left hours between my international flight and connecting domestic flight, but many other people in the customs line left little time between them and missed the connecting flight! Customs staff will not move you up the line if you say you have a connecting flight – I’ve seen many passengers try this and fail! 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Also, if you have family or friends coming to visit you on the 90 day visa waiver, be aware that time spent in Canada and Mexico is counted as part of the 90 days allowed in the US (so that you are treated as not having left the US for the purposes of the visa waiver). 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| San Diego has terrible public transport, and it is probably best to source a car. The best place to find cheap 2nd hand ones is @ craigslist.org. 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Check out climate and transport and things like this ahead of time, so you really know what to expect. It can be hard to spend hours just getting to places, so consider buying a car if you’re in the mid west or southwest, where public transport lacks. 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Don't catch the Greyhound bus at night!! (In California at least, it has a bad reputation for good reason). Trains are cheap, and there is a way to hire a car and drive it somewhere for someone else at a cheap cost. Hiring a car otherwise can be quite expensive. Joining AAA gives a lot of discounts for travel and accommodation everywhere in the US. But always ask for a discount and they will usually give you one! 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| An important thing I have learnt is to have contingency plans as flight delays and cancellations occur relatively frequently and often unpredictably compared with Australia and its small handful of major airports. The United States is a huge country, and climatic conditions do vary greatly: San francisco is often beset by fog, delays in Chicago and more likely than not in the winter; JFK airport is at capacity and flights are often late, etc...etc... Before travelling, brainstorm the possible logistics of needing to find emergency accommodation in your place of departure and, importantly, stopover, and have handy any phone numbers of people who may be of assistance. Five minutes of applied thought ahead of a trip can, in extreme situations, save hundreds of dollars and can greatly contain the damage an unexpected delay/cancellation might cause. Finally, always make sure you have more than enough money! If there's an ice-storm and you need a hotel at the airport (along with thousands of other travellers) it is not going to be cheap. 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Ttransportation. In Washington DC the metro and bus systems are great. You definitely won’t need a car if you come here and work within the metro area. 2006 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Public transport in Boston is quite good, as well as economical. Travel from the airport is $1.25 on the subway (called the "T"), versus $35 in a taxi, if you feel up to lugging suitcases up and down subway stairs. 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| One thing I would note in relation to the Urbana-Champaign campus is that it is not as close as you might think it is to Chicago. It is actually 2.5 hours away and is not as easily accessible as expected, You can catch the train from Chicago-Champaign and vice-versa for about US$30 each way but the trains only come twice a day, You can catch a bus from Chicago or the Airport but this is less reliable, takes longer and is more expensive (around US$50). 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| It pays to remember the airline hubs so that you can tell the airline staff which flights you want to standby for, before others! 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Studentuniverse.com is a good source of cheaper airline tickets for students and people with faculty appointments at approved institutions, although there is less flexibility with the itineraries offered. Fulbrighters on the east coast should consider the “Chinatown” buses between Boston, NY, DC etc. A similar service, megabus.com, also operates between major cities in the Midwest. I usually allowed extra time for connections than in Australia and never expected AMTRAK to run on time. Airline flights are often overbooked, particularly on the weekends. Customers that volunteer to give up their seats are usually compensated with vouchers for free return trips in the future. 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| I booked my airplane tickets through STA travel, and had no problems with any aspect of travel. I have always found STA staff very helpful. 2005 Postgraduate Scholar |
| Domestic – air travel. Very easy to book online, which I used exclusively to book domestic air trips, with a wide range of carriers. Jetblue was the best of the domestic airlines that I experienced, and was very reasonably priced, particularly when there were sales. I also flew United Airlines quite frequently, which had basic service but was cheap. I had a terrible experience with ATA, which cancelled my flight to Chicago without notifying passengers like myself who were already at the boarding gate, and rescheduled us on a flight several hours later. 2005 Professional Scholar |
| Airport transfers – JFK has an Air Train that connects to the subway system which is an affordable option ($7 one way), La Guardia has an MTA bus (M60) that will get you into Manhattan for $2 (as long as you have the fare in coins – no bills accepted). I am not so familiar with Newark Airport, but all 3 airports have a multitude of shuttle bus services which are much cheaper than taking a taxi if you have more luggage than you can handle on public transport. 2005 Professional Scholar |
| Taxis – work on a meter system in New York, except for certain airport transfers (e.g. JFK to Manhattan - $45 flat rate). 2005 Professional Scholar |