how much money too take to usa

[dawn36]

it is or first time to usa january 09 we are family of four 2 adult 2 children ages 9 and 5. as its our first time we are not sure on how much money to take with us. we are going for two weeks. we are staying in a villa, and hiring a 12 seater van. in total 9 of us but we are all paying as a seperate family. any advise would be grateful thank you.

[spudqueen]

Well it depends on where in the US you are going and what you intend to do whilst there. Obviously eating out, buying electronic items, cameras etc, and going to theme parks will be more expensive than just lounging around and going for walks.

As a guide, I took $100 a day when I was in New York city for food and sightseeing, big shopping sprees were put on my credit card. That was just for myself

In Florida as a family of four we took �2000 worth of US dollars. We did the theme parks (though bought the tickets on credit card), ate out a LOT (it's good and cheap) and generally had a good time.

[vehelpfulguy]

As spudqueen says, it depends where you are going.

I would definately take a credit card as almost everywhere takes one and it saves taking loads of cash or travellers cheques.

While things in the USA are often cheaper than here in the UK it is surprising how much money you can get through on a holiday in the USA.

If you are going to Orlando, or any area with theme parks, then entry to these parks can be VERY expensive, although it is much cheaper to buy multi park tickets for multiple days.

Once inside food and drink can be expensive so you can get through a lot of money visiting theme parks.

If you are staying in a villa then I assume you will be having breakfast in the villa which will save you money. I guess for lunch you will mostly be eating out, but maybe you can prepare some food for lunch in the morning. For dinner you can sometimes eat out, other times eat in.

And of course the petrol for a 12 seater van is going to set you back a fair bit for a 2 week holiday, but you can put that on credit card.

[tigwig]

We spent �1000 worth of dollars for 2 adults and a 3yr old! Thats not including tickets for theme parks or the car! If it is Florida you are going to then it can be very expensive. Even meals at the villa add up. I would take �1500 to be on the safe side, its better to have too much than not enough.