Shopping in the USA Your recommendations

[PrincessInOz]

Also outing myself here as a serious shopper.

Hubby, son and I can get out outbound weight down to 15 kilos (and this is with 2 bags inside the main bag) using the airline weights. We tend to come back with about 85 - 90 kg inbound. You get a 30 kg allowance on the way back and we tend to buy extra bags.

Everything is cheaper....clothes, electronics - we've bought cameras, DS -shoes and handbags(!!!!!), homewares, musical instruments, books. For electronics, we tend to look for Best Buys or Frys. And DS games are dirt cheap!! We don't get Wii games as these are region coded and won't work in the Wii's we buy in Australia (without chipping, but that means you can't use the Wii on line access).

We stay clear of computers. Most international computer companies offer international warranties; but you need to ship the
PC back to the US. I'm also not sure if this is relevant any more as manufacturing standards are different now but it used to be (10 years ago) that the PCs in the states are made for Northern hemisphere magnetic rotation. The PC's we get here are made for Southern hemisphere magnetic rotation. And whilst rare, I've seen Northern hemisphere PCs develop magnetic field distortions on the screens. Even with warranty, this is not something that anyone can fix.

 

[Luisa]

I left with 1 bag weighing 13kgs, came back with 2 bags over 35kgs (yay for the American Airlines lady who didn't charge me extra!) I personally love Old Navy for bargain clothes, who can pass up wool jumpers for $15?

 

[PrincessInOz]

I left with 1 bag weighing 13kgs, came back with 2 bags over 35kgs (yay for the American Airlines lady who didn't charge me extra!) I personally love Old Navy for bargain clothes, who can pass up wool jumpers for $15?

Louisa - Off Topic. Have you decided whether it's the 40th or the 45th celebration yet???

 

[1rocky]

Thanks Everyone.
there are three of us traveling via Hawaiian airlines. so that gives us six bags returned Fantastic. We all love to shop. And if the amount we bought at Hong Kong Disneyland was anything. Watch out USA Disneyland

 

[Mellby]

On my recent trip - Amercian Airlines charged me $50 USD for overweight luggage. At this stage I only had 1 suitcase and was about 10 pounds over. She said if I bought another case and put the stuff in that, I wouldn't be charged. (Like I had time to go and buy another suitcase at the check-in counter!) I told her I was an international flyer and she was just a complete b**** about it all).....take note it was at La Guardia in NY.

Anyway, by the time I got to LAX to come home, I had 2 cases and was probably 20kgs overweight (sorry, not sure what that is in pounds) and the Qantas check-in guy only charged me $25 US (what a sweetie)

As for shopping. COSMETICS - OMG - SO CHEAP

I tend to buy Clinique and it is half the price that it is here and if you want to get a Gift With Purchase which a lot of cosmetic companies tend to do, you only need to buy around $25 worth of product rather than $60 that you would here.

Converse Chucks are all $40 instead of $90

All good brands of runners (Nike, Asics, Adidas etc) are so much cheaper too. There is a really good warehouse in Hollywood that has heaps of all sorts of shoes (I think it's called Off Broadway Shoes) opposite In-n-Out burger

Watches, most clothes in general are cheaper.

My faves, esp. when the Department stores have sales

GAP
American Eagle
Macys
Nordstrom
Anthropologie
Banana Republic

 

[queenie82]

I generally don't find clothes particularly cheap in the US. And I rarely find anything I like for a great deal. I do better in sales at our department stores...
Cosmetics YES!!! BIG savings. And great offers and also good deals to be made at the good airports (SFO as opposed to LAX) duty free stores.
And BOOKS!!!

BUT...regarding luggage. We take our own extra luggage with us. We take empty suitcases. In this case you would never have the problem Melby had...have the cases with you full or not and then you are always ready.
What we do when we get to the carousel to pick up the bags is put our hand luggage into the empty cases. Gradually they will be filled with Disney goodies and by the end we have books, games, disney stuff, toys etc.

For one they are cheaper. I went looking for luggage on our trip in December 09 because people so often say...oh we get more over there...and none of the quality cases that last and are light were especially cheap. 40-50% off specials at Myer and DJs are better. And you go in knowing what you have.


All in all I think the outlets in the US are pretty pathetic these days. The "specials" aren't that impressive like they used to be. The kind of shoes Nike make these days aren't as good as they used to be. And Rockports and Ecco shoes were rarely a good special and if they were they were never in my size. And trust me I LOOKED!!

Disney outlets are where you get the bargains that count to me. As well as the Ghiradelli store

Oh...and Circuit City is no longer with us...which is a shame because I actually liked them.

 

[Luisa]

Louisa - Off Topic. Have you decided whether it's the 40th or the 45th celebration yet???

I'm leaning more towards Jan and my own 40th at DLR - don't think I can wait for WDW to catch up to me in Oct!

 

[Mellby]

Agree with Queenie, getting a good case here is ideal. I managed to get a Samsonite Spinner in the biggest size at about 40% off. I think it retails for $470 and I got it for $275. I did buy a cheaper one in the States as I had no choice due to my shopping addiction, however for around $30 USD it isn't that bad - I think I got it from Sears.

Queenie, Off topic, but we have Ecco shoe outlet at DFO down here in Melbs now.

 

[kazbar]

Plus sized clothing is much cheaper in the US and is also available in a much larger range than what we have here in Australia

 

[queenie82]

Queenie, Off topic, but we have Ecco shoe outlet at DFO down here in Melbs now.

Good to know. Thanks

 

[aussiemickeys]

We love the shopping in the U.S. Our favourites are: Old Navy, Sketchers, any Targets & Wal Marts. We have also found that the department store Sears seems to have great sales all the time (have bought a lot of jewellery & bags very cheaply). Love the Papyrus (greeting cards) & Hallmark (cards, wrap & presents) shops as well. Always seem to spend a heap of time in Borders, & Barnes & Noble stocking up on travel guides! Oh also love "Ross' Dress for Less" which we always find great kids clothes in for cheap as chips prices.

As to the suitcases - we have done both ways, where we take extra ones that are virtually empty & other times have just taken 1 each & bought extra while there. Got a great bargain on this last trip. Walmart - USD$50 for the largest size (& sturdy) with 4 wheels spinner. We are absolute converts to the 4 wheel spinners. Cannot recommend these enough - they are so easy to manuever. I remember at one stage just nudging mine along with me knee (awesome!)

Another couple of helpful hints we have learned the hard way over the years is: Every airline you fly, know beforehand your luggage allowance for your ticket type. There will be different domestic & international allowances,economy & business class allowances,different frequent flyer perks but there also may be restrictions on discounted tickets as well. Take the time to check beforehand & you can avoid any nasty excess luggage fees. Also don't assume all ailrines are the same as each other - check each one you are using. Check each time you travel because they can change (which Qantas did about 18 months ago - Economy international went from 2 x 32kg per person to 2 x 23kg per person)
We now always take a travel scale with us (this may seem weird to some, but we had a scare in Japan one time where they wanted to charge us $1000 excess for 1 suitcase - never going through that again!) This is a small device & just clips around the handle of your suitcase. You lift it with the bag up off the ground, it takes a second or two to balance itself & then gives you the reading. Very clever (you need good arm strength though - I can never do ours, my poor sister has to every time)
Hope this has been of help.

 

[ehsmum]

I may be outing myself as a serious shopaholic here.....anyway, I literally take 2 changes of clothes each and shop as soon as we get there. I only have 1 packed suitcase and have brought back between 8 and 10 plus cabin bags every time.
I buy clothes, linen, DVD's and DS games for DD's, kitchen stuff......pretty much everything is cheaper over there!
Have fun !!!!

This is what I plan on doing. I'm just going to pack the bare minimum and start shopping as soon as we arrive!

We're probably going to take 6 suitcases - 2 smaller ones inside bigger ones and 2 empty ones. We get 2 bags each with QF (so that's 10 total) but I need to check the limits with UA, DL and US for our internal flights.

 

[Mellby]

Plus sized clothing is much cheaper in the US and is also available in a much larger range than what we have here in Australia

My bestie got lots of jeans at Torrid. The Dickies brand are really nice and cheap!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

We now always take a travel scale with us (this may seem weird to some, but we had a scare in Japan one time where they wanted to charge us $1000 excess for 1 suitcase - never going through that again!) This is a small device & just clips around the handle of your suitcase. You lift it with the bag up off the ground, it takes a second or two to balance itself & then gives you the reading. Very clever (you need good arm strength though - I can never do ours, my poor sister has to every time)
Hope this has been of help.

We took a digital travel scale with us as well. It was a lifesaver for the weight issues. Sometimes we'd have to rejig some stuff before leaving the hotel so that the weights balanced better across the suitcases but it was really fabulous to know when we got to the airport we were safe.

 

[queenie82]

We took a digital travel scale with us as well. It was a lifesaver for the weight issues. Sometimes we'd have to rejig some stuff before leaving the hotel so that the weights balanced better across the suitcases but it was really fabulous to know when we got to the airport we were safe.

All worship the balanzza scale
I love it when each bag gets weighed at the checkin desk and each is exactly 49.5-50.5 pounds
Sometimes the person at the counter looks at you sideways thinking it all a bit suspicious

Sure beats unpacking and repacking in the middle of the checkin area as well

 

[Mellby]

Thanks for the advice. I will definately get some scales.

Has anyone purchased netbooks/laptops in the US? I know they are cheaper. I'm looking at a Toshiba which I believe has an international warranty. Any suggestions? Circuit City?

 

[kylieh]

Thanks for the advice. I will definately get some scales.

Has anyone purchased netbooks/laptops in the US? I know they are cheaper. I'm looking at a Toshiba which I believe has an international warranty. Any suggestions? Circuit City?

I'm thinking of doing the same for DD's new lappy. If you're heading out to Las Vegas, Frys has a really good name http://www.frys.com/ and they are HUGE!!!! Like nothing I've seen here, and DH thinks it's the best thing in the whole world.

CompUSA is another option http://www.compusa.com/

The other option if you're staying more than a few nights in one spot is to have a look at Amazon, sign up for Amazon Prime which is free for the first month, then cancel hehehe, and most of the time you'll get two-day free shipping. Check with the hotel where you are staying if they will accept parcels for you and if any charge for doing so.

 

[Mellby]

Thanks Kylieh - I'm not going to Vegas (unfortunately). I do have a $25 USD Amazon gift that I can put towards it. Good thinking.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks Kylieh - I'm not going to Vegas (unfortunately). I do have a $25 USD Amazon gift that I can put towards it. Good thinking.

There is a Fry's near LAX...if you are still keen on purchasing it from Fry's.

 

[Sugarglider]

My favourite: Italian brand name shoes! I've bought Bally, Ferragamo etc at probably a third of the price of Australia (if you can get them here at all - most Australian shoe shops are stocking spanish or chinese discounts). Ferragamo have outlet stores in the Prime Outlet centres.
Also cosmetics - too cheap!
re: laptop plugs from a few posts back. All the laptops and mobile phones my family have purchased have variable voltage cords - so we've been able to just plug in no matter where we are in the world. I would assume that US laptops are sold with the same cord - yes?
I haven't been to look at the Frys website - but I am wondering about an ipad or iphone - can I buy one unlocked in US and then use it here?