Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
&
800/307-7309
or 636/722-7111. For other credit cards, call the
toll-free number directory at
&
800/555-1212.
If you need emergency cash when banks and American Express
offices are closed on weekends or holidays, you can have money
wired to you via
Western Union
(
&
800/325-6000;
www.western
union.com).
Mail
At press time, domestic postage rates were 27¢ for a postcard
and 42¢ for a letter. For international mail, a first-class letter of up
to 1 ounce costs from 72¢ (69¢ to Canada and Mexico), depending
on size and destination; a first-class postcard costs the same as a
letter. For more information go to
www.usps.com
and click on
“Calculate Postage.”
Always include zip codes when mailing items in the U.S. If you
don't know your zip code, visit www.usps.com/zip4.
Medical Conditions
If you have a medical condition that requires
syringe-administered medications,
carry a valid prescription from
your physician; syringes in carry-on baggage will be inspected.
Insulin should have the proper pharmaceutical documentation. If
you have a disease that requires treatment with
narcotics,
you
should carry documented proof with you—smuggling narcotics
aboard a plane carries severe penalties in the U.S.
For
HIV-positive visitors,
requirements for entering the United
States are somewhat vague and change frequently. For up-to-the-
minute information, contact
AIDSinfo
(
&
800/448-0440
or
301/519-6616 outside the U.S.; www.aidsinfo.nih.gov) or the
Gay
Men's Health Crisis
(
&
212/367-1000;
www.gmhc.org).
Newspapers & Magazines
There are three major daily newspa-
pers: the
New York Times,
the
Daily News,
and the
New York Post.
There are also two free daily papers,
AM-New York
and
Metro
, usu-
ally distributed in the morning near subway stations and in self-serve
boxes around town.
Passports
The websites listed provide downloadable passport
applications as well as the current fees for processing applications.
For an up-to-date, country-by-country listing of passport require-
ments around the world, go to the “International Travel” tab of the
U.S. Department of State at
http://travel.state.gov
.
International visitors to the U.S. can obtain a visa application at
the same website.
Note:
Children are required to present a passport
when entering the United States at airports. More information on
obtaining a passport for a minor is at
http://travel.state.gov
. Allow