1

Tell the truth. You don't know yet. Or get an address from a guidebook or other source. Very probably no one will check.

2

I put in the address of a place I was thinking of staying at but in the end I decided to stay somewhere else.

3

The address of the first motel you are planning to stay at will be fine.

4

What #3 said.

5

Will you be entering under the Visa Waiver Program? You will need to get ESTA approval in advance. That is a pre-clearance that determines that you appear to be eligible to enter under the VWP and that you are not on some list of undesirables. Without ESTA approval, your airline won't let you board.

The Help page for that says

The application also asks for your flight or ship information. That is optional.

When you enter the US by air (or ship) "Those travelers who obtained authorization to travel via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization will not need to complete any additional [immigration] forms."

ESTA pre-approval does not guarantee admission under the VWP. That is still at the discretion of the immigration official.

If you plan to stay in the US longer than 90 days or if you will not have an onward ticket to some place that is not Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, you will need a full B2 tourist visa. See Visas

When you enter under a visa, you do have to fill out forms. If you know your hotel, use that. If you don't have anything booked, then use the name of a hotel that you are considering.

6

Or you can do general delivery/poste restante of whatever city you are going to be in.... You just need the address and post code/zip code of wherever you are going to stay. Best is to underline the last name and allow a bit of extra time for delivery. Personally, I don't like the idea of sending a package to a hotel/motel. They often can go missing where as a post office is a govt. office and much less theft!!!

ie: Joe Traveller
Poste restante/General Delivery
Little Town in the middle of nowhere, Iowa
50029

Always works....

7

#6, the OP is talking about an address to use on immigration forms, not for mail delivery. You can't use "General Delivery" for that. For a large city, usually only one post office does General Delivery, so you have to know the Zip Code for that specific office. .

8

P.O. Box, possibly.

9

woops.... How'd I miss that part???!!! Yeah. ....the first hotel you stay at.....

Edited by: TravellinAndi

10

I've used the address of the motel I've booked for the first night after arrival before and of course I could make one up, just wondered about the requirements or legalities of it.

11

Have an address ready, whatever it is.

Don't answer "I don't know". My niece knew the name of her hotel, but not the address and was taken aside for in-depth questioning when she couldn't provide the actual address (her husband had the full details and they had had to travel separately because of a last-minute hitch in plans).