Fly-drives?

madmalteaser

My OH and I are looking at doing a New England fly-drive next autumn but so far the only company I can find that does an all in itinerary (flights, car hire and accomodation) is Virgin - can any one suggest other companies?

Thanks!

urbancookie1

We done New England a few years ago. Why dont you price it all up yourself and put your own itinerery together? If you can get a decent price on your flights it can save you loads of money.

sturll

You'll save an absolute fortune if you take heed of the advice re booking it for yourself.

Satrt with the usual.... Expedia. or Orbiz.,

jackieblack

urbancookie1 wrote: »

We done New England a few years ago. Why dont you price it all up yourself and put your own itinerery together? If you can get a decent price on your flights it can save you loads of money.

But, if you book it all youself remember to book everything using a credit card. You won't have the same protection booking independently as you would have booking a package with someone like Virgin if the airline goes bust (as many people have found out in recent months...XL, Zoom etc)

jscalow

Just done the same thing to the USA in October, got flights from t'internet, £305, booked car hire thru http://www.fifteen02.com/ (would definitely use again, got recommended by fellow mse) £155 for 10 days inc all ins and full tank of gas. Motels/hotels were costing from $40 to $70 a night. Travel ins £18. That's it, dead easy.
I did take my sat nav as well which made driving an absolute pleasure and I would do the same style of trip again in a heartbeat. Go for it !

mitchg

Done many a fly drive in the USA and Canada and has always booked independantly i feel i get the best value for money and get a room price not a per person price, this can make a whale of a difference. Again as suggested book using a Credit Card and book through a reputable airline, and check various hotel booking sites using discount codes if available and compare with a direct hotel booking..oh and dont forget Quidco
Have a great time

madmalteaser

Thanks everyone, I'll have a play around although at the moment flights don't seem to be coming up very cheap!

richardw

Definately do car hire separately and consider https://www.insurance4carhire.com or similar, perhaps flight+hotel might be OK.

Jasper27_2

Madmalteaser, I agree with all the other posters it is cheaper to do it yourself. If you decide on your own route you can spend as long as you want each place and everyone has different interests.Also you can mix and match your hotels as pre-arranged tours tend to choose one "class" of hotel whereas you might want to keep the cost down but splash out here and there. I always find looking at brochures and websites helpful in getting ideas for a route. They will give you an idea of the main attractions and what are reasonable driving distances. It's also checking out local tourist board sites as they often provide free brochures, maps etc. If you want to look at a couple of holiday sites try these

http://www.connectionsworldwide.co.uk/america-fly-drive-holidays.asp

http://www.holidays2usa.co.uk/

madmalteaser

Jasper27 wrote: »

Madmalteaser, I agree with all the other posters it is cheaper to do it yourself. If you decide on your own route you can spend as long as you want each place and everyone has different interests.Also you can mix and match your hotels as pre-arranged tours tend to choose one "class" of hotel whereas you might want to keep the cost down but splash out here and there. I always find looking at brochures and websites helpful in getting ideas for a route. They will give you an idea of the main attractions and what are reasonable driving distances. It's also checking out local tourist board sites as they often provide free brochures, maps etc. If you want to look at a couple of holiday sites try these

http://www.connectionsworldwide.co.uk/america-fly-drive-holidays.asp

http://www.holidays2usa.co.uk/

Thanks Jasper - those sites are brilliant and will certainly give me some good ideas.

Everyone who's commented has definitely got me thinking about planning this myself now rather than going through a company. My other half and I also think it's a good idea because we can buy a bit more of the trip as and when we've saved up for it (will purchase on credit card of course but want to pay it off as quickly as possible too!).

Thanks again everyone. I'm looking forward to putting this together!

urbancookie1

You will also get greater satisfaction knowing that you put it all together yourself and you had such a great time..............