USA Trip

Nimesh01

Hi,

A couple of friends and myself (all students, over 21) are thinking of travelling America this summer. The plan so far is: Fly from LHR to Seattle, buy a van/car drive the pacific coast highway, across the deep south, and then up into New York, having sold the car along the way. And fly back from there. Over the course of about 2 months.

Flights seem to be about £350 with AA. The problem seems to be with the insurance on the car. Hiring a car would be too expensive, so were left with buying and selling. It is possible for us to get an American address.

Does anyone know how to go about this?

Also,
how does the general plan sound?
Anywhere in particular we should visit?
Are the flights a reasonable price?

Were all quite inexperienced with this and any help is welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Nimesh

nw_man

Flight price seems ok to me.

I have absolutely no idea how you would sell the car or insure it though !

Good luck.

dzug1

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=90989&tstart=0

may contain some useful information and will probably cause you to rethink. It's not completely impossible but the problems are numerous to the extent that most sensible people would say DON'T TRY IT.

The main problem is not insurance as such (that can be overcome with liberal applications of money) but registering the vehicle and your lack of a US address.

Plus any vehicle you can afford is probably not going to be capable of a transcontinental trip.

John1947_2

Dear Nimesh01

As the professor of travel, at the international university of the arts Gujurat, India, i have travelled to the USA many times. You're idea sounds wonderful, 3 young fellow students hitting up the bit US in style, buying a car, getting around meeting new people living the dream as some might say. I do feel that you need to consider a few things

1) Put a budget on the entirety of your trip 2 months is a long time and consequently will cost a fair bit, something to discuss with your fellow travellers.
2) Be aware of the deep south, its sensationally hot and is easy to catch diseases such as Hepatitis A
3) Consider other means of transportation other than car purchasing such as busses, taxi's, rickshaw aeroplane, helicopter etc and weigh up those costs
4) Be careful about travelling with people who are rediculously good looking.
5) Be aware that there are large expanses of the country that are not terribly exciting and you can travel for miles without seeing anything worth seeing! Dont let this put you off though, its worth the traveling to see the exciting things!
6) Have fun! there are some amazing places to visit in the USA enjoy yourself!

Places ive enjoyed visiting are:

Yellow stone national park, Wyoming
LA and san fran in california
Las Vegas, Nevada
New Orleans, Louisiana
Washington D.C

Hope that helps,

Prof John Smallington

WolfSong2000

Not sure if you could fit in everything you've suggested without a *lot* of time spent driving...a lot of people forget how big the USA is .

I'd scrap the car idea - as others have pointed out, it's more hassle than it's worth. What I *would* recommend is using Amtrak and/or Greyhound and temporarily renting a car in-between if necessary. I've used both Amtrak and Greyhound and they're both safe as long as you're sensible, plus quite cheap - I know Greyhound certainly do "open" tickets which last for certain amounts of time and allow you to travel anywhere, so that may be worth looking into.

The summer will be hot in a lot of the USA, so sunscreen is a must . Personally, I absolutely love the Deep South, and would recommend it to anyone - a little bizarre sometimes, culturally, but the people are so friendly and there's a lot of history (for America, anyhow). If you want somewhere in the South that's a little more "liberal" and/or you like music, a trip to Nashville is an absolute must. I love that city

Another place I'd highly recommend is Cherokee in North Carolina - absolutely stunning place (it's an Indian Reservation). I spent a lot of time there over the summer and loved it. Really picturesque, lots of stuff do do/see, etc. You would need a car to explore this area, though .

One other place I'

anotherginger

i doubt buying and selling would be very money saving.

as someone said above, you can go by bus, and additionally you can go by train, i think there is an 'inter-rail' type ticket.

i think you would struggle through not having an address - also if you are travelling a lot, i think this would have insurance implications. as in the uk, different neighbourhoods have different rates, plus different states have different rates.

Nimesh01

Hi,

i had thought about bus/train route and will definitely try Amtrak and Greyhound as suggested.

For the car, if we did get one (which seems not the best thing to do given the advice) would buying an ex. gov't car make it easier to get rid of?

Also, we would be able to get a US address and SSN etc, and cars are insured - not the people right? so anyone could drive it regardless of the name of the insurer..?

Thanks to everyone so far!

Nimesh

ferf1223

Nimesh01 wrote: »

Also, we would be able to get a US address and SSN etc, and cars are insured - not the people right? so anyone could drive it regardless of the name of the insurer..?

That would depend on the policy and circumstances...there are varying policy terms depending on whether you live with the insured, drive it regularly or occasionally, etc...there's not one answer for that question...and thinking about it - if you're driving cross-country, and you get pulled over in (say) Arkansas, and whoever is named on the insurance is not with you and lives in (say) California...I'm not sure that there wouldn't be a limitation on your ability to drive that car, even with the insured's permission or fitting one of the circumstances you might otherwise be covered...I'm not sure that an insurance company would be OK with covering someone doing that sort of driving who wasn't named on the policy. I could be wrong though...it would normally be a question that might be referred to the insurer for clarification, I would think.

Out of curiosity - how are you going to get a SSN?

Nimesh01

I thought there may be a problem, i have emailed insurers. But none have returned my emails. Ill persevere!

Sorry, i didnt mean that i was going to get one (which i have no idea how could be accomplished) just that whoever i would have used have one.

this car idea looks like a dead end!

Nevermind!

Cardew

Why not rent a car?

A small car will cost approx £1,000 for 8 weeks of basic rental. There might be a premium for drivers under 25 and returning it to another State.

However you will have a car from airport to airport.

You will need a US driving licence to insure a US car,

You are not likely to buy a car, register it and get insurance for anything as cheap as rental.

Nimesh01

Just looked into that.

I previously wrote it off as too expensive with no thought, but i stand corrected!

This may be a much better way of doing it..