American fly-drive need advice

Goldust

Hi,

We went to Vegas last year and loved it and I was hoping to go to the US again this year.

I was thinking maybe we could fly into somewhere like Texas and then drive West spending a few days somewhere in-between. Maybe finish up at Vegas again or carry on through to California?

I'd like to do it over 2 weeks and am pretty flexible on dates between June and September, whichever would be cheapest.

Can anyone recommend anything or help me with an itiniery? I want to keep the cost minimal.

PS I assume I can hire a car in one state and hand it back in another?

Thanks!

torbrex

Best advice I can give to cut costs is don't book hotels in advance, it ties you down to a route and you can always find something on the route that you do pick. You can also pick up cheap room coupons on the way in tourist info places and restaurants.

If you want any details about any places to visit on whatever route you choose, I have been to that part of America a few times and could give a few pointers once you have decided which way you are going.

Mr_Lahey

mattarmy wrote: »

Hi,

We went to Vegas last year and loved it and I was hoping to go to the US again this year.

I was thinking maybe we could fly into somewhere like Texas and then drive West spending a few days somewhere in-between. Maybe finish up at Vegas again or carry on through to California?

I'd like to do it over 2 weeks and am pretty flexible on dates between June and September, whichever would be cheapest.

Can anyone recommend anything or help me with an itiniery? I want to keep the cost minimal.

PS I assume I can hire a car in one state and hand it back in another?

Thanks!

The problem with Texas is that it is stuck right in the middle of the USA. Going West you will go through New Mexico - which is North America's most pointless state. I would look to either head straight for Arizona in a day, or (and this is what i'd do) Drive North up into Colorado, then drop through Southern Utah, Arizona/Nevada then head for California.

Oklahoma is rubbish and Kansas is rubbish so just keep driving.

bairn7

I've done something similar for the past few years. You can hire in one state and drop off in another but the one-way rental fees tend to be pretty hefty.

I'd suggest starting somewhere like Phoenx and ending up in, say, San Francisco. This is a great trip and you could take in Grand Canyon, Vegas, Death Valley and Yosemite before finishing up in San Fran.

Also, if you use Dollar through usrentacar.co.uk there are no one-way fees between Arizona and California. I used them last year with no problems at all.

Hope this helps

Murphy_The_Cat

mattarmy wrote: »

Hi,

We went to Vegas last year and loved it and I was hoping to go to the US again this year.

I was thinking maybe we could fly into somewhere like Texas and then drive West spending a few days somewhere in-between. Maybe finish up at Vegas again or carry on through to California?

I'd like to do it over 2 weeks and am pretty flexible on dates between June and September, whichever would be cheapest.

Can anyone recommend anything or help me with an itiniery? I want to keep the cost minimal.

PS I assume I can hire a car in one state and hand it back in another?

Thanks!

OP, in my opinion you really, realy need to trim back on your options.
The American West is truly enormous - it is similar to saying 'I'd like to go to europe but I don't really know when, I don't really know where and I don't want to spend much money doing it' !
Once you've got a bit of a tighter focus, post again because there's quite a lot of people who would really enjoy helping you.
For what its worth, if you want to take an Open Jaw option on your flights be absolutely certain that your car hire company offers you 'free' one way rentals from State to State (like the Dollar option via usrentacar that bairn referred to).
OR, consider a circular or triangular route where you'll return to your starting point.

The time of year for your flight will have an ENORMOUS impact on your flight cost, plus, Summer can be VERY hot in some of the places that you are considering.

davetrousers

Don't take out the Car Hire Firm's Collision Damage Waiver. Google Car Hire Excess Insurance.

bairn7

Agree with Murphy, the distances in the west are deceptively large when looking on a map. The trip I took last year from Phoenix to San Fran was a 2 and a half week trip, with a max of a couple of nights at each of the major stops. It's do-able in a shorter time but it is a hell of a lot of driving.

re what davetrousers said, be very thorough with checking any hire policy to see what is and isn't included. With usrentacar/carhire3000 etc the price quoted should be all in (ie you shouldn't have to take out any additional insurance when you pick up the car, even though the rep may try to insist otherwise). The only additional thing I tend to take out is breakdown cover.

Goldust

bairn7 wrote: »

I've done something similar for the past few years. You can hire in one state and drop off in another but the one-way rental fees tend to be pretty hefty.

I'd suggest starting somewhere like Phoenx and ending up in, say, San Francisco. This is a great trip and you could take in Grand Canyon, Vegas, Death Valley and Yosemite before finishing up in San Fran.

Also, if you use Dollar through usrentacar.co.uk there are no one-way fees between Arizona and California. I used them last year with no problems at all.

Hope this helps

Thanks for all the suggestions so far

This sounds like a better idea maybe. I've just fancied going to Texas for years but I'd be happy with the above.

How much difference would a round trip make price wise in other peoples' experience? I'd rather do the Phoenix-Vegas-LA route without having to go back on myself.

Maybe I could do Vegas-San Fran-LA instead? Then return to Vegas from LA to hand back the car. This suits in terms of flights as there is a direct flight from Manchester to Vegas as well which is more convenient that flying from London (I live in Liverpool)

Murphy_The_Cat

mattarmy wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions so far

This sounds like a better idea maybe. I've just fancied going to Texas for years but I'd be happy with the above.

How much difference would a round trip make price wise in other peoples' experience? I'd rather do the Phoenix-Vegas-LA route without having to go back on myself.

Maybe I could do Vegas-San Fran-LA instead? Then return to Vegas from LA to hand back the car. This suits in terms of flights as there is a direct flight from Manchester to Vegas as well which is more convenient that flying from London (I live in Liverpool)

Hello matt

after several years of always wanting to go to Texas, I'm off their in about 6 weeks time :j:j.

FWIW, I'd suggest that you maybe try to fit in less, rather than more, as otherwise you're going to be spending nearly all of your valuable holiday time behind the wheel.
LA is a real Marmite place, you either love it or hate it (I'm the latter).
Even though the idea of flying to LV on a direct flight is VERY tempting, don't let it completely take over your plans.
A possible idea would be to fly into SFO spend a little while, slowly drive down to San Diego stopping where and when you fancy. Drop off your hire car. Fly from SD to LV (with someone like Southewest who will charge you about $75). Do LV on foot, fly back from LV.
OR, fly back from SD and leave LV this time.

just a thought :beer:

p.s. are you travelling alone, or do you have otehr people to think about ?

ferf1223

torbrex wrote: »

Best advice I can give to cut costs is don't book hotels in advance, it ties you down to a route and you can always find something on the route that you do pick.

I agree in general for the road trip days this is a reasonble option- but some places (Las Vegas and San Francisco certainly) I'm not sure I would chance it...maybe booking certain stops along the route in key places but leaving other stops to chance makes sense.

Also as with most hotels in the US you can cancel with 24-72 hours notice depending on the T&Cs if you book direct with the hotel exposure should be minimal I would think.

Goldust

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Hello matt

after several years of always wanting to go to Texas, I'm off their in about 6 weeks time :j:j.

FWIW, I'd suggest that you maybe try to fit in less, rather than more, as otherwise you're going to be spending nearly all of your valuable holiday time behind the wheel.
LA is a real Marmite place, you either love it or hate it (I'm the latter).
Even though the idea of flying to LV on a direct flight is VERY tempting, don't let it completely take over your plans.
A possible idea would be to fly into SFO spend a little while, slowly drive down to San Diego stopping where and when you fancy. Drop off your hire car. Fly from SD to LV (with someone like Southewest who will charge you about $75). Do LV on foot, fly back from LV.
OR, fly back from SD and leave LV this time.

just a thought :beer:

p.s. are you travelling alone, or do you have otehr people to think about ?

It will be me and my girlfriend going. We can both drive she isn't 25 until April but I assume this will be OK to share the driving as we would be travelling after then.