Can I get any more MSE??? (USA)

K9cuddles

Hey,

Okay planning to book a holiday in the states for Feb (my 25th B'day:D ). I really want to do this MSE so have come up with the following but do you have any advice.. I've not thought about saving money on attractions or anything yet so please add any info you can!

Booking via Expedia because:

1) They given the best price
2) If book via Quidco I get 2% back
3) No credit card charge
4) Using Amex Nectar CC for points

Car hire:

1) Not leaving until the 6th as I will be 25 on the day so no surcharges for being under 25!!!
2) Going with Hertz as they are cheap and I can get Nectar points
3) Using Amex Nectar CC for more points!

Not to sure about

1) If we fly non direct it will take 4 hours longer.. but save £110. But the direct flight has better times on the way there.

The trip itself is as follows:

- Fly in to Philly and staying 4 nights (will check out Philly and drive to Washington for a day trip) - Free breakie here.

- Then drive to NYC to stay 2 nights (at Newark Airport hotel).. hotel is cheap as it's out of town helping us stay to budget

- Then driving up to Niagara Falls to stay for 3 nights (cause it's cheaper then NYC!!)

- Then drive back to Philly for 2 nights (different hotel to before!)

I've worked it out at £615 each, now we plan to cover alot of miles so petrol has got to be taken in to account!!

Can anyone add any thing? or have suitable advice???

polarbearit

Niagara is a fair distance from NYC, and New England is nice, personally if you are mainly going there because its cheaper than NYC I'd look at seeing some of new england. Niagara is nice, but I'd rather be in New England! Other than that, how much of the £615 is flights? NYC (and presumably Philly) flights in Feb will probably be available in the January sales for Feb-April at about £220-240 each direct (they have for the past couple of years, but that may be a bit last minute).

Also for hotel bookings its often the same price to book on hotels.com and as the quidco cashback is £10 per booking which is bit better than expedia mostly. Lastly if your just after the cheapest hotels for your money then priceline (Where you name the price you want to pay for your hotel room) or hotwire (where you get a discounted hotel but don't know which one it is until you've booked) are also worth a try. And you can also look at the exchange rate Expedia/hotels.com are charging and buy in USD if you have a debit/credit card that doesn't charge fees.

K9cuddles

Hi Polarbearit...

Thanks for the info..

Ok.. regarding the flights direct are £380.. non direct £325.. I think your right it's prob a better idea to leave it until Jan.. but it is abit last minute!!! Can you name any airlines doing the sales or do you think Expedia would be doing the sales too??

I want if possible value for money hotels.. no shared bathrooms!!! and clean.. I can live with basic we might upgrade on the last 2 nights in philly for a treat!!

As for the distances I've worked out the following:

Philly to Washington - 126 miles (2:10hrs)
Philly to NYC - 79 miles (1:30hrs)
NYC to Niagara Falls - 305 miles (5hrs)
Niagara Falls to Philly - 293 miles (5hrs)

I will defo check out the hotel.com and priceline.

What's in New England attraction wise?? is Boston in New England (sorry for being thick!!!) NYC to Boston 198 miles (3:30hrs)

hammy_the_hammer

i'm sorry to be blunt but your schedule doesn't make any sense...you are going to spend longer in philadelphia than NYC and Washington combined ?? why don't you fly to New York if you want a competitive price ? you could also leave Niagara till last ..do a one way car rental to Buffalo or Rochester and fly back via NYC ...your travelling times aren't very realistic either ...where did you get your info on journey times from ? lastly with all this travelling, you have chosen a month when road conditions can be drastically affected by wintry weather and you still haven't got that much daytime to drive about when you look at the distances you are going to travel

K9cuddles

Hey Hammy... Any advice is good advice and I value your info hence my post!

The reason we spend most time is Philly due to the flights, I tried to get online quote returning from a different aiport but it won't quote me!! And 1 way is really exspensive.. flights would be £450 1 way!!! Can you recommend any sites?

TBH the car hire is more expensive in NYC plus there's more surcharges for parking etc hence why I thought pick up and drop off a Philly. Though I'm not sure if there will be an out of state charge?

I agree.. I did think about the weather conditions and that will have an effect on the time as I said they are just indictors not gospel! I don't mind car traveling but I wil think 5 hour plus time will be hard, but then there's 3 rest days to chill with 2 nights before flying home.

Yes the times are just indicators taken from a website.

blindman

Hmmmm.
I agree with hammy re weather, travelling times and itinerary.

Fly in to Philly and staying 4 nights (will check out Philly and drive to Washington for a day trip)

Then drive back to Philly for 2 nights (different hotel to before!)

Washington is at least 4 days, IMHO Philly is 1:rolleyes:

Then drive to NYC to stay 2 nights (at Newark Airport hotel).. hotel is cheap as it's out of town helping us stay to budget

Does the hotel charge for parking? How are you getting into NYC from Newark (hopefully NOT driving!).

You seem to be basing yourself in the South to visit places in the North?

Basic map of USA

Petrol in USA is now around $3.00 per gallon and even the small rental cars tend to do about 30 miles to the gallon. Don't forget about tolls on some of the Turnpikes.


Personally.
Check out the option of flying with a scheduled airline (AA etc) outbound to Washington that allows a free stop over in New York.
Then the return can be from New York.
This is called an open Jaw ticket
So long as you return to your starting point it's OK
MTC post 6 in this thread explains how to do this on the AA web-site.

Check out Priceline for very good hotel deals.

Here's a guide as to how it works

Another option for travel is the China Bus or similar with Greyhound. Long time to travel but can be very cheap.
Look at the advice re Amtrak in that thread too.

Another option, but I don't think it will fit your plans is to get the BMI credit card and use the 20K miles for internal flights in US.
A guide of how to do this very cheaply.

fatboyonadiet

Do your Hertz via Quidco for £8 cashback

polarbearit

Car hire is sensibly priced from Newark (dearer at JFK) with Airline Network (eg full size car is £22 per day).

For the past 2 years in January Virgin and BA both had sub £250 fares direct to New York/Boston/Washington in sales for Jan - April. I don't see why it would be much different this year... I've sometimes looked at the indirect flights on Expedia and always ended up direct at lower cost booking later including the ones I have booked over 2 years I will have been on 4 transatlantic flights (all around school holiday times) and always paid under £280 each and always flown direct.

As for New England - there are great beaches (cape cod etc), great scenery and Boston is my favourite city. Niagara is good to see for a day, but at that time of year will probably feel like a long drive. I did NYC -> Boston in 3.5-4 hours last year and the roads on that route are big enough.

USA internal flights are pretty easy too. I flew with Southwest from San Jose to Vegas earlier in the year for $50 each which was easy enough and saved a 7 hour drive!

Also I'd say look at every supplier, the airlines are often cheaper than booking flights through expedia, I've almost always beaten the expedia price on every bit of travel/hotel I've booked (even with the quidco cashback).

K9cuddles

Hey Guys! You lot have been fab! Okay... I've not had a chance to look at the links yet.. but I have rethought the traveling! and worked out how to do multicentre flights!

I've come upwith the following:

6th - LGW to Philly 1 stop in Newark arrive at 4.30pm - Stay there 6 nights in a cheap hotel. BF really wants to come here for some reason!!!! With car hire so we can drive about and go to Washington.

12th - Drive to NYC. Give up the car. Staying in a very swish 3 star for 4 nights.

16th - Fly home direct from Newark (cheaper then JFK)

Sticking with Expedia for flights and hotels due to no cc charge and 2% back. BF wants 4x4 hire car, Hertz do 1 for £250 but he's found Avis better for £200.. so not worth trying to save £8 referral with Hertz.

So total each £707.. ok we've gone £107 over budget.. but due to the car upgrade and a nice hotel in NYC, and a nice direct flight home I don't mind!!

blindman

So you're picking up the car in Philly and dropping it off in New York?

Are there any drop off fees?

Philly hotels on PL can be as low as $34 +taxes per night including breakfast.

If you can stay in New Jersey then this Hyatt is a steal on Priceline at $65 + taxes per night.

Casual

Have you thought about flying into Baltimore-Washington?

BWI is outside DC but the cheaper version of Dulles. Icelandair (not as daft as it sounds) does great prices into there, as do many other airlines.

I used to live on the East Coast and IMHO you should do DC more so than Philly (not as great as it could be). Northern Virginia (NOVA as it's called) is also worth a drive around. Lots of things to see and do, plus the biggest outlet mall ever. True MSE-ing anyhow!