Help for booking a (family) US Road Trip.

Murphy_The_Cat

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Good idea MTC, I'll give that a try.

We went for a luxury last year from SFO and got a lovely, pretty high spec, Cadillac CTS which we'd be more than happy with again but trying to decide if it's worth the extra splurge again. I think the difference in price is about £80 for a 14 day rental from a full size to a luxury so not a huge amount, and we'd probably pay it for a CTS or something similar, but really don't fancy getting a Lincoln Town Car - can see why it suits some but with only the two of us we don't need all that space and they're just so BIG!!

Good thread by the way - lots of useful tips, especially for those travelling with kids.

If it helps at all, Budget at Washington Dulles had lots of Town Cars or CTS's to offers as luxury class cars when we arrived/departed, but very little of anything else. when I picked my car up, he asked me if i was happy with the Town Car, or if I would prefer to swap to a CTS, but that was all he had to offer me that day. He did say that if the TownCar wasn't suitable, I'd be able to exchange it for another car, at anothe Budget depot.

soil_2

duchy wrote: »

Not sure I'd want to run the risk of a king plus rollaway (if room) when travelling with kids personally. Some things aren't worth saving a few dollars for MSE isn't about getting the lowest price but the best VALUE after all !

We saved about $200 (per night) over the best available rate when we stayed in the W in Atlanta from Priceline. Rather more than a few dollars.

Nobjocki

Horses for courses obviously but anyone thinking of attempting a long road trip in America with a seven and four year old needs their head examined.

At that age a theme park really is much more preferable.

And as for pre-booking accomodation it really is nonsense - there are a gazillion roadside motels and hotels of all budgets.

As for expense it really depends on how much you personally want to spend - food,gas and accommodation is much cheaper Stateside than in the UK.

I'm glad the OP had a great holiday but the post is so full of generalisations that are so wrong it is ridiculous.

soil_2

Nobjocki wrote: »

Horses for courses obviously but anyone thinking of attempting a long road trip in America with a seven and four year old needs their head examined.

Generalise much?

At that age a theme park really is much more preferable.

At that age they go where you go and don't whine that it's boring, the US is an easy country with kids, theme parks are another story.

And as for pre-booking accomodation it really is nonsense - there are a gazillion roadside motels and hotels of all budgets.

Yes that was unnecessarily prescriptive IMO. The standard of accommodation is high, relatively affordable and diverse.

As for expense it really depends on how much you personally want to spend - food,gas and accommodation is much cheaper Stateside than in the UK.

Yes but in the UK we already have accommodation, we already have a car, we don't drive 2000 miles typically, and we buy our food from the supermarket. Compared with many other holiday options the US is very expensive.

Murphy_The_Cat

Nobjocki wrote: »

Horses for courses obviously but anyone thinking of attempting a long road trip in America with a seven and four year old needs their head examined.

At that age a theme park really is much more preferable.

And as for pre-booking accomodation it really is nonsense - there are a gazillion roadside motels and hotels of all budgets.

As for expense it really depends on how much you personally want to spend - food,gas and accommodation is much cheaper Stateside than in the UK.

I'm glad the OP had a great holiday but the post is so full of generalisations that are so wrong it is ridiculous.

As you say, horses for courses :beer:

We all had a grand time and thourougly enjoyed the mix of stuff that we did (including theme park time :p). BTW, 1700 miles in 17 days, a lot of which was 'tootling about' at destinations wasn't hard work in the slightest.

Gazillions of hotels, but they are no use to you if they are all booked up - Annapolis graduation, Memorial Weekend. Plus, I'll freely admit to being as picky as hell in where my family stay. Staying in a dive because its available and cheap isn't on my agenda.

Food , gas & some accomodation is cheaper than the uk, but when you are eating well, and paying for entertainment for 4 people, over an extended time, it really racks up at a speedy rate. Some people have this magical image of 99c meals, fuel for a £1 per gal and great hotels for $29 -- but the reality is VERY different, as I expect you know.


Naturally this thread is full of generalisations, I can't imagine that there are many people on MSE who would look to have a holiday exactly like ours.

eslick

Nobjocki wrote: »

Horses for courses obviously but anyone thinking of attempting a long road trip in America with a seven and four year old needs their head examined.

At that age a theme park really is much more preferable.

Not all kids are the same at that age, we are just back from our last ever Florida trip with our two 5 and 8 only went back so the kids could do Disney before the magic went. Planned a day in seaworld and 3 in disney. ended doing only 1 day at disney and 1 at seaworld, took them kayaking in another part of florida, they loved it wanted to do it again but unfortunately we had left it to the second last day so they couldnt. Typical kayaking $70 Disney a fortune, dont get me wrong they enjoyed the day but when they are asked what they got up to on holiday disney is way down the list, oh and our two have only been once before when the eldest was 4 so its not something they have done loads of times.

Cant wait till next year when its off to our favourite areas of the US.

Have to say prices do seem more expesive this year, even from last April they seem to have shot up ah oh for the good old days of 69 cents a gallon petrol.

jackieblack

Great advice as always Murphy :T
Good to hear your trip was as fantastic as you'd hoped.:j

Definitely with you on the pre-booking accomodation, especially with children. Too many other things to do on our trips to waste time faffing about finding accomodation as you go, especially as we have to go at peak times.

The only things we do differently are:
we wouldn't get such a huge car, but there are only 3 of us so a full-size is plenty big enough. We only have a small car at home and wouldn't feel confident driving anything too enormous!

And I don't do SatNav. Not ever. Not at home, not on hol.
Good old-fashioned printed maps and directions from Mapquest/Googlemaps all the way for me, if we take wrong turn that's all part of the adventure (but that's just me )

Murphy_The_Cat

jackieblack wrote: »

And I don't do SatNav. Not ever. Not at home, not on hol.
Good old-fashioned paper maps all the way for me, if we take wrong turn that's all part of the adventure (but that's just me )

Jackie

I'm a recent convert to SATNAV. Previously, I'd always relied on maps/preprinted routes, but SATNAVS are so much easier to use, so much more user friendly and so much more efficient than paper maps than you would ever believe.

At work,I've just gone through the process of equipping each of my vehicles & staff with a SATNAV, as I considered the benefits to be so good --- but all of my staff were like you. They'd always used maps and always managed, Within 2 days of getting the TomToms, they're converts.

Perhaps because on holiday I plan to do/see a lot, I want to make the most of my time and for me the benefit of picking up my car (with the location of the nearest Walmart in it, for booster seats) and having my prebooked hotel waiting for me and my road by road directions set out for me, is enormous.
Likewise, when we check out and hit the road, having the TomTom makes everything seamless (especially if I'm the only one in the car who is awake :rotfl::beer:), as we gofrom place to place to pre booked accomodation for the night.

No fuss, no drama, just straightforward holidaying and motoring.;)

jackieblack

eslick wrote: »

Cant wait till next year when its off to our favourite areas of the US.

Care to elaborate?

Murphy_The_Cat

jackieblack wrote: »

Care to elaborate?

its not just me that was (nosey ) curious then ?;)