3-4 week holiday USA July/August 2012

snowydogh

I'm toying with the idea of going to the U.S for a 3-4 week holiday after I graduate from Uni. I graduate next june (2012). It would be me and my OH going, and Possibly a few friends of ours meeting up with us out there.

If we were to go - the places of interest to us would be:

• New York - been twice before
• Washington - never been before
• San Francisco - never been before
• L.A - never been before
• Grand Canyon - never been before
• Florida - been about 10 times but never with OH

I just love new york - so it's a must...if we're going all the way across the pond I can't go without visiting New York for a few days.

We would most likely plan the trip around the time my parents may possibly go to Florida so we can stay in the villa with them

San Francisco, L.A and Grand Canyon are places I've always wanted to go and Washington - I would love to visit all

Murphy_The_Cat

Its very doable over a 3 (or even better) 4 week period.
Do you have a specific question, or are you after general comments ?

One thing that instantly springs to mind is your age - if you going to be renting a car and you are under 25, you may get spanked in the pocket (usrentacar may help a bit)

do you mean Washington DC, or Washington State ?

snowydogh

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Its very doable over a 3 (or even better) 4 week period.
Do you have a specific question, or are you after general comments ?

One thing that instantly springs to mind is your age - if you going to be renting a car and you are under 25, you may get spanked in the pocket (usrentacar may help a bit)

do you mean Washington DC, or Washington State ?

Hi ... sorry I meant to finish the post but my computer froze and I just shut down and completely forgot... I was just looking for maybe some general comments from people who might have done this before... ways to go about planning it seeing as it is about 15months in advance...tips, logistical tips with flights etc..

I meant Washington DC - as in the City - I'd like to visit the historical monuments and that sort of thing.

I've been to Florida so many times but I don't think I could go all the way there without stopping off.... possibly at the beach this time as we usually stay central in kissimmee/orlando....

I'd love to just travel around and try different places - if there is other places people would recommend, I'd love to hear...

I've been to Boston - however that was for just a day before going skiing in New Hampshire..

I love the heat...theme parks, cultural interest, historical... everything really...theme parks are a big thing - ... so I would love to visit six flags in Cali etc...

I'm just looking so overall general advice/comments/recommendations

Also - I'll be 24 but my partner will be 28 - though he has high insurance here due to points on his license (though they should be all cleared by then).. I don't think I would like him driving there and I don't think he would be keen - so I guess depending on where we are we would use public transport as much as possible. Florida is probably the place we are most likely to hire a car...as I've drove there a few times with my dad (only at 2 or 3 days at a time due to insurance costs)

Thanks for the reply

duchy

If it's just the beach you want in Florida-why not skip it and do Californian beaches instead which won't take you so far out of your way so will help with the costs ?

You could fly into NYC or Washington -then after pavement pounding those two cities fly west to LA for some beach R&R -loads of different places to choose from do Hollywood Disney Universal etc -then drive up along the coast to San Fran -and then from there onto Vegas were you could do either a day trip or longer to the Grand Canyon (you can do white rafting there too btw) before flying home from Vegas.

So for example Fly to NYC -then Train or fly to Washington -fly to California-which has poor transportation so you'd really need a car there-drive or fly to San Fran -if you've kept the car you could drive to Vegas but it's cheap enough to fly and the journey is nothing special. You don't need a car in Vegas plenty of buses and taxis-and there are lots of organized trips for both one and two days to the Canyon (or you could drive it).

WolfSong2000

Washington DC in July will be hot and humid. If you want to get the best out of DC, go in the spring - the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom, the cherry blossom festival will be on and the weather will be much better (hot, but not humid).

Murphy_The_Cat

Broadly the same advice as duchy. I'm not keen on being reliant on public transport (& being restricted to where it goes to), so perhaps consider a rental car for some of your time in DC. BTW, really good rail links from NY to DC. Either the chaeper but relatively slow Amtrak service (but some services are surprisingly quick) or the dearer and usually quicker (but not alawys Acela Express service). I would imagine that both city centre to city centre options would be considerably quicker (& cheaper ??) than flying. If you are looking for city centre to city centre travelling.
BTW, I've just come back from Washington DC and I absolutely loved my time there.

If you like the sun, give quite a bit of thought to what the weather will be like in california in June -- whilst we were away, Florida was baking in the mid to high 90's each day, whilst swathes of California were barely hitting 70 deg.

As for the driving, its a complete doddle. Absolutely don't be put off from driving in the US (unless you are going to be arriving in a busy city at rush hour) - driving in the US is generally a much, much more relaxing enterprise than driving in the UK.

By the look of it, you'll be doing quite a few flight miles on this trip. Do your research on which airline/s are going to offer the flights taht best serve your purposes and be sure to join their frequesnt flyer programme, then, if possible, stick to that airline/code share partner. Some of the schemes are very generous.

p.s. you might get spanked for the price of your flights. If you can, find out when your chosen airline starts its 'peak time' fares. A couple of years ago I travelled out on the 30th April (off peak) rather than the 1st May (mid peak) and saved £250 pp.

snowydogh

Thanks for all the advice - there's so many different options of doing it.

I can only really go after June (depending on when my last exam and graduation dates are) ... though I would love to go the spring time...but I guess I don't mind the hot weather - I've been to Florida so many times and through a heatwave so I don't think I'm too fussed on it. When I was in New York Last June it was hot but lovely...

I would say the train to Washington after New York could be an option - though I might look to flying into Washington to see what the cost difference could be (if any)..

Do you think it's best booking a multi ticket option on the likes of expedia? They've come in at not too bad prices considering the number of flights I had looked at - though again will need to re-look this if I get the train from Washington to New York. What about booking internal flights in the USA when you're out there? Would that be an option or too risky leaving it till out there?

Any ideas on how much money to save? I was going to put £250 away a month for the next year....and that would cover spending money... then booking flights soon and then hotels closer to the time...

I'm pretty keen on florida because I'm almost certain my parents will be out there at the time so I figured if I spent a week or 10 days there then I could save costs on accommodation as I would just stay with them... but at same time I wouldn't needa do disney/universal if I do it up in Cali (though I could leave them out in Cali - do them in florida and spend cali doing the sites/six flags/hollywood etc as I haven't seen them before)...

So much to think about... I'm trying to come up with a spreadsheet or something that will help me manage my options in terms of flights, hotels and spending.....going to have a look at some holiday budget planners

Thanks again for the advice...really appreciate it... the more the better and anyone with any experience of doing similar trips I'd love to hear about them...

Murphy_The_Cat

Hi snowy

noone would be able to give you an accurate figure for how much its going to cost you, but I'll -make a stab at a rough guide for you.
Flights Lon-NYC-WAS-MIA-LAX-LON in July £1250
Hotel per room per night £50
Meals per day £25
Car hire (mid sized car) £25 per day plus young driver insurance.
spends ??????? per day.
plus insurance, transport to/from airport etc
spends on things to do (theme parks etc) the skies the limit.
IIRC, airlines only release their tickets about 11 months before flight dates, so it'll be a little while before you get an accurate figure.

As for using the likes of expedia, I'll leave others to offer an opinion. If they were going to send you entirely, or mostly on one airline, I'd look at booking it direct with that airline and picking upo the flight miles (also keep your eyes out for offers like this one from AA Amex. Interest free credit and 10000 aadvatage miles included)

duchy

Eeek Murph DRIVE in NYC ????

I personally wouldn't do it-we found public transport so good, cheap-and faster as much of Manhattan is one big gridlock and parking is pricey.
As an example one October (so no heat to deal with) we went from the New Yorker near Madison Square Gardens to the Marriott right in the heart of Times Square. Half of us walked , half got a cab-the walkers got there first -and for free
New York hotels are horribly expensive -we stayed over the bridge in New Jersey for a third of the price and took the 20 min bus ride into the city and of course clothes shopping in NJ is tax free

Disney in CA is the original Disneyland where it all began-some of the rides are different and it's an entirely different atmosphere -every Disney nut should go once It's much cheaper to stay there than WDW as there are hotels with shuttles surrounding the parks (only two) -we twice booked with priceline on name your own price and got rooms for £35 at the Crowne Plaza .

Flights-sign up for travelzoo.com (USA) jetblue and southwest for cheap domestic flights -there are often sales but buying flights when you are out there is likely to be more expensive than an advance sale. Often when jetblue etc have a fare sale -the legacy airlines Delta American Continental etc will price match the sale if they fly the same route.

Weirdly train is often more expensive than flights btw

Murphy_The_Cat

duchy wrote: »

Eeek Murph DRIVE in NYC ????

Weirdly train is often more expensive than flights btw

you're right about driving in NYC, I was mistaken in putting that in and I'll edit it. Driving in DC was a doddle (if yiu avaid rush hour on the Beltway), but parking was a bit of a wallet shock :eek:.

As for the train vs plane, time vs cost point. If you are travelling city centre to city centre and you were already in, or close to the city centre, and want to be in or about the city centre, the train will surely be worth a very close look (no taxi, shuttle bus to/from the airport, no 2 hour checkin, no security checks etc.). Plus, those Acela trains look so damned good

jackieblack

duchy wrote: »

Disney in CA is the original Disneyland where it all began-some of the rides are different and it's an entirely different atmosphere -every Disney nut should go once It's much cheaper to stay there than WDW as there are hotels with shuttles surrounding the parks (only two)

Completely agree
Found ourselves unexpectedly 'stranded' in LA during the volcanic ash cloud hoo-ha last year, Virgin Hols sent us to the Hyatt at Anaheim, free shuttle to Disneyland every half-hour, it would have been rude not to give it a go!
We've been to WDW in FL a few times, but LOVED Disneyland, the two parks are much easier to get around and there was enough the same and enough different (IYSWIM) to make it feel like it was worthwhile visiting both.
Hotels on the doorstep - literally, no car needed while in Anaheim.