Thinking of doing the great American Drive....

chrispyphillips

I'm looking for any hints/tips/opinions and general peoples experiences of this really. My G/F's mum has told us that they are thinking of doing the American driving holiday next year (Ya know the one, route 66 - East Coast to West Coast n all that!) and has asked us if we would like to join them!

Well Duh! Of course we would but the thing is, cost (isnt that why we're all here? ) This is one of my, if not the dream holiday for me and I'd jump at the chance to do it, but the MIL has given us a (high end) price plan of around £5k (I think thats per couple, not each!) Just got a mortgage, and at the mo cant afford to go food shopping till payday, so that price, even with a year of saving, looks like it may be a distant dream.

Has anyone done this, and what sort of a budget were you on doing it? How long did you go for (we've been told they wanna do 3 weeks, is this too long/too short/justifiable for £5k or what?)

I know the dollar is strong against the pound at the moment and rates etc would be good, but if anyone can let me know their experiences as this is really tempting me, and if we can definitely do it, i'll be more than happy! If it looks out of our range, sure i'll cry, but it would be good to get some feedback from any experienced jet-setters in this field!

Thanks ya'll! :T

navidson

Im doing the Route 66 trip in September (plus a little bit extra). I'm staying in New York for 2 nights, then getting the train to Chicago, staying there for 2 nights, then hiring a car and driving route 66 - then driving up to San Francisco before flting back to Manchester.

The cost of the flights, train tickets, Car Rental (Split between 2 people) Hotels and Insurance came to £1100 each - This is for a 3 week trip.

chrispyphillips

Wow, cheers navidson. So, the £1100 includes everything other than spending/living money? and is it actually £2200 per/couple, or is the price of £1100 for the 2 of you for all those things? For 3 weeksm the spending money would probably equal, if not beat that cost, but thats a pretty impressive figure to start with. Would it be poss to send me some links to any of the pages you viewed (i.e cheap hotels you've found, car hire, travel costs etc) as I have no idea where to start and wanna make this as cheap as I possibly can if i'm gonna do it!

Thanks again.

pavlovs_dog

that IS an impressive figure navidson :money:

chrispyphillips

Do you not agree with it then Pav?

pavlovs_dog

i wouldnt say i disagree, im just surprised by how cheap it is, considering what we've paid for a fortnight in florida in the past.

flights and car hire/insurance will be the biggest costs. there's not much room for manouvere, although obviously you can bring car hire costs down by choosing a less posh car, insuring people over 25 to drive etc. accomodation is one are where you can really claw back the money. at the end of the day, you need somewhere to rest you head. it doesnt need to be a palace. a lot of motels will have a pool, not to mention other facilities.

if i knew how to get a holiday like that THAT cheap, i'd never be in the uk

chrispyphillips

I did wonder, but I thought maybe £2200 wasnt that bad for 2 people for all the stuff listed is it? I need to do some research into it, but not really sure where to start! plonk me in front of a computer and tell me to find you a cheap electrical applicance, i can try find the best deal, but to find out about a holiday of this proportion, I wouldnt know where to start

[note to other MSE's, none of you seem to be forthcoming with info regarding this, am I to assume no one has ventured on this trip before, or are you just all being lazy with your info? :rolleyes: ]

I have read that once you know your fly dates, you can arrange to book your cars, and there are competitve places to get these cheaper, but is there a 'car hire checker' on any sites?

Bangs head against wall... :wall:

pavlovs_dog

dont know if he will be around much because of the new addition to his family, but from what ive seen, murphy the cat seems to be the expert on trips to america - he often haunts the florida/orlando sticky at the top of the travel board.

anyway chrispy, look on the bright side.. at least you know where you want to go on holiday. the world is huge, and i just have no idea where to begin :rolleyes:

navidson

chrispyphillips wrote:

Wow, cheers navidson. So, the £1100 includes everything other than spending/living money? and is it actually £2200 per/couple, or is the price of £1100 for the 2 of you for all those things? For 3 weeksm the spending money would probably equal, if not beat that cost, but thats a pretty impressive figure to start with. Would it be poss to send me some links to any of the pages you viewed (i.e cheap hotels you've found, car hire, travel costs etc) as I have no idea where to start and wanna make this as cheap as I possibly can if i'm gonna do it!

Thanks again.

The £1100 is for each of us (Im travelling with a friend, not a partner!)

That includes :-

Flight from Manchester to New York and Return to manchester from San Francisco - £403 each

Hotels - Staying at Hotel 31 in New York - because most of the time we'll be on the road, the price of motels reduces dramtically in smaller towns (Eg Amarillo and Tulsa - about £25 a night per room

Car Hire - 2 weeks car hire (Pick Up from CHicago, Drop off in San Francisco) Cheapest price is with National Car - £400 (Includes SLI, CDW insurance, plus reduced Drop fee and unlimited miles)

Train Fare - New York to Chicago - about £30 each

We're looking to take about £2000 spends each as well, so its definately not a cheap holiday, but its a once in a lifetime thing - and i've tried to make it as cheap as possible!

blindman

navidson wrote:

The £1100 is for each of us (Im travelling with a friend, not a partner!)

That includes :-

Flight from Manchester to New York and Return to manchester from San Francisco - £403 each

Hotels - Staying at Hotel 31 in New York - because most of the time we'll be on the road, the price of motels reduces dramtically in smaller towns (Eg Amarillo and Tulsa - about £25 a night per room

Car Hire - 2 weeks car hire (Pick Up from CHicago, Drop off in San Francisco) Cheapest price is with National Car - £400 (Includes SLI, CDW insurance, plus reduced Drop fee and unlimited miles)

Train Fare - New York to Chicago - about £30 each

We're looking to take about £2000 spends each as well, so its definately not a cheap holiday, but its a once in a lifetime thing - and i've tried to make it as cheap as possible!

Some things to consider...

1) How long have you spent with the MIL in a confined space:eek:

Tempers may flare over three weeks in one car.
Just a point...;)

2) Have you actually looked at Route 66 ?
A lot of it is gone so you'll be driving along Freeways.

3)Price of 'gas' is going up to $3.00 per gallon, US cars, even the samll ones only do about 30mpg

4) Some of the cheap motels in one horse towns are dumps, better look on tripadvisor etc.
You can usually pick up coupons to use for lodging

5)Have you booked the flights yet?
If you go with a scheduled airline you're allowed one stopover outward and back so could stop in New York then fly to Chicago for free.

There is an old thread on MSE about a trip on Route 66, I'm sure if you search then you'll find it.

pavlovs_dog wrote:

but from what ive seen, murphy the cat seems to be the expert on trips to america

Are you sure:D