USA DIY Holiday advice

blueflyingtonight

I know I have left it late but.... Planning a holiday to the states at Easter. 3 days in New York then fly to Miami for a week's tour down to the Keys and back. I have planned European adventures but never anything in the USA. Is it straightforward to sort out flights/hotels/car or do I use an agent - if so any recommendations?

Cheers

Steve

jackieblack

You can do it yourself, but if you'd prefer to use an agent I'd recommend Trailfinders
We've used them several times (I always price up separately myself for comparison)

getmore4less

Our last trip we used hotwire for the hotels and car.

Flights have become an issue no longr so easy to get cheap transatlantics.

For internal jetblue are good.

Backbiter

Use kayak for good deals on multi-city flights, to book your route LON>NY>MIA>LON. Often works out little more than a normal return flight, for reasons I've never understood .
Have never used hotwire but have always found good deals in the USA, often booking direct with the main chains like Holiday Inn or Hampton. I've also found some great deals on Hotels.com and Booking.com

Murphy_The_Cat

Hello OP

I finished off my Florida holiday last year with a trip down to Key West and a flight back from Miami.

We felt that KW was a huge disappointment, was way overpriced and was several hundred miles/3 days of wasted holidaytime. Miami didn't light our candle either.
Other people may have a differing view, but Tampa/Clearwater was a much, much nice place to visit that KW & Miami

Marmaduke123

It's just as easy to plan and book a holiday in the US as it is in Europe.

We decide exactly what places we want to visit first, and plan out an itinerary, making sure we are not driving too far on any one day.

Then we book our flights, checking prices on netflights etc, and with the airlines directly. It's worth experimenting with different entry points to the US as prices can vary.

We book the car hire next, usually through Hertz so we have paid everything in advance and don't get bamboozled for extras in the US

Then we look in detail at each place we are planning to stop at, using tripadvisor to check out hotels both for reviews and prices via booking agencies, and also looking at the hotels individual websites. We generally prefer to book directly with the hotel (if there isn't a huge price differential), as we find we get better rooms that way.

With most hotels in the US you can cancel for free up to a couple of days before you arrive, so if you want to change your plans when you are there you can do so quite easily

Don't forget the travel insurance!

blindman

Marmaduke123 wrote: »

It's just as easy to plan and book a holiday in the US as it is in Europe.

Don't forget the travel insurance!

Don't forget the ESTA!

glentoran99

did San Francisco, Santa Barbara, holywood, San Diego and Vegas a few years ago, booked everything myself. didnt even boook a hotel for ones of the nights, booked a few of the hotels through expedia and others directly on the hotel websites. used google earth to find the hotels and locations I wanted

jackieblack

Marmaduke123 wrote: »

We decide exactly what places we want to visit first, and plan out an itinerary, making sure we are not driving too far on any one day.

Then we book our flights, checking prices on netflights etc, and with the airlines directly. It's worth experimenting with different entry points to the US as prices can vary.

We book the car hire next, usually through Hertz so we have paid everything in advance and don't get bamboozled for extras in the US

Then we look in detail at each place we are planning to stop at, using tripadvisor to check out hotels both for reviews and prices via booking agencies, and also looking at the hotels individual websites. We generally prefer to book directly with the hotel (if there isn't a huge price differential), as we find we get better rooms that way.

With most hotels in the US you can cancel for free up to a couple of days before you arrive, so if you want to change your plans when you are there you can do so quite easily

This is exactly what we do, except we tend to book flights & car as a fly-drive package, partly for the extra protection and partly because we then only pay a deposit on booking and the balance later rather than having to pay the whole cost of the flights at the time of booking.
I always price up separately first, for comparison, but have never found any significant saving by booking car & flights separately, but we are restricted to travelling during peak times so this may be different at quieter times.

Marmaduke123

In true moneysaving style we usually have a Saga code to give us a free additional driver with Hertz!

headpin

Marmaduke123 wrote: »

In true moneysaving style we usually have a Saga code to give us a free additional driver with Hertz!

In true money saving style I am very surprised that even with a free extra driver Hertz is anywhere near competitive on price.