USA solar eclipse 2017 - help!

DominicHyde

My Aspergers son (17) would really love to witness the total solar eclipse in America next year 21/08/2017. The length of totality is very good in Hopkinsville so we are thinking of flying to Nashville from a London airport. It all looks very expensive, however, so looking for the best deals on flights and accommodation on a budget. We are flexible with the dates as long as we are there for the eclipse and a few days after, perhaps 10 days +/-2 days in total.
Can anyone help/advise? He has been asking for two years now!

antenna

What does he know about hacking US government computors.......he may get an invite for free!

duchy

Try looking at flights with a departure outside the U.K with good LCC prices. Dublin is one, Gothenburg is another , can save hundreds

Murphy_The_Cat

Dominic, what is your idea of expensive and what sort of budget are you thinking about.

Crispy_Ambulance

We're going to Tennessee next year and are staying in Crossville for the eclipse as it is in the path of totality. We booked our flights with Westjet, flying Gatwick - Toronto - Nashville. We got a good price for August doing it that way - we have an over night stopover in Toronto but are treating that as an extra city to visit!

We looked at Hopkinsville for the eclipse but a lot of places are cashing in and prices were crazy. Clarksville might be another option.

Flying from Dublin might be another option. We've saved hundreds on USA flights doing that.

blindman

DominicHyde wrote: »

My Aspergers son (17) would really love to witness the total solar eclipse in America next year 21/08/2017. The length of totality is very good in Hopkinsville so we are thinking of flying to Nashville from a London airport. It all looks very expensive, however, so looking for the best deals on flights and accommodation on a budget. We are flexible with the dates as long as we are there for the eclipse and a few days after, perhaps 10 days +/-2 days in total.
Can anyone help/advise? He has been asking for two years now!

Flight prices for August will be very high as it is a long way off.
You may find better prices after Xmas.
Not sure you will get big bargains from Dublin unless you are flying in Business.

Your primary focus IMHO is Accommodation:

You really need to concentrate on where you are expecting to see the eclipse and book some suitable (refundable) accommodation asap.

As the Eclipse covers a lot of states and is in the afternoon in Tennessee (13:00 onwards) you can feasibly stay a good distance away (100 miles max >?) and then drive to the line where you will view.
May cut down on hotel fees.

Have you looked at the cloud cover etc at your locations?

Further East you go the less likely of a clear sky;)