My US Roadtrip Hell

robfenn

Hi Guys,

Although i'm not planning to go until Summer next year, i have been already researching and organising a trip to the US. This is mainly because it could be a potentially large group, and i need to get costs there or there about so people can confirm if they're going to come.

The aim is to start at Minneapolis and then take 2 weeks driving to Vegas, surrounding areas and leave from Vegas back to London. It's pretty important we are going from London as everyone is based in the South, a few down in Bristol.

Anyway. My problem(s)...

I thought booking super early would be a good idea to get a discount. I also thought booking 6 people+ would get me a generous discount. Both theories seem wrong!

The next problem is i've tried guestimating costs on booking late on LastMinute.com but you can't choose to return from a different airport! Other sites such as MyTravel have a similar problem.

So, i'm hoping you knowledgeable people can help me find a method of getting the best deal, and perhaps providing some links which don't have the problems mentioned above :beer:

Just to let you know my best find is £478 using Expedia return from Gatwick and they aren't direct. This is a price for October, so i'm not sure what premium i'll be paying in July. So let me know if i'm simply being unrealistic... :rolleyes:

Spent all day browsing the site and already got some good tips, so thanks for your help so far. And thanks to Craig from the Roadtrip forums for pointing me over here.

Cheers

-Rob

blindman

If I were you I'd

Contact Trailfinders or a similar independent TA and 'pretend' to make this kind of booking.

Go through the whole scenario etc and see what price they come up with.

This will give you a good base from which to work.

My thoughts Pricewise :

"Summer" is when? But probably looking at minimum £350 to Minneapolis LAS-LHR .

Ask if you can get an Open Jaw ticket (Fly into one airport -depart from another) or look at an outbound flight that stops at (or near MSP) and then goes to LAS.

You are allowed a free stopover at the first 'hub' into USA on most major carriers.


Hire cars:

Depends on size really, but cost is about £25 per day. You may need either 2 cars to give flexibility (not everyone wants to go to the same place) or a big people carrier (read gas guzzler). 'Gas' is now $2-$3 per gallon and US cars tend to do a maximum of 30 miles mpg (again depends on size).

You can get no penalty One way frop off with Airline network:

Please Note - There is no fee for one way rentals within the states of Florida and California, or for one way rentals between the states of California, Arizona and Nevada.

Not sure if that is any use though.


Hotels.

Usually can get 4 (friendly!) people in a US motel room.

2.5 Star hotels\motels are the best value as they usually have breakfast buffets.
Price? Really depends. Budget :eek: is $40 better is $70 and up.

Hotwire can get you some bargains

Ask Trailfinders all these questions.

Any room for another two (my fee is reasonable :rotfl:)

hammy_the_hammer

my one advice on driving especially if you want to reduce the stress and you are visiting lots of different places ( maybe not so important in the orlando area) is to get a sat nav. ...i wouldn't drive again without one there

hammy_the_hammer

one other piece of advice ref: car hire is carefully select the vehicle if you are touring from place to place . you need to consider whether the luggage will fit in the boot and if you have a people carrier are you covered by holiday insurance if the luggage gets pinched .
the actual difference on price from getting a full size or a luxury isn't that great when divided by 4 for 2 weeks...look at the advisory for people and luggage for each type of car

NafUk

What about renting an RV?

robfenn

I've thought about the RV, but ultimately it is just that bit too much of an expense.

Have been thinking about luggage space and sat-nav though, so thanks for reminding me.

Cheers for the helpful tips Blindman, i will give those ideas a go :beer:

duchy

You won 't find anyone who flies direct in both directions.
Pricewise NWA direct Gatwick MSP and indirect Vegas London is likely to be a good bet but it's a case of shopping around. Don't forget to check the airlines own websites too. I've always found AA (my preferred airline) to be cheaper booking on https://www.americanairlines.co.uk than on expedia, airline-network etc.

rainee

also try the us specialists united vacations and funway we have had great service from them

ferf1223

You will struggle to get a rental car with no one-way fee I think...you will be picking up in Minnesota and dropping off in Nevada - I think that the policy from airlinenetwork that was posted would not apply in this case.

You will obviously need a large vehicle and as stated before it will suck up a lot of gas...and there will possibly be an extra cost for additional drivers - something to look into at least.

You should be able to check flights for July on expedia.co.uk - using the multiple destinations option - at least as a starting point. travelocity.co.uk also has a multi-stop search option. Then you can check with individual airlines direct to see what rates they quote. I chose some random dates in July and NWA out (direct) and back (indirect) is coming up at £624.68. Virgin out (indirect) and back (direct) at £670.

robfenn

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately AA aren't that great from my searching, and using the United Vacations website (who seem to use AA) return flights from Gatwick to Chicago are circa £1k.

I managed to speak to my sisters American colleague who has suggested South West Airlines as a type of EasyJet for internal flights. Returning from Chicago using Travelocity is £280ish and South West from Las Vegas back to Chicago is just £65!

So thats my best total so far... £345!! :j

ferf1223

robfenn wrote: »

Returning from Chicago using Travelocity is £280ish

£280 in July?! We went to Chicago on AA in July this year and it cost us £680 each and we booked 6 months in advance. If you can get £280 in July via travelocity I would love to know your dates as we may do it (family near Chicago).