3 month driving holiday USA, any tips?

malid

Malc` wrote: »

Hi, myself and 2 friends are planning on flying out to the USA in September until December. We are going to be renting a car out there and driving through as much as we can cover during the time!

Having a nightmare trying to get everything organised, has anyone ever done anything similar? We are planning to rent the car from a company called adventures on wheels (http://www.wheels9.com/) so far as they allow long rentals (we want about 85 days car rental) and we are all under 25 which doesnt help with the costs. Getting a car from them for 85 days with full CDW and LDW insurance for the 3 of us is around £900 each.

So far the cheapest flight I have found is about £370 return using travelsupermarket. Travel insurance seems to be about £65. Planning on opening a nationwide debit account for most purchases over there and either a nationwide credit account or a post office account for a deposit on the car. Mainly going to be using camp sites or cheap motels to see the sights but possibly hotels in the bigger cities.

Any tips as to cutting costs down a bit more? Have plenty of time yet really so looking to save as much money as possible before then! Any tips would be greatly appreciated :money:

Suggest you use your Nationwide cc to purchase items not your Nationwide debit card. Use the debit card (presumably Flex account) to get cash from ATMs. Agree that you should have back up cc cards and a direct debit to clear your bill every month. Check CC section on MSE to see if there is another one which does not charge a fee overseas.

When you get to the states, sign up for membership at various supermarkets. Very easy and this will allow you access to special deals.
Enjoy!:j

Techno

And please get travel insurance - if you become ill or have an accident it can cost ..... lots.

jordylass

Look at https://www.couchsurfing.com. It might be difficult for 3 of you, but worth a try.

marky_p

Me and my friend are doing a similar thing to this at the beginning of 2009 but I'm having a real hard time finding a decent rental as we too, are both under 25 Has anybody got any further tips?

flutterbyuk25

Hostels can be waay cheaper than hotels - I stayed in hostels this summer in the US and they were between $25 and $35 per person per night. I'd recommend Hostelling International chain, always clean and tidy, loads of stuff to do arranged by them, 24hr receptions, very helpful staff, internet access $2 for 20mins or free wifi.

Although if there are 3 of you, and you don't mind sharing beds then motels/hotels may work out cheaper as usually a 'twin' room is a twin double so you can fit 4 people in if you share beds. Or maybe buy a cheap inflatible bed, book doubles/twin and as the rooms are so big you'll have no problem fitting in the inflatible bed.

To hire cars you will need a credit card in the driver's name to make the booking, the fact that you're under 25 will bump up the insurance but you can still get good deals.

With regards to access to internet, most hostels/hotels have limited access to internet but it may just be one pc for 5 min usage (and probably very slow - from my experience). If any of you have a wifi enabled laptop then do consider taking it as so many places have free wifi access - hostels/hotels/starbucks/dept stores/train stations and millions more. It's the one thing I wish I'd taken this summer as it would have made it easier to book things.

With regards to sat nav, some US mobile phone have GPS on them, not sure how cheap they are but a lot of my US friends had them this summer (I worked at summer camp) and we just used those to find our way round!

Have a fabulous time

x

marky_p

I think I'll probably be getting an eee pc to take with me, as you say you can pick up free wifi in most major cities these days. and it should be a bit more secure with stuff like internet banking.

The hostel chain sounds handy, did you join any youth hostel organisations before you went? would it be worthwhile to do so? Also did you end up bunking in with 6-8 people to a room or do they have more private rooms?

We'll both have credit cards so that shouldn't be a problem

flutterbyuk25

marky_p wrote: »

I think I'll probably be getting an eee pc to take with me, as you say you can pick up free wifi in most major cities these days. and it should be a bit more secure with stuff like internet banking.

The hostel chain sounds handy, did you join any youth hostel organisations before you went? would it be worthwhile to do so? Also did you end up bunking in with 6-8 people to a room or do they have more private rooms?

We'll both have credit cards so that shouldn't be a problem

I didn't join beforehand but if you stayed 5nights in one hostel you got automatic membership to it for free, which qualifies you to a reduction of $3/night/pp. I'd say it was worthwhile to join in advance if you would re-couperate the cost, but if you're unsure how many nights you'd stay in your trip then i wouldn't bother.

Their rooms are small occupancy, with normally max 4 people per room (2 sets of bunk beds). You can book private rooms but they were doubles and about $70-$80/night/room. You can request male/female or mixed dorm but not always guarenteed.

x

sturll

Hostel schmostel.

The Hamptons is a half decent nights sleep. Or get out, have a few beers (or should i say 20oz glasses of rats p1ss) and end up in someones bed for the night. Free lodgings

mrtg0525

A couple of random thoughts...

Regarding the Satnav - I noticed that there are some decent deals to be had on refurbed Garmin 2720s and 2820s on ebay at the moment - AFAIR the 2720s were around $150 plus $40 shipping to the UK. They do come with the latest US maps and there's a decent secondhand market for them over here in the UK so you could get almost free satnav that way. Only problem with a lot of these units is that you'll need to carry a laptop to update the maps as most of them aren't able to store the full map set in the device memory.

Free Wifi is almost everywhere (actually I'd avoid libraries because they will have filtering/monitoring software installed and $DEITY knows what they're filtering and monitoring) but it some places like Nu Yawk, you're still paying through the nose for it. Starbucks is usually a good bet if you're stuck.

If you're staying with chain motels and you've got a set itinerary, they'll often book ahead into another motel of the same chain for free. Might be worth keeping in mind. Also, I'd consider getting a AAA membership - a lot of places offer discounts for AAA members and it does save you noticeable amounts of money. The membership isn't that expensive - I reckon that the discount we got for three nights' stay in two motels up in Northern California earlier this year probably paid for 2/3rds of my wife's membership. You could potentially even get a discount on a rental car that way but that's a chicken and egg problem...

Immigrations - make sure that you can demonstrate that you are intending to go back to the UK (return ticket helps, as does any sort of employment contract etc). I'd guess that some kind of planned route etc would possibly help them to determine that you are indeed proper tourists. Also keep in mind that even if you get a visa the final decision to let you in or not will lie with the immigration official at the border control point.

For anybody travelling on a budget, I can recommend the "Let's Go" guides - they're written by students for fellow students and low-budget travellers and are chock-full of cheap decent places to eat and stay at. Well worth getting.

Nationwide cards are good. Also, I'd avoid using the debit card to pay and would also regularly check for 'odd' transactions on the credit card. Backup CCs are a good idea. Cash machine fees at banks are usually $2, but Bank Of America has bumped up theirs to $3 sometime last year. I usually avoid the stand-alone ATMs as they tend to charge additional fees, much like they do over here.

Oh, and a lot of the "primitive camping" sites are very very cheap or free, so if you carry a tent, it might be an option as the primitive sites are exactly that. You'll have to go to a motel from time to time to get a shower, though. And if you're planning to go camping and don't want to burden yourself with lugging the existing stuff over there (or you don't have a tent), have a look at REI. They're an outdoor chain store usually with very knowledgeable staff and the stuff they sell is good quality and tends to be a lot cheaper than similar gear in the UK.

If you intend to visit several national parks, consider getting an annual pass - usually the entrance fee for a national park is around $20 so you'll be quids in if you visit more than 4. Out west in three months, that'll be no problem at all. Keep in mind though that you'll still have to pay for state parks etc.

Some car rental companies these days want to see an international driving license and it's a good thing to have one on you given that it'll only cost you a tenner or so. Strictly speaking the UK driving license isn't really valid in the US but is usually recognised. I do remember one time that we had to go back to my wife's place to pick up my international license because Enterprise in Vegas wouldn't rent us a car with me as a driver unless I had said license on me. They can be a bit funny like that.

8614smith

i know its been a while since anyone posted in this, but does anyone know anything more about buying a car in the us and selling it on when you leave? i heard you need a permanent residence, would i be able to get around this by renting a property (in wichita its cheap - around $320 a month) and using that as a permanent residence or would that be against some immigration laws?? im under 25 so renting a car is ridiculously expensive over there...