Dons, is this allowed, a reward for some help??

Detroit_Waves said:
Although trying to keep within a budget, do you have any plans on hiring a car at all?

The only reason I say so, is all of my smaller trips through the midwest, all the best times Ive had, and all the best people Ive always met have been out of the big cities, and just in small random towns ive stopped for lunch at on a 45 minute drive out of the city, and ended up holed there for a few days.

Ive never actually been in houston longer than a connecting flight, but IVe been to both Dallas and Austin, and had cracking times in and around both.

Im sure youll have a great time wherever you end up though,and youll be able to survive on a small budget fairly easily!
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I must confess that a car would be great, but financially it might not be viable? However what you describe is exactly what I want. To meet ordinary people in small towns, cafes etc. Car not being an option I will use Greyhound to try to get to smaller towns etc. with a hostel/ guest house booked as a "base" to return to when needed. Already found a great one in Houston.
 
Detroit_Waves said:
My personal experience and advice would be to not fly into Houston. I have done so twice before, and both times have been horrible experiences. Both times I was held in immigration for close to two hours, missing both connecting flights. My flights were under different circumstances, as I was staying longer than two weeks, and I fly to the states pretty frequently, so Im probably much more likely to be questioned I think, but still for every airport I have flown into, this is the only one that has given me any trouble in the sort. This doesnt mean you will certainly get hassle, chances are you wont have any problems at all, just my experience. I would personally take a look at Phoenix, however, if you are going without much to do, and are willing to go anywhere, im not sure Phoenix would be my first choice. Its a nice city, but there isnt a great deal to do there or see to be honest, and the same goes for Scottsdale just down the road. Some very cute places including Sedona and Flagstaff a bit of a drive away though.
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IAH isn't a bad airport at all. You are right about the long lines at immigration, but these are only a problem if you arrive at the same time as the FRA, AMS and DBX flights. If you get in before these you are likely to be through within 20 minutes.

I was in Phoenix just over a month ago and I wasn't impressed at all. Just another carbon copy, very business like city, much like Houston only smaller and quieter. Sedona was pretty but very touristy.

To visit, Houston gets very boring after a few days. There isn't a great deal to do. Teh same goes for anywhere in Texas really. Austin is where it's at but any more than a week here is far too long. I'd recommend travelling around, especially if you can get your hands on a car. If not, bussing or getting the train can make for an awesome trip!

My favourite hub, until United stopped flying direct from LHR, was Denver. Flying in there was always a pleasure. Friendly staff, almost no lines and one of the very few "cool" airports I've been too. The beauty about Denver is that you can get out of the city easily and you have a good choice of things to do or places to go. The Colorado people are brilliant. Hospitable, friendly, great fun and they will make your trip memorable.

I'm at work right now so haven't had a chance to check out flights but I'll look when I get home. In the meantime you can check out these:

www.fly.com
www.kayak.co.uk
www.skyscanner.net
www.expedia.co.uk
www.orbitz.com
www.continental.com
www.united.com
www.ba.com
www.aa.com
www.delta.com

Some basic tips when booking:
-Flying on a Saturday can often bump the price up significantly.
-Tuesday and Wednesday are often the cheapest days to fly on trans-Atlantic routes.
-Don't get too hung up on which airline to fly with. Yes, some have better IFE and food but tbh it's only a fraction of your holiday and you should use the flying time to catch 40 winks. When you're sleeping, pretty much all economy seats are exactly the same. Choose the flight which is easiest on your wallet and has the better logistics.
-For those days, the sooner you book, the better. Sometimes you can get a slightly cheaper price by booking last minute when passenger loads are very low but your trip is during peak season and this isn't very likely, especially on the routes you are considering.
-If you want to stick to Houston, if I were in your shoes I'd be flying out on Continental CO35 or CO5, LHR-IAH.

P.S. if you do decide to travel around a bit which I thoroughly recommend, be it by car, bus, train or plane, I recommend visiting New Orleans. If meeting interesting people is what you want to do, this is the place for it :)
 
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Hire a car - its not as expensive as you think.

I've also found that if you want the best possible price it seems that more often or not the best price will to be either Miami, New York or Los Angeles. The others always seem to cost a bit more - I guess this must be because of the lack of competition on routes like Houston?

Bizarrely if you wish to fly to Orlando (I know you dont but this is just an example) with Delta at the moment there are some good prices, with a change at Atlanta. But if you just want to go to Atlanta, direct, on the same flights, its quite a lot more expensive :confused:

I guess because Delta compete with nobody on the direct ATL route.
 
Personally if it's for a holiday, I would skip Houston, Arizona would be much more interesting. Houston's fine but there is nothing much to see / do there.
 
OK....

Best price I can find (directly through BA webby) is £490 for dates 26/5 till 8/6 direct flight.

Anyone top that? Doesn't have to be those exact dates.:)

(£418 with a stop over, Delta via Opodo)
 
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Heathrow to Nashville, TN - £460 with United on the dates above :)

That's connecting at IAD. I know you don't want to connect but if you want to go to the more interesting and less touristy places, you're going to have to connect. It's usually cheaper too.
 
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UOcUK Poopscoop said:
Or L.A for £474, that could be interesting!
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For a first trip, do LA. Not because LA is any good, infact its horrid, but because the surrounding area offers so much variety.

Check out the fantastic coastline up to San Francisco. See the amazing national parks and mountains further inland. Head into the Desert to Las Vegas, etc etc.

A great first taste of America. You WILL need a car, though.
 
[TW]Fox;18841508 said:
For a first trip, do LA. Not because LA is any good, infact its horrid, but because the surrounding area offers so much variety.

Check out the fantastic coastline up to San Francisco. See the amazing national parks and mountains further inland. Head into the Desert to Las Vegas, etc etc.

A great first taste of America. You WILL need a car, though.
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As awesome as that part of America is, it is saturated with tourists. I get the impression that the OP wants to avoid this kind of spot and stick to the quieter areas with more genuine interaction with the locals.

It's definitely worth a visit but IMO if the OP wants what I think he does then it may not be the most suitable area.
 
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