Road Tripping in the USA!

There wasn't when I went :(

Had a Chrysler 300 thing. Went and tried another one later on and same thing. Gave up and made do with the chrysler after that as I couldn't be bothered driving all over florida trying to find one.
 
[TW]Fox;25760496 said:
That sounds like a massive ripoff, renting superbikes must be super profitable. $150 a day for a $15000 bike? I generally pay $50 a day for a $50,000 car!
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Yeah I know, but it sure is fun !

I even thought about setting up a Motorcycle rental business at one stage. :D
 
Mike1983 said:
Hi all

I'm sure it's no doubt been asked before but this is a long thread....

I am off to Florida in May and due to hire a big van for two weeks for the whole group. I would however like to hire something sporty for a couple of days to take me and my GF on a tour.

Any recommendations on the best way to guarantee being able to hire a decent Mustang, Corvette, Camaro or similar for a couple of days?

Thank you
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Fr0dders said:
Money

thats the only way to guarantee a corvette or camaro.

Look at Hertz
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[TW]Fox;25762414 said:
I'd be tempted to gamble. I would be utterly astounded if there were no Mustangs or Camaros kicking around at Orlando.
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America is all about service. If you don't mind asking, there's a lot of free stuff you can pull off. Especially at car rental places. Example, last week I had some free Avis coupons, and decided not a bad weekend to go have a blast off road out on the many trails out in the Everglades. However my coupons only allowed for a standard full size car.. There's no way, I was taking a standard, but they didn't have what I was looking for, so I just took a premium car instead. Drove it 20miles up the road to the next Avis at the Fort Myers international airport, who had a lot more inventory, and asked if i could swap it for a 4x4... They did, and it didn't cost me a penny ! Just got to know how to play the system a little. If you don't get the car you want at one place, just drive it to the next and ask with a smile on your face if they'll swap it out.. 4 out of 5 times, you'll get what you want... Not exactly a guarantee, but definitely a good tip.
 
I've no interest in taking a bike (especially as I don't ride) but will be doing everything in my power to get a Mustang for the 3 weeks.
 
So here is my plan, as I don't think I have shared it yet:



Sun 22nd June - 3 Nights Las Vegas

Wed 25th- 1 Night Grand Canyon

Thu 26th - 1 Night Death Valley

Fri 27th - 2 Nights Yosemite

Sun 30th - 4 Nights San Francisco

Thu 3rd July - 1 Night Carmel

Fri 4th - 1 Night Santa Barbara

Sat 5th - 3 Nights in LA (we would like to see Disney or Universal so 1 day there, I still have the car if we get bored)

Tue 8th - 1 Night San Diego

-----

Wed 9th - 6 Nights in Maui

Tue 15th - 4 Nights in Honolulu

Sat 19th start heading home :(

Pretty big trip and have got a Mustang / similar for all of West Coast. Still undecided on the car for Maui in particular....I might push the boat out as I highly doubt I'll be back there for a VERY long time.
 
Careful spending too much on car hire in Maui. Because it's it's location and isolation the cars you'll find on the lot on Maui will be more likely to be older, tattier and higher mileage than the nice stuff you'll find on the mainland. They tend to hold onto things for longer. So you might pay a premium for something 'nice' and end up with rather less than you expected.
 
[TW]Fox;25801411 said:
Careful spending too much on car hire in Maui. Because it's it's location and isolation the cars you'll find on the lot on Maui will be more likely to be older, tattier and higher mileage than the nice stuff you'll find on the mainland. They tend to hold onto things for longer. So you might pay a premium for something 'nice' and end up with rather less than you expected.
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Cheers for the heads up :)
 
Hi,

I'm heading to the US for 2 weeks this August for a couple of weddings in Seattle, for the second week I would like to try and do a mini road trip in California/Nevada. There seems to be a wealth experience in this thread from folks who have done similar trips.

Is my plan below unrealistic given the time I have ? Have I planned the best route given the time available ?

Night Location
18/8/14 Las Vegas
19/8/14 Las Vegas
20/8/14 Yosemite Park
21/8/14 San Francisco
22/8/14 San Francisco
23/8/14 Santa Barabara Via PCH
24/8/14 Fly out of LA

Route
http://goo.gl/maps/3ci8x
 
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That's a butt-load of driving :eek:

Just so you're aware it's roughly 7-8 hours drive from Vegas to Yosemite, 3.5-4 hrs to San Fran and 6.5-7 hrs from San Fran to SB if you take PCH :p
 
Yeah, ideally I need at least another 2 nights, an additional night on the PCH and another breaking up Vegas to Yosemite... Flights out of LA are booked now tho, might be able to squeeze one extra day out from the first week in Seattle.

I've done some big drives before, but 7hrs in car for the day is pushing it, especially with the gf...
 
We are doing the same route at the end of our trip . Leaving Las Vegas early to look at Death Valley the on to bishop. Into Yosemite the next morning 2 nights there then 3 in San Francisco with 2 nights on the pch before flying back from lax. Nearly all booked now but some places we looked at were sold out already.
 
Vegas to San Fran seems ok, we did the same thing this year and it suited us fine.

A little longer between SF and LA would be nice though.
 
Yeah, if I can work another night in will add another night stay somewhere on the PCH, probably around Monterey.

PAz, you say you did a similar drive from Vegas to San Fran this year ? Was that with a single night stopover ?

Alternative is to fly from Vegas to San Fran and take the PCH a little slower, seem a massive shame not to see Yesomite Park though...
 
fair point

Would you say San Fran to LA via PCH with 2 over night stops along the way just about enough to do it justice ?
 
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[TW]Fox;25857327 said:
You won't be seeing much of it anyway if you allow a single overnight stop from Vegas to SF.
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Totally this, people seem to forget that a roadtrip shouldn't just be about being stuck in a car for 5-7 hours a day you need to stop of and see and enjoy places along the way.
 
Hey all

As part of a larger Round the World trip, my wife and I will be landing at LAX early September and heading out on a 3 week road trip. We've had a good read online and have come up with a rough itinerary, as follows:

Tue 2 Sept - Cancun to LA
Wed 3 Sept - LA to San Diego
Thu 4 Sept - San Diego
Fri 5 Sept - San Diego
Sat 6 Sept - San Diego to Vegas
Sun 7 Sept - Vegas
Mon 8 Sept - Vegas
Tue 9 Sept - Vegas (GC Day Trip)
Wed 10 Sept - Vegas to Bryce
Thu 11 Sept - Bryce to Zion to Vegas
Fri 12 Sept - Vegas to DV to Bishop
Sat 13 Sept - Bishop to Yosemite
Sun 14 Sept - Yosemite to Napa
Mon 15 Sept - Napa Valley
Tue 16 Sept - Napa to San Fran
Wed 17 Sept - San Fran
Thu 18 Sept - San Fran
Fri 19 Sept - San Fran to Monterey
Sat 20 Sept - Monterey to Pismo Beach
Sun 21 Sept - Pismo Beach to LA
Mon 22 Sept - LA
Tue 23 Sept - LA
Wed 24 Sept - LA to Honolulu



We'd appreciate your thoughts on this. Is there a better route we should be looking at? Have we budgeted for enough time in each place? etc.

Also, we're currently undecided as to what class of car to hire. Our initial thoughts were a convertible Mustang due to the unparalleled view of the sights and scenery it will provide along the way, however the lack of luggage space may be a concern. Yes, we'll be able to get the suitcases on the back seat, however it will mean they are constantly on view and we won't be able to just walk away from the car leaving the roof down.

Therefore we're now also considering luxury and SUV class vehicles as well. The luxury would no doubt be the better drive and all round package, however the extra height of the SUV would be good for the view of the road ahead. It's certainly been handy on some of the road trips we've taken here in Australia.

Price wise, CarHire3000 comes out at around £600 for the convertible, £750 for the luxury, £450 for an intermediate SUV, and £530 for a standard SUV. So yeah, any thoughts as to which class to go with for a trip like this would also be appreciated.

Cheers :)
 
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