Road Tripping in the USA!

howler · 5 May 2015 at 12:18

He obviously got out of the wrong side of bed, if he goes I won't lend it to him!

Andybtsn · 5 May 2015 at 12:25

It cost me more than £14.99 to hire one when I went too, maybe I got ripped off

Wife has given me the green light to start looking into a road trip next year, probably do different places this time around and it will be with 2 kids this time, eeek.

If anyone finds cheap plane tickets make sure to post them up!

[TW]Fox · 5 May 2015 at 12:38

Andybtsn said:
If anyone finds cheap plane tickets make sure to post them up!

Please don't or this thread will just turn into a random selection of fairly useless air fares, given how much they can vary based on various factors

If you are going next year don't worry about booking flights until there is less than 6 months to go, otherwise you'll just end up overpaying.

My rule is to work out what represents a good deal and book once you find a ticket at that price or less. Excluding peak season (July/August, Christmas etc) my view on what this threshold is is as follows (for Direct flights):

Los Angeles £499
New York £400
Boston £400
Orlando £400
San Francisco £560

If the prices you are finding are around this mark, it's unlikely they'll ever get appreciably better and you should just book. If they are more than £100 more than these fares, they are expensive and I'd hold out.

Andybtsn · 5 May 2015 at 13:31

We left it late last time and ended up paying £1250 for flights to SF, judging on your prices, I'll keep a lookout for offers.

[TW]Fox · 5 May 2015 at 13:38

SF is never a good choice for a road trip start, far better deals into Los Angeles, better car rental too and the two cities a sufficiently close that it's just as easy to start from LA as it is from SFO.

Django x2 · 5 May 2015 at 13:40

[TW]Fox;27996931 said:
Nice way to pour scorn on what seems to be a very generous offer on his part

Not really. This thread is full of tips, much like the one above, which if Howler had read, he wouldn't have been mugged off in the states buying one

howler · 5 May 2015 at 14:11

Django x2 said:
Not really. This thread is full of tips, much like the one above, which if Howler had read, he wouldn't have been mugged off in the states buying one

I wasn't mugged off, I'll be going to states a couple more times at least I expect. I'm content with my purchase

semi-pro waster · 5 May 2015 at 14:24

Django x2 said:
Not really. This thread is full of tips, much like the one above, which if Howler had read, he wouldn't have been mugged off in the states buying one

He appears to be offering to let people borrow it for free though which seems like a generous offer and would still be rather better than paying even £14.99 to hire one.

Joe T · 5 May 2015 at 15:23

[TW]Fox;27997447 said:
SF is never a good choice for a road trip start, far better deals into Los Angeles, better car rental too and the two cities a sufficiently close that it's just as easy to start from LA as it is from SFO.

All true, but dont forget you could save 2-3 days of car hire & parking if you start in SF and pick up the car a few days in.

ergonomics · 5 May 2015 at 15:45

[TW]Fox;27995811 said:
This is where I am going this year - so far my research has told me the following are unmissable:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Pikes Peak
San Juan Mountains
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Monument Valley

etc

Some mind blowing scenery, hopefully it's going to be excellent

Good info - where are you staying? I've started a custom google map with some of those points on and other 'must see' places. There's a good interactive PDF on Colorado's tourist site which i need to have a proper look at soon. Looking at some airBnB's it looks pretty varied for what's available.. typical studio apt in the centre of Denver or foresty cabin an hour outside of a town - no idea!

[TW]Fox · 5 May 2015 at 17:33

ergonomics said:
Good info - where are you staying? I've started a custom google map with some of those points on and other 'must see' places. There's a good interactive PDF on Colorado's tourist site which i need to have a proper look at soon. Looking at some airBnB's it looks pretty varied for what's available.. typical studio apt in the centre of Denver or foresty cabin an hour outside of a town - no idea!

Not nailed it down yet, I'm entering Colorado from Utah along the i70 and leaving again into New Mexico towards Farmington with about 7-8 nights in Colorado itself. So far its looking like Grand Junction, then 3 nights in Denver, then down to Colorado Springs then a few more nights towards the South West near Telluride etc. Be sure to check out the Million Dollar Highway, it looks absolutely excellent.

But then pretty much all of Colorado looks absolutely excellent

Royal Fleet · 5 May 2015 at 19:19

Have a look at Glenwood Springs as well. We preferred to Grand Junction.

Django x2 · 6 May 2015 at 07:10

Agree, I preferred GS to GJ, but that was a few years back.

[TW]Fox · 6 May 2015 at 07:46

It's only an overnight stop after a day in Arches though, GS is further away annoyingly.

Royal Fleet · 17 May 2015 at 22:30

I have to be in the US for two work engagements and have had the weekend in between to myself. I had to make a decision as to whether to stay in New Jersey where I was last week or head down to Florida where I am next week.........not really a tough call. Saturday in Miami before driving down to the Keys. Been to Key West today.

I am sunburnt after the 200 mile round trip with the roof down...but it was worth it.

One More Solo · 28 May 2015 at 13:12

Couple of last minute Qs for the experts here if you wouldn't mind answering please.

I've booked car hire through Alamo (via Netflights). I don't need any sort of excess insurance do I? I think from reading here the answer is no but just double checking.

How many days would you spend driving down the PCH? I've currently budgeted for 3 days (arriving back at LAX approx. 6pm on the last day) with two overnight stops on the way. I can see that getting pushed down to 2 days with one overnight stop if any of the rest of our trip runs over. Is it worth saving 3 days to do it or would 2 days still be enough time to enjoy it at a relaxed (ish) pace?

RobHu · 28 May 2015 at 14:28

Question for anyone who has rented a mustang convertible: How much luggage were you able to get in the boot? Would prefer to not have to travel with anything on the back seats.

[TW]Fox · 28 May 2015 at 15:04

Two large soft holdall style bags just about fit with the roof down.

RobHu · 28 May 2015 at 15:15

Ok thanks. We're probably going to go with 2 medium-large holdalls/soft cases and a rucksack each. Hopefully it'll fit!

Am I right in assuming that Alamo will likely have the newer 2014 (?) onwards model? From what I can find it seems to have slightly more boot space than the previous version.

kinobestew123 · 28 May 2015 at 17:12

One More Solo said:
Couple of last minute Qs for the experts here if you wouldn't mind answering please.

I've booked car hire through Alamo (via Netflights). I don't need any sort of excess insurance do I? I think from reading here the answer is no but just double checking.

How many days would you spend driving down the PCH? I've currently budgeted for 3 days (arriving back at LAX approx. 6pm on the last day) with two overnight stops on the way. I can see that getting pushed down to 2 days with one overnight stop if any of the rest of our trip runs over. Is it worth saving 3 days to do it or would 2 days still be enough time to enjoy it at a relaxed (ish) pace?

Just got back 2 weeks ago from our honeymoon doing exactly this. We rented Alamo (via Netflights) and no additional insurance is required. If you look on your "car voucher" that they've e-mailed, you will see all the stuff included at the bottom including the various insurances.

In terms of the PCH, we went up for the simple reason that there was a race at Laguna Seca racetrack a few days after we arrived in LAX so by going up we could attend the race. We did Marina Del Rey > Carpentaria > Pismo Beach > Monterey > San Francisco. So I suppose that's 3 nights along the road itself and I honestly would have liked another day between Pismo Beach and Monterey - it really is that good.

If you squash it down any more thinking it will give you a day somewhere else then you'll regret it. Just really take your time going down the coast, stop regularly and just sit back at places and take it all in. The chipmonks and seals/sealions along the way are ace to watch and we saw a couple of whales out at sea too.