Chicago to LA (Route 66)

Hi there everyone, a few pointers and words of advice would be gratefully received with regards to a proposed trip for May / June next year.

Three guys (27,25,24) are looking to drive the route Chicago to LA in approx two weeks (room for change).

The opening plan so far...

Fly in to Chicago, spend two nights there before collecting our hire car and setting out on the road.

Spend 14 nights on the road following the route and making detours along the way with the biggest detour being Las Vegas. We wish to spend a night here.

We plan to make Las Vegas to LA our last leg of driving and hope to achieve this in a day (i'm sure that can be done).

I've estimated the following budget for the entire trip as follows...

Flights - £1500
Chicago and LA hotels - £300
Car Hire - £850
Fuel - £300
Motel / Camping - £600
Food Kitty - £500

Roughly $8250 ($2750 per person)

As previously mentioned this is our opening plan and we've estimated conservatively (in our opinion) therefore, any tips to reduce budget would be grateful.

Also, is 14 nights sufficient time to drive the route comfortably?

Thank you all in advance of your replies!

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

I think two weeks is sufficient time to cover this distance on old US-66. Keep in mind that the route had many different alignments over the years, and in parts you will not be able to remain on the road - it has either been completely abandoned or paved over with Interstates (such as I-40). That's not to discourage your plan, but just to prepare you.

The rental car cost seems high - about $1750 for two weeks. What type of vehicle are you planning on renting?

For fuel - I am figuring this as 2300 miles, your vehicle getting 20mpg, and fuel at $3.20 a gallon - that's $368 for fuel, so it looks like you are more than set there.

A cursory glance at the other estimates gives the impression you are prepared on those fronts as well, with the possible exception of food costs. You've got about $1000 for 3 people - in 16 days, that averages out to less than $21 each. Though it's not impossible to survive off of that, dinner/supper (different names depending on the area of the country) costs will take most of that.

Las Vegas to Los Angeles can certainly be driven in a day.

Thank you for your swift response to this.

Re the car rental. That certainly seems on the high side. I am doing three weeks in a premium car and even with the one way fees it is less then what you have for two weeks. The other tip is keep checking with the car rental companies, when you book they provide a confirmation without having to provide a credit card. Therefore you can keep checking back and seeing if the price has gone down and simply cancelling earlier booking. We have so far reduced the price of our hire by $800 despite booking the same car at the same company by checking back every few weeks.

Always check the box that you are a non US resident as this seems to decrease the price at many companies.

Good Luck

Ok, nearly 5 months on and the plans are coming together nicely!

Managed to get a Chevrolet Trailblazer (or similar) for £560 / $1100, I've reserved this with National. All I put was my name and e-mail address and it appeared to be sufficient to make the reservation. (Is this normal?)

Flights to be booked shortly, we're prebooking hotels in Chicago, St. Louis, Vegas and Santa Monica.

Another member added to our crew, all's looking good!

Anyone have any tips on anything we might need to know, think about, etc before we leave?

Thanks

Four people in a car is great fun at the start but, let's face it, we all have different habits and have different outlooks on things. We recommend that each of you take the compatibility quiz whilst you're planning the trip so you all have a firm idea what each of you wants to get out of the trip.

Have a good one!

I went to National and plugged in 2 weeks (May 15-29) in a Trailblazer and my quote was $3,111. Quite a difference!! I encourage you double-check on this with National to make sure you don't get hit with a nasty surprise when you get there.

Also, that is without paying the fee for the 24 year old to drive. If you elect to not pay this extra fee for a younger driver, you sure better not let that person drive. If something should happen while that person is driving, it could really come back to bite you.

It also doesn't include the extra insurances, etc. You may not need them but all drivers will want to check with their own auto insurance provider to ensure that your own auto insurance covers rental vehicles. If not, you will need to pick up that extra coverage.

I'm assuming you have done your research about Route 66. If not, this page will be really helpful.

Tim mentioned that your food budget might be a tad low. A good way to save money on this, and still eat well, is to eat out of your cooler.

For some reason, saying that we're UK residents seems to cut the cost immensely! As for the 24 year old, now we have another member, he will not need to drive. So we should be ok on that front.

Good point about the insurance though, i'll make sure the guys look into that.

The food budget isn't really an issue, it was more for us to ascertain a rough budget to save up for.

As for compatability, i'm sure we'll have our moments but the good ones will outweigh the bad ones!

Ok, subject to change (as has already happened) I thought i'd post our proposed itinerary to see what people make of it. Please add any comments you feel may help us. Thanks

Day 1 - Fly to Chicago, two nights here.
Day 3 - Pick car up first thing, head out on the road with the intention of getting to St.Louis.
Day 4 - Stay in Springfield, MO
Day 5 - Stay in Tulsa, OK
Day 6 - Stay in Clinton, OK
Day 7 - Stay in Amarillo, TX
Day 8 - Stay in Santa Rosa, NM
Day 9 - Stay in Albuqerque, NM
Day 10 - Stay in Holbrook, AZ
Day 11 - Stay in Las Vegas for 3 nights (Doing a Grand Canyon tour from here)
Day 14 - Stay in Santa Monica for 3 nights to end our trip.

The driving distances each day seem quite do-able. YOu should have time to sightsee along the way.

What kind of Grand Canyon tour are you doing from there? Are they providing transportation or do you have to drive there? If so, you might want to get a hotel closer to the Grand Canyon before heading onto Vegas. I would suggest Flagstaff, Williams, or staying right in the Grand Canyon area itself.

Do you want any further tips on things to do along the way? Let us know how we can help you further.