SanFrancisco - NewYork

Hi
I need some massive advice, i've been trying to plan a road trip from San Francisco to New York stopping off hopefully at most of these places, some may be too out of my way:

Los Angeles
Las Vegas
Nevada
Arizona

Then right across to Florida for
Tampa
Miami
Orlando

Then up to New York for
New York city
Washington D.C

There will hopefully be 3 or 4 of us, sharing one hire car.



Thats the plan
I'm a student so im willing to stay in Youth Hostels/B&B's/Camp

Just a few questions:
Is it achievable?
How long do you think it would take?
Can we hire 1 car and have 2 or 3 of us insured to drive it?
How much money would we need between all of us?
and Is there anywhere else you advise we go in between each group:
Arizona area to Florida
and Florida to New York area?

Thanks

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Any trip is achievable if you want to do it badly enought. I'd think for a trip like this you'd need about 3 weeks just to cover the distance at a pretty good pace. From there, add on whatever time you think you'll want for sightseeing, exploring, rest from the road, etc.

Its hard to start putting numbers on expenses, without knowing more about how long you'll be on the road, where you'll be staying, what you're driving, etc.

Renting a car with multiple drivers won't be a problem, but you should expect to pay a fee for each additional driver. Anyone who is going to drive the car needs to be on the rental agreement, so you really can't skip this to try and save money - it could result in serious legal problems if you had a problem while on the road.

There is usually a surcharge for any drivers under age 25.

For budget planning, check out the suggestions here. It should walk you through the steps you need to start getting a handle on this.

It's hard for us to answer a wide-open questions like this "Is there anywhere else you advise we go in between each group: Arizona area to Florida
and Florida to New York area?"

There are literally thousands of places to explore along those roads. Thousands. What appeals to you might not appeal to me. We can better advise you on this if we know what kinds of things you all want to see and do. Historic sites? Beaches? Clubbing? Amusement parks? Hiking? Scenic vistas? State/national parks? Cities? Roadside kitsch? Unique shopping? Antiques? Cultural experiences? Yada yada?

Give us a hint of what you're looking for.

You might also get out a good map or atlas and look at the cities, parks, etc. that are shown on the map along the roads you plan to travel. This should give you a good idea of what's out there.

And keep asking questions. Happy planning!

Thanks for the replies
Ok well the main things i want to do are
see the grand canyon, golden gate bridge, hollywood walk of fame, six flags theme parks, empire state building, ground zero, time square, china town, see a new jersey nets game, and central park..

Any ideas?
Thanks

I'm only suggesting that because everything you want to see is in LA, San Francisco, and the general NYC area. If that's the case, maybe just driving from SF to LA and then flying to NYC might be the best trip for you? Just a thought.

SF to LA: driving the coast would take you 2 days if you want to stop and explore a bit and enjoy yourselves.

LA to Florida: Figure 5 days minimum. This doesn't include time to stop and explore. Just the minimum time to make the drive.

Florida to NYC: Figure 2 days minimum.

Of course, the more time you have, the more time you can explore along the way. And, of course, this will impact the budget you'll need.

Also, be aware, there will be a drop off charge from any car rental agency to pick up a car in one place and drop off in another. It's usually several hundred dollars but varies depending on company, dates of rental, etc. so you'll want to get several quotes.

Since you didn't identify what kinds of things you'd want to see while driving cross-country, I will make suggestions based on my interests and what I would focus on (time and money permitting).

After LA, I would head to Las Vegas, then do a loop into Utah to see Zion and Bryce NPs, then down to the Grand Canyon. Then south to Tucson to go east on I-10 to visit Bisbee and Tombstone (old west towns). I'd then head to El Paso and then south in Texas to Big Bend NP. Then to San Antonio to see The Alamo and Dallas to see the Texas Book Depository. I'd then explore New Orleans and enjoy the Gulf Coast on the way to Florida. In Florida, I'd enjoy DisneyWorld and the other nearby theme parks like Universal, Sea World, etc. I'd drive down to Key West on the Gulf side of the peninsula and then back up to Miami via the Atlantic side. Then I'd meander up the coast enjoying cities like Savannah, Colonial Williamsburg, Washington DC, and Alexandria, and also swinging into various Civil War and Revolutionary war historic sites while also visiting various beach areas to NYC. I'd probably swing through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and up into Boston area first.

I guess what I'm trying to illustrate is that you've still left us little to go on so we know if the recommendations fit your time, your budget, and your interests. So I can only suggest what I'd do. I'm still not sure I understand what you would prefer to see.

Earlier I suggested you get a good map or atlas and go over it with your friends. You should mark on the map or make a list of all the things that jump out at you of interest. Once you've done that, and shared with us some of your ideas, it will be easier for us to give you more specific recommendations.

Hi,
I'm planning a road trip from LA to New York which should take around 60 days with all the stops

I was looking at the Avis website for car rental. And the extra fee they add on for the one way drop off was $1600!

Thats loads right?
I could drive it back to them from New York for less than that!


Anyone have any advice on car rental companies for one way trips?
Thanks
Simon

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Only you know what kind of car will meet your needs and what the dates are that you have available for your trip, so I'd recommend that you just keep looking at all the major companies: Hertz, Avis, National, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar, and Alamo. I did find a compact from Budget available for around $2250 but again, price will vary with dates and car type.

AZBuck

Welcome to the Roadtrip America forums!

This is something that you just really need to shop around for because the fees for the rental, for drop-off, etc. vary like crazy. Sometimes just a change of dates a few days one way or the other, or a change of which office you pick-up and drop-off at can make a big difference. Some folks have reported that dealing with an agency outside of NYC has sometimes produced a big savings.

Since they all have one-way fees, and all these variables, shopping around is really the best we can suggest.

Heya,
For the last 4 or so months, i've been planning a trip from California to Florida, to New York. And i thought the best accommodation for the trip would be places like Motels 6, Super 8 etc.

But i recently read reviews on them and they sound pretty messy.

All i want is a basic clean room. I don't care if it has a fridge or microwave etc.

Just a bed, and a shower.

Could you help me find something cheap and basic without sacrificing cleanliness?

Thanks,
Simon

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

You're already doing the best you can by looking at reviews of the individual locations of the low cost chains. You might expand your search a bit by also including Red Roof Inns, Microtel, Econo Lodge and Travelodge. Personally, for the reasons you're finding, I generally prefer to pay a bit more and go up one step to chains such as Days Inn, Comfort Inns, La Quinta and others. I find their prices competitive and their value much better.

AZBuck

I generally go with whatever I can find that is cheapest, within reason. I agree with Buck that the best values can usually be found at the chains that are just a step up from the budget basement or in the mid-range tier. I will tend to stay away from motel 6 if I can find another property that is close in price (say $10), because I've found motel 6 can really nickel and dime you (extra charges for each extra person, no breakfast, etc). I will also often stay at independent mom/pop type places, if they look reasonably clean and well kept. You really can learn a lot about a motel just by looking at how the lobby is. Really the only place I personally stay away from is the Days Inn chain, for whatever reason, anytime I stay in one it seems like I get a filthy room, and it takes quite a bit for me to be unhappy about a messy room.

Motel 6 has been cleaning up their act considerably. The 2 I used on my trip from Joplin to San Diego a couple weeks ago were very decent. I'm switching from Super 8 to Motel 6 now that most 6's have wifi.

If I know what town I'll be stopping in beforehand, I look up hotel reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.com/. Typically I can find a one-star non-chain hotel that is cheap but nice & clean.

I've always stayed away from Motel 6s, but aside from one craphole in Crescent City, I've never had problems with Super 8s.

Hmmm

But even some of them have bad reviews on tripadviser.com

Holiday Inn looks nice... But would be expensive considering i'd be using it like 40 times over the trip.

So 40 x around $130 = $5200 / £3500

Has anyone heard of a frequent stayer offer or anything?

Thanks for the replies

Somethings to keep in mind. You need to take any internet review site with a grain of salt. They certainly provide useful information, and I use tripadvisor myself, but people are simply more likely to complain than to talk about how great a place is. I always make sure that I'm looking at the specific complaints and try to judge if its a real problem or just an unreaslistic expectation.

Also remember, for every chain prices are going to vary by location. A holiday inn that costs $130 in one town (pretty pricey for a HI, really), it might only cost $60-70 in another.

There are several rewards and discount programs offered by the various motel chain, and since many of them are owned by the same companies, you'll usually have a few different options to pick from. With the current economy, you can probably find some good deals and programs right now.

Days Inn and Super 8 are both Wyndham properties. I have had widely varying experiences with both, and in the past few years I've seen more and more of them in poor condition - and more and more Motel 6's in great shape.

If I'm looking for more than just a bed and a shower, my favorite is a Hampton Inn. However, I spent enough time in the military, traveling around to many different bases, where my tolerance for living in a "dump" is very high. I'm sure that the Motel 6's I mentioned in my last post would not be acceptable to some people, even though to my eye and nose, they were clean.

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Originally Posted by Si737

Hmmm

But even some of them have bad reviews on tripadviser.com

Holiday Inn looks nice... But would be expensive considering i'd be using it like 40 times over the trip.

So 40 x around $130 = $5200 / £3500

Has anyone heard of a frequent stayer offer or anything?

Thanks for the replies

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You really seem to be looking for a magic bullet that will allow you to pull into X hotel chain in every town you stay and be guaranteed a good stay. As you've noticed, that's not going to happen unless you pony up a lot of cash.

Hunker down, do some research. It will save you a lot of cash. Yes, some hotels get some poor reviews on tripadvisor, but don't discount a place because it got one bad review. Look for the ones with generally postive reviews. Half the motels I stayed in on my last trip were found through tripadvisor - I would not have even considered any of them if I simply been driving by as they were mostly independent, they all had very positive reviews and I was not disappointed in any of them. Plus I saved a bundle by doing so.

FWIW I've stayed in lot of Motel 6's over the last few years and never had a bad experience. Some are brand new. You can also try non-chain motels which are often cheap. I’ve found the Holiday Inn like places to be fine to be more then I need for a night. especially if you are going to be there for a night how much do you need?

my impression is that Motel 6's in big cities often have bad rep. however I have stayed at ones on highways or in tourist areas which have always been good.

i think there is a fair amount of snobbishness about motel/hotel chains based mostly on name recognition and such. YMMV of course.

My advice for the middle and lower tier motels is to forget the brand name, you simply can't use that as a guide to anything. My daily job deals with construction and evelopers and I know for a fact that a developer will plan on building a motel and the brand name isn't worked out till later. In other words, they are all individually owned and then an agreement is made to be a Super 8, Econolodge or Days Inn. Some chans have some quality control but not much. I've seen beautiful Super 8's and horrible ones, just like most of the other chains. I just was on a five night solo road trip from Chicago to New Mexico and back (crazy, I know) and I stayed at two Econolodges, a Best Western, a Super 8 and A Comfort Inn. The Comfort Inn is supposed to be the best but it was the worst...I discovered no hot water when I went to take a shower at 11 and the wi-fi connection worked for half an hour. I much perfer the motels where you conveniently pull your car right up to the door to the ones with the depressing interior corridors. Oh yeah, don't forget the motel coupon books they give away at many of the state welcome centers...I scored the best room of the trip, The Best Western in Santa Rosa, NM, for a great price with the coupon (I think it was $49) and I walked next door top Denny's for dinner when I didn't feel like getting back in the car.

Welcome to the RTA Forum, Rainman!

That is an interesting point about the different motel brand "available" to new construction. I guess I have seen some examples of that before, although I think the bigger thing is that some motels seem to change franchises more frequently than they change their sheets!

I too am a big fan of the roadside coupon books, although you have to watch them for restrictions. Often times the discounts are only available on weekdays and for a room with only one bed, and only if you walk up (no reservations). However, as long as you know what the restrictions for a coupon are, they can be great, and I've found some excellent deals with them.

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I've seen beautiful Super 8's and horrible ones, just like most of the other chains.

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I'm finding that to be very true on this trip. One thing that helps with Super 8 - pick up a printed directory. If the particular hotel has a "Pride of the Super 8" banner, it's going to be good. On this trip (last day today - will be home tonight!) I've stayed in 5 Super 8's - I would rank one excellent (Durango CO), one very good (Van Buren AR), two "OK" (Moab UT, Dodge City KS), and one terrible (Page AZ). Both Motel 6's I stayed in were very good (Holbrook AZ, Yuma AZ).

One good thing about Super 8 is that there wi-fi service seems to be consistently good, The one I stayed at in Elk City OK had the most pathetic breakfast spread I have seen at any motel. For a one night stay all i need is clean bed and floor, hot shower and wi-fi and coffee and a muffin in the morning. If the furniture is a little worn, I don't care. I'm usually outta there by 7 am anyway. I just sayed five nights in five different motels and the details of each are starting to get fuzzy. They were all clean with a shower and wi-fi. Although the Comfort Inn in Santa Fe NM was a dissapointment. I used a coupon which gave me a good rate, but it had a depressing interior corridor and was one floor down from the lobby. Somehow the window was still on the first floor. I guest it must have been on a hill. At first glance the room looked like a winner and then I saw a big ugly cigarette burn in the beadspread, even though it was a non-smoking room. later I tried to log into the wi-fi, but had to glom onto the signal of the motel next door. That signal faded out and for a short time I got oin the comfort Inn signal, only to have that fade out too. After that I couldnt get any signal. I decided to take a nice hot shower, and discovered there was no hot water. In the morning I mentioned it and the desk girkl just said you should have let us know last night. Yeah right, Im ready to crash and I'm gonna mess around changing rooms when all my stuff is already scattered all over the room? Forget about it.

I actually had some problems with Super 8 wifi this trip. More and more of them are using a commercial proxy which does not always play very nice. The one in Page is using one that has an invalid security certificate which was a real pain to get around - and it kept freezing and logging me off. This is unsat. The one in Dodge City is using one that is incompatible with Windows 2000, and I had to call their tech support and get a static IP to be able to use it, then it worked fine. My room in Moab did not get a strong enough signal to log on, I had to head for the lobby to use it. The one in Van Buren was slow slow slow, it looked like an overloaded DSL connection. Durango worked great.

Super 8 is not the only one with lousy wifi - I had a lot of issues everywhere this trip. I'm almost tempted to get an aircard. There is no reason why an old IBM Thinkpad with a Linksys PCMCIA wireless card and Win2K shouldn't be able to work well - it works fine on my home wifi and in hotels that use a simple system. It worked great in a mom and pop motel that had a simple home grade router connected to a cable modem sitting behind the front desk, even though I was only getting about 20% signal strength in my room.

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

Welcome to the RTA Forum, Rainman!


I too am a big fan of the roadside coupon books, although you have to watch them for restrictions. Often times the discounts are only available on weekdays and for a room with only one bed, and only if you walk up (no reservations). However, as long as you know what the restrictions for a coupon are, they can be great, and I've found some excellent deals with them.

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Could you please tell me what is this coupon book and how do you get one?

Shane

As was said in the previous posts, motel coupon books are usually available at highway rest areas and information centers. They can also be found at some truck stops or diners located near a freeway. There are a couple different companies that produce them and they usually are organized either by state or region.

Ok I went back and read the posts again. Missed the bit about state centres. I guess thats the tourist information centre. I'll see about getting one of these books when I land in LA

Shane

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Originally Posted by carshamus

Ok I went back and read the posts again. Missed the bit about state centres. I guess thats the tourist information centre. I'll see about getting one of these books when I land in LA

Shane

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Shane, the information centres of which Michael speaks are out along the highway, mostly at the State borders.

You can however, also get those coupons on the net. I do not know the web address, but I am sure if you are any good at doing a Google search, you will find them.

Let me warn you though, that even though most offer Microwave and/or fridge, in my experience cleanliness is not always top of their list.

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

Comfort Inns

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seconded.

stay in cities with reasonably-sized dots on the map and you'll be good.
this is a useful tool for finding their hotels along your route

btw, depending on your budget, some Hilton-brand hotels (including hilton, doubletree, etc) can be had for ~$100 in some cities. If you're nervous about a certain stay/city it might be worth it to you to stay somewhere like that.

I would keep an eye out for newer hotels. I have found that all of the chains out there, whether its Days Inn or Holiday Inn will have nasty rooms. The nasty places tend to be the older hotels that are not kept up. If the place is new or recently renovated, chances are it wont be a dump. If you do take a room tour before checking in(here in the States you are allowed by law to inspect a room before actually laying down money for it), chances are you will get a show room that is rarely used. My sister works maid service in a large chain motel(its an older facility and not really maintained all that well) and let me tell ya, there are some horror stories about what gets done to rooms. If she didnt take pics, I would never believe it.

If you are just driving around and getting rooms without online reservations, ask around, the local tourist center or visitors center can be of great help when it comes to choosing a nice place for a little cash. They might even have suggestions for out of the way bed and breakfast places for the same or less money.

I went ahead about 2 weeks ago and booked our hotel accommodation in LA. The booking is at the custom hotel which sounded like a very different to stay from the online feedback plus they had 50% of the rooms. We were looking forward to staying there. Unfortunately I have just received a email from the booking agent telling me the custom hotel has went into receivership and there future is uncertain. I can see that in these difficult times if your booking ahead a few months it could pay to keep an eye on your bookings in case anything nasty happens. I will be canceling our booking and going elsewhere as we have another 3 months till we fly to LA and begin our trip. Last thing I want is for us to land in LA after 20 odd hours flying to find the door closed at our accommodation.

Shane

Thanks for the update carshamus, and the tip !

It looks like you was fortunate that you went through a booking agent and not direct.

Good luck in your new search.

Hi,
Me and a friend (from Uk) are planning a road trip from California to New York via Florida, and we're unsure whether we need car insurance or whether thats covered within the car hire.

I've found that overall we need:
Car Hire
Fuel
IDP (International Driving Permit)

Any other legal requirements to drive?

Thanks very much,
Simon

Yes you need car insurance of some sort, and its not included in the base charge for the rental.

However, if you already have car insurance on your personal cars, it may extend to your rental car and you may not need extra coverage. You need to check the specifics of your policy though.

If you do need insurance here are the basic kinds of coverage you'll typically see from rental car companies. You could also look at getting insurance from a 3rd party.

One other note, an International Driving Permit simply provides a translation of your existing drivers license, it doesn't actually give you any rights as a driver. Since your UK license presumably is in English, it really isn't needed in this case.

Oh ok i see. thank you.

But which of the types you showed me are mandatory?
I don't think my current insurance policy covers car hire.

Other than the insurance, is there anything else i'll need?

Thanks,
Simon

(also, apologies for posting separate threads for the same trip)

Hi,

I've posted this before last year, but i'm still unsure..

Next summer, a friend and i are going to be travelling from california to florida to new york, and back over the top to california.

I've looked ended times at car hire companies, but i'm still unsure if i need to get insurance on top of the car hire, or is it included?
Or does it come under my insurance in the UK?

I'd be really grateful if anyone could help me out,
Thanks,
Simon

Hi,

A friend and I are travelling around the whole of the US, and so far we've roughly mapped out our journey across the southern states.
But we know little about the northern states.

Pretty much from New York to California. Main places to go?
We could go as far down as missouri and as far up and washington really. Very relaxed.

Any ideas?

Thanks very much,
Simon

Have you checked with your travel insurance company to see if it covers car hire as well, and get the specifics (in writing) of exactly what it covers. I always make sure that I choose a travel insurance company where rental cars are covered. The rental company then makes a photocopy of my policy and all is hunky dory!!

You do have travel insurance, don't you? You'd be mad to travel without.

Lifey

As far as insurance goes, you've asked the question before, and its already been answered.

For what to see in the Northern US, you just need to do a little research on your own on that one. There are simply too many possibilities to even start narrowing down specific things over an area that covers about 3000 square miles. Pull out a map, and do some reading, and once you've got a better idea of what interests you, we'll be in a better position to help.

Sorry about that, couldn't find the old thread.

Right, i've been looking at car hire companies, and found out that the three types of insurance are not mandatory, but i think one is advised.
But whats really amazing, is that to hire a standard car for three months, it costs $5900 if collected from San Francisco airport, or $2900 if collected for Oakland. Such a huge difference!

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Originally Posted by Si737

Sorry about that, couldn't find the old thread.

Right, i've been looking at car hire companies, and found out that the three types of insurance are not mandatory, but i think one is advised.
But whats really amazing, is that to hire a standard car for three months, it costs $5900 if collected from San Francisco airport, or $2900 if collected for Oakland. Such a huge difference!

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My experience as well. In SF I found renting from the airport for the car I wanted was 30% more than from other SF suburbs. Was worth the taxi fare to get there.