Road trip from Nashville to LA in April/May 2017

[AZBuck]

Unlike airline tickets which can carry hefty change fees, car rental reservations can generally be canceled with no penalty as long as you do so 24 hours or more before you're due to pick up the car. So, while you may not know when the absolute 'best' price on a rental will occur, you can make a reservation at the best price you can find now, then keep checking prices right up until a few days before you set out on your trip and if you find a better price cancel your old reservation and make a new one at the lower rate.

You can also check out consolidators such as Europcar and Rentalcars where you can often get 'extra' fees such as additional driver or one way drop-off fees waived, but be sure to read their fine print carefully to make sure that either you will still have the freedom to cancel or that you are perfectly happy with the price you've got.

As for availability of accommodations on a walk-up basis, that will depend on location and season. Very generally, you should have a choice of possibilities most places and most times with the notable exception of around major national parks, especially those with relatively short seasons most notably Yellowstone and Yosemite. If you decide to 'wing it', be sure that you have some method of determining accommodations on the fly, something far better than just driving around looking.

AZBuck

[Lifemagician]

As mentioned above you will be able to find accommodation most places, just as you want..... but don't overlook the fact that when you arrive, you must give border control an address where you will be spending your first night, so don't neglect to book that.

Lifey

[Smithstakeontheworld]

As mentioned above you will be able to find accommodation most places, just as you want..... but don't overlook the fact that when you arrive, you must give border control an address where you will be spending your first night, so don't neglect to book that.

Lifey

Thanks Lifey, I didn't know that, very helpful information!

I figure we will need to book our Boston and NYC accommodation in advance to get something hopefully within our budget and in a central area, so I am hoping to start looking and getting that settled. I do like booking.com where you can book almost anywhere these days with free cancellation up until a few days before.
Unfortunately we fly in to Boston at 7pm and I figure by the time we get through customs it will be fairly late, so I would like to have this booked so we can just make a bee-line straight for our place after getting through the airport.

Would anyone be able to suggest areas in Boston or NYC that are good to stay for central locality? I have been told by friends who have travelled there that the subway makes getting around fairly easy so we don't need to really worry about being on X street as we can get to anywhere when we've figured out the subway system?

Once I've really sat down and crunched the driving itinerary, I'll post it and would love some to do and attractions for each location :) I know you have already been helpful with some tips so far, but would love some more to add to the list to check out.

8 months and counting until we fly out!

[Lifemagician]

I figure we will need to book our Boston and NYC accommodation in advance to get something hopefully within our budget and in a central area, so .....

In both those cities I would not look for a central area, for which you will pay dearly. Look for accommodation a bit out but right on a train line or subway line. The public transport is efficient in both cities, and fairly cheap.

Unfortunately we fly in to Boston at 7pm and I figure by the time we get through customs it will be fairly late, so I would like to have this booked so we can just make a bee-line straight for our place after getting through the airport.

You should be able to find affordable accommodation not too far from the airport, hopefully with a shuttle. (It is better to pay $110 for a hotel room with shuttle, rather than $80 and have to pay $40 for a taxi. Taxis aren't cheap. My son lives only three miles from the airport, but it costs me between $30 and $40 dollars, and then they expect a tip as well.)

8 months and counting until we fly out!

You are sounding very excited.

Lifey

[Smithstakeontheworld]

So I've started playing with the itinerary in a bit more detail, so that I can plot where we will be roughly each day so that we can sort out our accommodation near the NPs.
Would love some feedback, still a work in progress and happy for feedback or possible add on's or different routes that would be interesting.

1 week Ireland
3 nights Boston
4 nights NYC
Then fly and pick up car to do
Night 01 — Memphis
Night 02 — Memphis
Night 03 — Jackson
Night 04 — Shreveport
Night 05 — Shreveport
Night 06 — Dallas/Fort Worth
Night 07 — Dallas/Fort Worth
Night 08 — Dallas/Fort Worth
Night 09 — Oklahoma City
Night 10 — Amarillo
Night 11 — Santa Fe
Night 12 — Santa Fe
Night 13 — Santa Fe
Night 14 — Alamosa
Night 15 — Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak NP)
Night 16 — Colorado Springs (Pikes Peak NP)
Night 17 — Denver
Night 18 — Glenwood Springs
Night 19 — Moab
Night 20 — Moab
Night 21 — Monument Valley
Night 22 — Monument Valley
Night 23 — Grand Canyon NP
Night 24 — Grand Canyon NP
Night 25 — Springdale (Zion NP)
Night 26 - Springdale (Zion NP)
Night 27 - Las Vegas
Night 28 - Las Vegas
After this we have exactly one week left to make our way to LA for our flight home.
Should we add any more places to the itinerary? Or more nights in certain areas? I don't feel that we will want a whole week in LA so trying to play with what we might have missed or could replace with something else.
Another thought was that we do a couple of days in Washington DC before flying to Memphis?

[glc]

With a week to go from LV to LA, you could go through Death Valley, then over Tioga Pass into Yosemite, then head for the coast around Monterey and take the PCH to LA.

[howard]

Since you have some extra time, I’d think about adding at least one night in Taos, NM.

Changing from this:
Night 10 -- Amarillo
Night 11 -- Santa Fe
Night 12 -- Santa Fe
Night 13 -- Santa Fe
Night 14 -- Alamosa

to something like this:

Night 10 - Amarillo
Night 11 – Santa Fe
Night 12 – Santa Fe
Night 13 – Santa Fe
Night 14 – Taos
Night 15 – maybe another night in Taos
Night 16 – Alamosa

I also think, like someone mentioned earlier, that some more time in the Colorado Rockies would be nice.

Have a great trip!

[Southwest Dave]

I would also say that 1 night in Monument valley should be enough and that heading through Yosemite and down the PCH to LA would be a great way to finish your trip.

[Smithstakeontheworld]

Apologies if someone has asked this before - I couldn't find it when searching the forum.

Can you purchase insurance for a hire car other than with the rental company?
My travel insurance covers our excess, however how do we insure the car to begin with? Can you do this cheaper through an alternate provider than the rental company?

For example, if I try to obtain a quote through Avis car hire, the quote is quite reasonable, however to add insurances such as CDW and liability it nearly doubles the price.

Can american car rentals rent out cars with no insurance? This is how I am reading the T&C's

[Lifemagician]

On the occasions that I have travelled with travel insurance, (other than medical insurance), and I rented a car, they just asked to photo copy the policy, as proof of insurance. But I never did it long time ahead.

I would check with the RACV or your own club. They should have all that information.

If you are booking through a consolidator, they may take care of all that.

A rental company cannot rent a car uninsured. All compulsory insurance will be charged. As for all the extras, I have never worried about them. To me it is worth taking the risk. The worst that can happen is you cause an accident, you have to pay. But the personal injury to all parties should be covered under the normal compulsory insurance.

Police will check a rental cars' insurance if there is a reason to pull you over, so the company would not let you take a car without that..

Where my situation has always been different. I do not book a car long beforehand long before hand. Sometimes just a few days before.... and more often than not, I have been upgraded without cost.. When I don't have travel insurance, I just tell them I only want to pay for that which is compulsory. Then again, I have never rented for longer than four weeks.

Others may have more information, but this has been my experience.

Lifey