Roadtrip March - road conditions

[IreneN]

Hi!

My father and I will be going on the following trip, combining plane and a rental car. My question is, if the road conditions are predictable enough to say that a normal economy car would suffice (we do not want to go offroad in Death Vally nor drive through the Grand Canyon if the conditions will be too harsh). Do we have to rent snow chains additionally?

16.3. Arrival in New York
16.3.-19.3. New York
19.3. flight to Phoenix, Arizona, then drive to Flagstaff
19.3.-22.3. Flagstaff (tours to Grand Canyon, etc.)
22.3. drive Flagstaff - Las Vegas
22.3. - 24.3. Las Vegas
24.3. drive Las Vegas - Death Valley - Ridgecrest
24.3. - 25.3. Ridgecrest
25.3. drive Ridgecrest - Vasquez Rocks - LA
25.3. - 28.3. Los Angeles
28.3. drive Los Angeles - Phoenix
29.3. flight to New York

Also, we are not sure yet if we should drop off the car when we arrive in LA and then pick up an new one on the last day for the journey to Phoenix or if we should keep it (there are a few free parking spaces at our hostel).

Thank you for any advice!

Greetings from Europe,
Irene

[glc]

Welcome!

The weather can't be predicted in advance, but you should be fine with a standard car and you shouldn't need chains.

The only issue with dropping the car off and renting another one is you will have to pay two "one way" dropoff charges. Also, public transportation is not that good in LA, a car will make it a lot more convenient to see the sights in what is a very spread out city.

Have you considered changing the trip to be a "loop" in and out of LA instead of Phoenix?

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA forum!

I certainly would not drop the car in LA and pick up a new one a few days later. Its going to cost you more, because you'll add multiple one way drop fees and could end up paying more also because longer rentals often provide a discount at a weekly instead of a daily rate. But just as important, LA really is a city where you'll want a car. Its not an easy place to drive, and traffic is constant, but its still a lot easier and cheaper than trying to get around any other way.

I'd agree that since you don't really seem to plan to spend much time in Phx, you should consider a loop from LA or Vegas. In fact, even if you do want to visit Phx, it would make sense to compare prices with airfare and car rentals prices with the other cities to see if you can save money.

[IreneN]

Hi!

Thank you for the very useful piece of advice and the good ideas! I´ll see if I could change the trip a bit.

Greetings,
Irene