first time to the us - 2 trips in mind

[Netta]

hey, we're 2 girlfriends (24 yo and 27 yo) and it's our first time to the us.
we plan 2 weeks or so on the west coast. everybodie's suggestion is san francisco, las vegas and san diego with only the holliwood part of LA.
we thought about starting at las vegas, renting there a car, driving out to grand canyon and from there to san francisco. after that renting again a car and heading south to san diego and returnig by public transportation to la where our flight back home is from.

our questions are how to devide our days between the cities and roads, and which ways to take from grand canyon to san fransisco if we prefer the scenic route and how do we find a place to stay on out way?

from san francisco to san diego we thought about taking the coastal route - are there any "must see"s or "must do"s on the way?

in addition to those questions - where is it best to rent a car from and what are the usual or "normal" rates? are there normally any age limitations for the drivers?



thank you!

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You will find a lot of info on this very popular area to help you too decide what appeals to you and your tastes the most. It's great that you get suggestions but ultimately it's your trip and you should make it your own.

I would suggest you rent a car for the duration of your stay and do a 'loop' trip, starting and ending in the same City. It really wouldn't matter where you start from so finding the best flight and car rental rates combined would be best. Your trip would then look something like this; LV to San Fran via Death valley and Yosemite NP. San Fran to LA and SD via the coast. SD to Grand canyon to Vegas.

It is usual for drivers under the age of 25 to face 'Young driver Fees'. It's usually better value to search on line for the best car rental deals and book in advance.

[glc]

2 reasons why a "loop" trip would probably be best - "open jaw" airfares (arriving and leaving from different cities) are generally higher, and when you rent a car in one city and drop it off in another, you will have to pay a substantial "one way" fee.

2 weeks is ample time to fly into LAX, rent a car, drive to San Diego, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, and back to LAX. This is one of the most popular "loop" trips here.

[Netta]

We work for an airline so it's acually much cheaper for us to buy the flight tickets separately from the car rental.
If I got it right - you all recommend on renting a car for the while trip? Even while we're in the cities limits for over a day? (I'm asking because for the moment we reside in Paris and in the city it's much easier to mobilize with public transportation.
And would you know approximately how much a trip like that should cost? Including the car, gaz for the car, food and motels? (and I know it's a huge range but besides Vegas, we aren't looking for grand hotels. Just clean bed and shower.

[CarlB]

Hi!

I think it is a good idea to book a car for the whole trip. One-way-fees is not a fun way to spend your money :( I have seen one-way-fees up to 500 USD. Parking is expensive (up to 50 USD/night at nicer hotels) in the cities but its nice to have a car. I think a good way to start is to make some sort of plan on how many nights you want to spend in each city and what you want to see and do. I always book and pay my hotels before I leave so I know how much it will cost. Im guessing the cost would be around 80 USD/ night if you only want a bed and shower. One suggestion would be to skip SD if you only have 2 weeks.
You can use google maps to make a route (I think you even can calculate gas costs at google maps).
Cost of food depends on what you want to eat :p

Renatal Car. I use hyrbil.com, but its a swedish site (but its good). It think its autoeurope thay use. They usually give discounted prices of all the big rental agencies.

[Midwest Michael]

No one was suggesting that you book your car rental and flights together, they were saying you will be much better off just renting one car rather than trying to rent a car for each individual leg.

Public Transportation in the US simply doesn't compare to really anywhere in Europe. There are very few cities where it is easy to get around without a car, and there are very limited options for getting between cities.

However, perhaps the bigger thing is that you would save both time and money by simply renting one car for your entire trip. One way car rentals cost much more, because there is typically an extra "drop fee" that can add a couple hundred bucks to your rental fee. So if you rent 2 or 3 different cars, you could easily be looking at huge extra charges. Plus typically, you get better rates if you rent for a week or more.

Costs are very hard to generically approximate, because they are so variable. Hotels can cost as little as $50 a night for a budget place, but if you want to be staying in prime locations, like right at the Grand Canyon or in the heart of a city, it can be twice that. If you're planning to eat all of your meals at restaurants, I'd plan for at least $20 per day per person, but that could be more or less depending upon your approach. And then car expenses are really something you just need to get quotes for, because those prices are always changing and your fuel costs will depend upon what kind of car you plan to rent.