Car rental? NY TO CALIFORNIA. HELP!!

[JoeLic]

Hello, writing in here for advice. Me and three of my college friends recently graduated college and we all have been trying to do a cross country road trip since we were kids. We've all been friends since grade school. We are of course on a budget so we are looking for the most economical way to make this happen. We are considering renting a one way trip out west but the prices are absurd and out of our reach. Does anybody have any advice or alternative options?

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The reality is that a one-way, cross county, car rental is about the most expensive possible approach you can take to a roadtrip. It's basically a guarantee that you're looking at several hundred dollars minimum in fees right there.

There also is the element that as recent college graduates you probably are not age 25 or above, which means you're looking at significant underage driver fees, not to mention additional driver fees since presumably more than one of you will want to drive.

So the most economical way to do this trip is to not do a one way trip at all - instead, you'd be much better off trying to do a loop, where you return home at the end of the trip. Doing it this way would also make it possible for you to drive a car that you already own, which in this case would likely be much cheaper.

Of course, doing a round trip means you'd need more time. Realistically, you need at least 3 weeks to make a cross country trip even close to worthwhile - factoring nearly a week each way just to cover the miles. Of course, more time on the road does mean more costs too. If you can't come up with that amount of time, then you probably need to change your focus to something else - probably scrapping the cross country idea and aim for something more manageable (remember, the destination is never what makes a great roadtrip) - or if you have your heart set on seeing the west coast, looking at some kind of fly and drive type trip.