Western trip, starting point?

[NowthatIamretired]

Hello wonderful knowledgable travelers. You’ve helped out before so I want to pick collective brains again. I want to do a western trip next year, mid May 2021 time frame. I really want to see the Utah Five, or as many parks as possible there but also combine it with visiting family in Los Angelos area (Pasadena) as well as Las Vegas. Does it make sense to fly in and out of Los Vegas so a car rental is the same drop off? I’m thinking of flying in then immediately head to LA to see family, then head off to Utah. No interest in Grand Canyon unless it’s the north rim as we’ve been to the south rim. We could then head back to Los Vegas and visit the family there before flying home. Does this make sense logistically? Don’t have a set time length (hurrah for retirement) so excluding days for family time, how many days would something like this take? Interests in the park is site seeing, not much hiking, probably schedule some day/half day tours. I know there’s a lot here on the Utah parks so will be reading the other threads too. Right now I’m just trying to figure out if this even makes sense to do. My other thought was instead of returning to Vegas, continue on after Utah to Denver to visit family there and fly out from there but then I’m guessing the car rental goes up due to a different drop off as well as the flight is not a round trip, if that makes any difference anymore. Denver could be a totally different time as we do get there more frequently. Thanks.

[glc]

Looks like you could make a loop trip from LV, LA, or SLC. When the time gets closer, check on airfare and car rental charges to help with the decision.

[Southwest Dave]

Right now I’m just trying to figure out if this even makes sense to do.

It makes perfect sense to me ! (After all we are a bunch or road trippers ! Haha)

I really want to see the Utah Five, or as many parks as possible there but also combine it with visiting family in Los Angelos area (Pasadena) as well as Las Vegas. Does it make sense to fly in and out of Los Vegas so a car rental is the same drop off? I’m thinking of flying in then immediately head to LA to see family, then head off to Utah.

If you want to start by visiting family then flying into LA makes the most sense to me, unless you can get better deals starting elsewhere. You could do a complete loop or finishing in Las Vegas may not add one way drop off fees as it's a popular route. From LA you could go through Joshua Tree NP and head towards Monument valley and to Moab for Arches and Canyonlands, then Capitol reef, Bryce canyon and Zion before heading back to Vegas.

so excluding days for family time, how many days would something like this take?

Hmm. How longs a piece of string ? It could be done in a week, but a minimum of 10 days I would recommend and if you can afford longer go for it !! As things become clearer and your trip takes shape we can help with the finer details.

[AZBuck]

If where you're returning the rental car is a consideration, and it always should be, then it doesn't matter logistically where you fly in to/out of. You're going to be driving the exact same number of miles as you make the complete loop. What you should be looking at then is the combined cost of the airfares and car rental. You might save by flying into Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Even Phoenix or Salt Lake City (both of which would add a few miles) might end up being more affordable. You've got a while to make a final decision, but I wouldn't wait too long to look into this because any low fares will disappear quickly (as they normally do) plus prices will tend to rise as people start to travel again while capacity is still not up to where it was before the COVID pandemic

AzZBuck

[NowthatIamretired]

Thanks. How longs a piece of string? I like that. I’m thinking this would be around two weeks or so. I’m leaning away from LAX because my family lives up in the Pasadena area. I’ve usually try to fly into either Ontario or preferably Burbank but from the east coast there are no direct flights. I think I’m hearing this may be doable. I’ve only started doing all the trip planning in the last two years as my DH now has a dementia diagnosis so my first concern was if I could/wanted to drive this much as he doesn’t drive now. I’ve answered that by driving us through Rocky Mountain National Park last month and just finished a round trip between Virginia and Indiana, including driving Rt. 50 through West Virginia so I feel confident I can handle it. And I want to do the traveling for as long as we can because there will be a point it’s not possible. Now….to start the real planning.

[Southwest Dave]

I’m thinking this would be around two weeks

Thats a nice amount of time to not feel rushed.

I’ve answered that by driving us through Rocky Mountain National Park last month and just finished a round trip between Virginia and Indiana, including driving Rt. 50 through West Virginia so I feel confident I can handle it. And I want to do the traveling for as long as we can because there will be a point it’s not possible. Now….to start the real planning.

Good on you !! The planning is part of the fun and we are here to help should you need it.

Dave.

[travelingman]

I’ve flown out west to visit Utah’s wonders several times. I always found it convenient flying into Las Vegas.

Don’t play the slots in the terminal; they supposedly have terrible payouts; but I did hit a small jackpot once.

[NowthatIamretired]

I’ve flown out west to visit Utah’s wonders several times. I always found it convenient flying into Las Vegas.

Don’t play the slots in the terminal; they supposedly have terrible payouts; but I did hit a small jackpot once.

I think flying in and out of Vegas will be the way to go and don’t worry, I don’t go near ANY slots, anywhere! Once I’ve conferred with family, to see if they want us to come, then I can pull out maps, info and get more serious about this.

[travelingman]

Check out the cost of flying into each city. Then check the cost of renting a car in each city. Then add them together.

I did a quick check using Enterprise as an example. A full size car was cheaper in Vegas.

A one way rental was about twice the cost!