flo-e

Hello,
couldnt find anything using the search, so I guess i have to open a new thread.

I am planning on doing a California Road Trip with my girlfriend this September (for about 3-4 weeks). We are based in Hamburg/Germany but quite flexible with the starting point. First question would be: What is the cheapest way to get us to the Los Angeles Area? Is it a regular Europe - LAX flight or would it be cheaper to fly Europe - East Coast and then with Southwest/Jetblue to the West Coast?

Once in CA we should be able to get a car from friends. I am not very familiar with the American hotel pricing system. Does an early reservation for a motel (the big chains) give us better rates or can we still book the night before?

Our main guideline/route would be LA - SFO - Death Valley -> LV - Grand Canyon - San Diego - LA (with lots of stops in between). I know, nothing special about the route, but she has never been there. Any suggestions for cheap travel?

Thanks guys for any advice.

moxiefr

Look under the headings for mileage runs and travel buzz for cheap flights (AF is doing a reasonable ticket and there is a really cheap fare from Budapest mentioned there too).

I'd rent a car instead of borrowing one (no worry about breakdowns and decreased responsibility). IMHO Pacific Coast Highway is nicer going SFO to LAX

Hotels: Although it's not cheap, staying on the rim of the grand canyon is wonderful; you need to reserve NOW. You may wish to stay in other national parks too which you can find from the grand canyon site. Take old route 66 when you can...

USA_flyer

I would suggest a direct flight to LA is going to be cheaper than buying a cheapie to NYC and another one to the west coast. It's usually that LA is the cheapest west coast city to fly into but YMMV.

The cheapest and best way IMHO to get hotel accomm in the US is via priceline. You will of course need an internet connection to be able to do that but you can find public access ones fairly frequently. If you're planning on just winging it the motel drive up rates are reasonable.

FWIW, if I were doing what you were doing, I would priceline hotels in the major cities especially San Diego, LA and San Franciso where hotel rates can be exorbitant and use motels for the days you have nothing booked for driving between cities.

IceTrojan

I would consider flying into SFO first, then LA > Death Valley > etc. That way, there's no backtracking (and no, there's nothing between SF and LA worth backtracking for). Flights into SFO should be comparable to LAX, and I second the recommendation to rent a car.

HamburgAround

USA_flyer

Actually, I agree with this. It's a much more sensible start point than LA.

flo-e

Thanks for all the advice and hints.

The reasons why I am planning on just borrowing a car from a friend is $$$. Renting a car will cost me an extra couple of dozen $$ a day which I am trying to safe. Besides that I dont think I am old enough yet (is it 21 to rent one?) to rent a car.

davidcalgary29

I hate to be a spoilsport, but Death Valley isn't the most attractive American desert travel destination in September. Average daytime highs are still usually well over 40c, and camping (or staying in one of the Valley's lodges) just won't be a pleasant experience. And since this is the budget forum, I should point out that accommodation in or near Death Valley is, with one exception, overpriced and unavailable. If you do plan to make it a part of your trip, I'd suggest that you make reservations ASAP.

RustyC

I think you're much better off flying straight to LA or SF. Fares there are usually only $50-100 more out of Europe than they are to the east coast.

Would agree with those suggesting Priceline bookings for the California cities. It may hurt flexibility but a $30 2-star through Priceline (more like $35+ tax if Priceline's fee is loaded in) is way better than a $45 Motel 6 or comparable as a walk-in. You can gamble a bit and book Priceline at the last minute with walk-in places as fallback, but to beat it on price at that level you're talking hostel dorms, camping, or staying with friends.

Las Vegas is a special case; would suggest Expedia or some of the LV-specific sites to try to land something in the $20-30 range, especially if you have a car. With that you can stay at off-strip places like the Station ones that are really quite nice. I've always done Death Valley as a long daytrip from LV.

If there's a must in California I'd say it'd have to be the Pacific Coast Highway between SF and LA, especially the Big Sur region.

mbstone

Notes on California road trip.

1. Driving directly from SFO to Las Vegas/Death Valley is problematic. If you look at the map, there is a mountain range (the Sierra Nevadas) that will require you to drive most of the way to LA before being able to traverse the Mojave Desert.

2. Priceline.com (Name Your Own Price) should be used for as many hotel and car reservations as possible. Generally priceline car rentals from and returning to LAX are on the order of $15/day with unlimited mileage. You can also get great hotel deals up to 8 PM Pacific Time the same day. Bid on 2 1/2 star hotels. See betterbidding.com . Carry a wireless laptop with you, or go to a FedexKinkos or a truck stop for internet access. In small towns on a road trip where you do not know specifically what time or where you will want to stop, you won't do too badly staying at a Super 8, Motel 6 (although the beds are a little hard) or local motel.

3. The Amtrak train from SF-LA (actually from Oakland to LA) is very scenic.

4. The drive from LA to Las Vegas will take you across a wide expanse of desert which is near Death Valley, and it looks exactly like Death Valley. Skip the actual trip to Death Valley and tell your friends you went there.

5. Las Vegas hotels are much cheaper on weekdays (Sun-Thurs) than on weekends (Fri-Sat). The nicest hotel in town, the 5* Venetian, can be had on priceline Sun-Thurs for $99.

6. Nearly all airplanes pass over the Grand Canyon on the way to or from LA.

7. If you are party animals, you could check out the Burning Man Festival Aug 28 - Sep 4 in northern Nevada.

aSiAnRiCk

Since you have 3-4 weeks, why not fly to LAS. You can take a day drive to see the Grand Canyon. Then you can drive all the way down to SAN (or even to TIJ which only 30 mts away from SAN), LAX, SFO and back

I did this last year (didn't go to SFO) and had a great time

edit: Car rental is super cheap in LAS

flo-e

thank you all for the advice.

$15 for a car rental per day sounds fair enough... the problem is, i've only had my licence for two years and I'm 20 years old. That will be a problem with the major car rentals IMO.

@mbstone: I know about the desert between LV and LA. I lived in exactly that desert for a year (yes, there are people living there).

Death valley will be skipped

I guess I'll have to learn using priceline.com How much % off regular prices can I get if I know how to work it properly?

kaptan

I second flying into Vegas. Check out Condor because they occasionally have cheap flights from Germany to Vegas. Could be a problem if you gamble...wouldn't want to lose all of your trip money in a few hours ^

http://www.betagammasigma.org/enterprise.htm for cheaper Enterprise rental (no under 21 surcharge when using the link)

And given that this is the budget forum, have you considered hostels for at least some of the nights so you can save some money and perhaps stay at nicer places either in Vegas, LAX, or SFO??? Some of the hostels are cleaner than the $50/night motels that you find.

johnmc

Wow that's awesome! Can you give a little more inside to this?
Isn't this limited to members/employers of Betagammasigma? Plus is it possible to book one-way rentals (want to do the SFO - LAX HW 1 Trip) with this deal? If yes, how?

Thanks!

kaptan

Yes you are supposed to be a member or employee of BGS. But if you are not there are plenty of other places that waive the under 25 fee. Check your university (either student or alumni), many have agreements with one of the national rental agencies where the fee is waived.

For example:
UC Berkeley Alumni
10% Discount on Enterprise Rental (plus under 25 fee waived)
Discount Code: UCBALUM
Corporate Account or Customer Number: Cal

As for it working on one-way rentals, I have no idea. I have not used either for one-way rental. Click the link and go thru the steps of making a reservation and see if it works.