Creative ways to get from NYC to SFO?
 

Hello everyone,

Longtime traveler, first time poster.

I have to be in SFO from 7/15-8/5. Being "between jobs," I have time and would like to find a creative way to get there and back. I've driven it a few times, and am still open to that, but...

I've gotten lucky a few times with creative routing that has saved me a bunch of money and given me some new experiences. One time I found that flying into Ulanbaatar instead of Beijing saved me about $600, and allowed me to check another country off my list (I think I just got really lucky on the timing of this one - I doubt this particular deal exists anymore).

I'm trying to find something similar here. So, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Brad

Welcome to FT!

In terms of driving, I assume you're aware of drive-away arrangements whereby you can drive someone else's car across country for free, as a way of saving them money on otherwise shipping it.

A good search engine for finding the cheapest fares (though Southwest isn't included) is Kayak.com. Select the "Add nearby airports" options for both NYC and SFO and also click the "My dates are flexible" option. I just quickly did it for your dates and came up with $401 RT total on Air Tran.

My guess would be that Greyhound would be another, even cheaper option.

have you looked at amtrac/trans canada rail?...greyhound?....driving a car for a relo company?....good luck...

Likely not the most cost effective way, but have you considered taking Amtrak's Empire Builder? You would need to get to Chicago first, though you could either fly or take Amtrak from NYC.

Maybe share driving with someone? One trouble with driving a car for someone is that many people would rather pay a shipping company rather than risk a careless driver. However, maybe someone will agree to share driving.

Craigslist? Maybe advertise in the free section? Free transport of a car or shared driving between New York and San Francisco.

Call Burt Reynolds. He might have some tips.

Amtrak. You can sit back and watch the country roll past.

Shortest & most scenic: NYC-CHI (Lakeshore Limited) then CHI-EMY(California Zephyr).
A bit longer and also very scenic: NYC-CHI, CHI-SEA (Empire Builder) then SEA-EMY(Coast Starlight).
Another option after NYC-CHI is CHI-LAX (Southwest Chief) LAX-EMY (Coast Starlight).
Longest and probably least scenic NYC-NOL (Crescent) NOL-LAX (Sunset Limited) LAX-EMY Coast Starlight).