Exploring North America
 

Hi All

I want to fly around North America for about 3 months, looking to start off in Toronto, make my way to Quebec, then cross the border and fly to NYC (or that area), then fly to Miami, Miami-Houston, Houston-SFO, SFO-LAS, LAS-LAX/SFO-HNL, HNL-SYD, SYD-BKK, BKK-LHR

Can someone tell me what the best way of doing this will be? Once I get to Sydney, I don't really care about my routing back to the UK.

I saw you can get a North America Explorer pass, but the zone prices seem to be about the usual price if I compare to Orbitz. Does the North America Explorer contain taxes?

I also looked at doing a RTW ticket with multiple stops, but that's proven difficult to do with the amount of stops I want to do in North America. The travel agent has advised, doing it that way is not the best value for money.

Am I best just buying a RTW ticket with a few stops in North America, and they buying my tickets as and when I need them? Cheers guys

Not sure what you are trying to do. But if you just want to see America, have you consider an Amtrak train pass? They have unlimited rides monthly passes for like $600 and down. Probably a little bit lower if combined with a coupon.

AMTRAK for this itinerary??? LOL

Amtrak is a interesting option.

However, they do not go to Las Vegas but your other cities are fine.

If the cities you mentioned are your interest then Amtrak is not so appealing as the en route time can be long. If the 'exploration of North America' is your focus then Amtrak is a great option.

You can catch a bus in Needles, CA for Vegas.

Two quick points:

1) You might get more assistance in a travel forum rather than on this airline-specific forum (AA). I've suggested to the mods that they consider moving this thread for that reason.

2) Flying around America will mean missing a lot. In order to explore the areas you visit, you'll need to hire cars. Sorry, that's America... The Amtrak idea might work for some stretches but, as has been pointed out, it's a patchy and often painfully slow service. Consider hiring the car for longer and at least driving some sections yourself... Driving through and across America really is the way to see the continent - and it appears you'll have enough time to do so.

Have a great trip (and a great time planning it)!

Surely the people advocating Amtrak are openly mocking the OP. Amtrak? Cross-country? With average speeds < 50mph? With many routes having service just two or three times a week? With on-time arrivals records that make airlines look heroic? The scenic route NYC-MIA?:confused:

The TA has identified the problem: too many segments in N America for the typical RTW product. Buying one-way tickets isn't likely to be the best value for money, but logistically is the least complex. If the TA has abandoned hope of helping, I will suggest supplementing the RTW with a circle trip, focusing on routes with a lot of low fare competition. NYC-MIA (or FLL)-LAX-LAS-NYC comes to mind.

Going to HOU to visit a generous uncle in the awl bidness?

My sister is a regular on the train between Montreal and NYC. It's a beautiful ride along the Hudson, and much more relaxing than flying. And NYC is the one place on the itinerary where you almost certainly do not want a car, so no worries about finding a car rental place near the train station. That said, I too would aoid the train for any of the other legs on this trip.

I did the Chicago - Emeryville (for San Francisco) journey on Amtrak a couple of years ago (the California Zephyr), and absolutely loved it.

Having said that, I love train travel and loathe driving, so that's maybe not so much of a surprise.

If one assumes you're using Oneworld carriers (e.g. Qantas) then two suggested links -

For RTWs and routing Q & A - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=411

For N. American airpass info - http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-trave...-north-america

The routings that the OP is looking at (NYC-MIA, MIA-HOU, HOU-SFO, SFO-LAS, LAS-LAX) can be done almost entirely on reasonable o/w fares and, in most cases with great frequencies. SouthWest and JetBlue operate in almost all those markets (or close enough to them) that the total domestic flying budget can be very reasonable. Switch MIA to FLL and it is pretty much entirely a B6/WN routing, maybe needing to do OAK instead of SFO, too. Have the RTW ticket put you into YYZ/YUL/NYC and out from LAX/SFO and go from there.

As for seeing the country, there are certainly parts where driving through is a great thing, but after 1000 miles of corn fields in middle America I'm not sure that it really is worth it. Drive LAS-LAX, HOU-AUS and take the train on the lumbering, ridiculously long YUL-NYC and you'll see plenty. The rest of it you can see from 30K. Yes, you'll be missing things by doing it that way, but I don't think that it is a terrible trade-off.

as sbm12 posted above you could get generally cheaper o/w fares than the ones quoted in the links. I'm guessing the upside to the RTW's is availability of a last minute trip vs. purchasing something in advance?


I'm thinking of doing a similar thing for travel throughout Europe, but I might as well research my own o/w fares and see if its worth going that route.

--Russ

PS. driving lond distances will burn you out and you won't enjoy your trip... fly the longer routes, drive locally and you'll have plenty to see on such a vast trip.

For your Canadian part, VIA rail is one option that could allow you to hit Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec city if you'd prefer not to drive as the train is downtown to downtown, so you avoid the hassle and time of getting to/from the airport and the cost isn't ridiculous. Driving could be another option if you want to see sights outside the cities but don't try it in the winter if you aren't used to winter driving. NYC-Washington is also trainable.

Otherwise, I'd likely think flying is the easiest way to get around as long distance trains are not fast at all and the distances are much greater than in Europe. But the LAS to SFO route could be by car as you can tour around in the wine region.

I don't understand the purpose of the Houston portion of the journey. A great place to live and work, no doubt, but to sight-see? I would choose another destination in Texas or more likely I would recommend New Orleans. In any event, Houston (and most Texas cities IMHO) would be a miserable place to visit if you are not inclined to rent a car. Whereas much of the historic area of New Orleans is easily reached by public transportion, including the ferry to Algiers, the street cars, the buses, and so on. I hope I am not stepping out of line here. Obviously I agree with others who urge you to consider renting a vehicle for at least some portion of your trip. No one is asking you to drive past "corn fields" but it would be a pity to visit North America and completely miss the American Southwest. Or the Canadian Northwest for that matter.

I guess I am too nosy, but I am puzzled as to how or why this particular itin was selected.

Clearly, no one is openly mocking anyone. The OP did indicate he/she had 3 months to spend traveling.

I can only think of a couple of Amtrak routes that do not have daily service. Maybe I am missing something?

With a Oneworld RTW ticket the OP gets up to six N. America segments included with the ticket. The airpass could be used to top up any additional required segments, would earn miles consistent with the RTW ticket, and on many routes will be cheaper than equivalent OW fares on other carriers. Not universally the case of course, but frequently.