betterbidding.com is one.

Very useful because it not only lists all the hotels in an area that have been won, but people post their successful bids so you know how much a particular hotel has gone for in the past. If you know the area you want to stay in and then check that any of the hotels in that area are acceptable (and looking at the hotels the OP is thinking of staying in I'm sure a 3* would be more than acceptable), you can bid knowing that you'll be happy with whatever you get. You can save a lot off the normal rate by doing it this way.

The only catch (besides not earning points) is making sure your dates are set because there are no refunds.

Airbnb is also a great option. Just look at the amount of reviews someone has to make sure it's a good place. Though a lot of times going through Priceline could be even cheaper than Airbnb.

hedur, good point - I'll research this possibility closer to the trip. I'd like to visit Observatory, as I heard it is interesting. Thanks for the links, I'm assorting them all up so I have it for future reference.

Thanks for the betterbidding.com link, I'll do some research in there too. And yes, my dates are set, half of the flight tickets are booked, and I'm booking the rest of them in the beginning of next month, together with train/bus tickets, so there won't be any place to move around - it'll all be set. And I'll check out AirBnB too, but it doesn't seem much cheaper now, although I haven't looked into it properly yet. Cheers!

ksandness, aah, alright then. For some reason I thought Disney Hall was on Olvera Street or very close it. Skipping Olvera for sure then! Disney Hall instead of it, hopefully.

emma69, yes, I was planning on going to the bank closer to my trip and asking them multiple questions to prepare for the journey. Insurance was one of them. Is insurance essential to enter the US? I heard in some countries it is if your a tourist. As for tablet, first of all, I'm planning on having a smaller bag and keeping it with me nearly at all times, and second, I'm buying a very cheap one specially for this trip so that I wouldn't cry over it if it actually gets lost/stolen. I've lived in UK for over 2 years, and have NEVER encountered a problem with British Railways, every train is on time, and the most it was late was like 5min a couple of times. You people are scaring me with all this Amtrak thing hah..

fredandgingermad, right, it makes sense then for them to be late.

CDTraveler, that's good, because I'm planning on visiting them both, if I have enough money. One of them is with city pass, the other is $30, but it will also be the last day of the trip, might as well go all out on last couple of days. Thanks for the cheesesteak tip. Unfortunately, as I'm not going to Philly now, any other places you know that are worth paying a visit for a good cheesesteak?

bwiadca, weird, I didn't noticed that. It could be because this direct flight from DCA cost more than from BWI (those are $250 at the moment). Still, I'll check it out, yes, and IAD too.

gfunkdave, I guess you're right, that does make sense. I'll try to put in about $50 for a night and 3* hotel, and if there's anything that comes up, it probably will be better than where I originally wanted to stay in. Yes, I'll try it, thanks for this!

peersteve, cheers - all good points. Well, on Arizona Shuttle, that runs from GC to Flagstaff, it says that they drop you off at Amtrak Train station, so I would assume that's the same place where the train for LA would leave from. If the train is late, the only problem is that I would have to wait longer, but it wouldn't be too much trouble, as if it wouldn't be, I'd be in LA around 8am, so I think I can give it around 6 hours to be late. However, if the train doesn't come or is late for like 27 hours, as CDTraveler mentioned, that would be a massive problem. I wonder what should I do in that case? Get on a bus to LA or something? Because booking a flight would be too late I think.

I would appreciate ANY other tips people can give me on traveling/traveling across US/etc. I mean, I've never been there, and I've learned a whole lot of stuff from this thread already that I didn't have a clue about. I need ANYTHING I can take, from the simplest things as to what are recommendation of clothes and what apps to download on your phone/tablet to great tips of how to get from point A to point B in the city. I appreciate everyone's help very much!

Edit: Oh, and another question that I really wanted to ask - as soon as I pass the security at JFK, where can I go to to get myself a US mobile provider's pay-as-you-go Sim card? Which provider should I use? I doubt that'll be making ANY calls, but I need it just in case + I'll it to use 3G and maybe GPS. I also carry another phone with UK network with me everywhere I go, however I'm not sure how much roaming would cost for US..

Sorry to ask a question about every little detail... Which one to take:

1) LAX to San Francisco International (Alaska airlines) - $100
or
2) LGB to San Francisco International (JetBlue airlines) - $75

Are those $25 worth it?

JetBlue are great, they would be my choice even if the prices were reversed!

Re bank insurance, the people in the bank are unlikely to know the ins and outs, but you should have received a document with the details when you took out the account. It isn't mandatory to have insurance, but IMO it would be very silly to travel without it - a basic A&E visit could cost thousands without it - it could literally bankrupt you.

I'm glad you've had good experiences with British rail providers, Amtrak are worse. It wasn't so much the LA leg, but you mentioned using Amtrak to get to an airport I think? That is the one where I would build in extra time.

Don't buy SIM card at JFK. Get it at any store in Manhattan. I think your best bet would be T-mobile prepaid or Virgin Mobile prepaid.
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans

Virgin Mobile (as far as I know) runs on Sprint's network. OP will have a GSM mobile, so he'll need either AT&T or T-mobile. I think T-mobile probably has better prepaid offerings.

I think the OP will want T-mobile's Pay by the Day plans, since I don't see data included in the above link. http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/p...ll-phone-plans

OP - just walk into any store in Manhattan whose outside sign does not say something like "Authorized Reseller" or "Premier Agent". It should just say AT&T or T-Mobile. Those are the corporate owned stores, and they will not try to sell you needless add-ons. You can also just go to Tmo's website and use the store locator. Pick any Corporate store.

As for clothes...the USA is roughly the size of Europe. You will encounter a variety of climates and weather. Though, as I recall, you're coming in summer. Expect the east coast to be hot and humid. Expect Arizona to be hotter (temps above 40C are expected) and dry. Expect LA to be warm and sunny (20-low 30s C).

San Francisco has a microclimate all its own, because it's on a peninsula surrounded by cold water. It will be in the teens C, likely overcast or foggy, and you will want a light jacket. But if you drive 20 minutes in any direction out of the city it will be hot and sunny.

I use a subway app for iOS called Embark NYC Subway. Hopstop is another good app for directions in Manhattan. But for general directions (including Manhattan), Google Maps is all you need.

As for flying from LAX or LGB ...depends where you'll be and available transport options from there. Alaska and JetBlue are two of the nicer domestic airlines.

In general, you will find US and UK culture remarkably similar. I think Americans tend to be more overtly friendly to strangers; we lack that British reserve. You'll have a great time. If I'm in town, we could even meet for a beer. PM me if you'd like.

Note that LGB (Long Beach Airport) is about 20 miles further south of LA than LAX Airport...... most public transportation or shuttles are aimed at LAX..... you may find it much easier (and cheaper, faster) to get to LAX airport......so a $25 savings will not be worthwhile.

Also, there are many flights from LAX to SFO......few from LGB.....so if there are weather problems, you are more likely to get another flight from LAX with less wait than from LGB........ Actually, look to see how frequently Alaska flies from LAX to SFO compared to United or Southwest flying from LAX-SFO....with you tight schedule, you'll want to have many back-up options......keep in mind an alternate airport for SF is Oakland (OAK).....from the Oakland Airport, there's a 10-min ($3) bus ride to the BART transit subway station which goes into SF (the same BART system thath you get on at SFO airport)...... so if your LAX-SFO flight is cancelled, there may be less wait for an LAX-OAK flight....... enjoy!

Also, I think you mentioned you were going to hike, so make sure you have proper boots - don't try it in trainers!

You can either print out the ticket before you leave home (PDF) or pick it up at the ticket booth after showing them your reservation.

emma69, I'll be upgrading my account before this travel, so I'm definitely going to ask the bank about how is it going to benefit me on my trip to US. As for Amtrak to the Airport, I'm dropping this idea after receiving such opinions on their service - I can't afford to be late. I'll take something local, MARC or how is that called, should be alright. For hiking, I've got half of "proper boots" - Karimorr's, which are also comfortable to just walk around the city for the whole day, but should be good enough for a light high, as they have a good grip on them (haven't tried it though).

I have A LOT of questions on what clothes to take with me, as I'll be changing states quite frequently, so I assume so will the weather. I've never done this kind of traveling, so I need any advice people can give me. I'm thinking karimorr's for hiking, and comfortable trainers for the rest of the trip. Then probably 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of jeans should be sufficient. My guess is that it will be hot and hotter anywhere I go in July, so no need for anything warm? Just maybe a light rain-proof jacket, no?

bwiadca, thanks for the link - I'll check it out.

gfunkdave, cheers. I'm pretty sure ANY network will be good enough for me, so I'll take just anything you advise me. I see T-mobile is good, so I'll stick with that then. $20 per-paid should be more than enough as I'm not planning to make any calls, and going to use free GPS on smartphone/tablet (if there's such a thing). Thanks for the offer on the beer man!

peersteve, yes, alright - I'll stick with LAX then. $25 isn't worth that extra hassle I think.

heffa, hmm, okay. For some reason I thought they only send them by post. I think I've read it on the website, where they were mentioning that it takes 15 or something days for the ticket to reach the customer. Whatever... if you are sure I can print off the ticket myself, then there's no problem, I'll book them next month as I'm coming a bit short on money for this month already.

Just booked a flight from LAX to San Francisco International for $100 (18th July, 12pm)! Now the only flight left is Washington DC to Phoenix, I'll do it next month as well.

I've also booked the flight from London to New York to land at 11am NY time. I hope that should give me enough time to get to the MET after all the security, immigration and subways/buses (fingerscrossed).

What should I start booking next? Which is more important - trains, buses, hotels, attractions, city passes, etc?

Anyone know if there might be any problem for someone doing the kind of trip like I do when traveling with a Green Card stamp in my passport? (as in I haven't got the green card itself yet, just a stamp in the passport that I will receive as soon as I pass the US border)

Another question on jet-lag: I've never had a flight this long (10hrs), so I'm not familiar with jeg-lag thing - how bad is it? What is the feeling anyway? I'm not really worried about it at the moment, but I might be underestimating it, as I'm reading people trying to overcome it for 2-3 days. However, my life/job gets pretty crazy, I skip a sleep once or twice a week every week, or just sleep for just a couple of hours and feel great, never have any problem. For example, the day passes, I get back home, spend the night doing something except sleeping/napping, the morning comes and I start my day as if I was sleeping the whole night - go to work, to the gym, going out with friends without being tired. Can this be an advantage to me when trying to fight the jet-lag, or is that a totally different thing?

Can anyone advise a good website where to look for gigs/events going on in July in the given cities? I've googled and checked a couple of them, but didn't find ANYTHING - there's barely anything happening in LA, SF, just some stuff in NYC. Is it just too early to look for gigs, or am I looking in wrong places? (I've checked ticketmaster.com and another one I can't remember now). I'm very eager to get to the game of Oakland Athletics in The Coliseum on 19th of July, as there's nothing happening in AT&T park.

Oh, and also, I would be VERY grateful if people could share any ideas on what's the best stuff to do in Grand Canyon (or any other of the mentioned places for that matter). I'm thinking Sunset Jeep tour, and something else - I'll have half a day first day, full day second day, and half a day third day at GC South Rim, staying in Bright Angel Lodge. How's skywalk? Is their pass worth it (it's quite expensive I think)?

THANK YOU!

Hi.... for your flight from Wash DC area to Phoenix..... looks like the latest flight from any airport leaves at 5pm..... but your 5pm flight from BWI airport is about $250 versus $770 for 5pm flights from DCA or IAD airports

Better yet..... looks like your could fly all the way to Flagstaff (airport code FLG) for just $25 more...... look at usairways.com.....put in BWI to FLG.... the 5pm departure from BWI to PHX, then a connection from PHX to FLG is showing about $265...... gets you to FLG about 9pm the same day!

enjoy!

Regarding on-time service, Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor (Washington-NY-Boston) is different from long-distance Amtrak trains. The latter run on freight railroads and are likely to arrive an hour or more late over the course of a 40-50+ hour cross-country trip, as others have mentioned.

The Amtrak train to BWI most likely originates in Washington, and service on the NE Corridor has a very good on-time record.

The Skywalk is located in a completely different part of the Canyon, several hours drive from where you'll be in the National Park.

With regards to Jetlag, the flight to NYC is only around 7 hours max, i find the easiest way to beat it is to stay up till around 10/11pm on the first night and then get a decent night's sleep and then i've found it easy enough to get used to the time difference from there, with the gradual time difference when travelling across the US i've not found this a problem before, everyone's different of course

with clothes, i travelled from nyc-los angeles last june/july with stops in washington dc, nebraska, missouri and arizona in between (took a month) and only packed summer clothing, no trousers, just a light weight rain jacket (needed it a couple of times!)