Bradford

We are staying in San Francisco for a month in December. While I am very much looking forward to this, I would love to check out New York again, it's been five years since my last trip. Problem is, we are taking five kids with us (15-20yrs) and the airfares look like they might add another $3k to the cost, plus of course hotel bills once we get there.

Never giving up (I have found what looks to be a wonderful cheap hotel in the city) I wondered about driving there and back. The distance calculator I found on the web said 42hrs one way, which I assume is non-stop driving. So that might be five days on the road (8 hours a day?)

Can someone give me a better feel for how sane this idea is? What is the route? What do we see along the way? Do Americans drive non-stop (8 hours would be a long but not uncomfortable drive in New Zealand).

Is there another way rather than drive? The buses and trains seem less likely? How do you go about getting cheap last minute airfares? ( I know the websites) and how likely am I to get 8 people across from coast to coast without losing one or two along the way?

Many thanks!

Bradford

GoTravel

Bradford, check low cost carriers like JetBlue and Southwest.

Also, check Amtrak for train fares and schedules.

By the time you get a vehicle large enough for seven people plus gas plus lodging, you will be close to the $3K mark minus your sanity.

PsnChckn

Agreed with GoTravel. Sounds like a stressful and pricey drive. And driving that whole way without stopping to see anything or anywhere in between isn't something I'd be happy about. Additionally you'd be traveling in the winter which would present problems in some places.

Bradford

Hadn't thought of the snow thing. We don't have that kind of problem so much in NZ.

Saw a rerun of National Lampoon's Vacation the other night. Rather fancied myself as Chevy Chase.

Thanks for the airline advice. I'll have another look...

PsnChckn

Yes, you have to consider snow. If you wanted to take a leisurely route through the South and up the East Coast, then maybe not a problem.

My buddy was driving from Boston to his parents' home in SF, and he got snowed in in Iowa, right around Christmas. He was stuck in a motel for 3 nights, by himself, with a couple of books and a TV. His truck (a giant F350 thing) was completely stuck off the side of the road. Not fun at the time, but he had a good story to tell. Blizzard from hell.

easytraveler

The distance from SF to NYC is about 3,000 miles. I've done that in three days with two people taking turns driving. That's covering about 1,000 miles a day. It's pretty insane and I wouldn't advice it.

If you plan on driving across the US, it's a beautiful and very diverse country, and I would advise planning stops along the way. Something to interest most of the people in the van.

Instead of spending a month in SF, spend three weeks and give yourselves an extra week on the road.

Flying is faster, but you will miss out on seeing some of the most wonderful parts of this country, IMHO.

Just another point of view for you to consider. Driving can be done, but in a more leisurely fashion.

Happy planning!

Bradford

Thanks everyone. I'm getting some traction on the Southwest and Jetblue suggestions; it's starting to look viable.

Can see now that driving would be a folly. Probably a very memorable one, but I can't imagine a mini-van full of whining teenagers would be much fun!

Bradford

rkkwan

5 days to drive SF-NYC is plenty of time. 4 days is doable but tougher. 6,000 miles roundtrip will use about 300 gallons of gas in a vehicle that can sit 7. That's close to $1,000 already.

And renting a vehicle that size is not cheap. Also, NYC parking is also very expensive.

Another issue is weather. While it's usually relatively dry in December, it doesn't mean there cannot be a snowstorm or two enroute.

nytraveler

Driving will take longer than that - since that time of year you WILL run into substantial snow - and possible road closures - in the mountains on the northern route. And taking the southern route will add several days.

Plus you'll all be ready to kill each other after 3 days. I'm always in favor of road trips - but this sounds more like the Bataan death march. Definitely fly -it's the only thing that makes sense.

HKP

Agree with general distrust of driving idea in Dec., and in the South you risk ice storms, which are worse, IMO, than snow.

However, you might consider loping off a small chunk of the country you'd like to try driving around, just for the flavor. Or take the train through some part of it (west of Mississippi is usually a better ride).

Otherwise, I'm very fond of SW, but certainly keeping a group of 8 together will be a challenge. And if the snow causes trouble on the roads, the airports can get into trouble too.

Come from a big family and suggest you agree to subdivide into two cohorts if you need to to get from A to B. We had the matrix down to a mathematical brilliance re: who would travel with whom -- one adult, one oldest, one middle, one youngest.... etc.

HKP

sorry: "...consider lopping..." "loping" is what giraffes or very long-legged people do when they run.

easytraveler

"'loping' is what giraffes or very long-legged people do when they run."

Well now, you COULD consider loping your way from San Francisco to New York - just another way of travel.

Kidding aside, you've chosen two very good airlines. Jetblue will fly you nonstop West Coast to East Coast, Southwest has no nonstop flights that I know of. If you plan to hop across with Southwest, you COULD plan an intermediate stop somewhere in the middle of the US to spend those 5 days that you had originally allotted to driving.

NewbE

Bradford, I think you've gotten some great advice here, but darn it, I would have liked to see your trip report after that drive! I just know it would have been one for the ages.
(Enjoy your trip!)

rkkwan

Southwest doesn't even fly to New York City. They fly to Long Island Islip MacArthur, and their partner ATA flies to LaGuardia from Chicago Midway.

But SFO - EWR/JFK should see very decent prices in the next few months as Virgin America is starting to fly next month, first with SFO-JFK. They're selling one-way for $139 + tax, though fares for December is at least $179 + tax each way. About $400 roundtrip.

Bradford

Thanks again.

I think the NY trip is still on the cards. Maybe flying is the way to go, but then again the great road trip is more tempting. We're going to just go to San Francisco and plan it from there.

The trains look cool. We have just one train that goes North-South and that's pretty much it. You have all these trains that have wonderful names, I just have to teach the kids to run alongside them and throw their bags onto the freight carraiges and we'll be in the Big Apple in no time.

Bradford

traveler2005

Something to consider is that the most interesting things to see might not be along the most direct route. So if you want to see some things along the way, your distances may increase.

You could share driving, but would need to check with the rental car places to see how much that would add to the cost. When we rent a car, my husband often does all the driving so that we don't have to pay the extra charges. However if we were driving from San Francisco to NYC in a rental, we'd definitely want all the drivers we could get.

Have you driven in NYC before? We drove there the first time we went and decided that we wouldn't attempt driving in the city again. We thought having lived in Chicago would have prepared us for NYC traffic - but it really didn't.

I think taking a train would be as expensive as flying.

I don't have an atlas in front of me, but I am pretty sure you could take interstate highways all the way.

I had to read your note more than once to get the feel for "since I'm in the neighborhood in CA, I just as well go to NYC too."

We took a vacation once where we drove 5000 miles in two weeks, and saw LOTS along the way.

>Do Americans drive non-stop (8 hours would be a long but not uncomfortable drive in New Zealand).

With the Interstates, it is certainly possible.

Debbie

mclaurie

"We're going to just go to San Francisco and plan it from there. "

A bad idea, imo. You can't possibly get decent airfare prices if you wait til the last minute. And it won't be easy to find a well priced 1 way car rental at the last minute. Or, perish the thought, are you thinking of driving BACK to SF too? Don't you have to sort that out before buying your plane tickets from NZ?

Another reason not to wait is NYC hotel prices. Unless you are planning on coming FOR Xmas or at least after Dec. 18th, hotel prices will prohibitive unless you book something now.

If you haven't already bought your tickets, there should be a way to add a stop to NYC for not much more money, I'd imagine. Maybe SF could be considered a "stop" on the way to NYC?

If the air doesn't work, or while you're checking, get a few price quotes on car rentals so you can see if it's even worth considering. I think driving could be every bit as expensive as flying. In addition to the 1 way drop off fee which, there's also insurance which can double the cost of the rental. Our gas prices are pretty high now. And then there are hotel costs. For 7 people you'll need 2-3 rooms every time you stop. I'd suggest you try getting a few rental car quotes before continuing to consider this.
You might try whizzcarrental.com who quote including all insurance and fees.

Train sounds very enticing but our trains are REALLY not up to par.

If adding NYC to your original ticket doens't fly, the website kayak.com has some interesting "tools" to determine what airfare prices have been on that route over the last few months. It's also a good place to get an idea of hotel prices. I think you'd have to count on paying at least $200/night per room to stay in Manhattan.

There are some suite hotels that can accomodate all of you in one suite, but that starts to get very pricey. It's usually cheaper to get 2 smaller suites (ie a 1 bedroom) for your size group. Radiocityapartments.com is a popular budget hotel with 1 and 2 bedrooms suites and nycsalisbury.com is also good but both book up quickly. Best Western Hospitality has some decent 2 bedroom suites that might work. Good luck!

kenav

Consider d ring to , say Phoeix (not tha t tht city IMHO has that much to offer, but you would see part of the country that's very different than SF and NYC). Drop off car and take plane from there to NYC, stay for a week or 2, and fly back to SF (open jaw ticket.)

Car in NYC? Not a good idea. I'm a NY native and I've never even learned how to drive!

kenav

Correction: "Consider flying to. . . "

easytraveler

You've gotten excellent advice so far as your choice is not easy.

Here's another suggestion: what is the cost of the airfare roundtrip New Zealand to San Francisco?

Try hunting for a round-the-world fare and see if it is within range of your total combined New Zealand-SF-NYC travel costs.

I'll bet that the round-the-world fare will be cheaper.

You can plug in however many stops you want to make along the way, so long as you keep moving more or less in the same direction.

The more stops you make, the more expensive the ticket gets.

Just google/yahoo "round the world airfare" and you'll come up with several companies that offer these fares.

Good luck!