Marius_ZA

Good day

I have never been to the USA and is busy planning a trip next year March/April.

I am considering driving from the east cost to the west - I know it will take a long time but want to make the trip part of the vacation. When looking what a rental car will cost it seems that the one-way fee is almost the same as the rental, making it very expensive.

Is there a way or a company that will allow me not to pay this high fee?

Appreciate the help.

5alive

How many days are you allocating for this vacation? What are your "must-sees" or what things do you like to do on vacation.

The USA is a huge country. The most efficient way to get from East to West by car is on our freeway system, but it is not generally the most scenic way to travel. I would suggest you drive or train in portions of the country (ie East Coast) and then fly to a second destination (Las Vegas, San Francisco area, Los Angeles) and rent a second car.

Marius_ZA

Thanks for the reply - plan to go for at least 21 days. Yes now considering flying to the east coast. Spend some time in NY then drive to Chicago. From there fly to San Francisco and then drive to LA and Vegas. Then fly to Houston and from there New Orleans and Florida.

Would like to see some of the off-the-track places and small town too.

Maybe Colorado etc? Any suggestions? Do not only want to see the big cities.

janisj

21 days is not long enough for all of that - and yes, the one-way rental fees can be enormous.

You could fly between a few of those destinations (but not all of them in just 3 weeks) and then rent locally for a few days before flying to the next city.

Just the leg from San francisco to Los Angeles to Las Vegas -- including sightseeing along the way -- will take more than one week.

tomfuller

Coming from overseas (England?) you want your car rented before you leave home to avoid a drop fee. This is the site that many people use. http://www.carhire3000.com/ (not an endorsement).
When you are done with the east coast cities, you can take a train from either Boston, New York or Washington DC to Chicago.
Fly from Chicago to Denver or Salt Lake City and rent another car to see the American West including several of our beautiful National Parks. I'm not sure you want to go to California or the Pacific Northwest with the amount of time you have and your budget. As someone else said, the USA is huge.

5alive

Tom, why cut out California? The OP mentioned the West Coast in his original request, and most people from the continent or down under want to include California.

I would also suggest that the OP should compare prices on flights between the East Coast and Chicago before deciding on taking the train. Be sure to check some travel engines like kayak.com and orbitz and don't forget some of our discount carriers like Southwest Airlines. Tom is a huge advocate for the train, and if that is your preference then he will be a great advisor.

tomfuller

Either way you do it, if you rent a car in the US you should rent 2 or 3 cars and make a big loop with each and then either fly or take the train to the next destination.
I don't care if I never drive across Iowa, Nebraska or Kansas again. IMO March-April are not the best months to visit the Pacific NW or northern California.
In December DW and I are coming east on the California Zephyr as far as Burlington Iowa (Mississippi River) and renting a car to go to the east coast. Returning the car 10 days later in Burlington and taking the train west to Sacramento and the Coast Starlight north to Oregon (home).
Just my opinions, YMMV.

TennesseeGuy

You are going to get a LOT of different advice! I wish people would put where they are from? Country and environment.
I'm new to this sight. It seems to be mostly big city folks. I'm a small town guy- what some would call flyover country.
Do you want the big city experience, or the scenic?

Small town guy that I am; I would vote for the scenic stuff.
Yellowstone National Park- on the Montana/ Wyoming border. The Grand Canyon. I love Arizona and Colorado. Utah may be the most interesting state of all- canyons, stone arches, old cliff-dwelling sights. Nevada not only has Las Vegas but ghost towns, old time "western stuff". I think anyone who comes to the U.S. should visit Texas! Northern California, southern California desert. My own area- the south-east. I would rather go to the ocean on the Gulf of Mexico. Than the Atlantic or Pacific.
Charleston , S.C. Savannah, Ga. St. Augustine, Fl.

You will have to decide which types of things you want to see.Someone dished on Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska- That's "Great Plains" country-the heartland. Enormous farms, they don't measure by acres, but how many sections (square miles) they farm. Wide open country. If I didn't have to work, I could spend months traveling in the ares others would say to fly-over. Good luck with your trip.

janisj

>> IMO March-April are not the best months to visit the Pacific NW or northern California.

nytraveler

It is a big country - and in March/April you will have to take the southern route since there can still be bad weather (ice and snow) on the northern route and through the mountains.

When my parents retired they did a lot of road trips. My father LOVED to drive - and had no problem driving 7 or 8 hours per day then sightseeing and then driving again the next day. My mother was the navigator. They took 8 weeks to do NYC to CA and back - with minimal sisghtseeing in the eastern part - of which they had already seen a lot.

So I think you need to either select a relatively few places to see - or plan on taking almost all your time to get cross country.

For the best deal on a car rental you need to search in your own country to see what options there are that would be inclusive of tax, insurance and drop off fee. (There will be one but you may be able to get it lower rolled in with everything else.)

BKD

US 1st time suggestions:

1. New York
2. New Orleans (April is great for music)
3. Santa Fe, New Mexico
4. One of the national parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon)
5. San Francisco

In my opinion those are the most interesting places to go that will show you the diversity of this country. Flying most places is the way to go. It's a big country. You won't need a car in New York, New Orleans or San Francisco. One further thought is to throw in Charleston, South Carolina. Beautiful smaller city.

joethekay

As many of my European travelers tell me when I plan an itinerary, pick 3 or 4 locations and spend 5-6 days at each. That way you get to experience the local flavor of each town or area.
You can fly between cities and rent a car at each location.
Agreed 21 days is not a lot of time so pick what you MUST see and do those and come back and visit us again.

Marius_ZA

Thanks for all the advice! Will have to narrow it down and rather spend quality time at a place.

I am from South Africa btw.

Songdoc

What's going on with the Lufthansa plugs??? This is the third one I've seen this morning--and have only looked at a few threads.

msteacher

They are all from this same poster. Triangled.

Gardyloo

Hi, Marius -

As one who has driven thousands of km in SA and (many many) thousands of miles around the US, my take on three weeks in March/April would be to consider two separate road trips, one a loop around the "mid-Atlantic" states and a second one in California.

This mostly has to do with the weather; in March/April transcontinental drives are subject to bad weather - late snows, heavy rains/floods etc., especially in the high country - that you may encounter regardless of the route you choose.

Meanwhile, conditions in the east and on the west coast are much more pleasant.

For example, say you fly to New York and spend a couple of days in the city. Then take a train to Washington DC and visit that historic and lovely city. Get a car and drive around Virginia and North Carolina - the Blue Ridge Parkway (a linear national park along the crest of the mountains) is gorgeous. Visit some charming and historic towns - Charlottesville Virginia, for example, with its marvelous collection of buildings designed by Thomas Jefferson, including his home at Monticello, plus other presidential homes nearby. Flowers, trees in bloom, warm days not yet humid or hot... lovely.

Then back to DC and a flight to San Francisco. Same story - the Napa Valley wine country in spring, the beautiful and historic "Gold Rush" country along the west slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the drop-dead gorgeous coast between Monterey and San Luis Obispo, Spanish missions, Redwoods, quaint towns... so much to see. End back in SF or do a one-way drive to Los Angeles - visit the beaches, Hollywood, whatever.

There's way more in both regions than you can reasonably experience in three weeks, so you'll still have to do some editing. But it would be a terrific sampler.