Hi to everyone!
We are planning a trip from San Fran (maybe Seattle) to New Orleans to New York. Wondering if it is too expensive to hire a car in Seattle and drive to New Orleans or New York without returning it to the state it was hired in?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Cheers!

I've checked Hertz, and the rate they quoted is pretty high-$784 for two weeks, unlimited mileage, with no drop-off charge in New York, starting in San Francisco. There are other options, depending upon how much time you have. You could fly domestically on an airline like Southwest Airlines, which has about the best 21 day in advance tickets. You could stop in a couple of cities along the way. The train is an option, if you are going from big city to big city; $ 318 per person with 3 stopovers in a 45 day period. Or you could go by bus. That would get you from almost any city to almost any other city. Or, you could buy a car in San Francisco, and try to sell it in New York. But that's only an option for someone with a lot of time and patience with the bureaucracy. Hope this helps!

We used to own a motorhome and to recoup some of the money spent on it we found a company that would lease it out to vacationers like yourself. Most people who rented my motorhome were from Europe or Austrailia. Mine slept 6, had a kitchen, oven, microwave, color t.v. shower and toilet. Its not cheap but given what a car costs and motel rooms it might come out the same or a little more but it would give you the freedom to go where you want. There are very nice campgrounds in the states, complete with laundromats, showers, grocery stores, pools, jacuzzis, full hook ups. Let me know if I can help any more, then when I come to Austrailia you can help me!!

We used to own a motorhome and to recoup some of the money spent on it we found a company that would lease it out to vacationers like yourself. Most people who rented my motorhome were from Europe or Austrailia. Mine slept 6, had a kitchen, oven, microwave, color t.v. shower and toilet. Its not cheap but given what a car costs and motel rooms it might come out the same or a little more but it would give you the freedom to go where you want. There are very nice campgrounds in the states, complete with laundromats, showers, grocery stores, pools, jacuzzis, full hook ups. Let me know if I can help any more, then when I come to Austrailia you can help me!!

I vote for Northwest Airlines. Rent a car when you get to a given city. The drive is monsterous and you will quickly become board.