tomfuller

Consider this instead of paying a drop off fee on your rental car: Fly from Lafayette Louisiana to Las Vegas on Allegiant.
http://www.allegiantair.com/aaRouteMapStatic.php
The rental cars in LV are among the cheapest anywhere.
Drive from LV to see all of your other destinations and return the car in LV and fly home from there.

janisj

Tom - we know you like Allegiant, but what good will it do to fly into Vegas since the OP wants to go to New Mexico??

They definitely don't have time to do a loop tour starting and ending in LV and hitting NM/AZ/CO/Coastal CA/Yosemite/SF . . . .

janisj

. . . Plus Lafayette is a long way from NO. Does that make any sense just to save a few $$ on a rental car

HG001London

thanks all, i have been super busy re-planning more and more. We have slightly changed it (am sure will change again!) to

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: 4
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: 2
TAOS, NEW MEXICO 1
DURANGO, COLORADO: 3
MONUMENT VALLEY, UTAH: 1
GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA: 2
LAS VAGAS, NEVADA: 3
SANTA BABARA, CALIFORNIA: 2
CARMEL, CALIFORNIA: 2
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: 4

I.e we have currently decided to cut out Yosomite or extra days elsewhere.

Know lots will disagree but we were looking at in quite a lot and i think we would prefer to have a bit more of a relax time in NOLA and SF with an extra day in each as well as an extra day in Vegas, especially in NOLA as we are flying there specifically.

Im hoping this is now "our route" but i expect it will change many many more times!! Thanks everyone.

Thanks for the car rental advice Tom but i think it may not suit us too much to have to do a loop, i really appreciate the info though-this site really is very helpful! And Janisj thanks for help too.

My only slight fear is what the weather will be like in NM in early April, we dont mind cold but would be a little nervous of very icy roads there or even in colorado. Apart from that we are quite comfortable with this routes as it cuts journey times and gives is a bit more time in certain locations.

tomfuller

If you drop a rental car at SFO that you rented in Albuquerque it could be quite a few $$. The drop off fee in Louisiana between NOL and Lafayette will likely be cheaper.
If you fly to LV on any airline, you can spend 1 day in LV and then cover Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and then New Mexico.
From New Mexico head north to Denver/Estes Park and then I-70 and I-15 back to Las Vegas. You can decide then whether to fly to San Francisco or continue driving the rental car into California for Death Valley, Yosemite and San Francisco.
Renting and returning at the same place is one of my mantras.
Whichever route you choose you will see some fantastic scenery provided the weather is good.

janisj

"Renting and returning at the same place is one of my mantras."

That can be a REAL false economy. Even if you save a few bucks a day what good is that if you have to do some convoluted/hellacious loop drive??

HG001London: Back to your questions. It is your trip and only you know your travel style/interests . . . But if it was me and I had the option of 2 or 3 days in Yosemite--or an extra 2 days in Las Vegas, Yosemite would win every time. April is a magnificent time of year in Yosemite Valley.

HG001London

Hi Tom, thanks for your info...i have to admit i am just making assumptions about car rental being available from NM with a drop off in SF and will pay extra for this providing its not too extreme.. i'm guessing the extra "fees" cant be more than $300? if they are then maybe il re-think but it does just seem like a lot of extra time to fly into LV travel to colorado, down to NM and then back onwards back to LV and then west to california. it means we have to drive down to NM and then back again and if this is case we may as well fly direct to denver no?

maybe i need to hit the car rental sites.....

Thanks Tom.

HG001London

Hey Janisj..ohh its so hard, i have to admit i am tempted by yosemite...I am willing to lose a day in San Fran (We plan to go again and t arrive by afternoon. Could also lose a day in vegas but pretty keen now for the full 4 nights in NOLA as we would have flown from London and be jet-lagged etc. But i could losed a day in San Fran and LV but is it worth going to Yosemite for just w nights?

I Guess it would need to be...

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: 4
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: 2
TAOS, NEW MEXICO 1
DURANGO, COLORADO: 3
MONUMENT VALLEY, UTAH: 1
GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA: 2
LAS VAGAS, NEVADA: 2
SANTA BABARA, CALIFORNIA: 2
CARMEL, CALIFORNIA: 2
YOSEMITE, CALIFORNIA: 2
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: 3

i could maybe lose a night in Carmel but not sure.....

oh its so hard!!

janisj

Maybe first see IF you can get accommodations at Yosemite Lodge for your dates. It usually books up far in advance. If you can't get in at the Lodge (or maybe the tent cabins at Curry Village) then that could help you decide against going to Yosemite. You could always go there when you return to SF on another trip.

If you can get a room at Yos. Lodge -- then it is fate -- you MUST got here