Janisj, much appreciate your feedback. I am sorry, i have never been to USA before and what more, i am not familiar with distance for the PCH. i read most info in fodors and tripadvisor. ok to be clear, it is a mistake on day9 and have been revised

I will took a flight from Santa barbara to LAX

Days 1 & 2 SF
• Days 3 SF to YNP and return SF at 9pm by daytour
• Days 4 morning SF drive to Monterey/Carmel (stay at carmel/pismo beach)
Day 5: still remain at carmel beach area or suggest to stay a mid way city at carmel to Santa Ynez.
• Day 6 Carmel to Santa Ynez wineries and then to santa barbara for the night
• Day 7 Santa barbara drop car fly to LV via LA
• Day 8 - LV day trip to Grand canyon
• Day 9 - LV fly to LA - hollywood Beverley hills
• Day 10 LA (warner bros)
Day 11 - LA - tba
• Day 12 fly home at 3.45pm

Better -- the main thing is this:

>>• Days 4 morning SF drive to Monterey/Carmel (stay at carmel/pismo beach)
Day 5: still remain at carmel beach area or suggest to stay a mid way city at carmel to Santa Ynez.
• Day 6 Carmel to Santa Ynez wineries and then to santa barbara for the night<<

Let's simplify things since you are still lumping places far apart into the same days.

Day 4. Drive from SF to Monterey/Carmel. Stay in Carmel.
Day 5. Explore more of Point Lobos/Carmel/Monterey. Stay in Carmel
Day 6. Leave early in the morning and drive to Santa Barbara. Wine tasting in the area. Stay the night in Santa Barbara.
Day 7. See more of SB, drop the car and take an afternoon flight to LAX/Las Vegas.

Janis gives good advice.

Good advice from janis, btw, Carmel and Monterey are next to one another, but Pismo Beach is nowhere near Carmel.

Don't "fly to Las Vegas via Los Angeles", from Santa Barbara. Are there no nonstop flights from SB to Vegas? If not, there are low priced flights from Santa Maria California (just south of Pismo beach) to Las Vegas on allegiant air.

Also if your plan is Hollywood and Warner Brothers, fly into BURBANK airport from Las Vegas, not into Los Angeles airport. southwest.com has the internal flights from Vegas to Burbank

>>there are low priced flights from Santa Maria California (just south of Pismo beach) to Las Vegas on allegiant air. <<

I didn't mention Allegiant because they only fly that route 3 days a week. You can pretty much bet -- we convince magixxx to fly allegiant, and <i>then</i> find out the date doesn't work.

oops -- didn't mean to post . .

Whereas SB > LAX > Vegas runs three times a day, every day.

I'm trying to keep thing simple . . . ;)

I'd say skipping Santa Barbara is the best idea. Arriving into SB just for the evening with a look-see in the morning is a waste of time in my opinion especially considering it means a connecting flight to Las Vegas.

Considering all options...there's a 7pm flight from santa maria to las vegas on October 18th. So after spending the night of the 17th in Cambria or Morro Bay or Pismo Beach, they'd have all day to visit the beaches in the area, or 3 wineries, or even drive Foxen Canyon. (I think it's too early for the monarch butterfly grove near Pismo??)

This plan would also give them a full morning into the afternoon in Carmel/Monterey if they desired as their (current) plan there is too short. They wouldn't have to worry about rushing down to check-in @ Morro Bay/Pismo because they could have the entire next day in the area to explore, before their evening departure. Also gives them a day to see some of Las Vegas which they really don't have in their current plan.

Not all rental car companies allow one-way drop-offs just anywhere; often they require the receiving station to be a fairly substantial one, either downtown in a big city or at a major airport. Before suggesting dropping a car at Santa Barbara or Santa Maria, it would be best to check that it's even possible.

We've dropped both Avis and Hertz in Santa Maria and Alamo in SB. Shouldn't be a problem. Hertz and National/Alamo usually have the best rates for Australians. Magixxx , be sure to check that the rate quoted includes collision waiver, supplemental liability , and taxes and one-way fees. As long as you note your country of origin, the quotes should come back with those inclusions. The price should be in the $200-$250US range for 3.5 days one-way, pick up downtown San Francisco

Those Santa Maria- Las Vegas flights are few and far between ( as noted above) and unless you stay from Wednesday until Sunday or from Sunday to Wednesday... the prices are not such a bargain.

Of our three regional airports, Santa Maria ( SMX) is the most expensive always, then San Luis Obispo ( SBP), then Santa Barbara. ( SBA) Usually.

Santa Maria does offer free parking and is the least crowded, if that is important to you.

Well - parking wouldn't be an issue since because he'd be turning the car in and flying to Vegas.

But I generally try to avoid Allegiant -- their base fares are low but they charge extra for absolutely <i>everything</i>.

I too started off with something similar to your original plan and ended up doing it within CA. See my original itinerary planning thread and the final trip report below. Finally the trip was quite enjoyable and all thanks to the experts on this forum.

Btw, if you plan to drive to LV and/or GCP and still cover most parts of CA, you will need a minimum of 20 days and even then half of your time will be consumed by driving. My suggestion is to cover the SF-LA part by car and if you have to cover LV/GCP, use flights to avoid an additional 15-20 hours of driving.

Itinerary planning: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-itinerary.cfm

Trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...california.cfm

I am overwhelm by the very good suggestions by all fodors members.
Very informative and i will plan along as i go.
counting down now to the trip in Sept.

thanks alot !

FYI the one-way fare from Allegiant, Santa Maria nonstop to Vegas, works out to about $110 per person on October 18th. Fares do increase as fewer seats become available, however.