sevenstars

Two of us are travelling from Europe March 05 for two weeks. We intend staying in each Park for 4 days with the balance skiing. My question is as follows: Which is the better way of travelling while in the US- car hire or internal flights?
Any comments greatly appreciated!

PaulRabe

It depends. Air travel is better for longer distances, particularly one way travel (car rental one-way fees are a killer). If you don't have a lot of time or are on a schedule, air travel reduces the chances of being late.
Car rental is better if you have a lot of people (you pay the same whether one person or six people travel in a car) or you want to see a lot of things between your destinations. It could be a problem if you travel during times of bad weather.

Based on when you have chosen to travel, the two destinations you have chosen, and the number of people in your party; I would recommend air travel between Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.

Before you make any further plans, I should mention March is NOT a good time to visit Yosemite. You could start your drive there in clear skies and then face a blizzard with a meter of snow falling. March IS a good time to visit the Canyon, so you may want to think about just skiing in the Tahoe Region, with Yosemite as a possibility if the weather permits it.

curmudgeon

A lot depends on how much you mind doing long driving days. Even with the airport hassles, and turning in a car at the one airport and renting one at another, flying will save you time. If you can find some points of interest along the way, it may be worth driving. There can be significant surcharges for one-way car rentals (and it often matters which way the car is going at what time of year, taking a car from Phoenix to Reno in March would typically be cheaper than the reverse direction). You can get a feel for driving distances using a site like www.mapquest.com (but don't put too much trust in computer directions for remote areas).

If it were me, I might fly into Phoenix, rent a car there, drive to GC and spend a couple of nights there (still cold in March), drive up to Las Vegas and spend a day, drive to Death Valley and spend a day (good time for DV), then go up to Tahoe for skiing, head down to Yosemite, then to whatever airport has a good return flight.

Remember that the North Rim of Grand Canyon will still be closed by snow in March, as will the E-W route across Yosemite (and much of the high country there).

Michael

If you like cross country skiing, March is a good time for Yosemite. You have a free shuttle to the Badger Pass ski area where you can rent cross country skis and ski a 7 mile round trip to Dewey Point overlooking the valley. Count on the whole day for the trip with lunch at Dewey Point.

The problem with flying is that it does not get you into the parks themselves. You may have problems getting reservations for Yosemite--we used to get them one year ahead of time.

sevenstars

Many thanks to everyone. While long car runs are not a problem, lack of time may be. Our priority is spending time in each of the parks and some skiing. Are open-jaw flights available such as New York- Phoenix and returning Reno -New York?

curmudgeon

You might find some decent open-jaw options on America West - they use Phoenix and Las Vegas as hubs. Southwest is another option, but they don't tend to fly out of the big East Coast airports. Southwest doesn't sell through travelocity, orbitz, yahoo travel and the like, so you have to check www.southwest.com for flights with them.

Michael

If cost is an issue, you might want to try Alpine Meadows and Sugar Bowl for downhill skiing. The first offers $39 tickets every day, and the latter has $39 tickets available through the Safeway Supermarket. Both are located on the north side of Lake Tahoe.