Professorguitar

We arrive in Los Angeles on 15th August and leave on 1 December. We intend to spend approx 9 weeks in US and 6 weeks in Central America. We would like to know the best way to plan our trip.
Current thinking is to head to San Fran along the coast road and Yosemite before getting to NYC. From there south to Memphis, New Orleans and Miami etc, then to Mexico and the Caribbean. Ultimately, making it back to Los Angeles via Las Vegas and Grand Canyon.
This is certainly not fixed and I am looking for ideas how this might be varied to make best use of weather and avoiding peak times.
One consideration is to buy a car and drive. Another is to use all other means.
Please post ideas how we might structure our trip.

Placename

1. Are you entering under the Visa Waiver Program? If so, you will need to have a return ticket that departs the north American continent within 90 days of your arrival. Your trip exceeds 90 days as I see it.

2. Purchasing a car for such a short time is rarely ever a cost-saving venture. You need to invest substantial capital in buying an older vehicle. You will need to have a mechanic go over it and fix problems. You may need to purchase new tires. You will need US insurance. Depending on the state in which you buy it, you may have to have a US address to register the car. You will need to pay sales tax on it. Driving in Mexico is not for the faint of heart. It could be difficult to get repairs if you don't speak Spanish. You cannot sell a US registered car in any country other than USA. You likely will take a bath on the car sale at the end of the trip because your time will be short and the vehicle not very desireable.

Professorguitar

Thanks. I think the advice on purchasing a car is good. It was just a thought and not a necessity.
With regard to US visa I thought if I left and then came back in the 3 months starts again? I'll need to check this out.

nytraveler

Not sure about thee visa program - I know about the US, not about all of north american - suggest you contact the nearest embassy to check this out.

Agree buying and then reselling a car will be very expensive. A reasonably reliable used car is not cheap (at least $5 or $6 K) and I'm not aware you can get insurance (rules of which differ state by state) without having a fixed address in the US. And to get insurance you will somehow have to provide complete details of your driving record - or you may be put in the risk pool with very high insurance rates. And insuring a car you are taking out of the US can be very difficult - esp taking it to Mexico. (And don't know where you will be going in Mexico - but there are parts which are NOT under the control of the government - but of drug cartels.) Never mind that you will have trouble reselling when you are ready to leave.

I would definitely rethink this.

capxxx

There are car leasing programs in the US, where you sign a contract to pay (a dealer--the same company that sells the cars) by the month for x months. And I've seen advertisements from companies that offer to take care of the paperwork (including car insurance) for foreign nationals and students. But leasing deals contracts usually go for a year or more, so I don't know.

Other options are (1) renting the car from a rental agency, of course; (2) getting a Zipcar membership, which would give you access to a car for day trips and such.

tomfuller

The Zipcar idea seems to be your best idea. The insurance is included in their daily fee. You do have to return the car to the spot where you picked it up.
Consider traveling from city to city on Amtrak trains with either a 30 or 45 day USA Rail Pass http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/selectpass
My wife and I once used rail passes for a trip from Oregon to Florida and back through southern California (30 days).

Placename

1. Your assumption about VWP is incorrect:

First of all, if you arrive in the US by airplane, you must have a departure ticket from the north American continent within 90 days of your arrival. The airline that you board to the US will check this and may deny you boarding if you do not have this. That is an expensive mistake to make when you have to re-book and by a return ticket. Very expensive.

Secondly, the VWP does not "re-set" when you leave the country unless you can prove you left the NA continent ( that means leaving Mexico, too) for a substantial amount of time. Substantial being intentionally nebulous so that it is up to the immigration agent as to whether you are allowed entry or not. Again, a very expensive plane ticket to buy if you are denied entry into the US.

Buying a round trip ticket that returns you 126 days after your entry to the US is not in compliance with the VWP rules. Be forewarned.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wi...hout_1990.html

I'm sure you will find anonymous posters who will tell you some anecdote about a third cousin who didn't have to follow those rules. Being denied entry means you sit in an isolated room in the airport with benches and vending machines, not allowed to enter the airport. You get no phone calls. You wait until the airline can return you to your city of origin, on their dime, at their leisure. You can wait days. And you must get a B1/2 visa if you wish to return to the US within 5 years.

Placename

Most US car travel can be made as a series of round trips from a central city (LA, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Denver, Miami, etc) returning the car to the same city it was rented from, then flying on to another region for another round-trip rental.

Buses in Mexico are far better to travel on than driving. Lots of buses of various classes and no worry about finding safe parking at night.

nytraveler

Even if you could rent a car long-term in the US I very much doubt that they would allow you to take it to Mexico at all. (Some rental agencies don;t even allow cars to be take to Canada!)

As for cross-county travel, Amtrak is excrutiating. It doesn't go many places, has very few trains and the are often (generally?) late - sometimes many hours. the only reliable service I am aware of is the NE corridor (DC through NYC to Boston) which has many trains a day and is rarely more than a few minutes late (accidents and blizzard excepted). I would do either one-way rentals or flights for longer legs (can be very inexpensive if buoght far in advance).

Professorguitar

Thanks everyone. We adjusted our time to be in US for 90 days only and will rent cars at each destination travelling by other means between each city.