Road Tripping in the USA!

Soldato
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Evening gents, have booked some flights to New York next year for the start of September and am looking at car rental prices which are quite high. I'll be requiring a car upon leaving NY for 15 days and so far it's working out at £450 for a full size with Budget. (Not overly keen, other more reputable firms like Hertz etc are up in silly money)

Am i better off booking sooner rather than later or will the prices likely drop if I book 3-6 months out or even closer to the time?
 
Man of Honour
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New York is probably the most expensive place in the mainland US to rent a car from. You'd have been better off flying to somewhere like Boston, saving a fortune on your rental and adding another city to the list to see. Boston is nice.
 
Caporegime
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Tried this in GD and didn't get much info so hoping someone here will want to share some views.

I'm going to America for a wedding next summer and starting to plan things.

I'll be flying from Birmingham into Newark airport, meeting my brother, then driving on to Niagara Falls via Allentown to see relations and Pittsburgh for the wedding. Newark is the cheapest for me from Birmingham, though it does go via Reykjavik.

I'll be there for a week in total so my questions are: what route should we take (assuming there's no reason I should make an effort to fly from another UK airport) and what else should we aim to see along the way and once we get to Niagara? Not sure we'll have an awful lot of spare time between driving there and back and the wedding, but any essentials are gratefully received.

Map for reference:

hyL2Ns8.png

Thanks.
 
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Soldato
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New York is probably the most expensive place in the mainland US to rent a car from. You'd have been better off flying to somewhere like Boston, saving a fortune on your rental and adding another city to the list to see. Boston is nice.

I wouldn't want to take a car anywhere near Manhattan so even if I flew into Boston I'd be ditching it for 5 days during the New York segment and only have to rent one again on the way out.

I suppose finishing with New York would have been the smart thing to do but it's too late for smart decisions :)

If I book from Boston I can save about £100 but again only with Budget and the others are still up in £800+ territory. The saving would probably be wiped out getting to Boston without a car though...

Boston looks great but the hotels are through the roof! More than central Manhattan for the most part!
 
Soldato
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So I’m off to SF-Monterey-Yosemite Valley-Tioga Pass- Lake Tahoe- Half Moon Bay

Really want a 4x4 if possible as based on previous experiences the mountain roads weren’t kind to a convertible mustang.

Are there any sites that will give me the 4x4 model? I’m guessing the SUV option with Expedia etc will be the FWD editions of the Ford Escape etc?

Or are there other options I should be considering? I had a Focus last year for my trip round Vermont and New Hampshire mountains and while it was great to drive it was lacking in boot space for two big cases. Ford Fusion perhaps?

Thanks in advance!
 
Soldato
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Our delayed honeymoon is now booked for next August - very excited!

In the end we decided not to go with a convertible as it seemed like it wouldn't have good enough boot space... got a fairly good deal via TrailFinders on a "Nissan Maxima or equivalent" which I'm sure will be just fine
 
Caporegime
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So I’m off to SF-Monterey-Yosemite Valley-Tioga Pass- Lake Tahoe- Half Moon Bay

Really want a 4x4 if possible as based on previous experiences the mountain roads weren’t kind to a convertible mustang.

Are there any sites that will give me the 4x4 model? I’m guessing the SUV option with Expedia etc will be the FWD editions of the Ford Escape etc?

Or are there other options I should be considering? I had a Focus last year for my trip round Vermont and New Hampshire mountains and while it was great to drive it was lacking in boot space for two big cases. Ford Fusion perhaps?

Thanks in advance!

At a guess they will probably be AWD if they are an SUV, although I question why you’ll need 4x4?! Extra ground clearance certainly, but where are you planning on going that needs the extra traction? Planning on doing it in Winter?
 
Man of Honour
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At a guess they will probably be AWD if they are an SUV, although I question why you’ll need 4x4?! Extra ground clearance certainly, but where are you planning on going that needs the extra traction? Planning on doing it in Winter?

Tioga Pass is closed in winter anyway.
 
Soldato
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At a guess they will probably be AWD if they are an SUV, although I question why you’ll need 4x4?! Extra ground clearance certainly, but where are you planning on going that needs the extra traction? Planning on doing it in Winter?

There has been some snow and ice reported on the Tioga Pass/Glacier Point roads and Tahoe area is sub zero at night. Doing it a week today.

Would just prefer the extra traction if the SUV offers it and the luggage space but if it's not a 4x4 then I may as well stick with a focus/fusion. It's 40 quid difference for the SUV....
 
Soldato
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Evening gents, have booked some flights to New York next year for the start of September and am looking at car rental prices which are quite high. I'll be requiring a car upon leaving NY for 15 days and so far it's working out at £450 for a full size with Budget. (Not overly keen, other more reputable firms like Hertz etc are up in silly money)

Am i better off booking sooner rather than later or will the prices likely drop if I book 3-6 months out or even closer to the time?

I got a rental from Jersey City and it was about half the price of a similar rental from within NY. PATH train made it easy to get to JC.
 
Associate
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I got a rental from Jersey City and it was about half the price of a similar rental from within NY. PATH train made it easy to get to JC.

Same goes for hotels. Obviously if you are having big nights you want to be in Manhattan but for those of us with kids - we stayed in a hotel with a great view of downtown Manhattan in Jersey City. As mentioned easy to get in and out - we used the boat!
 
Soldato
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I got a rental from Jersey City and it was about half the price of a similar rental from within NY. PATH train made it easy to get to JC.
Just checked and it seems to be about the same as renting in Boston or Rhode island but again budget are the only ones offering sensible prices.

Sounds like the way to go though as it's a good balance of easy to get to Vs cost, thanks!
 
Soldato
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Flights all booked now. Out to Houston on Thursday 18th, return on Saturday 11th.

Will stay Houston Thursday night then head up to Austin for the gp weekend,then something along the lines of the following.
Dallas
Oklahoma
Memphis
Nashville
Chatanooga
Smokey Mountain Park
Charlotte
Atlanta
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Houston

Will work out some finer details but will leave it flexible and book hotels when we're there for the majority.

Need to get the car sorted next, what class do I need then fox?

Heading off next Thursday now! Got a few of the recommendations from this thread to potentially check out, but if anyone has any first hand experience of good things to see/do please shout them out.
 
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