1

Re: the car rental, I can't advise on that. I actually didn't know companies rented cars to people under 25, so what do I know?

As for the route, to hit your specified places (Yosemite, San Fran, LA, SD and Phoenix), it will be quite a bit of driving, which you said you didn't want to do a lot of. That said, I won't try to dissuade you from doing what you want (as it annoys me on LP that some people can be so negative about other's planned itineraries). There is really only one route that makes sense if you want to see all those places: Vegas to Yosemite via the 15 to the 99 to the 41 through Bakersfield and Fresno. It's about 450 miles, so roughly seven hours. From Yosemite, you'll go northwest to San Fran. There are a few different routes to take, but any should be around four hours. From San Fran you'll head south to L.A., and I really recommend taking the more scenic PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, or Highway 1) rather than the faster I-5. It is one of the most beautiful drives in the country, skirts the coast nearly the whole way and there are great little towns (Carmel, Monterey, Santa Barbarba, etc.), and national parks (Los Lobos, Big Sur, etc.) to stop at along the way if you're interested. Taking the PCH from San Fran to L.A. is close to eight hours, so I'm thinking you'd want to break this up into two days and visit some of the cool places along the way. From L.A. to San Diego, you'll head down the 5. Depending on traffic, it could take you two hours or more, way more. Definitely check traffic when you leave and avoid rush hour at all costs. Rush hour during the week is anywhere from 6-9 am and 3:30-7 pm. I suggest saving that drive for the weekend, but even then sometimes it can be clogged. San Diego to Phoenix is about 5.5 hours via the 8.

Here is a map of my proposed driving route:

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=las+vegas,+nv&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3,Las+Vegas,+NV&gl=us&ei=FVchUYbcMa3BiwLV_IHYDw&ved=0CI4BELYD

2

Sorry, the link seems to not work. Well, I suggest using Google maps anyway and plugging in the route that I suggested.

3

Here's my standard answer:

There is no set "cheapest car rental." Any agency may be the cheapest at any time, dependent on dates, routes, etc.
kayak.com, priceline, expedia, travelocity, orbitz, hotwire, the individual agencies, etc., etc., etc. Also look at foreign brokers and foreign versions of the companies. They may or may not include any one-way fees and the mandatory insurance.
Make sure you compare prices like for like (some focus on subtotals, others totals).
It will take a lot of effort on your part.
See FAQ 144.

Gas just went over $5/gallon in California. Average car gets around 30-35 mpg.

First off, you aren't going to get to all the sights you list, unless you decide to drive every day. That's not really a honeymoon in my opinion.

14 days, Vegas to Phoenix:
The best thing to do is to fly straight to SF when you arrive in Vegas (or change your flight if you can).
3 nights SF.
Pick up the car.
2 nights Yosemite.
1 night Monterey.
1 night San Luis Obispo (try to make this Thursday).
3 nights L.A.
2 nights Vegas.
1 night Grand Canyon.
1 night Phoenix.

4

Couple of thoughts:

1. We've found an economy car with Thrifty for $459.07 for 13 & 1/2 Days not including the extra underage charge which would be about $25 a day. Do you think this is the best price we could get?

Does that price include (1) all taxes, (2) all insurance, and (3) the one-way drop-off fee you're going to be charged for dropping the car off in a different city than you picked it up in? I'm just raising these points since you don't seem to be fully familiar with car rentals (especially in the US, of course). Car rental agencies have a tendency of not revealing a lot of the "hidden costs," particularly on their web sites, until you're about to actually book the thing.

2. Take it from someone whose honeymoon was only a few years ago... unless you -- or, more importantly, your spouse -- are the type of person who just LOVES to drive, try for an itinerary that hits fewer places and where you get to spend more time in each place. I know there's a tendency to want to visit as many places as possible, especially when you've flown all this way, but you will have a much better time if you pick a few places and actually relax in them with your new spouse. Covering Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and the California coast in 14 days is close to impossible, and that's even if you move at breakneck speed -- not honeymoon speed.

5

Thanks for the replies everyone!

skibee11 : That's pretty much the exact route we were looking at doing! Thank you. I don't mind doing quite a bit of driving to see places once I'm not driving constantly. Once I have a night or two to stop off here and there I'll be fine. From San Fran - LA, where would you suggest staying overnight in between? We were thinking San Luis Obispo, any other suggestions?

bzookaj: Thanks for the route. We will look into how much driving I'll be comfortable with and stuff, may end up putting one flight in there if needs be. I'm not too worried about trying to get the relaxing parrt of the honeymoon in, before we get to Vegas we have 2 weeks in Florida (where we'll be getting married at the start), which will be a lot of relaxing, 5 nights in New York and 2 nights in Niagara Falls without driving so we want to then try to see what we need in California even if it means driving quite a bit. Thanks for the suggestions.

gwahicks: As far as I can see the total with Thrifty includes the tax and One-way drop off fee, I'll already have insurance. Do you know if this seems like a good price?

Thanks again everyone!

6

Basically the itinerary we're thinking, which is very similar to the one skibee11 said is below, we're open to help with tweaking it but try not to trash it completely :) We may be being unrealistic but it's all going to be changeable if we find over there we can't do it. I'm going to have a lot of hotels booked in each place with the company I work for that I can cancel last minute, so they'll be there for us to use if we feel we're driving to much.

Las Vegas on the 18th, do two nights then get the car on the 20th at about 7/8am, drive to the Grand Canyon (I'm thinking about 5/5 1/2 hours each way?), do the day in Grand Canyon and back down to the hotel in Vegas for the night.

Leave Vegas on the 21st early (about 7/7.30 am), head to Yosemite through Bakersfield (I'm thinking about 8 hours?), arrive in Yosemite at about 3/3.30pm, stay overnight somewhere around there (any suggestions? the closest hotel my company has is mammoth lakes so would need help with accommodation suggestions).

Spend some time in Yosemite and leave at about 3/4pm again, head to San Francisco (about 4 hours?), get there at latest 8.30pm, staying probably by the Bay Area, stay there for 2 nights.

This is where I'm not sure about timing etc. so really in need of help but basically leave San Fran on Thursday the 24th at about 11am, head down the coast towards the Big Sur, maybe stop off in Monterey for an hour (Is it worth it?), hopefully getting by the Big Sur giving ourselves time at about 3pm, spend some time around there (give ourselves maybe 3.5 hours, is this enough?), then at about 6.3/7 heading towards San Luis Obispo, get there at about 9/9.30 and spend the night (any accommodation suggestions?).

Spend some time there in the morning leaving at about 12pm (should we spend more time?), head down towards Santa Barbara, get there about 3pm, spend some time there or around there and leave again at about 7pm, head to LA.

Get to LA hotel at about 9pm, spend 2 nights in LA (or should we spend 1 night and put the other night somewhere else in between?). We really only want to do the touristy stuff in LA like Hollywood etc.

Leave LA on the 27th in the afternoon and head to Costa Mesa (we have a hotel there), spend the night there doing the beach etc. in the morning (We mightn't bothered but my partner reaaallllyyy wants to go to Newport Beach).

Leave there the next day on the 28th head to Carlsbad (Yes, I'ma big child, I want to see Legoland). Stay in Carslbad for a night (in legoland :) ) do legoland and the aquarium.

Head into San Diego on the 29th, drop stuff at hotel and go do the Zoo etc. Stay in hotel in San Diego that night.

Leave San Diego on the 30th to head to Scottsdale, about 6 hours so leave about 12/1 to get there at 6/7. Head to hotel, stay in Scottsdale for 2 nights before flying out of Phoenix Airport at 9pm on the 2nd of November.

Nights here and there can be changed around so tips on where to stay or where best to spend more time. We were planning only 1 night in LA but were advised to spend the 2 to see what we want (plus, my hotel upgraded us to a suite for our honeymoon so want to take advantage of that!).

Thanks for reading, advice is aprpeciated just don't try to rip it to shreds :p

7

H Jess - congratulations on your upcoming wedding, and I know you will enjoy the trip. Taken from your description above, here is where you are planning to spend each night (I find nights much easier to work with than days, in itineraries):

18 Oct — Las Vegas (Friday Night - so book early to avoid higher prices)
19 Oct — Las Vegas (Saturday Night - so book early to avoid higher prices)
20 Oct — Las Vegas (Grand Canyon South Rim day-trip - a long day)
21 Oct — Yosemite NP (Via Bakersfield - a long day)
22 Oct — San Francisco
23 Oct — San Francisco
24 Oct — San Luis Obispo
25 Oct — Los Angeles
26 Oct — Los Angeles
27 Oct — Costa Mesa (hotel booked)
28 Oct — Carlsbad (LegoLand)
29 Oct — San Diego (Zoo)
30 Oct — Scottsdale (very long drive from San Diego)
31 Oct — Scottsdale
01 Nov — Where?
02 Nov — Fly from Phoenix

As you can see, t seems you haven't accounted for 1 November - unless I misread your notes.

Without ripping your plans to shreds, you have some very long drives there to very good destinations, without any time to enjoy them. Without being sanctimonious (or condescending) it's possible for an Irish-person to under-estimate just how focking big the place is - and how far apart some places are.

If you do have an additional night, then I would strongly suggest you break up the drive from San Diego to Scottsdale, or if you can (a) stay a night at the Grand Canyon - it warrants it very much, or (b) spend an additional night at Yosemite NP - ditto. Both places are hugely romantic and are good honeymoon material indeed.

You can check UK-based carhire3000.om, to see what they can get for you, given your young age and lack of driving experience. We have used them, and they are intelligent and helpful.

For places like San Luis Obispo (check nearby Morro Bay too), LA, Carlsbad, San Diego, Scottsdale, and so on - you can look at the Wyndham Group website - they own a lot of motel chains at various prices, and again, it is an intelligent website and very good to use.

Good luck with it - and do LOTS of driving practice in Europe before you go!

8

Hey Jess. I'm glad you took our advice and want to rent a car! Here's my advice for you. Follow these steps exactly.

Go to http://www.hertz.co.uk and fill in your details for car rental. For car type, select "Show Me All". Check the box "Apply a discount code". A number of fields will appear. In the field called "Discount/CDP/Club Code", enter the secret code 1261109. In the field "Rate Code (RQ)" enter the word BEST. Click "Get a quote". (Note: I have permission to spread this code.)

For your dates, Oct 20 - Nov 2, I got a car at the price £249, i.e. $386 (prepaid). It includes LDW (covers all vehicle damage), liability, all taxes and fees, unlimited miles, and one-way drop off fees.

Now, since you're under 25, you will be charged $15 extra per day, adding another $195. Here's how to avoid that. There's a financial service in the US called USAA. It stands for United Services Automobile Association. It is free to become a member, and there are no special requirements. Go to http://www.usaa.com/military and sign up. Once you're a member, print your membership card (emailed to you), and present it when you pick the car up with Hertz. You will find the underage and additional driver fee waived. In fact, you can now rent a car even as an 18 year old! (Please note: Many Americans believe that you can only join USAA if you are military. This is a serious misconception. I have called both USAA and Hertz and asked them if I can use this method as a foreign tourist. The answer was YES.)

Now, onto the final step, which is not required but recommended. Go to the following URL: http://link.hertz.com/link.html?id=5014897&LinkType=CBLK then click "Join now" and fill in your information. This will allow you to join Hertz Gold for free (usually $60). What this means is that you can pick up your car much faster (no need to stand in line, go straight to the Gold counter). Same with drop-off. When I last rented a car, I was also upgraded to a premium vehicle for free "as a service for our Gold members". Additional driver fee's are also waived (already waived for USAA, but still, no harm in waiving twice).

That's it. $386 total, fully insured, no underage fees, no additional driver fees and, hopefully, in a premium vehicle! Enjoy your vacation :)

9

Thanks very much for your reply I appreciate all your advice! Have answered what I can below and may look for a little more help :)

As you can see, t seems you haven't accounted for 1 November - unless I misread your notes.

You're right, I did forget it :) I was wondering what was giong on as we had originally had 3 nights in Scottsdale then I thought I had previosuly miscalculated. We probably don't really need 3 nights in Scottsdale (do we?), it would probably be better used elsewhere.

Without ripping your plans to shreds, you have some very long drives there to very good destinations, without any time to enjoy them. Without being sanctimonious (or condescending) it's possible for an Irish-person to under-estimate just how focking big the place is - and how far apart some places are.

Yeah I understand, you're right it would be hard for us to comprehend it. But it's the best I can think of to get to see what we want, I unfortunately don't have any longer due to work! If it was you, where would you suggest cutting out/missing places, to spend time in others?

If you do have an additional night, then I would strongly suggest you break up the drive from San Diego to Scottsdale, or if you can (a) stay a night at the Grand Canyon - it warrants it very much, or (b) spend an additional night at Yosemite NP - ditto. Both places are hugely romantic and are good honeymoon material indeed.

If we were to use the extra night between San Diego - Scottsdale, where would you suggest? Would it be better used in the Grand Canyon or Yosemite? Or on the drive down the coast to see more?

For places like San Luis Obispo (check nearby Morro Bay too), LA, Carlsbad, San Diego, Scottsdale, and so on - you can look at the Wyndham Group website - they own a lot of motel chains at various prices, and again, it is an intelligent website and very good to use.

With hotels we have starwood hotels (I work for them) booked in most places, which are cancellable, and I have my Las Vegas hotel booked already for our 3 nights there which is also cancellable.

Good luck with it - and do LOTS of driving practice in Europe before you go!

I'll make sure to practise a lot! And thanks again :)

10

I don't know anything about Scottsdale other than it has golf courses and up-scale residential areas ... so I can't be more useful than that. Why are you spending two nights there?

I would drop one of Costa Mesa or Carlsbad (possibly even both) - still see LegoLand on the drive from Los Angeles to San Diego - it's not that long a rip.

If you kept the long (but straightforward) drive between San Diego and Scottsdale, plus drop one night between LA and San Diego, I would add one back to the Grand Canyon (allows you to see the lovely sunset and sunrise at the South Rim), and add one more night at Yosemite NP. Adds balance.

Yes ... one reason we use Wyndham Group (apart from the good value) is that most bookings are cancellable up to the day of arrival, which is really handy because you inevitably change things on the road.

Good luck - the Americans will have more to say no doubt, when they wake up!

11

And you can check out all the pumpkins on the up-scale porches of Scottsdale ... Thursday 31 October is Halloween.

12

Nope.

I suggest a well-placed flight, as I noted in my previous answer.
It helps you avoid having to drive the long drive west at the beginning.
But your trip.

Yosemite.

13

I don't know anything about Scottsdale other than it has golf courses and up-scale residential areas ... so I can't be more useful than that. Why are you spending two nights there?

To be honest because we wanted somewhere to relax before flying home from Phoenix where we could literally just sit by the pool and it seemed like it would be warm! Also we have a great hotel there that I can get for very cheap, and they're offering upgrades and stuff for honeymoon. I would drop one of Costa Mesa or Carlsbad (possibly even both) - still see LegoLand on the drive from Los Angeles to San Diego - it's not that long a rip.

If you kept the long (but straightforward) drive between San Diego and Scottsdale, plus drop one night between LA and San Diego, I would add one back to the Grand Canyon (allows you to see the lovely sunset and sunrise at the South Rim), and add one more night at Yosemite NP. Adds balance.

I want to stay in the legoland hotel in Carlsbad that will be opening in April. Yes, as I said I'm a big child :) Might sacrifice this though for somewhere else but we'll see. Might be able to convince my partner we can just stop at Newport beach on the way so then we can not stay in Costa Mesa. (that way, i get to keep my legoland night :D) Then add on the days where you said.

Yes ... one reason we use Wyndham Group (apart from the good value) is that most bookings are cancellable up to the day of arrival, which is really handy because you inevitably change things on the road.

Yeah its always very handy because we do expect things to change! I'm sure I won't want to drive at some stage and end up spending longer somewhere, or we might not like a certain place and end up moving on quicker etc. so it's good to not be tied down

Good luck - the Americans will have more to say no doubt, when they wake up!

:) Thanks again you've been great!

bzookaj : Thanks, might do as suggested above and add one night to each but will prob end up with at least the two nights for Yosemite. Any advice on lodging?

14

Good advice from ian on carhire3000.com, they will include all insurance and can often get the one way dropoff fees waived. I would add another night to the Highway 1 drive and stay in Cambria instead of San Luis Obispo which is not on the coast. For a honeymoon I would stay in Carmel or maybe Pacific Grove. Scottsdale is boring.