American Holiday

Hi Shell

My wife & i are planning a trip to the USA and will be interested in the replies
you get.

regards Dave

Hi Shell,

Im planning on a motor home trip next April May for 6-8 weeks.

People are doing it tough in the US at the mo so be prepared to haggle and youll get a better deal.

June July and Aug are there summer and when everyone want to go camping/holidaying so be prepared for crowds. (I'm going earlier to miss them). Im starting in the Southern states in April ( Itll be warm) then heading north in May.

The oz dollar being close to parity makes it even more attractive. Ive bought $2000 US dollars because i think the Oz dollar will come down a bit.

Cheers Wilko

I have friends over there atm and they were telling me there are places that sell you a motorhome with a guaranteed buy back price.

They have relatives in Florida and said that some of the places have literally acres and acres of used units from motorhomes to 5th wheelers
U name it they have it.
Only thing is I think you have to own a truck and be overseas for 12 months if you want to bring it back.
You also have to have an import licence BEFORE it leaves the USA.

Cam mail them for websites if it will help you.

Shell,

In part it depends on where you want to go and whether you want to do everything independently or go on some tours. A few years back we did a motor home trip up one side of the Rockies and down the other. There are some places you cannot take a motor home either because the roads in the national parks are too narrow or too twisty (parts of Yellowstone, Death Valley, Glacier and Sequoia NPs because the roads were built during the depression years and just wind through/around the vegetation/features.

Our next trip we will be part motor home and part car to solve this problem, but it means lost of research to avoid disappointments.

BruceV

Hi Shell,

We are from Perth but currently in Tampa, Florida and have been there for the last 4 months of a 6 month work assignment. I have looked into hiring an RV for some of our trips but it is horrendously expensive once you take all things into account. When you look at the fine detail, they also charge 30c/mile on top of the ~$150/day vehicle charge (don't forget tax is NOT included in the quoted price). Additionally, the gas mileage will be ~3-4 times worse than a vehicle. And they charge extra for the linen and crockery packages.

We worked out it will be cheaper to stay at hotels than hire an RV. Compare that with a hire car at ~$25/day (Avis full size - Chev Impala or similair) and factor in the additional fuel, RV park costs and its up to $150/day difference.

By hiring a car at the airport for 1 day ~$50/day, then pick up one at a suburban branch for 30-50% cheaper the next day for the duration of your trip - free to drop off at an airport. And get your own GPS to, use the $10/day one from the airport to get you to BestBuy and get a Garmin Nuvi for ~$100 - includes free traffic updates which actually work in the USA.

Hotels/Inns/Motels are EVRYWHERE here, the budget stuff starts at ~$35/night (bit rough) and goes up from there. We typically stay at the Hilton chain (Homestead suites / Embassy Suites / etc...) but also have used Holiday Inn and a few others. While they are more expensive (typically $89/night and upwards - average $129/night), they include breakfast and this saves ~$30 towards the price (family of four for us). Also, food is cheaper than in AUS so more savings again.

Now if visiting big tourist attractions (Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone NP etc...) they are well set up for RV's with approriate parking space and turning zones. But if you travel to places like New York, well I had enough issues driving a car, would not even start to tackle it in an RV. We stayed at a hotel between Central Park and Times Square, everything on our doorstep for ~$200/night. Bit expensive like everything in New York, but works out cheaper than staying further away and commuting in (I only have limited time to travel, could only stay 4 night in NY but did see the Macy Day Parade).

The other advantage is that you can drop a hire car off at the airport, fly from Tampa to Buffalo (Niagera Falls) for $89 and see that attraction. You cannot do that in an RV as they are mostly return to base. We then drove back from there to Tampa and saw the east coast, fuel cost was <$150 and hotels averaged less than $100 (I did use a lot of HH points from previous business trips). Point being, you can fly cheaply one way in the States between major attractions, all depends on what time you have and where you want to go.

Anyway, let me know if you want any more info

Cheers

Captain

Hi Dave and Shell,

I'm an expat who divides time between our home in San Diego and our farm in Childers.

Personally I would take the car/motel route reather than RV, here is a link for the RV option

RV OPTION

If you rent a car, most options are available on line and as in Oz if you pick up from the airport there is an airport surcharge. Also make sure you use a credit card such as AMEX which covers insurance on the car so you are not up for the additional coverage.

What do you want to see, cities, landscapes, open spaces or ???

In my opinion these are some of the do not miss options;

1. everyone goes to Disneyland.
2. Hollywood.......I find it boring
3. San Diego Zoo...great animals and plant collection
4. San Diego Wild Animal Park
5. Las Vegas....for the experience
6. Grand Canyon
7. Bryce and Zion National Parks....I thing they're better than Yellowstone
8. A drive across the Rockies to Denver. Across Wolf Creek Pass @ 14,000Ft
9. San Francisco.....wonderful city
10 East coast with Boston, New York
11. Down through the Carolina's and Virginia ......for the history
12. Florida does not do do much for me
13. New Orleans is a must just for the food
14. in Texas wide open spaces and contrasting cities of Houston/Dallas and Austin.

There are cheap and good eat places everywhere but remember taxes are added to everything usually 5-12% and the tip of 15% on top of that so generally add 25% to the menu price in most places.

DO NOT in any circumstance be tempted to cross the border into Mexico for a quick look. It is simply to dangerous for tourists at the moment.

And lastly, when you step off the plane in Los Angeles, you may think you have entered a third world country but reserve judgement until you leave LA.
My suggestion would be to grab a car and head an hour or so south to San Clemente or Carlsbad to get some fresh air,

Let me know if I can help in anyway.

Bruce
San Diego/Fallbrook
Childers/Qld