US help.

[califonia]

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At this point, it's a good idea to hop over to SF (it's a 90-minute flight on Virgin America) and spend a few days there for a change of scenery. It'll be a bit cool in January, but it'll still be great fun.

Sorry to hijack your thread. I book virgin air from SF-LV. Just realized that every checked-in luggage is chargeable. Our plan is to bring just 1 big luggage there and hopefully buy 1 more in US. I found that my big luggage is classified as over-size!

What are my options now? pay the excess or try to split into few smaller luggages (we try to simplify the baggages as we have young kids to handle)

 

[critical888]

mail the empty luaggage to the next destination bro? than use a haversack to keep the item

 

[xtwis7]

Sorry to hijack your thread. I book virgin air from SF-LV. Just realized that every checked-in luggage is chargeable. Our plan is to bring just 1 big luggage there and hopefully buy 1 more in US. I found that my big luggage is classified as over-size!

What are my options now? pay the excess or try to split into few smaller luggages (we try to simplify the baggages as we have young kids to handle)

Whats the charges for oversized but not overweight luggage? Having multiple pieces might not make economical sense as the subsequent pieces may be even more expensive. Some airlines don't practice fixed price for each piece.

 

[califonia]

I am not even sure if oversized luggage can be checked in?
It says every checked in luggage is charged at $25/pc and must not exceed 50 pound and size not exceeding 62" (L+W+H).

Maybe should have just opt to drive from SF to LV stopping by for a night near Red Rock Canyon instead.

Whats the charges for oversized but not overweight luggage? Having multiple pieces might not make economical sense as the subsequent pieces may be even more expensive. Some airlines don't practice fixed price for each piece.

 

[califonia]

huh?
btw, will call you before i leave.

mail the empty luaggage to the next destination bro? than use a haversack to keep the item

 

[critical888]

huh?
btw, will call you before i leave.

sure, call or text me anytime, but take note of my overseas date

thanks!

 

[Shiny Things]

1. in SF. Any car park near the Pier that I can park for say half to a day? That will be the time I visit Alcatraz and have lunch/dinner by the Pier.

Nooooooooo, don't do this. Driving in San Francisco will make you hate yourself. It's nightmarishly complicated, expensive, and just a general pain in the ass, and I say that as someone who lives in downtown SF and owns a car. Leave your car at whatever hotel you're staying at, and use public transport to get around.

2. In LV, my kids say they'll like to hop from hotel to hotel to view heir theme and preferably amusement parks. Which hotels are recommended for kids and is it relatively easy to park in the hotel though we are not staying in? BTW, we are staying in Aria so I think not much for the kids there.

So there's a couple of things in here. The first thing is that you don't want to drive from casino to casino. Driving up and down the strip is a bloody nightmare - save the car for trips out to Red Rock Canyon or the Valley of Fire. Getting up and down the strip is easier on the Deuce bus ($8 per person for an all-day ticket), or grab a taxi, or just walk.

Your kids will want to hit up a few things:
* The Shark Reef aquarium at the Mandalay Bay;
* The Bodies exhibit at the Luxor, if they're not grossed out by that stuff;
* The roller-coaster at New York New York;
Those three are down the bottom end of the strip; you can do them all in one hit. Further up the strip:
* The gondolas at the Venetian;
* The tiger/dolphin habitat at the Mirage;
* The fountains at the Bellagio.

Also fun, but further out, are the Pinball Hall of Fame (15 minutes in a taxi), Red Rock Canyon (30 minutes' drive), and the Organised Crime Museum (30 minutes on the Deuce bus).

 

[Shiny Things]

SSeems like visiting a tour agency might be the easiest, but before that I want to give it a shot first before I give up.

Don't do this - do it yourself. You'll have WAY more fun.

The plan is to be for 2weeks. We will head to California first where we want to go to Disneyland, Six Flags, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite Parks, and maybe relax abit on a beach if there's time. (July is Summertime right?)

Skip the beach - the water off California is cold even in summer (and yes, July is summer). Otherwise, yep, that all sounds good.

You'll want to pull up Google Maps and look at where you want to go. Disneyland and Six Flags are both generally in Los Angeles. Yosemite is further up north, about halfway between SF and Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon is over on the far side of Las Vegas. That's a lot of ground to cover.

I'd actually give Yosemite the flick, and look at more national parks over near the Grand Canyon. The great thing about visiting in July is that you can do a loop a bit like the one on this map, starting in Vegas and hitting the Valley of Fire, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and the Grand Canyon all in about four or five days. I've done this loop three times now - it's brilliant driving, the scenery is unmissable, and it's something very very unique. It's a classic American road trip.

And if your boyfriend likes to drive, get him a treat. Hertz in Las Vegas will rent you a Chevy Corvette Stingray for dirt-cheap - it's the ultimate American muscle car, and it's ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT for doing great American road trips. You need to drop it back to where you rented it from - they won't let you do a one-way rental - so you'll want to start and end in Vegas, but it's a fantastic way to travel. (It's got a surprising amount of luggage space for a Ferrari-smashing two-seater sports car too - you'll fit two large suitcases in the back no worries.)

Was hoping to be able to take a domestic flight up to NYC for the second half of the trip for some shopping and also see the Niagara Falls while we're there. (The HTB is a sightseeing buff.)

That's going to be VERY tight. It's a six-hour cross-country flight, plus a day or so to get up to Niagara, and a day to get back, and then another day blown flying. I'd rule out Niagara. (And frankly the shopping in NYC is exactly the same as in LA, SF, or LV.

Can someone let me know if I'm asking for too much for a 2weeks stint?

Stick to the west coast and you'll be fine - tight but fine. You're not going to be able to get over to the east coast in two weeks and still have time to enjoy it.

My HTB drives but we're hoping not to spend like half a day driving to every location each time.

I'm not sure you've got a handle on how big America is. Driving Disneyland to Yosemite is five solid hours - six or more if you hit traffic through Los Angeles. Los Angeles to Las Vegas is four hours nonstop at 130km/h, and Vegas to the Grand Canyon is four hours again. You're going to be doing a LOT of driving.

And also not sure how easy it is to get lost in the US, don't know if the GPS works as amazingly as like in Korea and Japan, lol.

Nope, GPS works brilliantly. You'll never get lost. Plus, the interstate highways are easy to navigate.

Additionally, I'm trying to gauge the budget we should set aside for this and it would be great if someone could give an estimate on typically how much it costs for flights and hotels if possible.

Call it $1500 per for flights, $200/night for hotels (that's pretty generous - it'll average out between the expensive stuff in the cities and the cheap stuff on the road), $100/day for meals, and bung in some extra for miscellaneous expenses.

 

[Shiny Things]

Good to start getting a feel of how it is to drive in the states since its my first time driving here. Are the traffic rules roughly the same as in Singapore?

Three big differences.
1) You're driving on the right instead of the left, obvs. Be careful with this, but you'll pick it up pretty quickly;
2) There's a thing called "right on red" - basically, if you're at a red light and you're turning right, you can turn even though the light's red if it's safe to do so (unless there's a signpost saying "no right turn on red"). It's OK to not do this, and wait for the green light - I still don't do it because I never grew up with right-on-red; you'll get honked at, but ignore them.
3) Speed limits are not heavily enforced on interstate highways. 5 mph over is usually fine, or more as long as you keep with the flow of traffic. On regular streets, though, you absolutely must keep to the speed limit.

And also i know nuts about cars, so is there any comfy car(tempted to try the ford mustang as recommended by bro Shiny Things) to recommend for 3 people as this will be my first road trip and i'm the only driver.

A sports-car's not going to be much fun with three people in there - the rear leg room in the 'Stang is basically zero. If you still want the sports-car experience, Hertz Las Vegas will rent you a BMW M5, a Merc E63, or a Porsche Panamera, all of which will be great fun and fit four people easily.

Day 6, 3rd January 2015

- Drive to Zion National Park from Valley of Fire and I would like to stay at the Zion National Park Lodge and experience staying overnight in their Western Cabin. Is a night stay here enough to cover the whole Zion Park? Not sure if we should hike the whole park and maybe stay 2 nights here instead?

Don't forget you'll be there in the depths of winter; I think the Zion Park Lodge actually closes in winter. Brace for snow.

I'd stay in the town of Springdale instead. Check out the Desert Pearl Inn, or if they're full the Cable Mountain Lodge is nice too.

- Not sure what we can do at SF from 7th - 10th Jan. Up for suggestions anyone?

Oh, there is STACKS to do in SF. Sausalito! The Castro! Pier 39! (actually pier 39 is a horrible tourist trap but anyway!) Ride a cable car! Eat Ghirardelli chocolate! Bike across the GG Bridge! Go to the museums (the Cal Academy is especially great)!

- Back to Vegas to meet up with my parents on the 11th Jan.

No need to do this - fly straight to LA and meet the parentals there.

Is Google Maps on my Iphone 5 sufficient to navigate the whole road trip? Mostly likely getting a T-Mobile SIM card from bro Critical888 before the trip.

No. T-Mo's coverage is atrocious outside the cities; on the road trip you'll want to have a self-contained GPS app. I've used the Navigon GPS app on that road trip before; it's forty bucks or so but it's totally worth it.

 

[Shiny Things]

Sorry to hijack your thread. I book virgin air from SF-LV. Just realized that every checked-in luggage is chargeable. Our plan is to bring just 1 big luggage there and hopefully buy 1 more in US. I found that my big luggage is classified as over-size!

What are my options now? pay the excess or try to split into few smaller luggages (we try to simplify the baggages as we have young kids to handle)

I'd just suck it up. The oversize bag fee is $75. No big deal. (Not sure where you got the idea that you can't check oversized bags at all - you can check it in, they'll just slug you a bit extra.)

 

[critical888]

weight the difference and see, i would say bring a big bag foldable soft bag, than load whatever u can into the big bag and check in. the rest (luaggage+some stuff in it) just send by usa local courier or post office to the next destination in advance!

 

[the mac 13]

Hello guys,

Looking to rent a car from Boston-Maine-Niagara-Scranton PA-JFK in December. Using rentalcars.com I found that only Hertz do not have the "A one way fee of USD xx + TAX will be charged for dropping off your car at a different location. Most companies charge this one way fee so make sure you check if comparing prices - Remember our best price guarantee ensures you always get the best deal." Unlike Alamo(USD 99), Budget(USD 50) or National(USD 599)

When I check with Hertz.com if I were to pick up from Park Plaza, there's a "Drop fee (Paid At Counter)" of USD 50 so I assume that's the same as above.

But if I were to pick up from the Airport(using hertz.com) there's no mention of the Drop Fee.

For picking up at the airport it's definitely cheaper to book via rentalcars.com

Should I go with Hertz via rentalcars.com?

 

[patryn33]

So.. I'm hoping to go to US for my honeymoon next year, sometime in July. But right now I have nooooo idea how to go about planning anything. Seems like visiting a tour agency might be the easiest, but before that I want to give it a shot first before I give up.

The plan is to be for 2weeks. We will head to California first where we want to go to Disneyland, Six Flags, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite Parks, and maybe relax abit on a beach if there's time. (July is Summertime right?)

I'm not sure how many days those places above will take up, and/or if 2weeks is enough. Was hoping to be able to take a domestic flight up to NYC for the second half of the trip for some shopping and also see the Niagara Falls while we're there. (The HTB is a sightseeing buff.)

Can someone let me know if I'm asking for too much for a 2weeks stint?

My HTB drives but we're hoping not to spend like half a day driving to every location each time. And also not sure how easy it is to get lost in the US, don't know if the GPS works as amazingly as like in Korea and Japan, lol.

Additionally, I'm trying to gauge the budget we should set aside for this and it would be great if someone could give an estimate on typically how much it costs for flights and hotels if possible.

GPS - they work base on triangulating satellites. The algorithm of doing that no different where U are, in fact in Cali if U driving in more open spaces map matching is alot better than Japan or Korea.

Read some rules about driving in USA
California Driver Handbook

tour agency is easy, but very rush.

honeymoon do U wanna visit the winery up North in California? San Diego in your mind? Antelope canyon in your radar? 2 weeks includes traveling time?

U seeking thrills rides and want to R&R at the beach? summer beaches do get very crowded.

 

[patryn33]

Day 4, 1st January 2015

- I'll rent a car starting from this day, begin with visiting the Red Rock Canyon and also the premium outlets to bring the ladies shopping .

Good to start getting a feel of how it is to drive in the states since its my first time driving here. Are the traffic rules roughly the same as in Singapore?

And also i know nuts about cars, so is there any comfy car(tempted to try the ford mustang as recommended by bro Shiny Things) to recommend for 3 people as this will be my first road trip and i'm the only driver.

Some side question :-

Is Google Maps on my Iphone 5 sufficient to navigate the whole road trip? Mostly likely getting a T-Mobile SIM card from bro Critical888 before the trip.

Thanks for reading and hope for some valuable inputs from the experts here!

honeymoon trip with family, I wouldn't recommend saying in a penthouse with family member. When U guys are baking cookies U don't want your family to hear all the banging and noises. Yes they know U be making cookies but that does not mean U guys are comfortable knowing the exact time U making time. U lose all the romance if u guys plan to be a making baby trip.

shopping, U want a bigger car for the road. I know know about U I hate muscle cars, the seats too hard for me. Was out on the road on a Lexus IS, love the handling but I hated the seats, not comfy IMHO. My pal who owns a BMW loves that kind of seat. Leg room on such cars sucks too. if U were to shop and want to put your shopping bags and luggage terrible. I love a larger car. esp U traveling with family how many bags U want to bring? drive a vehicle that has room for more. willing to blow $$ try Porsche Cayenne or ) Infiniti QX56/QX80, if not try Ford Explorer. but a Cayenne only fits 2 large and 2 small, crazy shoppers.. hmm

traffic rules about the same. There is school bus thingy.. Speed limit 5 miles above is ok as speedo always err on safe side. when U see 60 MPH on Speedo its actually 55 MPH or so, its just how car manufacturer design car.

using phones on car is big in Cali.do it but dont get caught. read about the little rules below. it only takes 15-30mins to scan thru.
California Driver Handbook

 

[Hoshino84]

Three big differences.
1) You're driving on the right instead of the left, obvs. Be careful with this, but you'll pick it up pretty quickly;
2) There's a thing called "right on red" - basically, if you're at a red light and you're turning right, you can turn even though the light's red if it's safe to do so (unless there's a signpost saying "no right turn on red"). It's OK to not do this, and wait for the green light - I still don't do it because I never grew up with right-on-red; you'll get honked at, but ignore them.
3) Speed limits are not heavily enforced on interstate highways. 5 mph over is usually fine, or more as long as you keep with the flow of traffic. On regular streets, though, you absolutely must keep to the speed limit.

Thanks for the information Shiny and yea, It seems the right on red is puzzling for me as well.

A sports-car's not going to be much fun with three people in there - the rear leg room in the 'Stang is basically zero. If you still want the sports-car experience, Hertz Las Vegas will rent you a BMW M5, a Merc E63, or a Porsche Panamera, all of which will be great fun and fit four people easily.

Haha.. don't think i will be renting those cars you recommended, too expensive.

I will rent a Toyota RAV4 from Alamo through Carhire3000 for 6 days at £156 which includes GPS rental and all the necessary insurance!

Day 6, 3rd January 2015



Don't forget you'll be there in the depths of winter; I think the Zion Park Lodge actually closes in winter. Brace for snow.

I'd stay in the town of Springdale instead. Check out the Desert Pearl Inn, or if they're full the Cable Mountain Lodge is nice too.

Thanks for the recommendation for stays near Zion Park but I have checked that the Zion Lodge have this Zion Lodge Winter Escape Package (WNTR) on 3rd Jan 2015 and will try to book them this few days.

Oh, there is STACKS to do in SF. Sausalito! The Castro! Pier 39! (actually pier 39 is a horrible tourist trap but anyway!) Ride a cable car! Eat Ghirardelli chocolate! Bike across the GG Bridge! Go to the museums (the Cal Academy is especially great)!

Thanks for the suggestions, I will do more research on the attractions for SF for that period. Do you have any recommendations for hotels in SF?

 

[patryn33]

It seems the right on red is puzzling for me as well.

right on red is very common in Ang Mo countries. Germany, Italy, Belgium, Canada all can do that. I am use to it, get honk but don't move is ok but better watch your rear mirror. if someone step out from the car, U better step on that gas and move the hell away from dude! never return the finger can get into trouble in some places.

 

[Hoshino84]

right on red is very common in Ang Mo countries. Germany, Italy, Belgium, Canada all can do that. I am use to it, get honk but don't move is ok but better watch your rear mirror. if someone step out from the car, U better step on that gas and move the hell away from dude! never return the finger can get into trouble in some places.

For right on red, doesn't that mean that the one turn right will have to check for traffic left and right and also someone one coming from the back

 

[patryn33]

For right on red, doesn't that mean that the one turn right will have to check for traffic left and right and also someone one coming from the back

Well usually Ppl honk when there is no traffic and u just no moving. No one honk on busy street, if that's the case lock your doors, dude is mental

 

[denial86]

Don't do this - do it yourself. You'll have WAY more fun.

Skip the beach - the water off California is cold even in summer (and yes, July is summer). Otherwise, yep, that all sounds good.

You'll want to pull up Google Maps and look at where you want to go. Disneyland and Six Flags are both generally in Los Angeles. Yosemite is further up north, about halfway between SF and Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon is over on the far side of Las Vegas. That's a lot of ground to cover.

I'd actually give Yosemite the flick, and look at more national parks over near the Grand Canyon. The great thing about visiting in July is that you can do a loop a bit like the one on this map, starting in Vegas and hitting the Valley of Fire, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and the Grand Canyon all in about four or five days. I've done this loop three times now - it's brilliant driving, the scenery is unmissable, and it's something very very unique. It's a classic American road trip.

And if your boyfriend likes to drive, get him a treat. Hertz in Las Vegas will rent you a Chevy Corvette Stingray for dirt-cheap - it's the ultimate American muscle car, and it's ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT for doing great American road trips. You need to drop it back to where you rented it from - they won't let you do a one-way rental - so you'll want to start and end in Vegas, but it's a fantastic way to travel. (It's got a surprising amount of luggage space for a Ferrari-smashing two-seater sports car too - you'll fit two large suitcases in the back no worries.)


That's going to be VERY tight. It's a six-hour cross-country flight, plus a day or so to get up to Niagara, and a day to get back, and then another day blown flying. I'd rule out Niagara. (And frankly the shopping in NYC is exactly the same as in LA, SF, or LV.


Stick to the west coast and you'll be fine - tight but fine. You're not going to be able to get over to the east coast in two weeks and still have time to enjoy it.



I'm not sure you've got a handle on how big America is. Driving Disneyland to Yosemite is five solid hours - six or more if you hit traffic through Los Angeles. Los Angeles to Las Vegas is four hours nonstop at 130km/h, and Vegas to the Grand Canyon is four hours again. You're going to be doing a LOT of driving.


Nope, GPS works brilliantly. You'll never get lost. Plus, the interstate highways are easy to navigate.


Call it $1500 per for flights, $200/night for hotels (that's pretty generous - it'll average out between the expensive stuff in the cities and the cheap stuff on the road), $100/day for meals, and bung in some extra for miscellaneous expenses.

Whoa, thank you so much for the detailed breakdown! Lol, good to know I don't have to go to a beach, don't care for them really, but the fiancé is a sun lover.

I know that America is big, but sadly asides from driving, I'm not sure how else to get around, and doubly sad; the fiancé doesn't like driving. Zzzz. Might have to rethink my destination.

Thank you so much for this though, the route around the parks sound like a lot of fun! Should be easier to plan something now with this in mind!

 

[denial86]

GPS - they work base on triangulating satellites. The algorithm of doing that no different where U are, in fact in Cali if U driving in more open spaces map matching is alot better than Japan or Korea.

Read some rules about driving in USA
California Driver Handbook

tour agency is easy, but very rush.

honeymoon do U wanna visit the winery up North in California? San Diego in your mind? Antelope canyon in your radar? 2 weeks includes traveling time?

U seeking thrills rides and want to R&R at the beach? summer beaches do get very crowded.

Lol sounds like the GPS works better in any other place asides from SG.

Yes 2weeks would include travelling time which means 3 days less. I'm gonna listen to Mr Shiny Things and stick to the West and also avoid the beaches. But you know how it is.. Watch too much American shows and think that American beaches are all that, lol.

Thanks for your advice! Will firm up something and come back if I have any further queries.