US help.

[Shiny Things]

For honeymoon. Tentatively thinking of itinerary:

22 Nov Day 1 – LAX / LA
23 Nov Day 2 – LA
24 Nov Day 3 – LA to san Francisco

Take two days for this trip, especially if you're driving. You can potter up Highway 1 and spend the night in Cambria or Big Sur; or you can stop in Paso Robles for the night and get hammered on the local wine; and there's Solvang as well, which is a ridiculously cute little Danish village weirdly situated in the middle of Southern California.

25 Nov Day 4 – San Francisco / Alcatrez
26 Nov Day 6 – San Francisco
27 Nov Day 7 – San Francisco to yosemite

Add an extra day in SF. There's plenty to see and do here, and the SF-to-Yosemite trip's going to take you most of a day.

28 Nov Day 8 – Yosemite to death valley

IMPORTANT NOTE: the shortcut back road out of Yosemite (the Tioga Pass) will be closed by November. You're going to have to take the long way around, which is a seven-and-a-half-hour schlep down through Bakersfield - that'll be close to ten hours once you add in stops. Take this into account.

4 Dec Day 14 – Grand Canyon to Los Angeles

This is a seven-and-a-half-hour drive as well. Unless you really want to spend all day driving with no stops and no chance to see the scenery, you'll want to break this drive in the middle - maybe go as far as Palm Springs on day 1; spend the morning in Palm Springs and enjoy the 1950s Hollywood glamour; and then push on into Los Angeles in the afternoon.

 

[gerald85]

I will be heading over to California in September. Will be planning about 11 days of road trip around Las Vegas, Anaheim, maybe SF. Can anyone recommend a reliable car rental services and what car to rent? Only 2 of us with maybe 3 big luggage.

 

[invisible999]

I will be heading over to California in September. Will be planning about 11 days of road trip around Las Vegas, Anaheim, maybe SF. Can anyone recommend a reliable car rental services and what car to rent? Only 2 of us with maybe 3 big luggage.

Any first tier car rentals - Hertz, National, Sixt, Avis would be fine as well as Dollar, Enterprise, etc.

What to rent is entirely up to you and your budget. Hey, you can rent Corvette Convertible and have ultimate fun.

 

[gerald85]

Any first tier car rentals - Hertz, National, Sixt, Avis would be fine as well as Dollar, Enterprise, etc.

What to rent is entirely up to you and your budget. Hey, you can rent Corvette Convertible and have ultimate fun.

I would love that. But mid sep will be so hot that i prefer cover top whole trip.

But your recommended car rental company, seem quite steep on pricing.

 

[patryn33]

I would love that. But mid sep will be so hot that i prefer cover top whole trip.

But your recommended car rental company, seem quite steep on pricing.

Steep compare to which company in USA? Or comparing to sg?

Sept daytime high in san franc is like hi of 22+, Vegas is still warm at 30+. LA area high 20s to low 30.

Corvette may not be able to fit 3 big bags plus 2 carry on.

if you seek adrenaline rush there are always such stuff in states

 

[invisible999]

I would love that. But mid sep will be so hot that i prefer cover top whole trip.

But your recommended car rental company, seem quite steep on pricing.

If you drive on Highway 1 in September you most likely need to turn on heater at full.

Steep - depends on definition. Honestly, I do not need to do it any more - I already had 2-seater convertible sports car when I was living in US more than decade ago - but price vs. performance matter. Driving on Highway 1 or Tioga Pass on Corvette convertible generates such adrenaline, that it worth $100/day.

If you want dead end cheap - try Fox rent a gar or bidding at Hotwire/Priceline.

 

[gerald85]

If you drive on Highway 1 in September you most likely need to turn on heater at full.

Steep - depends on definition. Honestly, I do not need to do it any more - I already had 2-seater convertible sports car when I was living in US more than decade ago - but price vs. performance matter. Driving on Highway 1 or Tioga Pass on Corvette convertible generates such adrenaline, that it worth $100/day.

If you want dead end cheap - try Fox rent a gar or bidding at Hotwire/Priceline.

thanks. I am looking at the range of about 50 - 60 per day. Decent car to bring from destination to destination with no fuss.

Any idea what alternative for a nice convertible? haha

 

[invisible999]

thanks. I am looking at the range of about 50 - 60 per day. Decent car to bring from destination to destination with no fuss.

Any idea what alternative for a nice convertible? haha

For US $60/day you would have no problem finding a reasonable, even full size card.

Check the threads below for discounts/coupons, might makes sense to ask couple of question to the audience.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rental-car-discussion-745/

 

[gerald85]

For US $60/day you would have no problem finding a reasonable, even full size card.

Check the threads below for discounts/coupons, might makes sense to ask couple of question to the audience.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rental-car-discussion-745/

ops. i mean 50 - 60 SGD.

 

[invisible999]

ops. i mean 50 - 60 SGD.

60SGD is less than US $40. If you also add CDW in that you can't find anything for that price, take this as given.

Take a detailed look at the thread at FlyerTalk car forums for coupons/deals and check Kayak as well.

It also depends where you are picking up the card. And if you want to drop off the car at another location, expect to pay several hundred $ fees for that.

 

[darknezx]

Thanks for the advice guys. I also realised that my trip coincides with Thanksgiving, so I changed it to go to Vegas first, and less driving (flying from Phoenix to SF):

22 Nov LAX to LA to Hollywood
23 Nov LA to Vegas
24 Nov Las Vegas Outlet store
25 Nov Las Vegas (Hoover dam, Red Rock Canyon and shows)
26 Nov Las Vegas
27 Nov Las Vegas to Grand Canyon South Rim
Night in Grand Canyon
28 Nov Grand Canyon to Sedona
29 Nov Sedona to Phoenix Airport to SF to accommodation
30 Nov SF (Fishermen’s Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, cable car)
1 Dec SF (Alcatraz night tour)
2 Dec SF to Yosemite
3 Dec Yosemite
4 Dec Yosemite to Carmel
5 Dec Carmel to Cambria
6 Dec Cambria to LA
7 Dec LA Hollywood Walk + Universal Studios
8 Dec LA Outlet Store
9 Dec LA to LAX

 

[liemsc]

60SGD is less than US $40. If you also add CDW in that you can't find anything for that price, take this as given.

Take a detailed look at the thread at FlyerTalk car forums for coupons/deals and check Kayak as well.

It also depends where you are picking up the card. And if you want to drop off the car at another location, expect to pay several hundred $ fees for that.

Did you guys check SIXT already?
I find their prices sometimes seems too good to he true, but they turned out to be true

For my USA trip in June, I paid USD 562 for using Chevy Traverse SUV for 18 days. Collect at LA, return at SF. Includes LDW with 0 excess.

 

[darknezx]

Did you guys check SIXT already?
I find their prices sometimes seems too good to he true, but they turned out to be true

For my USA trip in June, I paid USD 562 for using Chevy Traverse SUV for 18 days. Collect at LA, return at SF. Includes LDW with 0 excess.

Weird leh, I just checked rental from 22 Nov to 29 Nov (pick up at LAX, drop off at Phoenix airport), it costs 560+, whereas Hertz only going for 370.

 

[liemsc]

Weird leh, I just checked rental from 22 Nov to 29 Nov (pick up at LAX, drop off at Phoenix airport), it costs 560+, whereas Hertz only going for 370.

If I may offer my suggestion:
1) Book the Hertz one first (assuming it's a "Pay Later, and free to cancel later")
2) For SIXT, it seems to have a pattern of price drop around 10-14 days before the pick-up date, before shooting up again a few days later. This is something I learnt from FlyerTalk forum, and it's proven to be true for me - twice already. For my June trip, I first booked in around Jan/Feb this year, with total cost of USD 700+. By mid May, the exact same booking criteria was quoted USD 562, hence I grabbed it and canceled the first booking.
3) If ever you go with SIXT, do ensure that you take the LDW with 0 excess. From what I read in forums, many people seem to complain getting late charges of damages that they believe were not caused by them (even nothing was pointed by SIXT person upon return of car). The best way to avoid this risk is to take the LDW 0 excess.

 

[lastkopek]

Thanks for the advice guys. I also realised that my trip coincides with Thanksgiving, so I changed it to go to Vegas first, and less driving (flying from Phoenix to SF):

22 Nov LAX to LA to Hollywood
23 Nov LA to Vegas
24 Nov Las Vegas Outlet store
25 Nov Las Vegas (Hoover dam, Red Rock Canyon and shows)
26 Nov Las Vegas
27 Nov Las Vegas to Grand Canyon South Rim
Night in Grand Canyon
28 Nov Grand Canyon to Sedona
29 Nov Sedona to Phoenix Airport to SF to accommodation
30 Nov SF (Fishermen’s Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, cable car)
1 Dec SF (Alcatraz night tour)
2 Dec SF to Yosemite
3 Dec Yosemite
4 Dec Yosemite to Carmel
5 Dec Carmel to Cambria
6 Dec Cambria to LA
7 Dec LA Hollywood Walk + Universal Studios
8 Dec LA Outlet Store
9 Dec LA to LAX

Hoover dam and grand canyon i tink u can do it together in a day.i find hoover dam nicer..grand canyon the PRC shutter army will make u feel turn off .
Go visit both outlets in vegas..some really good deal. If u drive save your money on the hotels..consider travelodge. Use the spare cash for shows or shopping

 

[convictionn]

Thanks for the advice guys. I also realised that my trip coincides with Thanksgiving, so I changed it to go to Vegas first, and less driving (flying from Phoenix to SF):

22 Nov LAX to LA to Hollywood
23 Nov LA to Vegas
24 Nov Las Vegas Outlet store
25 Nov Las Vegas (Hoover dam, Red Rock Canyon and shows)
26 Nov Las Vegas
27 Nov Las Vegas to Grand Canyon South Rim
Night in Grand Canyon
28 Nov Grand Canyon to Sedona
29 Nov Sedona to Phoenix Airport to SF to accommodation
30 Nov SF (Fishermen’s Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, cable car)
1 Dec SF (Alcatraz night tour)
2 Dec SF to Yosemite
3 Dec Yosemite
4 Dec Yosemite to Carmel
5 Dec Carmel to Cambria
6 Dec Cambria to LA
7 Dec LA Hollywood Walk + Universal Studios
8 Dec LA Outlet Store
9 Dec LA to LAX

Since your trip coincides with thanksgiving, can consider going for the Black Friday sales

 

[patryn33]

Thanks for the advice guys. I also realised that my trip coincides with Thanksgiving, so I changed it to go to Vegas first, and less driving (flying from Phoenix to SF):

22 Nov LAX to LA to Hollywood
23 Nov LA to Vegas
24 Nov Las Vegas Outlet store
25 Nov Las Vegas (Hoover dam, Red Rock Canyon and shows)
26 Nov Las Vegas
27 Nov Las Vegas to Grand Canyon South Rim
Night in Grand Canyon
28 Nov Grand Canyon to Sedona
29 Nov Sedona to Phoenix Airport to SF to accommodation
30 Nov SF (Fishermen’s Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, cable car)
1 Dec SF (Alcatraz night tour)
2 Dec SF to Yosemite
3 Dec Yosemite
4 Dec Yosemite to Carmel
5 Dec Carmel to Cambria
6 Dec Cambria to LA
7 Dec LA Hollywood Walk + Universal Studios
8 Dec LA Outlet Store
9 Dec LA to LAX

On thanksgiving day nov 24, outlet may not open at 10am but at 11.59pm. Nov 25 is Black Friday so sales start mid night.

 

[convictionn]

On thanksgiving day nov 24, outlet may not open at 10am but at 11.59pm. Nov 25 is Black Friday so sales start mid night.

Thanksgiving sales are super duper good, but be prepared for crazy crowds.

 

[patryn33]

Thanksgiving sales are super duper good, but be prepared for crazy crowds.

To Singaporean yes, been here for so long the deals has gotten worst over the years

 

[convictionn]

To Singaporean yes, been here for so long the deals has gotten worst over the years

I have never actually been to one of these thanksgiving sales myself, but why are there stampedes and fights and all if the deals aren't even that great? Stupidity? Lol