USA West Coast Package

[spritezero]

Hi

I am looking for a 10 to 12 day package to West Coast of USA (LA, SF, Vegas, Grand Canyon etc). 1st time going, we don't drive and we have kids in tow so we prefer to go by package tour. Most of the local tour agents e.g. Chan Bro, Dynasty etc do not have packages that suit our timing.

Most of the packages also includes 2 days theme parks e.g. Disneyland etc and we are not exactly keen on theme parks.

I have tried Trafalgar but their packages are ex US$ 3k+ per pax for land tour + accomodation.

Anyone tried booking direct from an American West Coast local tour agency b4? How was the experience?

TIA

 

[sendtolee]

Hi

I am looking for a 10 to 12 day package to West Coast of USA (LA, SF, Vegas, Grand Canyon etc). 1st time going, we don't drive and we have kids in tow so we prefer to go by package tour. Most of the local tour agents e.g. Chan Bro, Dynasty etc do not have packages that suit our timing.

Most of the packages also includes 2 days theme parks e.g. Disneyland etc and we are not exactly keen on theme parks.

I have tried Trafalgar but their packages are ex US$ 3k+ per pax for land tour + accomodation.

Anyone tried booking direct from an American West Coast local tour agency b4? How was the experience?

TIA

First, how old are your kids?

Next, be willing to accept package tours are expensive and may include places that you are not interested. Be willing to pay more for customized itineraries.

To save on cost, it is best to do some diy of your trip. List the places where you want to go and how many days. Look at day tours to visit places, e.g. day trip to grand canyon. Then you will have a gauge of how long you will need to spend in each city. Then you will have to look for places to stay, that is book yourself. If you do not want to self-drive, then look for city-city shuttle services or flights.

A estimated budget for 10-12 days west coast is US$150-250 per pax exclude any flight tickets. The budget depends on what class of hotels to stay, what meals to eat.

Hope this helps.

 

[spritezero]

Thanks. You have been very helpful. My kids are 11 and 8. I prefer to follow a package tour as we envisage that we will be jetlagged as zombies during the initial couple of days. We dont wanna be lugging heavy luggages around whilst running after interstate buses.

First, how old are your kids?

Next, be willing to accept package tours are expensive and may include places that you are not interested. Be willing to pay more for customized itineraries.

To save on cost, it is best to do some diy of your trip. List the places where you want to go and how many days. Look at day tours to visit places, e.g. day trip to grand canyon. Then you will have a gauge of how long you will need to spend in each city. Then you will have to look for places to stay, that is book yourself. If you do not want to self-drive, then look for city-city shuttle services or flights.

A estimated budget for 10-12 days west coast is US$150-250 per pax exclude any flight tickets. The budget depends on what class of hotels to stay, what meals to eat.

Hope this helps.

 

[patryn33]

My relatives joint such tour b4 and the experience wasn’t great many years ago. Not sure if there are any differences today. Tour there is always a schedule. If u are jagged lag or zombies will following and moving like a herd of sheep a fun experience?

where do you plan to start your travel? I would do San Fran since U worry about recovering from jag-lag. U can do San fran free and easy. dont need a tour to do San Fran.

You can Uber to hotel. You wouldn’t want to do greyhound if can do flight or Amtrak.

When u are in Vegas easy to book a tour out to Grand Canyon so many of them. Of u not about theme parks moving for A to B can be costly.

what is you budget?

 

[sendtolee]

Thanks. You have been very helpful. My kids are 11 and 8. I prefer to follow a package tour as we envisage that we will be jetlagged as zombies during the initial couple of days. We dont wanna be lugging heavy luggages around whilst running after interstate buses.

Then first, find a place to stay for a few days to relax and get over jet lag. Would suggest LV as got more day tours and can just walk around the different museums or go for shows. After few days, then you change city. We would rather take buses than flights now with the increased security screening and that means getting to airport very early. Unless the bus ride is 4 or more hours then we switch to flights.
Travel light and really minimize unnecessary stuff to bring there. Use disposable underwear and use layering if worry about coldness.
Our luggage is 8kg for 2pax for 1 month travelling. Coming back is heavier due to shopping.
DIY your trip will really give more flexibility with kids.
Suggest
LV 3 days
SF 2-3 days
SD 2 days
LA 2 days

 

[spritezero]

My relatives joint such tour b4 and the experience wasn’t great many years ago. Not sure if there are any differences today. Tour there is always a schedule. If u are jagged lag or zombies will following and moving like a herd of sheep a fun experience?

where do you plan to start your travel? I would do San Fran since U worry about recovering from jag-lag. U can do San fran free and easy. dont need a tour to do San Fran.

You can Uber to hotel. You wouldn’t want to do greyhound if can do flight or Amtrak.

When u are in Vegas easy to book a tour out to Grand Canyon so many of them. Of u not about theme parks moving for A to B can be costly.

what is you budget?

my budget is about $12K include flight + hotel + local transport. My main concern is getting safe and reliable transportation around LA, SF and LV. Will taking the bus be safe with kids? Will cabs or uber be very expensive?

 

[invisible999]

If you don't drive, in US you are at mercy of tour operators and expect that it will be
a) expensive
b) won't cover the places you want to go
c) you will stay at sub-par places
d) do won't have much flexibility

Try take a look at this https://www.topdeck.travel/destinations/north-america#all-na
I have no experience with them but they are recommended.

 

[Shiny Things]

my budget is about $12K include flight + hotel + local transport. My main concern is getting safe and reliable transportation around LA, SF and LV. Will taking the bus be safe with kids? Will cabs or uber be very expensive?

In LA/Las Vegas, use Uber or Lyft. In San Francisco, you can use Muni and BART in some cases, but you'll need Uber/Lyft to get to some places that aren't well served by public transport.

Uber/Lyft aren't horrifically expensive; Lyft usually runs about $30-40 from SFO airport to downtown, for example.

Public transport in Los Angeles is a bad joke.

Public transport in Vegas... "The Bus" that runs up and down the Strip is pretty good, but as soon as you want to go off the strip it's going to be Uber/Lyft (or tour companies! Go see Red Rock Canyon and the Hoover Dam!)

Public transport in SF is patchy. The buses are sh*tty, but the Muni subway is surprisingly decent, and BART is quite good. Coverage is atrocious though; if you want to go to, say, North Beach or the Golden Gate Bridge or the Cal Academy of Sciences, you're going to need to resort to Uber/Lyft.

 

[sendtolee]

my budget is about $12K include flight + hotel + local transport. My main concern is getting safe and reliable transportation around LA, SF and LV. Will taking the bus be safe with kids? Will cabs or uber be very expensive?

What is considered safe for your family?
Typical travel advice is be always be vigilant when travelling because you are a foreigner and it is not a must that the locals behave like SG.
Everywhere we go, there will always be nice and not so nice experience. If you are looking for safe as in SG, then you won’t find it in usa now.
In SG, cars don’t stop at zebra crossings and beat the red lights, expect this to also happen anywhere else. Just be vigiliant and your family will be safe.
LV this week had a massacre, so means not safe and cannot go anymore?
Use your own judgement, it is your family.

 

[spritezero]

Thanks, these are really helpful info

In LA/Las Vegas, use Uber or Lyft. In San Francisco, you can use Muni and BART in some cases, but you'll need Uber/Lyft to get to some places that aren't well served by public transport.

Uber/Lyft aren't horrifically expensive; Lyft usually runs about $30-40 from SFO airport to downtown, for example.

Public transport in Los Angeles is a bad joke.

Public transport in Vegas... "The Bus" that runs up and down the Strip is pretty good, but as soon as you want to go off the strip it's going to be Uber/Lyft (or tour companies! Go see Red Rock Canyon and the Hoover Dam!)

Public transport in SF is patchy. The buses are sh*tty, but the Muni subway is surprisingly decent, and BART is quite good. Coverage is atrocious though; if you want to go to, say, North Beach or the Golden Gate Bridge or the Cal Academy of Sciences, you're going to need to resort to Uber/Lyft.

 

[invisible999]

In SG, cars don’t stop at zebra crossings and beat the red lights, expect this to also happen anywhere else.

/offtop
Californian here. I would have much less problem crossing street in 99% of US comparing to Singapore.

Actually two days ago I was hit by a car. Here, in Singapore. Happened on 6th year of my life here but I never had anything close to that in my 16 years living in California.

It happened when I wad crossing a small street in residential area around Buona Vista. 50 something old Indian lady (who was the driver) was not even looking at my direction when she run over me. I was lucky that was not dragged under the car - rolled over the hood and landed other side. Then she stopped, rolled down the window, asked if I was ok and drove off.

Someone does like this in US and he/she for sure going to jail for gross negligence and then for hit and run. Here is singapore you can run school kids with a truck and max the driver will get is 1 year license suspension.
/offtop

P.S. I do agree with the statement that one just need to use common sense.

 

[wanderlex]

/offtop
Californian here. I would have much less problem crossing street in 99% of US comparing to Singapore.

Actually two days ago I was hit by a car. Here, in Singapore. Happened on 6th year of my life here but I never had anything close to that in my 16 years living in California.

It happened when I wad crossing a small street in residential area around Buona Vista. 50 something old Indian lady (who was the driver) was not even looking at my direction when she run over me. I was lucky that was not dragged under the car - rolled over the hood and landed other side. Then she stopped, rolled down the window, asked if I was ok and drove off.

Someone does like this in US and he/she for sure going to jail for gross negligence and then for hit and run. Here is singapore you can run school kids with a truck and max the driver will get is 1 year license suspension.
/offtop

P.S. I do agree with the statement that one just need to use common sense.

Omg! Did you suffer any injuries? I do hope you are ok! Sad to say but there are more and more such negligent drivers nowadays...

 

[sendtolee]

/offtop
Californian here. I would have much less problem crossing street in 99% of US comparing to Singapore.

Actually two days ago I was hit by a car. Here, in Singapore. Happened on 6th year of my life here but I never had anything close to that in my 16 years living in California.

It happened when I wad crossing a small street in residential area around Buona Vista. 50 something old Indian lady (who was the driver) was not even looking at my direction when she run over me. I was lucky that was not dragged under the car - rolled over the hood and landed other side. Then she stopped, rolled down the window, asked if I was ok and drove off.

Someone does like this in US and he/she for sure going to jail for gross negligence and then for hit and run. Here is singapore you can run school kids with a truck and max the driver will get is 1 year license suspension.
/offtop

P.S. I do agree with the statement that one just need to use common sense.

Hope you are safe and did not suffer any internal injuries. I would take a picture of the driver and car. Happening too often in SG that cars do not stop at zebra crossing.

 

[invisible999]

Hope you are safe and did not suffer any internal injuries.

Omg! Did you suffer any injuries? I do hope you are ok! Sad to say but there are more and more such negligent drivers nowadays...

Fine. Got scratches on my elbow and legs and bruised butt, not more serious. I have some experience how to properly fall from a bike and it helped. As I said, was lucky that I managed to roll over the hood and land on side instead of being drug under.

I would take a picture of the driver and car. Happening too often in SG that cars do not stop at zebra crossing.

Yes. Unless car already drove off, which was this case. Secondly, trust me, in first 15-30 sec brain does not work logically - tries to understand what happened.

Anyway - anywhere in the world keep your eyes what is happening in front of you and sideways. It will help.

 

[spritezero]

/offtop
Californian here. I would have much less problem crossing street in 99% of US comparing to Singapore.

Actually two days ago I was hit by a car. Here, in Singapore. Happened on 6th year of my life here but I never had anything close to that in my 16 years living in California.

It happened when I wad crossing a small street in residential area around Buona Vista. 50 something old Indian lady (who was the driver) was not even looking at my direction when she run over me. I was lucky that was not dragged under the car - rolled over the hood and landed other side. Then she stopped, rolled down the window, asked if I was ok and drove off.

Someone does like this in US and he/she for sure going to jail for gross negligence and then for hit and run. Here is singapore you can run school kids with a truck and max the driver will get is 1 year license suspension.
/offtop

P.S. I do agree with the statement that one just need to use common sense.

Hi

Where do you guys access the Uber promo codes for LA, LV and SF? The Uber FB looks like it hasn't been updated for quite a while and most of the other websites look dodgy.

Thanks

 

[invisible999]

Hi

Where do you guys access the Uber promo codes for LA, LV and SF?

Thanks

Promo codes are location dependent. You won't get SF's promo code for user registered in SG.