Planning holiday to USA - need opinions

[toddster]

OK, as a lurker on here I am now planning a holiday to west coast USA for April next year for my wife and I. We don't call ourselves frequent flyers to any degree but we love to research and plan things ourselves.

I think I have our itinerary pretty much set but could do with opinions from some of you who are seasoned travellers. I have only been o/s once many years ago (we don't count a couple of trips to NZ!).

Now, to our plans. Basically, 17 days covering San Fransisco, Las Vegas, San Diego and LA. We plan on flying between each of these cities and exploring by car at each.

We want to fly PE from Sydney to LAX. We are still trying to decide between AirNZ or VA.

We like the idea of the AirNZ space seat as we are both a little larger than average and would appreciate the extra space. On the flip side, flying VA will save us a few hours and get us into LAX earlier. I think comfort wise, we are leaning towards AirNZ, plus we can still earn Velocity points.

So, once we get to LAX one way or the other, a few questions.....

We plan on flying straight to SFO after we land at LAX. How long should we allow from the time we land until we board our connecting flight? I have heard a 3 hour window is about right?

IF it turns out we have a long wait around LAX, any tips or ideas on where to go, etc. as we won't have access to any lounges (that I know of).

For the domestic flights, we plan on flying VirginAmerica (and SouthWest from Vegas to San Diego). Is it worth us treating ourselves to 1st class? I think we may do this even if it is just for the flight from LAX - SFO as we won't be in any mood after the long flight beforehand.

And now a random question, should we buy a cheap GPS once we get to US or try and buy something here with US maps beforehand?

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Blackadder]

Around the 3 hour mark sounds right with LAX and connecting to domestic flights, personally I always fly QANTAS into LAX and generally Prem Econ. or Business and haven't had any major delays others have reported, but good to be on the safe side.
For a relatively short hop from LAX to SFO , I would be more inclined to look at Southwest. At LAX you can get a Taxi or Hire a cart to Santa Monica/Venice Beach or hire a car down to Orange Co. for Balboa,Newport,Huntington Beaches.
Not sure if Virgin America have a First Class product domestically or if it is just Business/Economy, either way not worth paying the extra $$$ for such a short flight (roughly 1hour and a bit) IMHO.
As for the GPS, most hire car companies will have the option of hiring a GPS unit.

 

[AV8]

......And now a random question, should we buy a cheap GPS once we get to US or try and buy something here with US maps beforehand?

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

I have purchased a GPS unit in USA (TOMTOM from BestBuy) for less than US$150 recently which has USA/Canada/Mexico maps installed & included FREE Lifetime Map updates - car rental companies usually charge somewhere between US$10 -15/day for GPS unit - no brainer in my opinion.

 

[harvyk]

Try and book SYD-LAX-SFO on the one PNR. That way you covered in the event of a delay (it's the airlines responsibility to get you to SFO, even if there is a delay at LAX). Also I've even had it a few times that SYD-LAX-SFO was the same price as SYD-LAX (thus getting LAX-SFO for free).
Failing that, 3 hours should give you enough time, even if there is a delay somewhere along the way.

Most car companies will hire out a GPS. The other choice is most phones have GPS's built in, just download some maps for the area's your planning on travelling. Whilst not fantastic compared to a dedicated GPS device, it does the job, and thus get you out of a tight spot if the car hire place does not have any GPS units available (most of the major ones will). Just make sure the phone is using true GPS (which is free) and not wireless telco "GPS" which is expensive.

 

[drron]

Do you need to fly between the cities?There is no drop off fee between and in California and Nevada on rentals.
I would strongly reccomend driving from LAX-SFO.We would normally stop the night at Camarillo going north on either 1 or 101.There is a good factory outlet centre there as well as a Nordstrom rack so it literally is shop till you drop,have a good sleep and be ready to go.From there the drive up Highway 1 is spectacular.
From SFO to LAS you can go via Yosemite and Dearh valley National Parks.
And really no point flying from San Diego to LAX.It isn't far and you can just drop off the car at LAX.Stop at Carlsbad for another good factory outlet centre.

As for GPS I am old fashioned.I have not had a problem navigating my way around the USA with my $5 Walmart book of maps.

 

[DC3]

Do you need to fly between the cities?There is no drop off fee between and in California and Nevada on rentals.
I would strongly reccomend driving from LAX-SFO.We would normally stop the night at Camarillo going north on either 1 or 101.There is a good factory outlet centre there as well as a Nordstrom rack so it literally is shop till you drop,have a good sleep and be ready to go.From there the drive up Highway 1 is spectacular.
From SFO to LAS you can go via Yosemite and Dearh valley National Parks.
And really no point flying from San Diego to LAX.It isn't far and you can just drop off the car at LAX.Stop at Carlsbad for another good factory outlet centre.

As for GPS I am old fashioned.I have not had a problem navigating my way around the USA with my $5 Walmart book of maps.

I think that the OP is looking at travelling LAS to SAN (not LAX to SAN), so they may prefer to fly rather than drive. It's probably a 5 to 8 hour trip by road, depending on the route (or maybe longer if not using a GPS).

I would never drive in the US without using a GPS. Great for turning off at the right exit. I could never drive while having the map flapping around anyway, while arguing with the SO about poor navigation skills, wrong turns and getting lost.

 

[Limewood]

So, once we get to LAX one way or the other, a few questions.....

We plan on flying straight to SFO after we land at LAX. How long should we allow from the time we land until we board our connecting flight? I have heard a 3 hour window is about right?

For the domestic flights, we plan on flying VirginAmerica (and SouthWest from Vegas to San Diego). Is it worth us treating ourselves to 1st class? I think we may do this even if it is just for the flight from LAX - SFO as we won't be in any mood after the long flight beforehand.

We allowed 3 hours in LAX transit after arriving from OZ on QA last month, was plenty of time as it turned out. We used AA mostly to get QFF points, old planes packed in line sardines, we chose Virgin America SFO to Vegas 1st class as it was a direct flight, nice big white leather seats but that was it, lunch was a glass wine and few biscuits, and they have no lounge in either city.

 

[QF029]

Given the short distances between the cities, I'd be inclined to hire a car for the whole time and drive. Also, I used an Android phone and the Navigation application that comes with it is better than GPS because it factors in traffic. You do need a sim with data on it though.

 

[travelislife]

If going with AirNZ why not fly direct in to SFO?

 

[drron]

I think that the OP is looking at travelling LAS to SAN (not LAX to SAN), so they may prefer to fly rather than drive. It's probably a 5 to 8 hour trip by road, depending on the route (or maybe longer if not using a GPS).

I would never drive in the US without using a GPS. Great for turning off at the right exit. I could never drive while having the map flapping around anyway, while arguing with the SO about poor navigation skills, wrong turns and getting lost.

Yes the OP is going LAS-SAN but I presume they must get back to LAX to come home unless coming home via Japan using JALs upcoming 787 service to and from SAN.
Personally I find driving in the USA easy for navigation.Simply look at the map the night before-easy with their numbering system for roads and the Interstate off ramps being numbered.

 

[cove]

Yes get a GPS for $120-$150 depending on the screen size.
i hire thru Argus and go Platinum to get the insurance included.
Carlsbad and Camarillo are shopping paradises with the outlet malls as drron has said.
We stopped at the IC Monterey and it is right on the ocean...a brilliant location for a negotiated $179 price.
The coast road must be driven in daylight and not on a dark wet night.
Las Vegas has room bargains between Monday to Thursday nights.
The Omni in San Diego is a favourite but is hard to get a great rate.

 

[toddster]

Thanks for the tips.

Our time is pretty tight for everything that we want to try and do - thats the main reason for the domestic flights.

We plan on flying straight to SFO (straight after landing at LAX - or direct if possible) as we would have to stay a night in LAX before driving up coast road.

We were going to drive from SFO to LAS via Yosemite, etc. but the weather will not be great (some roads still closed with snow) so we would need to take a longer route - again, using our time so we will fly SFO - LAS.

The flight that I may cancel is LAS - San Diego. If we move our plans about a little, we may drive LAS into Anaheim and then down to San Diego and back.

We never intended on flying from San Diego to LAX - I know that is only a couple of hours drive.

Good to see differing views about the GPS - maps preferences. I think I will use both!

 

[DC3]

Good idea to have the GPS. You may get by okay without it, however, freeways around LA get closed without any warning due to vehicle accidents/pile-ups, road maintenance, etc. It's all well and good relying on the map, but when you end up missing exits or ending up on another freeway altogether at least you can follow the GPS instructions. It's not like you can do a u-turn and get back on track easily.

Also, almost no-one seems to stick to the speed limit. For example, on the I-5 between Los Angeles and San Diego, the speed limit is 65mph. Many will be travelling at 5-15mph (or more) over this so you end up in 80mph traffic, with the right lane that must take the next exit (sometimes the right 2 lanes must exit) while another 4 lanes continue on ahead. If you try to stay in the slow lanes to keep out of the exit lane/s you are constantly changing into lanes on your left. However, exits are well sign-posted with plenty of warning.

It's a fun experience and this is not meant to put you off. By the way, always, always, always take out insurance cover on car rentals. The excess cover is not like in Australia. You cannot afford not to be covered for a vehicle accident while driving the in the US. There are several threads on this, including this one:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....d-limos/car-hire-and-insurance-usa-40844.html

 

[harvyk]

Also, almost no-one seems to stick to the speed limit. For example, on the I-5 between Los Angeles and San Diego, the speed limit is 65mph. Many will be travelling at 5-15mph (or more) over this so you end up in 80mph traffic, with the right lane that must take the next exit (sometimes the left 2 lanes must exit) while another 4 lanes continue on ahead. If you try to stay in the "slow lane/s" on the right then you are constantly changing lanes to the right to keep out of the exit lane/s. However, exits are well sign-posted with planty of warning.

10-15 mph at least... I lost my fear over speeding when I saw a copper going past, and he was doing at least 100mph, and yet he didn't seem in a hurry at all. (No swerving between lanes, was more than happy to wait until there was a decent sized gap etc)

I do believe at one stage I hit 90mph, and that was simply keeping up with the traffic (I was still been overtaken). It was strange, whilst out in the country, everyone was doing their nice legal 65, and as soon as you reach LA, everyone sped up.

 

[cove]

Going to San Diego take the Toll Road which starts as you approach Costa Mesa heading south. It is worth the money as you avoid lots of traffic going down there.

 

[drron]

Going to San Diego take the Toll Road which starts as you approach Costa Mesa heading south. It is worth the money as you avoid lots of traffic going down there.

With 2 pax in the car we are always out in the HOV lane on LA freeways.Amazing having virtually no traffic in front of you as you speed past literally thousands of driver only cars going at a snail's pace.

 

[bigjobs]

regarding your flights with VA or NZ ...

I had only every flown with QF from the east coast of AU to LAX. The early arrivals would wipe me at 6 - 7 am or even 9am. I would want to crash just after lunch and this would then play havoc with me for the next couple of days in terms of jet lag. On the flight over I would not be able to sleep until about 3 hours from LAX, which is not long before they wake you for lunch. These trips are always J or Y+.

For the first time last week I flew to LAX with Air NZ from BNE - AKL - LAX. This was a short notice trip. I found that leaving BNE for AKL at 1230 in the day was ok. There was a layover in AKL until 1940 when the flight to LAX departed. This was much better. I stayed awake for dinner and a movie and then went to sleep. I worked out that this was my natural sleep time (about 2000 at home) and slept well for about 7 hours (the QF flights that day would have been about 4 or so hours out of LAX at that stage). I then woke up as they were serving breakfast (lights were all on, but I have a killer mask, ear plugs and head phones so it takes a bit to wake me) and several people were already eating. We then arrived LAX about lunch time, 1230, and I stayed awake for that afternoon (even on my onward flights) and slept that night normally after arriving at my hotel about 2030 Mountain Time.

So, my point here is, if you are not flying further east (to any great degree) on the day of your arrival just go with Air NZ and arrive at a time that might be more suitable than early in the morning. The VA arrival times are about midnight / 0100 back here, where as the Air NZ flight I was on arrived about 0600 BNE time - the time I would be waking up anyway. QF & VA arrive early because many of their people are continuing on, if you're not maybe it won't matter.

Cheers

 

[DC3]

If you haven't driven on the 'wrong' side of the road before, it doesn't take too long to get use to, but you may want to ease yourself into it. Be prepared to not drive below the speed limit (often 65mph) in any car-pool lane, or you will be treated as a road hog (or on any freeway for that matter).

 

[Maca44]

Also, the highways are numbered with even numbered highways being in a horizontal direction across the country, and the odd ones vertical, so for example if you are on 101 you know you are either going north or south, and Interstate 10 (Santa Monica Freeway) starts at Santa Monica and goes east. Good tip for beginners, and when turning right at a stop light in the right hand lane, you can turn after stopping and there is no traffic unless there is a "no free turn" sign, at which point you must remain at the lights. I agree with Drron that if you can drive up the coast road on highway 1, it is really nice and after all isn't that what a holiday is for. However, there is so much to see and you could spend a couple of days just in Solvang.

 

[tuapekastar]

If you haven't driven on the 'wrong' side of the road before, it doesn't take too long to get use to, but you may want to ease yourself into it. Be prepared to not drive below the speed limit (often 65mph) in any car-pool lane, or you will be treated as a road hog (or on any freeway for that matter).

I was very apprehensive about this (wrong side of the road driving) earlier this year but the Skyring mantra of "right is tight, left is loose" came in very handy when turning at intersections!

I know I'm a bit late to this thread, but I think the OP's planned mix of driving/flying is fine, and leave several hours minimum at LAX for the connection to SFO. I would also go with GPS. It was very good for us (it can come out with an odd message in carparks, including the car rental parks, but once on the road is fine...though there was one misleading instruction about a mile from dropping the car off which led me to nearly have a bingle!