Seeking tips re: USA travel itinerary :)

[straitman]

I checked the Argus site after the recommendation by a previous member. I put in the same parameters as my current trip (compact car, 19 days, full insurance) and my deal from Nova was still cheaper (AU$600 total) than anything found by Argus

Nice to know. Unfortunately they do not cover Fiji which is where I'm looking for a car at the moment.

 

[cove]

I have been happy that the Argus rate as it includes insurance at the Gold level and as long as you go and get your own GPS for about $100 to $120 the high pressure counter sales force at the counter of the hire car place get nothing extra. They seem to be commission sales folks and so a $25 a day compact becomes a $50 a day win for the commission agent once the GPS and comprehensive insurance is added.
The other thing is I won't hire the smallest car as there is some serious heavy metal all around you at higher speeds on American roads.
Anyway that is what I find. My 10 day hire starts tomorrow!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

A new update re: driving and car hires - I have looked into it further, and although I previously thought I would be ineligible to hire due to not having an open licence, this doesn't appear to be a problem... The only issue will be finding car companies that will hire to someone my age, without doubling the rental costs (I can understand them charging more for younger drivers as there are obviously statistics to back these charges up, but with a perfect driving record, I have no intention to subsidise bad drivers unless I can help it! Haha

timster - Thanks very much for the travel tips! Nice to know that Times Sq is relatively safe at night!

Mardi - You're welcome! How did you find the AT&T network? I've heard that depending on location, they're somewhat comparable to the worst parts of the Vodafone network in Australia... did you experience any connectivity problems?

Tassie - Many thanks for all of the clarifications! Re: your car upgrades - did you hold any status with the rental company/ies at the time?

brickmark - While I have found countless flights in the booking engines that do offer wi-fi, I seem to have lucked out, in that the majority of aircraft I will most likely be flying on are regional planes (without the wi-fi logo appearing during the booking process - whereas other routes do show this logo)... although in all likelihood this could change by the time I'm over there!

Alanslegal - Sounds like it would have been fun to visit NO the week earlier, but unfortunately I can't move my departure date forward by that much! I've started reading your TR - will read the rest of it later tonight!

serfty - Many thanks! I'll definitely be careful re: insurance if I do decide to hire a car!

Mr Buff - True true - I would have never thought to take my car chargers with me... Kind of silly I know, but thank-you for that! My Garmin GPS has the ability to be updated with maps for other countries when needed - if driving, I'll probably just put the USA maps on there and save having to hire a GPS, or pay for the iPhone app (and risk it using too much data). Thank-you for all of the other tips also! Re: Yankee Stadium, are they always likely to let you in for a look around, or is it simply by chance (provided that there isn't a game on etc)?

ozbeachbabe - Your reverse ticketing suggestion has confused me... If using points for a JASA and also paying for the return sector on CX (while still paying LAX-SYD-LAX), what advantage does that actually have - as it essentially seems as if I'd be buying two airfares instead of one (unless I've missed something here haha!)

kiwitripper64 - Thanks very much for all of that! Anything related to chocolate is always good in my books haha! I'll look into Alaska lounge access if I have a need to travel with them once my cities have been finalised!

Fantic125 - Your clarification of NYC streets has made everything so much more simpler to understand - thank-you very much for that!

drron - Thanks very much for that! If I did end up hiring a car, Avis would definitely be high-up on my preference list, as they are friendlier to younger drivers! Good to know about the NYC greeter service also!

cove - Wow, that is an exceptional price!!! I'm assuming that the savings you experienced were somewhat lost in the cost of parking though?

 

[serfty]

...
cove - Wow, that is an exceptional price!!! I'm assuming that the savings you experienced were somewhat lost in the cost of parking though?

GPS's are a lot less expensive in the USA.

Last year I purchased one with fully loaded USA Maps for USD140 - Same model in Oz was on sale for $195, USA maps would have cost another $185 to purchase in Oz.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ying-new-gps-your-picks-21396.html#post294020

Of course, cove was indicating you simply purchase one on arrival into the USA.

 

[DrAndyC]

I purchased a TOM TOM with preloaded maps over the counter in Staples (think Officeworks) for less than 100USD (maps included) and sold it on ebay afterwards for approx 50% of what I paid for it.

 

[Tassie]

Tassie - Many thanks for all of the clarifications! Re: your car upgrades - did you hold any status with the rental company/ies at the time?

No status - I just got upgrades because there were no small cars available. (They must exist - I just have yet to see one) I've hired with Budget, Alamo and Hertz in 3 states

 

[cove]

My best 2 purchases in America have been the GPS and the Costco membership. You can use the Costco card in Australia and vice versa.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

ozbeachbabe - Your reverse ticketing suggestion has confused me... If using points for a JASA and also paying for the return sector on CX (while still paying LAX-SYD-LAX), what advantage does that actually have - as it essentially seems as if I'd be buying two airfares instead of one (unless I've missed something here haha!)

Apologies for any confusion - I reread it & I think I posted that after having a really early start that day as I couldn't understand what I'd written either! In your case, as you've already paid for your QF return tickets Aust-USA-Aust you woudn't need to book a CX ticket as well - I was giving people travelling to the US who hadn't yet paid for their tickets another alternative.

I edited my original post below to make it clearer.

In the above case I meant one option could be to travel on a one way JASA SYD/LAX then purchase a return CX fare USA/SYD/USA which is via HKG each way so your trip home from USA to Oz would be the outbound sector of the CX ticket then use the inbound sector of your CX ticket to depart Oz on your next USA trip.

This is only really worth doing if you travel to the USA on a fairly regular basis as you'd always have & half used ticket up your sleeve. As there would be some kind of fee for changing dates it helps if you know what dates you'll be travelling to the US next time.

If you only had enough points to do a JASA in one direction eg SYD/LAX, it's worth pricing oneway airfares USA to Australia as although one way fares will always be about 67% of a return fare, you may find that if the fare is purchased via a US site of an airline the LAX/SYD flight may be low season whereas if purchased on the Australian site as the outbound date from Oz determines the season it may well be high season.

I realise you have booked and paid already for your ticket on QF, however one alternative for other people who are yet to finalise their airfares is to travel SYD/LAX on a one way JASA redemption then purchase ticket a) on an airline eg QF, UA or NZ LAX/SYD/LAX non-stop & compare that cost to b) USA/Aust/USA via HKG (see routing below) on CX.

It means you would always have a return sector up your sleeve for next time you fly Aust to the USA.

Price the cost of a CX ticket ex either JFK/YYZ/YVR/SFO/LAX via HKG to Aust then which is around USD1598.00 plus taxes for a ticket that is valid for 6 months so if your first CX sector JFK/HKG was 01Dec, the last date you could fly HKG/JFK would be 01Jun.

CX also fly JFK/YVR & I'm assuming that they would be able to fly you on that sector if you were continuing on to HKG on CX. You could always get the train NYC via Niagara Falls to YYZ then fly out of YYZ to HKG then Aust or alternatively fly JFK/YVR on CX, stopover then YVR/HKG/BNE for example.

 

[drex]

Hi Chris,

So much good advice here!

Bellagio in Las Vegas is really well located, pretty much in the centre of the strip. Try and get a lake view room as it's really cool to watch the fountains from your room (as well as the street). The only negative with Bellagio is that the rooms are starting to date a little as I don't think they've been refurbed since the hotel opened in the late 90's. If you're open to something different, have a look at Wynn or Encore. These aren't as well located and are pretty much the last decent hotels before you start to hit the dodgy/original part of the strip but the rooms and casinos are spectacular. We stayed in the Encore tower suites and upgraded to a Salon Suite at checkin and it was phenomenal. In terms of nightlife, Wynn has the Beach Club, Kaskade was playing there on Sunday's (in the day) when we were there and it was very cool, lots of beautiful people but still relaxed enough to have a good time. XS is also at Wynn but be prepared to really dress up. Tao at the Venetian was really good, similar to the clubs we get here (except for girls in the bathtub washing each other?!). The line was huge (I'm talking about 200 people). The trick is to have dinner at the restaurant beforehand then ask for a stamp which gets you straight in. Bellagio also has the Bank but I haven't been there.

New York nightlife is pretty much all based around the Meat Packing district. Cielo is a legendary New York Club and there are a stack of high profile house DJ's as residents. I had a great time there!

Any questions let me know.

Cheers, Ben

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Thanks again to all for the information provided!

From the looks of it, I don't think we'll have a need to hire a car for this trip, though everyone's tips re: hires, insurance and GPS will certainly be saved for future USA trips!

Ozbeachbabe - thanks, that makes much more sense! I paid for my QF tickets today - as none of my other travel plans involve the USA and Canada at this stage (mostly Europe, and one to China), I just booked on QF as a multi-city (I probably won't get to the States again within a year of the original departure, so an extra ticket up my sleeve would just go to waste)... I'll definitely keep your very helpful tip in mind for the future (and to other destinations) also!

Ben - I'll come back to your message once we've started booking hotels!

----------------------------------------

So we've got the final flight details sorted out! Most have been booked, and the remaining few flights will be taken care of in the next couple of days. We had to make a few changes to accommodate Canada as well, though it all worked out just fine (I'll just have to do Boston and DC next time).

To those that I can help out with lounge access, this will be posted in the meetings/social forum soon!

I'll start looking at hotels in much more detail in a few weeks time, once this is all sorted (and another trip of mine is all taken care of). Final flights (and cities) are:

DEP/(ARR - in airport's local time)	ROUTE	AIRLINE	A/C	LOUNGE	NOTES
29/2 5am / 8:20am	BNE-MEL	QF	73H	None	I'd love to have stayed a night in MEL or LAX to minimise jet lag, but we just didn't have another day free!
29/2 11:20am / 06:40am (29/2)	MEL-LAX	QF	388	Priority Pass (PP) - United RCC from 10am	Scored row 79 (EROW) thanks to ExpertFlyer! I was able to book flights around where EROW seats were available - a very big EF fan now!
29/2 08:50am / 5:05pm (29/2)	LAX-JFK	QF	332	PP - SkyTeam KAL J Lounge (probably won't have time though)	Got row 45 (EROW)
6/3 8:30am	EWR-YQB	UA	ERJ135/40/5	PP - United Club	Expressjet A/l Dba Co Express
7/3 11:20am	YQB-YUL	AC	DHC8-100	PP - Salon VIP Lounge	AC Express - Jazz
9/3 10am	YUL-YYZ	AC	320	Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (access provided by AC, not PP)	Transiting to ORD
9/3 12:40pm	YYZ-ORD	AC	ERJ175	Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (only a short visit though!)
11/3 9:45am	ORD-YVR	UA	319	PP - United Club
14/3 10:40am	YVR-SFO	UA	ERJ190	PP - Plaza Premium Lounge (USA Departures)	Operated by AC
16/3 12:10pm	SFO-LAS	VX	320	None, though trying to work out if I can access the Virgin Atlantic clubhouse at SFO when flying VX... anyone have any idea? (not going to get my hopes up haha)
18/3 10:40am	LAS-LAX	UA	320	PP - Continental Presidents Club
21/3 11:30pm / 9:05am (23/3)	LAX-MEL	QF	388	PP - SkyTeam KAL J Lounge	Scored row 79 again!
23/3 5:05pm	MEL-BNE	QF	73H	VA Lounge T3 if we get there early (Gold anytime)	Long MEL stopover is intentional to catch up with friends

 

[AdMEL]

Hi Chris, a few comments (after spending 5 weeks in the US a year ago):

New York

I second comments regarding NY being safe at night, Staten Island Ferry being free and worthwhile, and Hyline park (I didn't actually make it, but have read many recommendations).

Subway: awesome form of transport! Was in NY for a little over a week, so purchased an unlimited weekly metro card, at a current cost of US$29 (each trip is usually a flat rate of 2.50 or 2.75) - used subway extensively. It runs 24 hours too. Recommend the weekly option if you expect to use it more than twice a day.

Brooklyn Bridge: worth the walk!

Something a little different:

1. Tour of Grand Central Terminal, which is about and hour and a half, guided by a person from some sort of historical society. I think they run on Wednesday at lunchtime and also Friday. Fascinating insight into its past and present. They recommend a US10 tip to the guide.

2. Tour of City Hall subway station, which is a disused subway station built in the 1940's or earlier. It's under city hall and is almost a circle, which is why it isn't used - it's too curved. They run tours about once a quarter, which unfortunately wasn't when I was there! It's supposed to be quite ornate.


Las Vegas

Trip to Grand Canyon and Hoover dam well worth it.
Car hire

Not sure of your age, but if you like driving and can, I would recommend hiring an American sports car, such as a Camaro (although, it's probably more Australian than American!), Mustang, Charger, or Corvette.

You can hire all of these from Hertz, which will guarantee you get the car you book. Hertz offer packaged rates to Aussies, including all insurances, often at less than rates for Americans, excluding insurance.

That's all I can remember at the moment - may post more!

 

[serfty]

OT: Pedantic Correction

738W is not the normal designation Qantas for 737-800(WL)

Qantas employ 73H.

[737-838(WL)]

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Re: OT: Pedantic Correction

738W is not the normal designation Qantas for 737-800(WL)

Qantas employ 73H.

[737-838(WL)]

Ahh ok - thanks for that (I just assumed 738W to be the case without actually checking it)! It's been corrected now