USA Itinerary for Family of 5, Thoughts?

[legseleven]

Care to comment on our itinerary for our family of 5 (kids aged 7, 9 and 11) trip September/October next year? Not sure about Chicago and if we should instead do 3 extra nights exploring California.

Hawaii - 6 nights
Los Angeles - 3 nights
Anaheim: Disneyland - 4 nights
Chicago - 3 nights
New York City - 6 nights

Thanks.

 

[kookaburra75]

HI, sorry for the delay in response. We've gone back and forth over our itinerary and as we are funding the flights with points it was touch and go before we were lucky enough to score 5 x Classic Awards on our chosen fly out date for PER-SYD-HNL to start our trip. Hawaii is not new for us but we all love it especially the kids so we're set to start there.

We've dropped off Chicago and decided to spend that time in California. Never hired a car in the US and a bit apprehensive so would appreciate any feedback on our revised itinerary to avoid extremely heavy traffic areas.

So with our revised itinerary will have 11 nights in California before we head to NYC for 5 nights.

Fly from HNL to LAX (with points) - 2 nights in LA.
Shuttle/uber to Anaheim early evening - 4 nights (3 full days) at Disneyland (allowing for afternoon rest time then go back).
Pacific Surfliner to San Diego - ?? nights.
Hire car to San Francisco - ?? nights.

Confused about time spent in San Diego/San Francisco. Are we attempting too many places? Stick with San Diego or San Francisco only?

No direct or suitable flights using points from San Diego, but direct flights available from San Francisco if that helps.

Thanks!

If you include San Diego, two days would allow you to explore the zoo and wander around the main area on the coast.

For driving to San Francisco, there are two routes - the old coast road (Highway 1 and the Inland route (Route I-5). Highway 1 is the best but allow three days to do the drive (stop at San Luis Obispo & Monterey). The I-5 cuts through the agricultural areas and is a bit quicker - although with stops it would be a long day's drive if you did it in one go. The big problem is where you start the journey in Los Angeles, as it can take two and a half hours to get from Anaheim to Santa Barbara, in mid morning traffic. If you not used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road, it can be a bit challenging, as you will need something on the large side to fit you all and your bags.

Alternatively, take the train - from centre of Los Angeles to centre San Francisco is about 12 hours, but you get comfy seats, power points, wifi and a bar car. The railway line runs close to the coast, and saves the stress of driving, plus give you a moving ''break day'

 

[Denali]

If going to SD and beer is your thing, my friends take us to Stone Brewery at Liberty (sit outdoors) for a meal. They make the Arrogant cough ale

 

[RooFlyer]

Going by your original schedule, you will therefore have 4 nights in San Diego and/or San Francisco? If so, as much as I regret to say so, I think you need to choose one or the other. Personally I would choose SFO and its hinterland (national parks), but San Diego might be better for the kids, but then having done the Disneyland theme parks, do you need more?

Also, given the flight situation to NYC, San Francisco might get the nod for that reason as well.

You might hire a car in Los Angeles and then drive up the coast road to SFO. Its a magnificent drive. Once you get onto the freeway in Los Angeles its not too difficult to find your way north - just don't choose peak hour for your first drive! You might consider staying on the fringes of San Francisco (or near the airport) and use the excellent Bay Area Rapid Transport System (BART) for getting around the city and use the car for day excursions into the hinterland.

Edit: I like kookaburra75's idea of taking the train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but you can drive it in a day.

 

[legseleven]

Wow that’s a busy itinerary once you hit the mainland. I would have done the stopover in HNL on the way home to have a rest from all the travelling and break up the flight from NYC to PER. Can’t comment on San Diego as haven’t been but loved San Fran (although this was without kids).

Scash, our original plan was to fly in J from Perth to Hong Kong to JFK but nothing available as I’m QFF Bronze. Flying Y to HNL is doable (we’ve done it before and it’s nit so bad). We can get J flights from JFK to get us home so that’s why we inverted our itinerary.

 

[legseleven]

Wow thanks everyone for these brilliant replies. I really appreciate it. I’ll let you know what we decide. Thanks again.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Did you book the JFK/xHKG/PER flights at the same time as the PER/xSYD/HNL flights ie are they on the same ticket?

 

[legseleven]

Did you book the JFK/xHKG/PER flights at the same time as the PER/xSYD/HNL flights ie are they on the same ticket?

No, our return dates haven’t been released yet. Have I done something wrong? First time planning multiple stops with a big number of points....appreciate any advice ozbeachbabe.

 

[drron]

Legs we are all different.We like different things,react differently and different things annoy us.So you have to decide what you and the family want to do and will enjoy.I note many saying that 2 or 3 days at Disney is all you will need.Well we took our grandkids to Disneyworld in January.They had no problems doing 4 days there and the day before going to Universal Studios then Legoland the day after.
We have been to all 50 states and there is something brilliant about each one of them.Do some research and find out what is around.Visit the websites of the State Tourism Bureaus of the States you want to visit.Some will still send you out brochures.

And don't be scared of driving.In general Americans are a lot more polite than Australian drivers.Even on the freeways you will be able to use the express lanes which are for cars with 2 or more people in them.Amazing how so many cars only carry the driver.Also the USA has a good numbering system.Even numbered roads and highways are basically running East/West,odd numbers North/south.If on an Interstate research what exit you have to take-basically they are all numbered and most places you want to go to will tell you which exit to take.
Just remember to enjoy yourself.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

No, our return dates haven’t been released yet. Have I done something wrong? First time planning multiple stops with a big number of points....appreciate any advice ozbeachbabe.

Nothing wrong don't panic.

All good if you're flying back CX as the co-payment in addition to the QF points on one way tickets ex the USA aren't that bad. Have only priced CX JFK/HKG though not JFK/xHKG/PER. What you want to avoid is one way award tickets using QF points ex the USA as the carrier fees and surcharge in addition to the taxes are ridiculously expensive eg a SFO/xSYD/BNE Classic award in whY had a co-payment of USD385.00!

You don't have to stress too much right now about locking in what you'll be doing when, just focus on HNL where you know you're starting then JFK where you're finishing up. CX do also have seasonal flights ORD/HKG and BOS/HKG but several daily flights JFK/HKG and one EWR/HKG. Note that the CX865 operates via YVR so given a choice opt for one of the other flights that's non-stop.

The CX171 HKG/PER flight timings are 1450/2235 when factoring which JFK/HKG flight to get eg CX845 0135/0515+1 giving you a long transit in HKG or CX831 1450/1850+1 meaning you could have an overnight transit as your stay would be less than 24 hours but you'd need a hotel for the night. The latter option is probably more suited to a family as you don't need to leave your NYC hotel super early plus you'd be able to check in to your hotel straight away in HKG.

 

[cove]

Universal Studios,Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland are all places we took our two sons when they were younger. All good fun around Los Angeles.
Angels Stadium and Petco Park in San Diego are great for baseball.
The train ride from San Diego to San Francisco is pretty nice but is a bit slow.
Monterey is where we stop if we drive highway one to San Francisco from Los Angeles.
We tended to stay at either Ayres , Embassy Suites or other Hilton properties. I think our sons liked the Embassy Suites for the evening drinks and the easy breakfast.
For hire cars I still use Argus as it trawls for a good price.
Make sure you have travel insurance.

 

[cove]

Now that my sons are adults they use Uber and Lyft to go to events around Los Angeles instead of driving. My youngest son did not like driving in Los Angeles so he used Lyft instead of hiring a car.
With Hawaii we go to an outer island and that can be great fun.
We typically stay in New York for four or five nights as you will never see it all in one go.

 

[leadman]

Uber/Lyft has filled that transport gap that public transport/taxi's in the States have never done. It makes movement much easier in most cities/towns. Although not sure how you would cope with a family of 5 would cope, but im sure the Uberites will tell us.

 

[earlyriser]

Another vote here for skipping Chicago and doing Yosemite and maybe even San Francisco which is not a bad drive. If it was me, i'd be squeezing in Yellowstone too.

 

[Quickstatus]

Did you know there is an airport close to Anaheim?
SNA (John Wayne Airport)

Stop in HNL is reasonable. How many nights there?.

Then I would do this:
HNL-SNA (as in don’t fly into LAX unless necessary)
SNA-SAN requires a 1 stop all airlines so do a 2 hr drive if going there
Or SNA-SFO are nonstop on United.

Give one of SAN or SFO a miss. Too much!! IMO
I reckon go to SFO. Bike ride on Golden Gate, boat ride under Golden Gate, Alcatraz tour, tram ride. Shopping. (Don’t do all of it). Trams are very slow and queues are very long (only do once for the novelty - don’t use it for getting around. Uber is efficient)

The fly to NYC

If you are looking for AA flights only then SAN is best as there are direct nonstopAA flights from SAN to NYC. SFO-NYC on AA requires one stop

SAN= San Diego
SFO= San Fran
SNA= Santa Ana (near Anaheim)

Sorry about the Australian Dollar. Expect 0.60 or worse

Shopping in SFO and NYC for growing kids though with the plummeting dollar the value proposition may not be as good.

 

[legseleven]

Hello experts, thanks again for your suggestions. Just wanted to let you know I secured our return flights, 4 x JFK-HKG-PER in J using points, 5 x Classic Awards weren’t available to me so I paid for child #3.

We’ve decided to drive from Anaheim to San Francisco, stopping a night each at Morro Bay and Monterey along the way, any suggestions for accommodation at these places?

Also, we need to fly from HNL to Anaheim (Disneyland) on 28 September. There’s two flights that I’m deciding on:

1. HNL - LGB, (Hawaiian Airlines) departs 12 noon, arrives at 8.45pm.
2. HNL - LAX, (AA) departs 7.10am arrives at 3.40pm, catch shuttle to Anaheim.

I’d really rather arrive earlier to have dinner and settle in before tackling 3 days of Disney but wonder if we should avoid LAX. Any comments most welcome. Thankyou.

 

[Quickstatus]

Hello experts, thanks again for your suggestions. Just wanted to let you know I secured our return flights, 4 x JFK-HKG-PER in J using points, 5 x Classic Awards weren’t available to me so I paid for child #3.

We’ve decided to drive from Anaheim to San Francisco, stopping a night each at Morro Bay and Monterey along the way, any suggestions for accommodation at these places?

Also, we need to fly from HNL to Anaheim (Disneyland) on 28 September. There’s two flights that I’m deciding on:

1. HNL - LGB, (Hawaiian Airlines) departs 12 noon, arrives at 8.45pm.
2. HNL - LAX, (AA) departs 7.10am arrives at 3.40pm, catch shuttle to Anaheim.

I’d really rather arrive earlier to have dinner and settle in before tackling 3 days of Disney but wonder if we should avoid LAX. Any comments most welcome. Thankyou.

Arriving into LAX is actually pretty reasonable. LAX can be a pain if arriving and then transferring to another flight.

You should be fine. There are Walkup SuperShuttles to Anaheim. It’s no point booking because whether you book online or walk up you will be put on the first Supershuttle. It’s often better to book a private supershuttle rather than shared.

Or are you hiring a vehicle from LAX?

 

[legseleven]

Not hiring a car at LAX, will hire one once we’re finished at Disneyland.

Thanks, will book a private shuttle.

 

[Quickstatus]

Don’t need to book. Just walk up and say you want a private Van. They will allocate the first available. Private van is usually quicker to get going because it won’t have to wait until it’s full of shared customers

Allow about 1-1.5 hours

It’s a tossup with your flights
With kids I would catch the 12pm. And the nighttime traffic out of LAX is better than the 1540hrs which will be around rush hour.

Suggest an after lunch afternoon start at Disneyland the next day.

Don’t forget - dont do too much

 

[harvyk]

LAX is fine, even with a whole lotta kids.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Also, we need to fly from HNL to Anaheim (Disneyland) on 28 September. There’s two flights that I’m deciding on:

1. HNL - LGB, (Hawaiian Airlines) departs 12 noon, arrives at 8.45pm.

2. HNL - LAX, (AA) departs 7.10am arrives at 3.40pm, catch shuttle to Anaheim.

I’d really rather arrive earlier to have dinner and settle in before tackling 3 days of Disney but wonder if we should avoid LAX. Any comments most welcome. Thankyou.

Are these award tickets or paid flights?