Advice about a road trip through USA...

Consider travelling by Amtrak. They have good off-season rates in the
winter, and you can also eliminate some of the accommodation expense by
travelling through the geographically boring areas at night and sleeping
in your seat (something that's not really very realistic when traveling
by bus because the seats are much smaller and more crammed-together.)

As many others have already suggested, forget car rental. Apart from
the gas (which could well be up around $3.00 a gallon by the time you
travel, given the way crude oil prices are soaring) rental rates, and
drop fees, you also have to contend with the fact that due to your
overseas origin you'd likely be forced to purchase a complete car
insurance package, likely at around $20 - 25 per day.

To visit Vegas, take a Greyhound casino excursion from Los Angeles.
Very cheap fare, provided you are dropped off at one of the
participating hotels. One of Vegas's best hotel values, IMO, is the
Luxor (www.luxor.com). Try to time your visit there during the
Sunday-thru-Thursday part of the week, as rates then are generally about
half what they are on Fri/Sat nights. Rent a car in Vegas for a couple
of days to visit the Bland Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Death Valley.

Tapa wrote:

I am planning a trip with my girlfriend this winter to USA and was
wondering if anyone could help with the specifics. We have 3 weeks
available and are traveling on extreme budget - would like this trip to
cost less around 1200$ USD per person (for travel and board
expenses).

Ideally, what we would like in those 3 weeks is to drive across
USA - from New York to Los Angeles (or Las Vegas - depending
where we end our tour). We would like to go from New York to
Toronto and then to Detroit (personal reasons). The only other sites
we know we would like to visit are Las Vegas and Los Angeles +
possibly national parks like Death Valley and/or Yosemite and/or
Grand Canyon. We would require elp with in-between sights along
the way - we would like to get a feel of small town America as well,
get to know the traditional as well as the modern. We look for
diversity - from shopping, culture, nature, adventure, food, etc.

We realize our budget is tight, but we are flexible in execution and
will listen to any suggestions.

Do you guys think this would be possible given our budget? 3
weeks to do New York to Los Angeles.... any highly regarded
travel agent or agency out there specialising in prepackaged
tours similar to what we want?

Any help would be appreciated!

bfree (AT) hi (DOT) htnet (DOT) hr

Thanks to all for your help - we have considered all that has been
written and, since as many of you have pointed out - our time is a
bit short for such an ambitious tour (+ the weather concerns), we
have since revised it. It will probably include the following:

- 2 weeks touring route LA-Las Vegas-San Francisco (and
sights and national parks on the way)

- another week with relatives in Detroit/Toronto (transfer via
plane)

BTW as for other concerns regarding gasoline/toll/food prices -
like I said, the limit of 1200$ I mentioned previously was only for
travel (plane tickets and car rental) and accommodation expenses
- we do have some pocket money for other expenses. Since we
are reserving the trip fairly early, after looking around a bit, I've
been able to get fairly good prices on international flights (slightly
over 400$)...

So, taking that into account - we would be left with about 80$
between us for car and room expenses. While that is probably
low - I was not under the impression that its an impossible
amount... since we buy plane tickets/rooms/accommodation, my
thoughts were that a skillful travel agent might be able to provide
that in a good bulk/all-in-one package...

Thanks to all for your help - we have considered all that has been
written and, since as many of you have pointed out - our time is a
bit short for such an ambitious tour (+ the weather concerns), we
have since revised it. It will probably include the following:

- 2 weeks touring route LA-Las Vegas-San Francisco (and
sights and national parks on the way)

- another week with relatives in Detroit/Toronto (transfer via
plane)

BTW as for other concerns regarding gasoline/toll/food prices -
like I said, the limit of 1200$ I mentioned previously was only for
travel (plane tickets and car rental) and accommodation expenses
- we do have some pocket money for other expenses. Since we
are reserving the trip fairly early, after looking around a bit, I've
been able to get fairly good prices on international flights (slightly
over 400$)...

So, taking that into account - we would be left with about 80$
between us for car and room expenses. While that is probably
low - I was not under the impression that its an impossible
amount... since we buy plane tickets/rooms/accommodation, my
thoughts were that a skillful travel agent might be able to provide
that in a good bulk/all-in-one package...

Thanks to all for your help - we have considered all that has been
written and, since as many of you have pointed out - our time is a
bit short for such an ambitious tour (+ the weather concerns), we
have since revised it. It will probably include the following:

- 2 weeks touring route LA-Las Vegas-San Francisco (and
sights and national parks on the way)

- another week with relatives in Detroit/Toronto (transfer via
plane)

BTW as for other concerns regarding gasoline/toll/food prices -
like I said, the limit of 1200$ I mentioned previously was only for
travel (plane tickets and car rental) and accommodation expenses
- we do have some pocket money for other expenses. Since we
are reserving the trip fairly early, after looking around a bit, I've
been able to get fairly good prices on international flights (slightly
over 400$)...

So, taking that into account - we would be left with about 80$
between us for car and room expenses. While that is probably
low - I was not under the impression that its an impossible
amount... since we buy plane tickets/rooms/accommodation, my
thoughts were that a skillful travel agent might be able to provide
that in a good bulk/all-in-one package...

That is - 80$ between us per day...

That is - 80$ between us per day...

That is - 80$ between us per day...