Travelling America Cheaply

Hi There,

I am looking for some advice how to get around cheaply in America, and places we must see.

It is our first time in America.

I am going in early August for 21 days.

Our plan is to Land in LA - Fly straight to NY

We have no set plans for the rest of the trip but will make our way back to LA

We are not sure of the best option as we would like to drive but rental cars have high fees for a one way rental.
I also wonder if there is older, reliable car rental as well.

Places we hope to pass on our journey are,

New York
Washington
Hershey Town
Niagara
Detroit
Chicago
St Louis
Denver
Las Vegas
San Fransisco
LA

Driving one-way would not be cheap! There are agencies like Rent-A-Wreck that are a few dollars cheaper than the big guys, but I don't know if they do one-ways at all, and the franchises of that company seem to work independently of each other.

Do you really want to see some of our uglier cities (Detroit, St. Louis and LA)? Denver, in my opinion, is nothing much, but the mountain resorts W. of the city are spectacular (Aspen, Telluride, Breckenridge to name a few).

Getting around the Northeast (DC to NY and Boston) is very easy by bus or train. If you're going to Niagara Falls, I would skip Detroit, cross to Ontario in Canada and see Toronto enroute to Chicago.

These days, I'd say air travel would be cheaper than driving (provided you book ahead). Your best bet for cheaper one-way flights would be on airlines like Southwest, Airtran, US Airways (see airfarewatchdog.com).

Thank-You so much for the quick respose.

Your information was great I am now thinking about replanning my trip to cut out some of the cities that you mentioned might not be that worth it.

I cant wait to see your country, it has been a dream of mine since I was a child.

I just hope it turns out to be everything I hoped for and more (I am sure it will).

I hope to use this site alot before I go it has proved to be great.

Me and a friend are looking to do the same sort of thing at the end of our rtw trip next year. We are starting in san Francisco and driving to New York. For a 5 week rental quotes seem to be around £800, including a one way fee. Between 2, £400 each. Then there is petrol. Which I am guessing will be about £200 each. So £600 each in total, unless we can pick up some people beforehand who want to car share. I can't see us being able to visit as many places as we would in the car by plane for cheaper.

I would agree with daawgon. Why would you want to go to Detroit or St Louis? I would stick to the north up to Seattle from Chicago then down the coast. A more pleasurable route. WHat you can see in Denver, you can see in Washington State or the very least throught Yellowstone Park to Vegas