East Coast USA/Canada Driving Holiday - Tips?

dwhes on 08/01/2013 - 17:39

Hi All,

I am just starting to plan our Honeymoon for September. We will be doing a driving holiday of the East coast of USA and Eastern Canada. I am looking for peoples tips and experiences on just about everything :) So far I am looking at about 4 weeks.

This is the rough plan so far:

  • Fly Aus to LAX, preferably from Bris but Syd if flights can be had for cheaper (including a flight from Bris to Syd).

  • 2 nights LA for Disney Land and Universal Studios.

  • Fly to NYC. 4 nights. See Yankees and Jets game (highest priority of trip (other than spending time with my new wife :P) and will reshuffle order of destinations to ensure this occurs if need be!).

  • Pick up hire car. Drive to Boston. 3 nights.

  • Drive to Quebec City. 3 nights.

  • Drive to Montreal. 3 nights.

  • Drive to Ottawa. 3 nights.

  • Drive to Algonquin Provincial Park. 2 nights. Partner's number 1 priority is to see a moose in the wild!

  • Drive to Toronto. 3 nights.

  • Drive to Niagara Falls. 1 night.

  • Drive to Washington DC. Drop off hire car. 3 nights.

  • Fly back to AUS.

So that is just a rough plan, 27 nights. Those are pretty much the destinations we would like to see but in no way definite. It looks reasonably good driving on google maps with the longest legs being Boston to Quebec at 6hrs and Niagara to Washington at 7hrs. Most legs only around 3hrs though.

So basically what do people think about that? Is it achievable? Too rushed? Should I spend less time at any of the places or more at others? What tips, tricks, recommendations on what to see and do, do people have?

We have a budget of around $15,000 for 2 people which seems doable.

  • Airfares at around $1500pp to NY and back from DC, $3000.
  • Hire car $1000.
  • 27 nights accommodation at average of $120pn, $3240.
  • Disneyland and Universal Studios Tickets $200pp, $400.
  • Fuel. 1732 miles travel. Camry gets 30 mile per gallon. 57 gallons total. $3.4 average per gallon. So $196. p.s how cheap is that!!
  • Yankees Tickets $100pp, $200.
  • Jets Tickets $100pp, $200.
  • Algonquin 3 day/2 night tour, $500pp, $1000.
  • Spending money, $150 a day, $4050.

Total price of approximately $13290.

As you can see I have a bit of room spare in the budget there for more expensive hotels, i.e. NYC. Also I have room to add one or 2 more nights on or take some off elsewhere if people have any ideas?

Please give me anything you've got!

Cheers,

David

Travel

Comments

  • m0nkeycheese on 08/01/2013 - 18:49

    Stay on the left side of the road…

    • dwhes on 08/01/2013 - 19:04
      +1

      Could be a very short trip doing that… Lol.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2013 - 20:44
    +1

    Read the wiki

    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/category:travel

    Good info on US car rental insurance especially worth looking at since you are taking the car into Canada, which in itself should be ok.

    Many take the rental agencies insurance which is expensive AND isnt that comprehensive

  • arend on 09/01/2013 - 08:48

    I think you need longer in LA.
    I lived there for a year when I was younger and saw many tourists try to squeeze too much in.

    Universal can be done in a day, no problems.
    Disneyland takes 2 days to do properly, particularly if you include California Adventure and Downtown Disney.
    If you only want a taste, then OK, but if you want to do it properly, then you need to add an extra day and get the Parkhopper tickets. I find you only get frustrated as you will have to skip things depending on lines etc.

    They will also be big days so be prepared!
    Haven't done the east coast so can't speak with any authority.

    • dwhes on 09/01/2013 - 09:02

      Actually thinking about cutting LA and the theme parks out all together. Had a chat to the mrs and she doesn't really want to do them (she's never been a theme park fan). So might just power on through to NY and add an extra 2 nights there. Found on airbnb that I can book some quite nice apartments in the upper west side for around $200 a night.

      • donga100 on 09/01/2013 - 09:47

        Maybe keep the 2 nights in LA but go to one of the beaches for a day instead. I visited the Getty Villa and Getty Museum and they were really impressive. They are in a good location if you have a rental car too as you get to drive along the coast towards Malibu which is a worthwhile experience in itself.

        We rented the car using www.driveawayholidays.com to book with Dollar. We booked the cheapest car available for about $35 per day and then upgraded when we got there for only $10 per day to a new Mustang convertible. They always overbook the cheapest car types so you can get an upgrade for cheap. Get the full insurance from Dollar, it's only $7 per day and will mean you don't need to pay damages upfront and try to claim back from your travel insurance. My travel insurance only covered $3000 for rental car excess anyway and if you have ever made a car insurance claim you'll know how easy it is to do over $3k in damage.

        The main reason I booked with Driveaway is that I used to work as a travel agent and know that many rental companies will add on hidden fees for registration, taxes, etc. when you pick up the car but Driveaway can always be trusted to give the full price.

    • m0nkeycheese on 09/01/2013 - 19:04

      FYI unless you have kids Disneyland is a waste of time. 1 day max

  • barrymore on 09/01/2013 - 10:22

    I lived in northern NY state for 3 years. At that time of the year the autumn (fall) colours in New England are spectacular - make sure you allow plenty of time for photo stops. You can see moose in northern Maine without a problem on your way to Quebec. We stayed at Milinocket and the locals will give you directions. Make sure you stay in the old town in Quebec and try to use a bit of Frnch to explain you are Australian tourists - they are not too keen on some other nationalities!
    Between Ottawa and Toronto go via Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence seaway - beautiful area and not out of your way.
    Best view of Niagara is from the Canadian side and see if you can fit in Niagara-on-the-lake a lovely little town on your way to the falls

    Have a great time!

    • dwhes on 09/01/2013 - 10:44

      Thanks for the tips! The fall colours are one of the main reasons we are doing a driving holiday, should be beautiful. Hopefully our Algonquin guided 3 day tour should allow us to see a moose, apparently they are quite prevalent there. Will definitely try to learn a bit of French before we go, normally try to learn at least a few phrases of the languages at each destination we go. Luckily being mostly English this time round haha. Between Ottawa and Toronto is when we are going to Algonquin so we might have to skip the Thousand Islands. Will definitely stay on the Candian side of Niagara.

      This is our driving plan so far:

      https://maps.google.com.au/maps?saddr=New+York,+NY,+United+S…

      • [Deactivated] on 09/01/2013 - 11:38

        je regrette je ne parle pas francais, Je suis australien

        Always worked well. The Regrette part is essential. Think of it as

        "I'm sorry I dont speak english"
        vs
        "Dont speak english"

        Which is more appealing…

      • kangaroo on 12/01/2013 - 22:47
        +1

        I lived in Toronto for 7 years before moving back to Aus in 2010.

        NOTL - Niagara On the Lake is a great little town. I recommend it too. Lots of wineries around this area. Popular for ice wine.

        Places I recommend in Ontario are

        • Tobermory, Ontario & Flower Pot Island.

          It’s a small fishing town on the tip of Bruce peninsula.
          Great place for diving and exploring ship wrecks and hiking in the flower pot island and Bruce trail.

        • Parry Sound (30,000 islands) cruise

        September is a transition month from summer to fall. The water will be cold in late September. I don't think you will see much fall color during this time.

  • After Dark on 09/01/2013 - 23:32

    Sounds like a great trip - some ideas & experiences
    Do try to fly out of Brisbane - it's long enough without the Sydney transfer - have flown Qantas & Virgin and prefer the latter.

    I'd definitely break the trip in LA - in fact when we did the East Coast we did that both ways - if you aren't into theme parks there's still plenty to see/experience - would also recommend the Getty Center. We used the stopover on the way home for some shopping (you'll be amazed at the prices) as the internal legs had a lower baggage allowance (Virgin allowed 2 X 25kg pp LAX-BNE)

    NYC hotels are expensive and often have quite small rooms - for our last trip we tried something different and were very happy with the result - we spent 10 nights at the Verve Hotel in Long Island City (check it out on Tripadvisor) and it was great having a room with a separate lounge - a luxury in NY - it's a 5 min walk from a couple of subway lines that see you in Manhattan in 10-15 minutes max. I liked the look of the apartments and wanted to do that but there are mixed stories of how that goes - this sort of thing put me off in the end - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k1563270-Rent…

    I'd recommend a visit to the Century21 store in lower Manhattan - great buys. Also Macy's & Bloomingdale's give discounts for overseas visitors - go to guest services with your passport and pick up the voucher.

    For car hire it's a tedious process trawling the sites for the best deal - if you are an RACQ member rthey can provide discount codes to add to some companies and these codes sometimes add the insurances etc for little extra cost. I used kayak.com a fair bit. It pays to check the rental car companies web sites locally and in the US as the price differences can add up.

    The rest all looks good but at the risk of stating the obvious don't forget that 3 nights in a city with driving in between really only equates to 2 days to see the place. Also need to add in some down time for washing etc.

    At the other end I'd be tempted to add another leg and drive back to NYC - this would avoid a drop off charge on the rental car and by flying in and out of NY you should get better flight pricing - win win. In DC one of our favourite sights was - http://airandspace.si.edu/udvarhazy/ . Another advantage of doing this is you can drive through Maryland which is one of the few states that doesn't add sales tax to the advertised price - so if you want to buy that iPad/camera/whatever then this saves a bit.

    We found these very useful on the East Coast - less so on the West - http://www.hotelcoupons.com/ - need to do your homework and check ratings on a site like Tripadvisor as some of the places listed don't sound too flash - that said we found some real bargains and would definitely use again (but maybe less so on a honeymoon ;) ) I'd recommend getting the hotel loyalty cards for the hotel class you are thinking of staying in - with my Choice and Hilton Honours cards I got better rates on advance purchase than I could find elsewhere

    Anyway enough for now - if there's anything else just add it and I'm sure the OzB folk will help

    Enjoy your planning

    • [Deactivated] on 10/01/2013 - 08:17

      Nice tips only thing is according to

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxes_in_the_United_State…

      Maryland has 6% sales tax not zero

      You may be meaning Delaware which has zero

      • After Dark on 10/01/2013 - 09:35

        My mistake - a late night and tired eyes looking at our road Atlas my only defence - I did some shopping at Best Buy in Newark DE

    • dwhes on 10/01/2013 - 11:48

      Wow tha is for all the helpful info! There is a lot we would like to see on the west coast so I think we will just lave that for another holiday. Don't want to rush it over there so might just go through to New York and enjoy the east coast this time. Going to be a long day of travelling but we will survive.

      Beverly hotel does look very reasonable. Will definitely consider it. I'd like to be in manhattan just to be able to walk around and see the sites easier but if we can save a fair bit of money for the sake of a subway ride, might be worth it.

      Been looking at car hire online and can get a pretty great rate from Alamo on a mid sized car for the trip for around $1000. Also been researching the insurance issues and will probably buy it online from a 3rd party site before we go. Can get it for around $150 which is pretty good when most car hire places seem to want $10-$20 per day, so would be at least $250 for our trip.

      Yeh 3 nights really does only equal 2 days, that's why I'm hesitant to do less than 3 nights at any location, even though I've had some people say Quebec and Toronto only need a couple of nights.

      Been comparing flying in and out of ny vs out via Washington and its not a whole lot different to be honest. Only around $100-$200 more expensive for flights and saves us having to drive all the way from DC to NY and wasting more time.

      Cheers.

      • After Dark on 10/01/2013 - 12:07

        Another thought - Check if your credit card includes travel insurance and rental car excess - ours does as long as you spend and pay at least AUD250 before leaving home - others are more restrictive as you have to pay all the holiday on the card

      • After Dark on 10/01/2013 - 12:09

        Can understand your desire to be amongst the action but it's a long way from one end of Manhattan to the other so unless you use cabs or buy a hop on hop off bus ticket (which are good BTW) then you'll probably ride the subway at some point anyway

      • After Dark on 10/01/2013 - 22:06

        Just had a look back - we paid $1790US incl taxes for 10 nights at the Verve in a King Suite - look for discount codes you can apply as you can get an extra 15-20%

        We paid $1275 for a Magna sized Mitsubishi including insurance - not sure of your age but I joined AARP in the US to get their discount codes (have to be over 50)

      • After Dark on 13/01/2013 - 12:40

        Because we had two trips to the US planned we bought a local GPS that offered lifetime map updates and included traffic info as well as lane guidance - quite cheap by local standards and a lot cheaper than adding it to the hire car cost

  • IanGibson on 10/01/2013 - 17:20

    Did similar trip in 2011. Used Nova Car Hire http://www.novacarhire.com/ . They r in Dublin, Ireland but r international. They use USA firms but r FAR cheaper and INCLUDE a lot of the extras the Yank firms add onto their hire.

    • dwhes on 10/01/2013 - 18:34

      Thanks for the site. Just checked it out and their prices are very good, also includes liability and cdw insurance. $899 for 3 weeks for a full sized car.

  • Maz78 on 10/01/2013 - 18:32

    I did a trip with the wife earlier this year - July / August for 3 weeks. We did NYC for 8 days, Vegas for 6, SF for 3, 2 days driving down to LA, 4 days LA.
    Mate I think you're dreaming with your budget to be honest. NYC accommodation is expensive, unless you're staying in some timeshare / house swap situation. We hardly were being the splurging type and went through about $15k for the 3 weeks.

    BTW: You didn't multiply your accommodation x 2, which is why it looks a little cheap! Add $5k to your rough est of $13/$14k and I think you'll be fine. :)

    • dwhes on 10/01/2013 - 18:40
      +1

      Hm not sure how you get those numbers, have a look at my run down of costs. I've planned plenty of trips round the world and normally been spot on to within $1000 every time. Our accommodation isn't by 2. That is per room for 2 people per night. Done a fair bit of research already and most hotels we will be staying in along the way, holiday inns etc are around $120 per night for 3 star. We will definitely have to bump that up to around $250 per night for NY however. My estimates above were just over $13,000 and that was including theme park tickets which we aren't doing anymore. So we already have $2000 spare on top of the items I've listed above. And in those estimates I included $150 per day spending money, which we rarely do.

      We did 3 weeks touring Japan in Feb last year, and we splurged in most replaces, including 5 star accommodation in Niseko for a week skiing. and did it for $12,000 for both of us. Think you need to tweak your ozbargain skills or your staying in far better accommodation than we are looking for ;)

      • Maz78 on 10/01/2013 - 22:29
        +1

        Well it must be your accommodation choice. My mrs is a princess. 3 star is camping for her! ;)
        NYC accommodation is definitely expensive, but if you can swing past Vegas, it is sooo cheap and truly 5 star! We stayed @ Aria Hotel in Vegas for 5-6 nights and it was $750~. AMAZING place!

        Enjoy the holiday, it's a freaking awesome place. Am thinking of going back with all the cheap flights. If you can, spend more time in NYC, there is seriously no other place like it, it's fantastic. (We did 8 days and could have easily done another week or 2!)

        • dwhes on 10/01/2013 - 23:56

          Yeh we don't need anything fancy when we travel. All we look for in a hotel is clean, good location and decent sized room with a comfy bed. 3 star in America is generally very good as you will get all the business hotels like holiday inn. They definitely aren't anything amazing but they serve the purpose. We are more interested in exploring. Will splurge somewhere along the trip and book a luxury hotel, is our honeymoon after all, possibly in Niagara or Toronto.

  • pickme on 10/01/2013 - 21:49

    I'm currently planning a trip over to the States in March (thanks expedia.ie), and most of my accommodation is booked through www.hiltonfamilymvp.com. For most hotels in America the prices are 20% off the best available rate, and they are fully flexible. While the program is supposed to be aimed at and give National Governing Bodies of sport discounted rates at participating Hilton Family hotel, the only actual listed requirement is that you are a Hilton HHonors member.

    I have used this program before on previous trips and never had any problems, and most of my hotels this trip are booked through the same way. On the mainpage is also a link to a fasttrack to Gold which gives you gold after only 4 hotel stays, or 9 nights.

    Alternatively, if you google for Hilton HHonors Visa Infinite you can sign up to a program which gives you Gold instantly. This is good for free breakfast and free upgrades where available through some of the Hilton branded hotels.

    • dwhes on 10/01/2013 - 21:53

      Thanks for the tip mate! Will look into it!

      • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2013 - 08:59

        If you are booking with Alamo. Join their insiders club (free) to save more. Also they do (not always) offer upgrades to members.

  • donga100 on 11/01/2013 - 09:36

    Look up "$20 trick" on google. I had 100% success rate at two hotels on my trip there last year.

    • dwhes on 11/01/2013 - 09:49

      Interesting just looked this up. Does it mainly only work in Las Vegas though? I'm not sure how I'd go doing this lol, might be a bit awkward. Plus I'd be annoyed if they took my $20 and we got nothing :P

      • donga100 on 11/01/2013 - 10:52

        Works everywhere. A little awkward for me too but happy with the results.

  • superklue on 11/01/2013 - 12:44
    +1

    Firstly, your itinerary looks amazing. Best of luck with planning and enjoying your holiday. Regardless of what you might hear from other people, the US is an amazing place full of wonderful, friendly, and kind people.

    I would recommend more time in NYC. Sacrifice somewhere else. A friend and I drove from NYC to San Francisco last year and had 7 days in NYC. We didn't get a chance to do everything we wanted. It's an amazing city and 4 nights won't do it justice. Perhaps leave out LA and cut one night off Boston. That will give you 7 nights in NYC.

    Also, car rental is NOT cheap in the US. The final price you see on the internet is not the final price. They have all sorts of charges they add at the rental desk. Be prepared for this with your budgeting. Instead of renting a GPS, you can buy one of there. Better yet, I'll sell you my Garmin for a reasonable price if you like. Send me a PM.

    One last thing. As with the car rental above, the ticket price on things is never the final price. I think ozpete already linked you the sales tax info. Hotels also charge City occupancy tax on top of sales tax.

    Hope this helps. If you have any other questions let me know.

    • dwhes on 11/01/2013 - 12:56

      Thanks :) yeh we are cutting LA. So already an extra 2 nights in NY. Might just extend our stay by an extra day and do 7 nights total in NY and leave the rest of the itinerary the same. Don't really want to do less than 3 nights at any location as its really only 2 days to explore once we get there, as half a day is wasted driving before each stop.

      I've been looking at UK international renting sites and Expedia etc, surely the car rental places can't add anything on top of that? I am booking insurance before we get there so we won't need to add that. Will send you a pm bout your gps! Was looking at buying one on eBay,

      So many taxes, so annoying. At least in Australia it's just GST on everything and is easy to calculate.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2013 - 16:34

        The extras all relate to the car insurance. As for rates you can always book, then recheck and rebook at lower rate (you then cancel the higher rate) Booking incurs no fee.

        Last year I got 26 day hire in LA down to about $350 for the 3 weeks. Add my 1 year WW independent insurance which was $160 so total was $500 odd. The cheapest rate was 4 weeks out from the trip. Though in past years where I got this down to $280 it was 2weeks prior to travel.

        One point to note and its based on fairly old info since its been a while since I went to NY. Parking in NYC was a bitch and fairly expensive. Renting car while in NYC maybe worth skipping and pick it up when you are leaving to go north.

        Others might have better info on this.

        With 2 of you and, given your partner isnt the extravagant type (good bargain there), a mid sized car would be cheaper and I would think quite adequate, so you could save there as well.

        • superklue on 11/01/2013 - 16:39

          +1 on not renting a car in NYC. The metro services are amazing and are part of the experience. Agree with the mid-size aswell. We had a new Hyundai Elantra and it was great. Very fuel efficient too. For our other rental we had a Dodge Challenger (we splurged) which was incredible but shit to drive and draaaaank petrol.

      • superklue on 11/01/2013 - 16:36

        We booked through Expedia. We had booked one vehicle for approx $550 online through Expedia. By the time we were actually handed the keys it was $1000+. There's all sorts of charges and taxes that Expedia don't include. I'm pretty sure this was with Avis. However, as you mentioned you're covering the insurance yourself and we didn't.

        Yeah the sales tax is annoying. Tipping is more annoying. There's lots of articles about this on the net but we followed a simple rule. $1 per drink, 20% for a bill, no tip for fast food. If the service was just ok, 15% is fine, if its terrible, 10%. Having said this, we always had great service, they work hard for their tips and its important to keep in mind that these guys are earning a fifth of what Aussies are in the same job.

        I know this is OzB, and every dollar counts, but be prepared to shell out a little more. It will make for a more enjoyable trip (honeymoon?). That said, you can haggle with sales people if you're comfortable doing that. I wouldn't do it in major retail stores, restaurants, or hotels, but in smaller stores/motels, its worth giving it a go. Just take 10-20% off the price.

        • donga100 on 12/01/2013 - 01:14

          This is the exact reason I recommended Driveaway. You can get rorted by all the extra charges.

  • gimme on 12/01/2013 - 01:10
    +2

    Car Hire - ArgusCarhire.com.au is the best site I've found so far (includes ALL waivers, insurance etc). It was far cheaper to book an alamo rental through argus rather than directly with Alamo who have all sorts of weird stuff going on with their website where you would be overcharged. I'd stay away from the majors Avis/Hertz etc as they're a complete ripoff.

    • Punkboy on 31/07/2013 - 20:49

      Going back a bit now, however I was looking at Argus for USA hire (Hawaii) and all looked good with price and conditions until I came across this one:

      Fuel Policy
      Pick up full, return empty.
      Fuel charges are payable at the rental counter.
      Your vehicle will be supplied with a full tank of fuel and can be returned empty. On pickup the rental agent will charge you for a full tank of fuel. The price per litre charged by the rental agent may be higher than the price at the local service station. No refund for unused fuel.
      Fuel charges are payable at the rental desk unless otherwise stated in the top section of rate details.

      Is it compulsory to use this? I just want old school return with full tank.
      What was your experience with this?

  • Mg on 12/01/2013 - 21:25

    Agree with everyone else - spend more time in NYC! So much to see/do there. I think 3 nights in DC is a bit much. We just did a day trip to DC from NYC - probably could've spent a bit more time there but 3 nights might be excessive.
    Also check out vipcars.com for car rental - they were very cheap for us and included all insurances too.
    And don't for get to factor in tips :)

    Enjoy your trip and congratulations on the wedding!!

    • dwhes on 12/01/2013 - 21:41

      Yeh more time in Ny is decided upon :) I used to live there as a kid so love the place. Mrs has never been. Will extend it out to 7 nights in NY. Then going to stick with 3 for the rest. None in LA this trip. There is actually a fair bit we want to see in DC so don't want to shorten that. All the monuments, both air and space museums, Arlington etc. if I could have my way we'd spend an extra day in Boston, Toronto and DC just so I could see a baseball game at each :-P mrs would not allow that though lol.

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