America in January 17 - San Francisco, LA, New York

Hi,
LOoking to go to America from mid January to early Feb early next year. Would 3 weeks be adequate time to explore LA, San Fran and New York? (maybe also Grand Canyon-although this is not as important) Also wanted to know what would be a good price for travel from LA- SF - New York - LA (flexible with the order for this). Seeing prices around 550 AUD for this, but wondering if we should hold out in the hope for it to get cheaper. The tickets to get to LA itself are only 900 AUD, so hoping we can get cheaper on the domestic flights within America (although we are aware of how big America is!)
Thanks

Comments

  • Keep in mind you'll be there in the middle of winter. Grand Canyon will probably have snow everywhere. In January this year New York had a Blizzard: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/snow-storm-hits-e…

    There are budget airlines in USA that most booking sites won't allow you to book. Budget airlines include Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier.

    I flew Spirit within USA and it was fine. They charge you for carry on and even for printing your boarding pass (if you don't use the self-service machine). But I still saved a lot of money that way.

    Another thing to keep in mind with flights is that most big cities have two or more airports you can choose from. For example, in San Francisco you could use SFO, OAK, SJC or STS.

    • Thanks for the reply, will the snow at Grand Canyon mean we will have difficulty seeing the Grand Canyon because of road closures etc.? Also willing to fly with the budget airlines if it saves us some money, so will definitely explore that option. Any other 'extra' costs associated with the budget airlines?

      • +1

        You can still see the canyon with snow. Not too sure if they ever close the roads due to weather but I think it would be only on a rare occasion.

        To see the Grand Canyon you may want to fly to Flagstaff AZ, Phoenix AZ or Las Vegas NV. You can actually do it as a full daytrip on a bus from Vegas, but I think it's like a 14 hour day trip and you might be on the road for more than half that time (Google maps says it's 4.5 hours each way)…

        The budget airlines will sting you if any of your bags are overweight so just make sure you travel light or pre-purchase enough weight for your carry on and checked bags. On Spirit a very small carry-on bag is free.

        https://customersupport.spirit.com/hc/en-us/articles/2020964…
        https://www.spirit.com/optionalservices.aspx?_ga=1.89694747.…

        • Thanks for that, maybe we will leave Grand Canyon out. Definitely a concern regarding carry on baggage, maybe we will try to do some shopping in America to save on weight, especially if shopping in America for major brands is cheaper!

      • +1

        also remember that Southwest Airlines does quite cheap flights for the west coast, and it won't show up on many aggregate sites. their fares incl checked baggage and work off a boarding order rather than assigned seats. If you are travelling alone, I would recommend southwest. Really good no frills airlines.

        you can pay I think it was $12.50USD to be put at/near the top of the boarding order if you are travelling with others and would like to be seated next to each other. When I flew with them last, I think I was around the 13th to board, and got 1E and 1F.

        • Southwest Airlines covers the whole USA. It's the second biggest airline in the world by passenger numbers. Good point though that it won't show up on many booking sites.

        • Can't check fares for South West Airlines for January, but putting in random dates for September/October from LA to NY costs ~$550 AUD, whilst trying out a return trip from LA- SF- NY- LA is like 550 AUD. So is $550 AUD between LA, SF and New York a good fare?

  • +1

    Let me start off by saying it depends what you want to do

    I was there this year in the last 2 weeks of Jan. IMO new york for me I think 10 days alone would be good if you wanted to explore Manhattan only.

    SF I didn't get to properly explore, but i would suggest 5-6days if you also wanted to see the redwoods.

    LA, 3-4 days will be fine.

    • Thanks for the reply, appreciate the suggestions on how many days to spend in each city as have never been to America before. Any particular reason why you suggested staying around 10 days in New York as opposed to much less in the other cities?

      • +2

        I didn't find a whole lot to do in LA, besides visiting Santa monica pier, Observatory, hollywood, rodeo dr, there wasnt a whole lot to do. I spent i think 2 days in LA, and left and felt like another day wouldve been good, but no more than that.

        SF was great, about a half day for alcatraz, and the other half of that day you can spend on pier 49 and the piers nearby. Then see the golden gate, and experience the city another day. then another 2 days for staying at the redwoods and maybe another if you want to experience the culture in the city.

        NYC I found there is a lot to do. The museums alone (met takes like 1/2 day, so does nat history, then theres the intrepid, mona etc.) already takes you like 3-4 days (be careful not to get museumed out). then you've got all the food places to try, walking the Manhattan bridge etc. As NYC has a decent subway system, a lot of the city is more accessible easily.

  • +2

    Very Very cold.

  • +2

    Have you already booked your ticket to LA? For instance you can fly the following for only $1130 AUD.

    Jan 17th
    Syd - NYC (Syd to LAX with Virgin, 1h 45 mins layover then LAX-JFK with Delta)

    Make your own way to SFO via Arizona etc.

    Feb 1st
    SFO - LAX with Delta direct

    Feb 5th
    LAX - SYD with Virgin Australia direct

    If you were going to pay $900 for the LAX return flights then I think the extra $230 would be well spent to add some extra legs on full service carriers as you'll definitely need checked luggage with the temperatures and I doubt you'll find LAX-NYC and SFO-LAX for less than $230 combined.

    • +2

      Was going to suggest the same thing. Call you preferred airline directly or visit a travel agent and they should be able to add some, if not all, the domestic flights for not much more. Saves paying baggage fees.

    • Wow that's a heaps good price, where did you get this price? Wouldn't mind leaving Australia slightly earlier though (perhaps around 12th January) so we can be back slightly earlier. Definitely think this is a good option though, because the airlines we were previously looking at was inferior to Virgin/Dela

      • +1

        If you want to give a rough amount of time you want in each place and if you care on order I'll have a look. Put those dates in to Momondo to get that price.. I forgot which travel booking site it was. Also, another vote here for keeping time in LA to minimum. NYC and SF are far more interesting and easier to navigate.

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