Planning transportation for a trip

[djnewb]

Hi Everyone,

I live in San Francisco, California and i'm planning two trips for me and my friends in the next few months. I'm planning for one to Los Angelus and one to Las Vegas (big trip). Whats the best way for me to get down there?

I think my options so far are Drive, Greyhound, or flying. If I do greyhound or flying, what are ways to get the best price possible? how should I plan hotel/mote/travel lodging? What other price figures should I look out for? And what are good websites that can help me with this trip.

from what I know, there are a lot of travelers on this forum, so your advices will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[DrMetallica]

There is really no reason to go to Vegas unless you are over 21. Can you drink? Can you gamble?

And Los Angeles (that's how it's spelled bro) is really expensive to stay unless you know someone or you have a coupon for a motel or something. I was looking into getting a room for my prom date and I, but it was $90/night even way out in the getto and boondock areas. I guess that's okay if you have a job or are splitting it with multiple people but it was just me and her and i already paid for her damn ticket as well as mine so I wasn't about to throw another $90 so we just snuck into a friend's house who we knew was gone for the weekend.

Anyways if you're gonna drive to Los Angeles take the 101 down. Or Pacific Coast Highway... California is full of beautiful coastal scenary goodness. Don't take the loosers route (Interstate 5, which runs through that same sh*thole valley that Sacramento and Stockton is in). But gas is around $2.50/gallon and it's a 6 hour drive one way so...

Flying to LA would be a bad idea since the public transportation 'round this city sucks and is full of the wrong people... but you could take cabs, but they're expensive, especially when you are in traffic.

But still I would suggest Los Angeles and the entire Southland for that matter, because really it fills every niche you could have. Backcountry hiking, mountain biking, skiing, forests, beaches and piers, islands, clubs, all different types of cultures and languages and colors of people, from laid-back stoner towns and hippie enclaves to rich well to do places of unimaginable wealth to some parts that look like mexico and gang infested areas (mexican, black, and neo-nazi areas throughout the city), rock climbing, theme parks, museums etc...

Greyhound I've never been on it but I know lots of people who've done it. It's a more expensive way to travel (if you value your time) and also takes a goddamn day and a half to go places a car would take you 6 hours and by plane 1 hour. Alsi it's always late and you meet some of the most interesting (re: WEIRD) people you'll ever meet. So if you're up to the Greyhound challenge...

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by djnewb
I live in San Francisco, California and i'm planning two trips for me and my friends in the next few months. I'm planning for one to Los Angelus and one to Las Vegas (big trip). Whats the best way for me to get down there?

I think my options so far are Drive, Greyhound, or flying. If I do greyhound or flying, what are ways to get the best price possible? how should I plan hotel/mote/travel lodging? What other price figures should I look out for? And what are good websites that can help me with this trip.

Come on now. You couldn't have done this?

http://www.MapQuest.com
Distance from San Fran to Los Angeles: 382 miles. Assume your car gets 22 MPG on the freeway, that's 17.4 gallons to get there, plus whatever you add to that driving around in traffic once you're there (guesstimate about another 10 gallons), plus another 17.4 to get back home. That's 44.8 gallons total. You also have your car for transportation while you're there.

http://www.fuelgaugereport.com
44.8 gallons, at today's prices, in Los Angeles (mid-grade, not premium): $112.89. Divide that by 2 other friends, each person pays $37.63 for gas.


http://www.greyhound.com
San Fran to LA, leaving FRI April 22 and returning FRI April 29; $65 (with 7-day advance purchase). You will either have to rent a car (by the day or by the mile), or use public transportation (not recommended), or use just taxis (way too expensive).


http://www.expedia.com
Flying? You've got to be kidding me. You only do that if you live a lot further away from a place than you do - but if you really wanted to, expect to pay about $123 (leaving FRI April 22 ret FRI April 29. Transportation is the same as with Greyhound.

As for hotels and everthing, you live in the same state. Why don't you make some phone calls? Now that I've shown you how to plan a trip, give it a shot for yourself.

 

[djnewb]

Thanks a lot for the advice

I've actually went with my friends last summer to LA, we took two cars down and went into a travel lodge for about 80 a night, and we packed 7 people in that room

Problem us, i'm not going with 7 people this time around, and the people i'm going with don't really feel like driving, so its basically flying or greyhound from what I see. The LA trip would be only for 2-3 days around there.

As for Vegas, me and my friends are turning 21 this summer (YES!!) and we want to celebrate it at Sin City. I've asked most of my friends how they would want to get down there and about 4 said they would want to fly down there then waste the day driving or taking Greyhound. One of my friend's also said that they supposedly they have a bart/bus line that goes from the airport straight to the strip where most of us want to be anyways.

Right now i'm just looking at options, trying to find the best deals, and making the trip as good as possible.

Thanks again, and also thanks Diablo for that great post already.

P.S: Personally, i'm going down to LA this summer for an event called Anime-Expo, and to Vegas to play Texas Holdem at one of the hotels (I personally feel i'm pretty good at that game so far).

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by djnewb
I've asked most of my friends how they would want to get down there and about 4 said they would want to fly down there then waste the day driving or taking Greyhound.

Right now i'm just looking at options, trying to find the best deals...

It looks pretty common-sense to me. Unless you've got a bunch of money to blow (which most people our age don't) it might be smart to "waste 5 hours" driving down there instead of spending triple the gas money, in addition to having to pay for transportation once you're down there. Break it down into ideas like this: 5 hours there, 5 hours back. 10 hours driving time total. Assume you don't drive, but you fly. You've tripled your transportation cost just to get there. Then, you have to rent a car (or two) for 3 days. That's ~100-200 a day, plus mileage. Or, you could use a taxi... who knows how much that'd be.

I'd recommend driving. The closest comparison I can make is if my friends and I were to fly to Panama City to party (we live ~5 hours away). It just wouldn't make sense financially. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it would be downright stupid. You've saved, what, 2 hours total? You have to be at your flight 1 hour beforehand, you spend 30 minutes waiting on the plane, then the flight takes an hour... unless you're somehow an uber-rich college guy, those extra 2-3 hours you saved aren't worth the additional $1000. I can think of a lot better uses for that money than having 2 more hours in Vegas... like letting it all ride on black.

 

[djnewb]

Thank you again for your insight Diablo:

Just to clarify some things, it takes roughly around 7 - 9 hours to drive from San Francisco to LA.

And from what I hear, it takes about 8 - 11 hours to drive from San Francisco to Vegas. Although driving would esstentially be cheaper, the bad end of the deal is both cost and wasting half a day to drive down there. But i'm technically all for driving, its just that my friends don't really want to go through that hassle.

 

[Dilly]

Originally posted by DrMetallica
There is really no reason to go to Vegas unless you are over 21. Can you drink? Can you gamble?



BAAAAAAAAH HAHAHAHAHAHAH! In Las Vegas of course!! I am only 19, and I only got carded once at a line up "exclusive" casino called The Beach. I stayed in Vegas 6 days on a recent expidition to the United States.

I was carded ONCE!!! Just go on the slots in any of the bigger casino, and they will offer you any drink you may wish for. Circus Circus was especially good for free drink service. I spend 6 bucks on the slots at Circus Circus one night, and got 8 drinks...tip coins so they dont know how much you are giving. (if your tight like me)

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by djnewb
the bad end of the deal is both cost and wasting half a day to drive down there.

• It costs more to get there by any other means of transportation (not even including in-city transportation)
• Add an extra day onto your trip to account for the additional 1/2 day driving distance each way.

This isn't rocket science...