Best way to book holiday in usa ?

[DRD]

Due to our normal combination of campervanning in the summer and visiting the inlaws in south africa in the winter it is many years since I last "booked" a holiday

What is the smart way of booking an autumn florida holiday nowadays pls?

Any good price comparator sites for package holidays ?

Is it best to book flights, accommodation, car separately ?

Do you take a chance on last minute stuff ?

As we are self employed, we can be flexible with dates

Thanks

 

[Pinball UK]

hi when we went out to florida we booked using expedia and website called cheapflights <ithink> stay a bit further out we stayed in a best western with a free shuttle bus it had 4 pools and 5 bars inc games room with pins ech room had its own kitchen inc microwave aircon and you will save alot there was an all you can eat chinese restaurant and numerous bars and restaurants if you are doing theme parks check ticketprices here as you get such variations just shop around everyone will try to sell tickets to you hope this helps

 

[RudeDogg1]

Get yourself flexipass tickets works out a lot cheaper for the theme parks

 

[DRD]

We are weighing up ...

Flying scheduled to ny. Stay in a different few cities. Catch the train between them. Use public transport for all journeys. Do not hire a car

Or

Fly to florida on a package tour. Stay put in the resort, but do day trips by car. These packages seem to include "free" car hire. So there MUST be more to this than meets the eye. My guess is that getting decent car insurance will cost big money over there nowadays

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Been road tripping to the US off and on for 25 years. Book flights, book car. Job done. Motels ate readily available at short notice. If you want anything particular or in busy location/high season book advance. The internet makes it all a breeze these days. Have fun in the Florida sun

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

 

[BigIan]

Agree with Grizz.

Book your flights and hire car (used to be loads of sites offering cheap car hire)
Motels and hotels are very rarely full unless in high seasons of June - August and December - Janurary, even then if you search around and are willing to move around every few days you will not run out of places to stay.

I've been to Florida probably 10+ times now and only booked accomadation ahead for the week we where there as part of our honeymoon.

Also if you can, don't get your hire car at the airport as there are additional charges for airport pick up and drop offs. Just get a free shuttle into me of the hotels and pickup your car there (hassle but saves a chunk of dollars)

If you are intending doing the parks it might be worth considering not getting a car for a few days until you have been to the parks (using free shuttle buses again) then hire a car for the rest of your stay when you are wanting to go out and about exploring or heading to Cape Canaveral, Busch gardens etc

My wife used to insist on us booking the hotel for the first few nights and then searching online when we where there. She doesn't any more as there are hundreds of empty rooms especially if you don't need to stay on International Drive.

The end of October is very popular at the parks now due to Halloween. Highly recommend universal studios for their Halloween horror nights but mid week if you can as they are jammed at the weekends

 

[Paul]

Hire car included in package deal = Insurance costs as much as hiring a larger car inc insurance!! Avoid at all costs.

USA being as big as it is though, if you don't get a car, you'll be missing out, and a slave to public transport, which will cost as much....

Interestingly my hire car from the airport was the same cost as elsewhere, however it was peak season....

Have done florida 7 times now, twice in the last 18 months..... Cant beat a bit of mouse (and universal!)...

 

[RudeDogg1]

Hire car included in package deal = Insurance costs as much as hiring a larger car inc insurance!! Avoid at all costs.

USA being as big as it is though, if you don't get a car, you'll be missing out, and a slave to public transport, which will cost as much....

Interestingly my hire car from the airport was the same cost as elsewhere, however it was peak season....

Have done florida 7 times now, twice in the last 18 months..... Cant beat a bit of mouse (and universal!)...

So jealous right now

 

[Wayne J]

Have done trips to USA numerous times, NY and Florida. have even flown into NY, then to Orlando then back home. Only problem was flight out of UK was from Heathrow, return flight was Gatwick. Didn't think it would be too much effort - it was.

We always use a brick and mortar travel agent to book flights along with first and last nights accommodation. The bit in-between we book direct with the hotel. Car can be booked direct at airport, or even on line much cheaper then with a travel agent.

If you're going to Florida, make it mid/late November - that's nearing the end of hurricane season, we've been lucky with doing that, but by only a couple of days on one occasion.

As for hotels, if you want to stay around Orlando/Disney you may as well stay in one of the large hotels, as they will all have shuttle services and good public transport to the major attractions - not just the parks. If you want to spread your wings a bit further, stay in a smaller style motel. How long are you actually going to spend in the room? There's numerous good quality and cheap restaurants so I wouldn't recommend any type of package deal which included food, as you'd feel tied to the hotel.

Personally, we fly into Orlando, spend a day or 2 there, then drive down to the Keys. Much more relaxed, weather still great and much cheaper. Plus the fishing is the best in the world. Whatever you do you MUST check out Robbies at Islamorada (www.robbies.com) quite simply the best dollar you will ever spend. Or even spend a dya, half/day or night on the boat fishing - they look after complete novices really well.

 

[Wayne J]

Showing that anyone can do it.

 

[stoptap]

If you want to go the package route, try Travel City Direct or Kenwood Travel.