Today we have walked the main street and some back street of "Carlsbad" for 4 hours ,which did include a very nice fish and chip lunch at a seaside cafe....very good.
While eating lunch we were thinking about what worked well and what didn't for us over the past 7 weeks.
Suggestions;
Only book airfare if using an agent, or if really brave book on line. We found that the Flightcenter matched the cheapest fare I could find and beat it by a dollar!!
If flying into LA, ...stay out of LA, everything is cheaper.(don't hire a car at the airport there are extra taxes and charges and the stress of driving in LA isn't worth is....hire at Anaheim is our advice.
A very good Hotel chain in Nth West states in US is Red Lion Hotels.....They have a good hotel near Disneyland,.. full breakfast but a fee for car if parking but wi fi is included in the tarrif.In other location parking is free.
We found this chain of hotels was nearly always in a great location and quite close to the attraction.
Best hire car rate by far....is www.happytoursusa.com... they only deal with non USA or Canadians
Car hire time in USA would appear to be calculated in 30 day lots,
Our 56 day hire was some $750 better than the best Flightcenter rate ( consider x-change rate) check them out..
If you have a seniors card use it here, for accommodation ( 10 to 15%) saving per stay, for public transport and sometimes meals, entry to major attractions is usually a few dollars but it all adds up.
If going to National Parks buy a Beautiful America Pass ($80) as most entries to NP are $$25 some $20.
We could give you a list of parks and towns we really liked,
Tipping takes a bit of adjusting to but if you double the Tax shown on the bill in a restaurant you are pretty close....$2 in a hotel for the maid per day is enough
For 8 weeks tips will cost us about US$600.
Wi Fi is free in nearly all hotels
Buy a mobile phone in the US, DON'T use international roaming on your Aussie phone
We paid $15 for a basic Pre paid phone and $25 for calls to book accommodation as we went along
We found the weather to be almost perfect from mid August to Late Oct.....crowds are down, kids are in school
Skype is worth considering for Phone or Video Phone to family and friends....set up in Aus,,and check out carefully the rate system that you think will best suit your call pattern.
We found CBA mastercard charged with US currency worked well, we avoided ATM 'S and drew out
thousand $ lots in cash over the counter of banks and we paid no transaction fees. ( We aren't CBA account holders)
If we think of other things to pass on we will do it when we get home,
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