This is often the most expensive part of the trip so it pays to shop around for the best deals.

Car hire/rental

A car is a car - book the smallest size car you can deal with (you might get an upgrade) and make sure you only get the insurance coverage that you need. Be sure to check with your own personal car insurance provider to see if you would be covered anyway. For many people traveling within the USA additional coverage is not usually required - so save some money and check with them before you depart.

Car Hire Considerations

  1. If you are flying into the area, do you want to pick up your car at the terminal or at an off-airport site?
  2. If you are traveling with young children, will you need to hire car seats or will you bring your own with you? Your airline may transport your own car seats free of charge.
  3. How big a vehicle will you need? Don't forget to factor in how much luggage you will be bringing with you, as well as other items such as strollers.
  4. Are you already insured under your own car insurance for a rental car?
  5. How many drivers will be driving the car and what are the ages of the drivers? Often drivers under 25 incur a premium to hire the car.
  6. Look around for special offers and don't forget to check out if you belong to any clubs where you can obtain a discount on car rental (such as Costco).

When comparing providers one big differentiating factor can be whether or not they are on-airport. When on-airport all of your luggage can be wheeled to the car. When off-airport you'll probably need to transfer all luggage to the shuttle bus then off again - along with all of the travelers in your group. This is a BIG hassle - especially after a long flight when everyone is tired. If you are able to do this, then we have found that sending one of the group off to get the car while the others wait at the airport works well - the car would be driven back to the airport arrivals area and luggage loaded there.

Flights

For long haul flights the airline choice may make a difference to your comfort and hence stress level at the end. For cost savings, indirect flights with one or more stops are often cheapest. When comparing options, do compare the total journey time by including the time between flights as these can sometimes be long.

For some long journeys it may be beneficial to choose stops along the way in order to stretch legs and give the kids some time to run around - just make sure that the stop-over time is long enough for that (are you even departing from the same terminal you will arrive in!)