[mumin07]

Anyone stayed at the Ramada Maingate in Anaheim and what was it like? We would stay for 5 nights.
I was looking at the Disneyland hotel and the Ramada is nearly 1/2 the price. Any other recommendations?

Have you hired a car and driven around? I am thinking of driving from Anaheim to Monterey then to Sacramento (to visit friends) and then back to San Francisco. Any recommendations on car hire companies?

We stayed at the Ramada Maingate when we went in 2010. The room we stayed in (the twin - un renovated ones) were pretty small but big enough for the 3 of us.
The location was fantastic and the pool was a great place to hang out. It was quite early to drop back to the hotel for a middle of the day rest.
I recommend booking via their website (ensuring that you can cancel as needed ) and the keep an eye on their specials as we mid week nights in September very cheaply. I think we paid $50 per night for some of the nights and the $100 per night for the weekend.

We have driven all the times we have been to the states and not had any issues.
If you are a NRMA (or equivalent) member Hertz offers some good deals. Also make sure when you are comparing rates that they include insurance as it really adds up.

[Bacongirl]

Sicily/Kee. We flew Virgin America from LAX to NY and Orlando back to LAX. They were great! Comfortable leather seats, lots of legroom. Checkin in LA was a mess, but everything in LAX is a mess!

For US car hire we've booked through driveaway.com.au here a few times. Works well as all the insurance is included upfront and you don't get stung at the desk.


For the PP who asked about different climates, we just did LA /NY/ Orlando. Was cold the first day in LA (Disney) so we layered and took layers off as the day got warmer. Then packed it back on as the sun went down.

New York was quite cool on a few days as it was end April We took 'heavy' coats for Sydney and I made everyone carry them as part of our carry on baggage. Saved room in the bags and the airline don't charge you. Once you are on the plane, the coats are good blankets for the kids, or you just chuck them in the overhead out of the way.

[carls888]

mumtojanda, traveljigsaw beats any price that I can find for car rental and it was recommended to me both on this forum and trip advisor. I am booking ours today.
C

[Jo_P]

Hi, juts another 5 minute pop in from me, things have been busy here and I've hardly had any time to dream USA

Carls888, Was it you that asked about the 14 day Disneyland pass from Expedia (forgotten already from the previous page), I found Expedia cheaper then the travel agent, but on one trip she offered to match the price and then actually beat it by like $5 each we were booking flights through her as anyway, but we have bought them ourselves through Expedia no troubles at all. UndercoverTourist only do DisneyWorld as far as I know.

Kee, in San Fran there is an open top fire engine trip you can do across the Golden Gate Bridge that looks really good, we are going to do that when our cruise docks there, also an Alcatraz tour and then do the hop on hop off bus thing, not sure what else as yet, we have two full days there.
We flew Virgin America from Ft Lauderdale to LAX and found the flight really good. Free tv channels (pay for movies), comfy seats and that was the flight that the pilot let the kids in to the cockpit!!

[thebarnwellb4]

Hi.
Sorry havent really had the chance to write since my first message a few threads back.
We are going to the USA on the 26th of October till the 11th of November hiring a car and driving up from LA to SF via San Simeon then through Yosemite national park to Mammoth Lakes then onto Vegas and then back to Anaheim to do Disneyland/Legolan/sea world/universal etc.

Can I ask anybody if they have every stayed in Mammoth Lakes and if so where they have stayed and also if anybody has stayed at the Fairfield inn by Marriott in Anaheim.

The kids are so excited and my 7 year old is most looking forward to having Halloween in Las Vegas. He is even planning his costume already

I look forward to hearing more about everybody else's trips as time goes by.
Cheers
Barnwellb4

[carls888]

Thanks JoP, I have just emailed our TA to see if he will beat expedia, otherwise I'll just buy them there.
Has anyone found domestic USA flights that include checked baggage? I am looking at UNited, Virgin America, Blue Air and they all charge minimum $25 per bag per person. Do I just include that as part of the cost and book or am I missing something?
Thanks
C

This post has been edited by carls888: 08/05/2012, 01:56 PM

[Jo_P]

carls888, I'm pretty sure Southwest airlines include the first bag for free, but for us they still worked out dearer then using Virgin and United with added bagged. When I was pricing airfares I just added the baggage cost into the airfare then chose the cheapest in total with the best timed flight etc.


We still haven't booked Bris-LA airfares, I'm watching everyday for that price drop!

[carls888]

Thanks Jo, another friend suggested Southwest and they were having a sale so we got the flights for the same price as Virgin America but WITH baggage! Woohoo!!!
C

[baf65]

yay..just booked our LAX to Orlando flights, got them on Southwest for $143 per person incl 2 checked bags!! thats just one way as they only have fares up to 2 november at the moment, same date on Virgin america was $250 per person plus bags

[hunter4]

With regards to airlines that include checked baggage check out JetBlue. They give you one bag free and are supposably really good (I haven't flown with them yet but my family who has love them). Only problem is they don't always do the major runs so you'd have to check out if they go where you're going.

I also wanted to post a warning about Southwest - whilst I've hear lots of good things about them they don't allocate seats and I hate this idea - so when you check in you get a boarding lot, if you're in the last boarding lot you just have to take whatever seats are left, which is fine if you're a single traveller but a pain if you're a family who want to sit together. So I suppose I'm saying for those of you flying Southwest make sure you check in as early as possible so you can get into one of the first boarding lots.