I'm doing this trip next month!

Unfortunately, we're going west coast through Cali so expecting to spend a lot....

Our itinerary is:
- San Francisco (pick up car)
- Los Angeles
- San Diego
- Las Vegas
- Grand Canyon
- Yosemite National Park
- San Francisco (drop off car and fly back to London)

Necessary stuff (between 3 of us, over 20 days):
3x Return flights US$3000 ... really expensive but going during the middle of summer so expected...
Car hire US$700 ... for 16 days, nice car but not convertible
19 nights in hotels US$1000 ... all Holiday Inns except Vegas and LA where we're splashing out a bit
Gas US$450 ... based on 2000 mile round trip, 20mpg car and $4.5 per gallon. Depends on where we fill up and how good the car is.

And all that doesn't include spending money or food and drink (which there'll be plenty of!).

Atm thinking of budgeting around $150 per day spending. That includes days we plan to lie on the beach and nights of gambling in Vegas so will up and down quite a lot.

Total trip is going to cost us between $4-5k each we think. Damn... and the US still make us pay for a tourist visa to enter the country...

Tips:
- Decide on what your overall budget is and then figure out where you can go from there. Make sure you stick to your budget when planning as its really easy to go wild.
- Do your research! Cost of hotels, things to do, car hire, petrol, food, drink all add up!
- Ideally fly in and out of the same city. We were originally thinking of east coast (Florida to New York) but that worked out wayyyyy too expensive getting 2 single flights.
- If you have a car, you don't necessarily have to stay in the centre of the city. We're staying out near Santa Monica in LA as its slightly cheaper and you pretty much have to drive to get places in LA anyway.
- As Emo said, you really do need to travel by car rather than public transport. A lot more convenient.

Have fun planning! Hope this helps.

Arsy.
i assume 3000 is round trip and the cost for all 3 people?

because if u are paying $3000 per person to get a round trip ticket to California from England, then you're getting taken advantage of

well he's going to SF and with people and also he probably wants to ride in a Boeing jet

since he wants to get there

i'd like to buy you a meal arsy

if you werent' driving so much I'd take you to a pizza parlor and show you the proper way to drink American beer: by the pitcher

but since you'll be in a car all day, it's probably not prudent

[23:08:44] <Dealer> Ouch!  arsy set a new personal biggest loss record with 14.

[23:08:51] <Dealer> arsy, you have $0.

Think I might be avoiding Blackjack in Vegas, Metrex!!

Emo, yes $3k for the 3 of us. Return flights were

when do you plan to be in Los Angeles? you're in SD midweek so I can't drive out there

"Bumpass Hell is the largest concentration of hydrothermal features in the park.  Bumpass Hell was named after an early settler who severly burned a leg after falling into a boiling pool.  The hydrothermal features can be reached today from a well-marked 1.5 mile trail that starts from a parking area opposite Lake Helen.  A visit to Lassen is not complete without a stop at Bumpass Hell.

...Bumpass Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in the park, and marks the principal area of upflow of steam and discharge from the Lassen hydrothermal system (see illustration in photo gallery below). The temperature of high-velocity steam jetting from Big Boiler, the largest fumarole in the park, has been measured as high as 322

Oh you can get scalded without the water