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West to East Cost US

West to East Cost US

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Morning everyone.

Have got to be in NYC this September for a few weeks. Being a Brit expat out here in NZ, every flight comes in via LA.

So, my question(s) to the Americans amongst you:
a)Is it better to fly into LA and get a plane across to NYC or
b)Get a train from LA to NYC.

The principle concern is cost. As an impoverished ex-student, it's got to cost as little as possible. Also, haven't got my full driving license yet (counting down the days) so can't hire a car when I'm over there.

All advice welcome as to the cheapest way to do it.

Cheers.

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LA to NYC can be incredibly inexpensive. Train tickets are usually cheaper for most destinations, and you can take your own food on board. and walk around, and see the country, but LA to NYC is a very very busy route and "bargains" are available. Check the discount ticket services online for pricing.

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Originally posted by coquette
LA to NYC can be incredibly inexpensive. Train tickets are usually cheaper for most destinations, and you can take your own food on board. and walk around, and see the country, but LA to NYC is a very very busy route and "bargains" are available. Check the discount ticket services online for pricing.
Some trains are now nearly as expensive as airplanes. However, with everyone raising prices because of gasoline the prices may change hourly. It takes 3 days to get from Arizona to Wisconsin, so add two days to that for your trip, if you go by train.

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Check often with Jet Blue, they always have flight specials going on.

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Thanks all. I thought it might be. I'll get searching for a cheap commuter flight.

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Originally posted by the one00
Morning everyone.

Have got to be in NYC this September for a few weeks. Being a Brit expat out here in NZ, every flight comes in via LA.

So, my question(s) to the Americans amongst you:
a)Is it better to fly into LA and get a plane across to NYC or
b)Get a train from LA to NYC.

The principle concern is cost. As an impoverished ex-student, it's ...[text shortened]... a car when I'm over there.

All advice welcome as to the cheapest way to do it.

Cheers.
~ $400 for a cross-country flight.

See if you can get tickets for a connecting flight, so you don't have to spend any time in LA.

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...on a horse with no name...

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A train from LA to NYC will take forever. Probably 50-60 hours. Not worth it.

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Check the Auckland-NewYork package deals too, at the right time of year it might be a better deal now that Qantas is allowed to fly into NY.

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Originally posted by the one00
Morning everyone.

Have got to be in NYC this September for a few weeks. Being a Brit expat out here in NZ, every flight comes in via LA.

So, my question(s) to the Americans amongst you:
a)Is it better to fly into LA and get a plane across to NYC or
b)Get a train from LA to NYC.

The principle concern is cost. As an impoverished ex-student, it's ...[text shortened]... a car when I'm over there.

All advice welcome as to the cheapest way to do it.

Cheers.
It's way easier to fly.
But the the East-West coast railroad is an amazing feat of engineering and well worth travelling to get a good picture of the diversity in the American landscape.

The question is thus: Do you want to get from A to B, or do you want to experience something?

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Originally posted by shavixmir
It's way easier to fly.
But the the East-West coast railroad is an amazing feat of engineering and well worth travelling to get a good picture of the diversity in the American landscape.

The question is thus: Do you want to get from A to B, or do you want to experience something?
Good point! You will also meet a fascinating cross-section of humanity on a train. It's not nearly as anonymous as an airplane because you're basically in the same room with these people for days.

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I don't know about cost, but the flight is roughly six hours. Driving is more like a week I think. Trains I don't know about.

William Shatner recommends Cheaptickets.com.

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Connecting flight will be your best bet, shouldn't be that much more expensive.

Driving will not be cheaper and train is also expensive. Besides what is $200 when you are talking 5 days or 5 hours.

Learux

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check student ticket prices on amtrak.com. also there are deals on amtrak that are kind of like europass but that are only available to international passport holders.

it takes about 2 days or so to get halfway across the country via train. out train was delayed once for four hours (due to freight trains) on a california to texas train and pulled into san antonio at 2:30 AM instead of 10:30 PM.

http://www.bookingbuddy.com/ is a portal to multiple fare search sites.

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Thanks everyone.

Unfortunately, I only have literally two weeks off work, and need to spend quite a bit of time in NYC, so I'm going to go by plane, and miss experiencing America.

Shame, but there's always another time. 😀

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