Is it possible to do USA on the cheap.

[Pinkpeanut27]

We have done 2 yrs in USA and spent £££££, first year was Miami and NYC this year was Orlando and Washington.
Dream is to Do the west coast but we need to save a bit or that.
Has anyone one anywhere in USA cheap? I know the flights are expensive but I think we have picked the most expensive places to go.

Kids like a mixture of Beach and shopping - dd, and museums, out door spaces ( boys) sports etc.
It would be good if it was hot but 80 rather thr 90+ we had in flotida..

Any ideas?

We did the West Coast again late last year and found it very difficult to eat cheaply. Even a McDonalds breakfast was coming in at around $25 for four of us, and that was in small towns and not a tourist hot spot. The exchange rate is a killer.

It's New York for us in a few months. Should be slightly cheaper as it's just the two of us going.

Atlantic City. Beach holiday, plus tons of shopping and indoor stuff (theatres, events on) and parents can enjoy some casino time (if your DD are old enough to be on their own or if you can find a sitter/club to drop them at)

Sounds like flights and food are the killers then . We have been insulated from the exchange rate somewhat for the past few years as Dh had a dollar account from years ago when he worked for an American company . So we had our spends from when there was a good exchange rate , but you are right even tne cheapest meal for 5 was coming in at $40 a round of drinks was around $25 . 2 of my dc's are classed as adults now so don't get the kids meals and ds1 is eating way more than me as he is 14 and 6 ft !

If you are looking for stunning scenery, great food, amazing road trips and experiences for the kids at half the price of Europe and the US; South Africa.
I've just recommended it to a colleague, who loves the US, and they've had the time of their lives.

Pink that was the problem we had now they've outgrown kids meals. We decided to have one last big family holiday, our sons were 19 and 16 when we went last November. We didn't think that sharing a hotel room for four would be very comfortable or practical, the oldest spends a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom so we thought that having two rooms/bathrooms would work better but it added massively added to the expense (we ended up with the youngest knocking on our door each morning to use ours as he couldn't get into the one in their room).

Food though, even running into a 7/11 for a sandwich and a bottle of water was expensive compared to here. On our first trip to CA, in 2008, the exchange rate was around $2 to the £. This time we got around $1.22. I usually visit the outlets but this time nothing seemed like a bargain so I bought nothing.

I have done Icelandair with a stopover (aces!) for about £300 return and I have Norwegian booked for £200 return in a few months. It's about £80 out, £120 back flying Dublin to NY, which is better anyway because you can do all the US immigration stuff in Ireland before you get on. (I am nearer Dublin than London so it makes sense for me.)

I stay with friends/family in the US so can't help you there. (I will say you can get buses way out into NY state or Penn from the Port Authority for not very much, like $10, $20. They are not so bad, honestly! I wouldn't go cross country on them or anything but it's fine if you get a lake house and just want to get out from the city or travel in from a random upstate airport.) Or it's fairly cheap to hire a car obviously...

The national parks are incredible. Americans don't really realise how much incredible wilderness they own and have total access to, so they don't big it up.(Unlike almost everything else hahahah!) Entrance is cheap or free, there's camping and guesthouses, activities, all sorts.

I have just been to Texas- it was significantly cheaper that east coast.

Ok so it Canada any different on living and accomadation costs?

The exchange rate with Canada is not too bad. When we were there this summer, we assumed we had to be as frugle as when we were in the States. I had no idea as to the exchange rate as we just used credit cards. When I found it out, I was very pleasantly surprised.

This is from April 2017. It's comparing US prices to Canada, but maybe it'll give you an idea if you convert the costs they show in USD to GBP and compare.

Current exchange rate is 1 GBP = 1.61 CAD and 1 GBP = 1.29 USD so you have a bit better value for your £ in Canada. But who knows what it'll be in the future.

www.tripsavvy.com/canada-travel-costs-4120196

We were in Canada last summer for the day (Waterton Park in Alberta) and did some food shopping at a supermarket on the way back to Glacier. The prices seemed high when you looked at the price tag but there was a favourable USD to CAD exchange rate at that time that we spent a lot less for groceries than if we'd waited until we got back to the US. I remember that the camping was really cheap but that the hotels seemed pricy. But there were no real budget places where we went to compare with.

I've just been booking for next year and am shocked at how expensive Europe is.

Coming from the UK, we were looking at a short 4 night break, 4* all inclusive at the half term in May. It was coming up about £2100 for 2A and 2C for Europe break, Portugal seemed to be the cheapest.

I've ended up booking 7 nights at a 5* AI in the Dominican Republic for £2500.

We're going to California next month and are flying out with Thomas Cook airlines (£269) and back with Norwegian (£149). We found by looking at 2 single flights we got cheap flights compared to a return flight. We just about always use Sky Scanner for flights

Yes you can, it's fairly easy to do. Norwegian or Iceland air for cheap flights. Super 8 for a cheap hotel. It depends on the state you visit.

Massachusetts, New York, California, the Carolinas and Florida are expensive.

Cheap states are Wyoming, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Louisiana

We've got a family holiday booked to Boston and Cape Cod next month. Only a week, two days Boston then the rest on the Cape. Flying to Providence with Norwegian, flights were £700 return for the four of us and we've spent the same again on accomodation. Cape Cod accomodation is an 'efficiency apartment' so can self cater if needed.