The Vegas Road trip

Hi all! I have a few questions and im hoping someone has an answer or comment. My Husband And I are going to Vegas for the first time in February. We are planning on driving from Gulf Shores,Alabama to Vegas. We have 9 days total. I already have our room booked at Harrahs from 2/10/13 to 2/14/13. We orginally were gonna fly, But because of unforeseen events i couldnt book airline tickets when i wanted. So when i was finally able to book our plane tickets,they had gone up almost double! So after much debating we have decided to drive. Even after factoring in gas,food,hotel stays round trip, It is still almost $500 cheaper to drive. So to make the long story even longer lol Is there a site where you can plan a road trip? I havent been able to find one. Its a 28hr drive for us. we were figuring driving 12-15 hrs the first day,stopping for some sleep,then arriving in Vegas the 2nd day.Our we foolish to think this even can be done?!

 

Wow... that's aggressive!!! Sure it can be done and I suppose if you folks are the type who enjoy the "journey", then it could even be fun. I'm not that type... I like to get to where the hell I'm goin'. I'd be pooped by the time I got to Vegas and ughhhhhh... just the thought of the drive back wears me out. Texas takes forever to cross!!!!

Birmingham to Las Vegas is like $500 round trip per person on Southwest in mid-February... it's really substantially cheaper to drive? I'm spoiled, work pays for my trips and I admire your desire to save money for more fun in Vegas, but man that's a long ways.

 

If your a "king of the road" type I'm sure it could be quite a fun adventure. I live 4 hours away and I avoid driving it like the plague. Have you considered taking the greyhound? I can usually get a ticket for about the same price as gas.

I would highly recommend tripit.com for planning your road trip. It also has a companion app for iphone and android. Also use the gasbuddy app to find the cheapest gas along the way.

If its your first trip to LV what do you like to do? Fine dining? Shows? Gambling? What's your daily budget for food and entertainment?

 

For me, this would be a no-brainer. But, I'm one of those road warrior types that can go 18-20 hours a stint without really blinking. Heck, for the right bet, I'd consider doing 28 in one shot and hitting a bed as soon as I got into town. (and probably killing myself and God knows who else in the process...) For me in Houston (~21 hours by Google maps, probably closer to 17-18 in reality), it's a single day drive, no problem.

If you have more time than money - and I don't mean that pejoratively - if the extra 4 days of travel isn't a big deal... Go for it!

 

Hi all thank you for the responses! Sorry for the delay in getting back with you all. Been so busy getting ready for christmas. Well we are gonna go ahead and road trip it! I think it will make our first trip to Vegas even more memorable. I still havent found a site i really like for planning a road trip,most our geared towards flying. Im trying to find one that when you put in your info it can tell you miles and time between cities. For example the first day we are planning on driving 15 hours, I would like in my route I should be,so it can give us a goal to shoot for. Does such a thing even exist?

 

I found what i was looking for. LOL It is called free trip. It gives hours,miles driven and list hotels and gas stations in the area. Yay me! LOL Merry Christmas all!

 

Good luck on your drive. Growing up we drove from Ohio to Las Vegas one or two times a year. Its a good drive, you will see quite a bit of neat landscapes. Make sure you factor in weather conditions, it will still be winter and the roads can get nasty. I know I manage the drive from Newark Ohio near Columbus to Dallas in 19 hours and I feel like I am going to die when I get there, but I only stop for food/gas and use the restroom only if needed between those stops. Plan rest periods well. I like Google maps for my trip planning. Also, watch for construction on I40 around Little Rock, last summer they were doing a reconstruction due to some destroyed roadway from flooding and if they are still doing it, it can cause the interstate to be closed down in areas for periods of time, I remember sitting in the same spot for 3 hours. Have fun and enjoy

 

The wife and I are flying from Ind to Vegas RT in march for less than $500 total, so I am not sure where you were looking for flights, but I know you could do better than $5-600 for two of you. I love a good road trip, went on many in college from Ind to Texas as well as the grand canyon and Florida as well. The drive back is thereal killer tho! Have fun and good luck! Check google maps and add traffic to your route to see if there is any major construction on your route!

 

Not to be Ricky Raincloud here but you are crazy. Please find a way to fly.

 

So are you taking 10 or 20 thru Texas? It seems to drag on forever when driving across Texas. I remember driving thru thinking - when the hell are we getting out of Texas!!! LOL. I don't know if I would try it nowadays, unless I had several drivers. Good Luck!

 

We drove once and we live in Dallas, Texas. We drove all day and night before we even got out of Texas.

 

My wife and I drive it from Texas at least once a year. Could I suggest you take IH20 then US287 to Amarillo and IH40 to Flagstaff. Plenty of places to stop along the way, several casinos in NM if you need a stop and tons of stuff along the old Rt 66.

 

Break downs, melt downs, idiot drivers, sleepy truck drivers...... FLY! Or, go somewhere else this trip!

 

Not a chance we will go somewhere else!!! LOL!! My Hubby ended up getting an extra day off,so we are leaving at 3am on the 8th of Feb and driving til about 6 that night. Gonna stop for some sleep and get back on the road the 9th. we are not due to check in until 4pm on the 10th. If we get there early great,if not then we get there at 4. LOL! We have yet to decide if we are taking 40 or 10. If we go 40 its 80 miles less and a hour faster,but it is still gonna be Feb,so we would have to worry about snow and such going through NM and Flagstaff. If we take 10,we wouldnt encounter snow and it could actually be faster even as I previously stated going that way is 80 more miles. So what do you think?

 

fly.....
really can it be cheaper to drive when gas is 3.00 per gallon ??
hope you have a new car
dont play the odds and drive an old beater with 100k on it .....just dont
flying would give you so much extra time in vegas
i have driven from detriot to las vegas a few times when younger ...never ever again ....not worth the hassle

 

fly.....
really can it be cheaper to drive when gas is 3.00 per gallon ??
hope you have a new car
dont play the odds and drive an old beater with 100k on it .....just dont
flying would give you so much extra time in vegas
i have driven from detriot to las vegas a few times when younger ...never ever again ....not worth the hassle

 

I love road trips, you will have a blast. Do you and your husband like the same type of books? You can borrow audio books or download onto a MP3 player from your local library. Listening to a book always makes the long drives go by faster for me. Oh, maybe you can find a good book about Las Vegas.

Oh, I would take I 10 for sure, you are right, I40 can get some bad snow storms. Enjoy the wind farm in far West Texas.

 

Ok here is the deal. First off i am truly exhausted from trying to plan this damn trip! LOL!! First we were gonna fly,couldn't book when I wanted,when I went back to book tickets the priced had doubled so we were like What the hell lets drive. There was many pro's to driving. Yesterday I looked again on Airtran and low and behold prices had went down,cheaper then the very 1st time I looked.

But in order to get that cheap rate we couldn't fly on a Sunday. Well crap that's when we are supposed to check in is on a Sunday. So Hubby says well book for Saturday and I can see if I can get a comp room for the night. I knew I couldn't because I already had the 4 nights comped at Harrah's. Well He ended up getting 2 comped nights at Caesar's! Thank you hubby! I have no idea how and for a Saturday night on top of that. February must really be slow! LOL! So We are no longer driving. But getting so excited about our first trip to Vegas!

 

yea!!

I am so glad things worked out for you to fly. We drove once and our drive was only 8 or 9 hours. On the way there you have your stay to look forward to, on the way home well let's just say I fine tuned my back seat driving skills. It was so incredibly long and we were so incredibly tired I will never do it again no matter what the cost of the plane tickets are. Your trip will be so much better! Have fun!

 

its not the drive there - that would be easy - but after a few days in vegas to turn around and drive back - now that would be depressing.


I did NH to FL last july on my own - 1400 in 2 days. its boring - you have a destination so no side trips or anything. loud music windows down and coffee and gas every 4 hours will do the trick...

oh and my car is an "old beater" because it has more than 100K on it??

I think that someone needs to research their cars because these days they aren't all designed to fall to bits at 100k...