Flights, cars and hotels

Aiming to come to Savannah/Charleston next spring and have some questions about flights and hotel bookings.

We intend using Air Miles with BA to fly from the UK and have enough to fly into either New York/Philadelphia/Washington then pay to fly down to either Charleston or Savannah. Which would be the best option and would we be better getting return flights south or fly into one and leave from the other?

If we hired a car I take it%26#39;s not a problem to pick up from one place and drop it at the other?

I%26#39;ve been told Quikbook is a reliable booking agency for hotels. Is it going to be more expensive to use them rather than Priceline or Hotwire? I have to say I do prefer knowing exactly where I%26#39;ll be staying beforehand and was wondering how far in advance you%26#39;re told with Priceline or Hotwire (I%26#39;ve never used them).

Flights, cars and hotels

Either New York or Washington will have more direct flights to Charleston than will Philadelphia.

If you fly BA into NYC, fly into EWR (Newark International Airport) so that you will not have to make the change from JFK for you flight to CHS. Continental Airlines has direct service several times per day from EWR to CHS.

Similarly, before you purchase a ticket into any of the three airports serving Washington, determine from which airport your CHS flight will depart, as well as how you will travel between airports.

Flights, cars and hotels

You can pick up a car in one city and drop it in the next, but it does cost quite a bit more to do it that way. Charleston %26amp; Savannah are only 100 or so miles apart, so it%26#39;s not difficult to return to where you flew in (and gas is dropping measurably right now).

We%26#39;ve used Travelocity and Expedia many times for trip planning, never had a problem. Have not tried any of those you list. We do like to know exactly where we are going to stay. After making reservations on-line we have called to make sure of specifics (handicapped room when traveling w/my mother, 2 rooms next to each other when traveling w/friends, etc.).

Not all car rental companies are ';one way friendly'; - some overcharge you for drop off fees. One that we%26#39;ve always used as we found ourselves often going one way to Florida or within Florida is National. (they%26#39;re affiliated with Alamo) Enterprise is not an option as although they%26#39;re great to use in town, they don%26#39;t offer one way rentals.

If you use Hotwire or Priceline, you find out the name of the hotel as soon as you pay. The Mills House (a favorite of locals and visitors) is often on Hotwire in the 100=125 dollar range; I believe as a 3 star hotel in the Historic District. If you need more details, send me a message with your prospective dates. I am not familiar with Quikbook (sounds like accounting software to me) but Kayak is a good place to do a general comparison.

As far as flying into/out of, if you throw Myrtle Beach into the list of options, sometimes you can get a better deal than Charleston. Then rent in MB, drive to Charleston (about 90 minutes drive); stay in Charleston and drive to Savannah. By far the best airfares in the area are into and out of Jacksonville, FL but that%26#39;s quite a few hours%26#39; drive even to Savannah.

I%26#39;ve looked on the betterbidding website but am confused as to how hotwire and priceline actually work. Do you bid on both sites and do you bid really low? How far in advance do you bid/book?