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The 4WD and AWD vehicles are pretty pricey to rent. If I remember correctlty, a smaller SUV for a week was around $500 (Banff, AL)

Realistically I can probably get away without AWD or 4WD for Lee Vining or Owens Valley stuff, though it would be nice if the rental place offered chains in case it snowed and CHP enforced a chain requirement (sounds like another thread...). I drove for 20 years in New England winters, 16 of them in a front wheel drive only car, and did just fine.

Better play it safe.

The flight in/out of Mammoth is a blast, usually gorgeous views, and small planes, and inexpensive. But renting cars around here is reedunkulous: minimum $50/day for basic economy (I looked into it myself both when the TOF has been in the shop and when I had my knee surgery since I have a manual).

Lionel wrote:Flights like that are for wealthy people who don't want to use 12 hours to drive that back and forth.

That is a pretty funny statement. Driving to Mammoth from San Diego is 800 miles RT. In my case, I get 20mpg in our AWD SUV. That's 40 gallons of premium fuel at $4/gallon = $160. So, I wouldn't call paying $19 for the "rich"

That said, it depends what you want to do. If you're just going to Mammoth to ski, it would be foolish to drive to save $19. Seems worth it to save wear and tear on your vehicle and hours of driving. One other thing to consider is the weather. If it looks remotely unstable, you have a good chance to get your flight canceled.

I flew up there last week. Nice view of the Sierra and it only took 1h.

edl wrote:

Denjem wrote:So there is air sevice from San Diego to Mammoth/ Yosemite airport now. After some research I found out that a flight is $179 round trip per person. To me this is a sh#t load of money. I can drive there and back for less that that.

Are you really sure it costs less than that to drive? Google maps tells me it's about 800 miles one way, or 1600 round trip. .

heh I think you entered "Mammoth" instead of "Mammoth Lakes", which gives you this:

http://g.co/maps/8cvf2

Denjem wrote:a flight is $179 round trip per person. To me this is a sh#t load of money. I can drive there and back for less that that. I can take a trip that doesn't total that much.

I think this is for people who subscribe to the 'time is money' adage, but have less time than money.

i work long hours and don't get a ton of time off - my vacation time is valuable, if i were to fly i'd effectively gain most of two days' time in travel by flying.
think about a normal 40hr/week loser's weekend(me) - i have two days, so driving to mammoth is out of the question. that plane ticket is the difference between me flying there friday after work, ski two days or do an overnight ski tour, then be back to work on monday vs. not skiing.
my other option is driving to tahoe(2.5hrs away) but i risk a traffic-induced SEVEN HOUR trip back or risk road closure due to storm etc.

TL,DR - when you see the planes landing in mammoth, just think 'those poor souls, i hope they can squeeze enough fun out of the weekend to last the next 5 days!'

EDIT - fyi i'm in san francisco

JHH60 wrote:Has anyone here tried flying United from SFO to Mammoth and renting a car, and are there pitfalls?

I have not but have been looking myself. Found some R/T for like $130.
Sounds like rental cars can be pricey.

Someone in Bishop/Mammoth area should put a craigslist ad up offering a trailhead shuttle service!

Where the hell did you dig up this post? Geez, you guys worry me.

Denjem wrote:Where the hell did you dig up this post? Geez, you guys worry me.

Search Forum function. I am thinking about flying to Mammoth vs. driving and figured I'd see if someone else had discussed it here before starting a new thread.