You're better off flying than renting. I've done the summer traverse of America's heartland 5 times. It' hot and boring and you'll all be tired and irritable by the time you get to Denver. This is the type of "adventure" that can be hard on a friendship. If you get on the Southwest site the day the fares open up for those dates (about 5 months ahead) you should be able to score some tickets about $300 pp/rt. Frontier is just a little more. Well worth arriving at conference fresh.
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