A neat article on MSN whether it’s cheaper to fly or drive? There really are a lot of factors involved in making that decision. My roommate is an avid traveler and frequents travel and flying message boards. He’s talked to me about people doing “mileage” runs where they go on a trip solely to accumulate the miles because the airfare is so cheap over a weekend! Imagine flying from NY to Thailand for $200 just to score miles!
But the reality is with gas prices creeping up, is it worth it to drive for a vacation or fly? My DH and I struggle with this all the time. Since we’re always a couple traveling we have to determine how much it would cost us to drive. Sometimes you do the more expensive option for the experience. What do I mean? My roommate is an amateur pilot. He loves getting hours flying and splitting the cost with people.
One particular trip takes 3 hours to drive, but costs around $500 to fly for the whole trip. Even with gas at $4/gallon it would cost my DH and I $250 to fly versus $80 to drive. No brainer right? But surprisingly my roommate has actually found a ton of people willing to shell out substantial more for the experience of flying.
But how to determine whether to fly or drive? Like the article my DH and I pretty much drive if it’s within an 8 – 10 hour drive. Why? The flexibility. We can leave when we want and stop when we choose. Typically 8 hours drive is a 2 hour flight, with getting to the airport, waiting around, getting luggage, etc, a 2 hour flight easily turns into 4 hours. One big incentive with for us, is if we drive we can also take our dogs. Flying with pets is expensive and hard on the pet. We may end up boarding the pet, but we have the option of boarding them nearby to where we are staying or going camping.
Also it depends on the type of trip we’re taking. If we are going somewhere that we need to rent a car, then driving often wins even if it takes a bit longer and might cost more. But honestly I sort of like roadtripping. I enjoy the journey of chilling with my DH in the car, listening to music, and talking.
What’s your cutoff?
12 responses so far ↓
1 Wojciech @ Fiscal Fizzle // Jun 27, 2009 at 11:05 am
We recently drove from South Florida all the way to Ohio, which combined with stops, was about a 24 hour trip. But I still preferred it to flying because we had 4 people on board (economy of scale) and you’re right – the freedom to leave/stop whenever you want is great. You’re on your schedule, not someone else’s.
Plus we didn’t have to rent a car!
2 Thinkingaboutit // Jun 27, 2009 at 2:48 pm
A student I know has a summer internship in another part of the country. His airfare to the site would be paid. They are paying him the cost of airfare, regardless of whether driving is more or less expensive. Turns out it was going to cost him more to drive than to fly. He drove anyway because the uncovered expense was worth paying out of pocket because he will get to see many places he’s never seen before.
Oh, driving sometimes means increased lodging and meal expenses.
3 LAL // Jun 27, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Good point about seeing extra places.
How far was the drive thinkingaboutit?
4 JoeP // Jun 29, 2009 at 10:34 am
There are a few things I really like about driving compared to flying. I like the ability to bring stuff and quantities that are forbidden or expensive if flying. I like the option of stopping where and when we want for food, sights, lodging, etc. I like the fact that the seats are far more comfortable, and we don’t have to deal with people who think they’re more important than me.
Of course, flying is much faster and, statistically speaking, safer.
So even if you compute the actual costs, there are benefits to driving that make it very attractive, even if it is more expensive.
5 bogart // Jun 29, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I’ve read (in the NYT awhile back? Not sure.) that it is faster to drive “anywhere” that is within a 10-hour radius than to fly. I think this assumes 1 layover and perhaps a 30-minute drive to/from the airport at the start and end, and I think it’s probably right.
For 3 years, I lived in a commuter marriage that had me & DH about 10 hours apart (by car) and we did pretty much find that to be the threshhold — i.e. it wasn’t clear which was worse/cheaper, flying or driving (this was when gas was cheap, but so were airfares). Driving that far solo is pretty tiring, and sometimes we’d split the trip up, e.g., he’d fly up for 1 visit and we’d drive back together, then drive back up together and then he’d fly back solo (this worked, and I use the verb loosely, because we had pretty different work schedules — so sometimes I could take time away from my office and sometimes he from his).
All of which raises another point … if it’s a trip you make repeatedly, the drive is likely to get dull, making the “stopping on the way” feature less attractive (and depending on your life, you may or may not have time to stop, anyway). On the other hand, the flexibility is still nice.
6 tom // Jun 29, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I second the 8-10 hour rule, only if it’s 2 or more people in the car. If it’s only me… i’m flying.
7 MLR // Jun 30, 2009 at 12:30 am
I usually prefer flying. I would take a 2 hour flight (4 hrs after you account for getting there early, security, etc) over a 10 hour drive anyday.
That’s 12 more hours I get at my destination (when you factor in both legs of the trip)!
8 LAL // Jun 30, 2009 at 11:52 pm
MLR, what about driving to and from the airport or needed a car? I like the 12 hours extra at the destination, but that’s assuming you don’t need to get a rental car and the time involved in getting and returning a car.
9 MLR // Jul 2, 2009 at 1:43 am
Part of the extra 2 hours I padded in there was figuring for the few minutes it would take to get your car rental reservation picked up. May be a lil high, may be a lil low. All circumstantial
Even if you grossly over-estimate the time it takes to get a rental car and add 2 hours to each leg of the trip… you still get an extra 8 hours of your vacation!
For people living in America dealing with only 2-3 weeks of vacation, that is a crucial 8 hours
10 LAL // Jul 2, 2009 at 10:35 am
What about the costs of renting a car?
11 MLR // Jul 2, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I typically go places where you don’t need a car, to be honest. I just get a shuttle from the airport to wherever I am staying.
I would have to look up those costs. A quick check shows you can get them for $35/day. After a coupon, probably even lower. That rate depends on a lot, though.
12 LAL // Jul 5, 2009 at 10:56 pm
We do a lot of car trips I notice. Before we were too broke to really vacation so camping was the mode of vacationing. Now we live in an area where it makes sense to drive across three states.
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