Fly VS Drive for personal trips

[Yaj Yak]

Beyond a 5 hour drive, I like flying. It saves time and I don't have to deal with morons on the road. It's less stress IMO. Just show up at the airport on time, fly to destination, pick up rental car, and go. I've flown a ton for work though, so being at the airport just feels like routine.

5 hours makes sense as a break even point- as long as the airport is super nearby your destination... i can likely drive it just as fast if not faster than the airport situation will likely take.

for instance- 5 hour drive is st louis from my house

From my house to ohare is about an hour, let's leave 20 minutes on top of that if i have to park in an economy lot- since if you fly out of there frequently- you know the tram is likely down and you gotta find a buss from f or e lot then ride in the loser cruiser all the way to the terminal....

get there an hour before my flight (not two hours, I'm pre like you likely are) but i want to have a beer... so now we are at 2.5 hours almost from the time i left my house... quick google, flight time is hour 15... so now we are at 3:45, and you haven't gotten off the plane, wandered the shit, or driven the 20-30 minutes from the airport to my final destination.

throw in any delay at all and i likely could have driven there quicker.


the pickle i have where my wife is from- is there isn't an airport for 2.5 hours or so in any direction.

so do the ohare dance, fly the hour 15, then stilll have another 2 and a half hour drive at minimum, shoulda just flown to begin.

 

[Yaj Yak]

if the knoxville flights (for something decent) were $500 for round trip, i dont think i'd be having this converstion...


being $850 minimum for decent flights after fees... it's fucking tough to bite off.


thanks trump

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

Basic economy bullshit...




easter weekend

i'm out of time off for the year so flight has to be at 4pm or later on friday, and home sunday... later the better.



I've allotted all my time off for the year.



You'd likely need to be sedated for how i drive my truck on roadtrips.

suck it up and fly economy or cough up the dough and .....

 

[Yaj Yak]

suck it up and fly economy or cough up the dough and .....

dude it's not economy, it's "basic economy"

it's spirit airlines charge you for everything bullshit inside of an american airlines or united plane.


it's no carry-on's- or they charge you- it's no pre selected seat- or they charge you- it's no checked bags of course... etc etc. group 5 boarding, no access to overhead bins.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

OH WELL PONY UP

 

[Yaj Yak]

OH WELL PONY UP

can't man, i have to save all my money to get a tl-30 rsc safe for $7,800

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

I hear you. Driving it is then

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

 

[FESTER665]

I'm going to have this debate with myself soon, I have to go to New York for training for a new job we're going to be doing, not sure if I want to fly there with the customer or just drive myself and meet them out there.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

we are thinking about a florida trip too

except flying there is pretty cheap all year round

 

[LikeABauce302]

dude it's not economy, it's "basic economy"

it's spirit airlines charge you for everything bullshit inside of an american airlines or united plane.


it's no carry-on's- or they charge you- it's no pre selected seat- or they charge you- it's no checked bags of course... etc etc. group 5 boarding, no access to overhead bins.

I did this on a flight to Cabo in December. It was annoying, but not terrible. I still came out a few dollars ahead after paying for 2 checked bags and 2 assigned seats.

For a trip down to Tennessee, I probably would drive if my final destination was more than an hour from the airport. At that point, flying saves you no time.

 

[sickmint79]

I'm torn right now because we're supposed to go to knoxville here in a few weeks for a quick weekend- flights are brutal... anything you'd "want" to be on is $850 minimum.

But it's a 9 hour drive one way, which is kinda gnarly for "just" a weekend.

I do the 8/8.5 (sometimes 10 ) hour drive to my wife's hometown 6-8 times per year and that's easier to bite off because flying basically isn't an option at all.

i can't fathom paying $850 for a flight that isn't international. the point game for domestics can be more painful itineraries, points or cash though, i'll take a more painful one and avoid paying $850 if i can. multiplying by more people i would certainly drive at that price point.

 

[Grabber]

I hate flying, so, I always convince the wife to drive.

We drove to FL in 2015 and used our Explorer that we sold a couple years ago. Gas was only 300 or so and we made it under 24 hours even though we hit traffic in every city due to the time we left.

When we drove to TX, we made it in under 20 hours and on the way home with better planning, made it in 18 hours.

We are driving to FL in April and rented a car for about 710 (Explorer) and gas will only cost about 300-400. Checking fligths, all were over $550 per person that week and the cost of checking in bags would be another $100 or so plus the fees, totalling over $1,300 or so. Plus the stress of flying, getting to the airport and back, then the cost of renting a car while we are down there, etc.

I'd say drive man.

 

[Yaj Yak]

i can't fathom paying $850 for a flight that isn't international. the point game for domestics can be more painful itineraries, points or cash though, i'll take a more painful one and avoid paying $850 if i can. multiplying by more people i would certainly drive at that price point.

domestic flights are stupid right now i feel.


and 850 was for two of us. with taxes/bs.

 

[CMNTMXR57]

I think if it's anywhere beyond the upper midwest, I tend to fly.

 

[Gone_2022]

Prior to getting the Tesla I was Mr. fly everywhere. I would use any excuse to get on a plane I love to fly.

However it’s slightly changed. I’d say a 10-13 hour trip is now ok for me but again my factors are different. The trip to and from my location is free because of the chargers, and the car has autopilot so I can basically sit back and relax and actually see the countryside while driving, instead of having to be hyper focus and super tired when I arrive.

I will admit the 30 hour driving round trip to Boston etc did get a little brutal near the end.

So I would say slightly past Nashville would be my max as far as that area. Also I would drive to NY city again. It was actually a lot closer than I expected.

All of this of course hinges on flight prices. If southwest is running some crazy 80 dollar 1 way sale or something, my ass is on the plane.

 

[Gone_2022]

But in your situation I would be driving, and that’s exactly why I did to NY and Boston. 850+ dollars for flights for a quick trip is def out. I’m not paying that bullshit. Drive and be 850 dollars richer to do more when you get to your destination.

 

[jason05gt]

I go by the 5-6 hour rule. If it's longer than that and the fares are cheap, I always fly. It's also easier for me with the kids to fly to Florida than suffer with them in the car. Plus I typically get enough points on Southwest from business travel and my credit card to fly on points. This year I earned a companion pass so my wife and I are going to do a few more trips as if I book strategically I can get my fare covered by points and she flys free.

 

[radioguy6]

my in laws works for an airline, part of the reason I married my wife.... j/k . Shortest domestic flight I flew was to Moline, IL...23 mins. Maybe in this case time vs money? But honestly if I didn't have the family hookup I would drive that, I like the open road.

 

[Gone_2022]

Once you have kids or bigger family I rarely know anyone who flies unless you are pretty well off. My buddy said even with deals it would have been about $2000 dollars to fly 4 people to and from Florida. He’s like F that we are driving. 2 grand and that’s just to get there and home.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

Once you have kids or bigger family I rarely know anyone who flies unless you are pretty well off. My buddy said even with deals it would have been about $2000 dollars to fly 4 people to and from Florida. He’s like F that we are driving. 2 grand and that’s just to get there and home.

depends on when. right now end of april its 170$-200$ RT. less then 1k to fly there and back for 4

 

[sickmint79]

dunno when you are going? looked like i found a bunch of 265 aa on google flights even nonstop? i found points flights direct down to 15k miles and $11.20 although did not really look too hard at times/days/itineraries

 

[importcrew]

I'm in Texas right now. My family and I (wife, 2 daughters (4&1),and myself) decided to make a road trip. It was supposed to be about 17 hours from Hampshire, to Katy, TX (just south of/next to Houston). I filled up a few times for gas and stopped a few times because my daughter said she needed to use the bathroom when she still didn't go. Lol. Ended up taking 20 hours to get there. Left at 9pm and got there 5pm the following day.

After spending a few days in Houston/Katy, we drove another 5 or 6 hours south to McAllen, Tx to the valley to visit my dad and my wife's grandmother. In a couple days we head back to Katy/Houston for another day and a half and leave early morning Sunday to head back home. Might stop at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas and stay at a hotel for a day or at least a few hours if needed.

I loved the drive. My wife HATED it. Too much anxiety with dealing with our 1 year old waking up having a fit. Lol. Our 4 year old wasn't bad at all and she was up most of the time with me. She probably slept for an hour on the way to Texas.


Pricing it out, driving was cheaper. Paying for 4 seats on the plane was going to cost a lot, plus getting a rental car. We probably saved over $700 easily compared to flying. We spent about $100 on fuel on the way there.

Sunflower seeds for when I started getting bored/tired, a few energy drinks, a few waters, and satellite radio.

 

[DEEZUZ]

I've completely lost all passion for any sort of trip by road besides tcg tour.

I absolutely dred the trek to the Family cabin in norf Wisconsin. Assholes on the road, assholes I may have to Deal with in the car, equipment failure, time, oh and time.

 

[MrDragster1970]

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Depends on the time available.
I'm a huge explorer, that's how I made it to 45 states already, including the 2 hard ones.
So if there's time, I like driving and taking a different route each time.
If we would rather spend more time at the destination, then flying is no biggie.
My wife loved Disney, so it was fly so she could have more time there.
When it was to visit my oldest son's godmother, we drove.


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