Fly VS Drive for personal trips

[Blood on Blood]

Prefer to drive.

My perspective; vacation begins the moment we leave, not the moment we arrive.

That said, I typically research stops alongs the way to see, visit or eat at. A stop could be checking out a 50 ft rocking chair, to a quick picture standing on the last rainbow bridge on Rt 66, to a 2 hr walk through a Civil War museum.

 

[Yaj Yak]

Prefer to drive.

My perspective; vacation begins the moment we leave, not the moment we arrive.

That said, I typically research stops alongs the way to see, visit or eat at. A stop could be checking out a 50 ft rocking chair, to a quick picture standing on the last rainbow bridge on Rt 66, to a 2 hr walk through a Civil War museum.

Vacation begins the moment I leave work, regardless if I'm flying or driving.

I agree with you, I like making the journey part of the adventure, but a lot of times I really don't have the time to stop and smell the roses... like this trip I'm talking about- it's looking like if I drive I'll be where I'm going around 11:30 pm, Friday night, and have to head out by 3pm Sunday to be home by 11pm our time.... no time to check out the biggest ball of string.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Vacation begins the moment I leave work, regardless if I'm flying or driving.

I agree with you, I like making the journey part of the adventure, but a lot of times I really don't have the time to stop and smell the roses... like this trip I'm talking about- it's looking like if I drive I'll be where I'm going around 11:30 pm, Friday night, and have to head out by 3pm Sunday to be home by 11pm our time.... no time to check out the biggest ball of string.

F that...doesn't sound like fun at all. Fly or cancel

Even if you fly, IMO it'll be too short of a trip to really justify the hassle

 

[Yaj Yak]

F that...doesn't sound like fun at all. Fly or cancel

Even if you fly, IMO it'll be too short of a trip to really justify the hassle

I don't mind it really.

We go a lot of places, frequently. 6-8 times per year typically to southeastern KY,

We did KY new years, flew to florida this year, flew to vegas already, driving to montana towards the end of summer, we have 4 trips to KY planned so far this coming year, a few wisco weekend trips... and a trip to st louis this fall.

Two weeks after this trip I'll be doing basically the same trip again to get my boat back up here.... that's a bit tougher because I don't really pull my boat at 80-85 like I drive empty typically. So going 70/75 and being a lot more cautious while pulling my boat typically turns it into about a 10 hour drive.

 

[Gone_2022]

You gotta figure too, depending on the distance by the time you wake up, Park at the airport, queue at TSA, wait for the plane, board, flight time.

You could basically do a 5-6 hour drive.

 

[Yaj Yak]

You gotta figure too, depending on the distance by the time you wake up, Park at the airport, queue at TSA, wait for the plane, board, flight time.

You could basically do a 5-6 hour drive.

right, i described that in the post below.

Being tsa pre is one of the best things my wife and I did as well.

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.

 

[Chet Donnelly]

If its me, or me and the wife...we fly pretty much no matter what unless its ~5 hours or less to drive.

Kids...we drive. We are driving to Orlando in 2 weeks, and as much as the drive will suck...its just not worth buying 6 plane tickets.

 

[Yaj Yak]

6 plane tickets would be tough to bite off.

 

[Yaj Yak]

i want a class b something for when kids happen to fuckin' rally all over the US

pack our shit and just go


like this ripper.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/rvs/d/tinley-park-airstream-diesel-van/6830453416.html

 

[blakbearddelite]

We thought about renting something like that for a cross country trip, and I thought it ended up being a lot more expensive than we really thought it would be.

That's still kind of on my bucket list though.

 

[Yaj Yak]

I'll be cousin eddie'ing all over the fuckin' place in front of friends houses

 

[jason05gt]

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

Spring break (End of March) is ridiculously expensive. I got all four of us down from MDW to RSW on points/companion pass on 3/20, but coming back I paid $526 per person. Both of these are non-stops on Southwest as I want to spend the least amount of time on an airplane with two little kids.

It is what it is. My wife is a nurse and has to "bid" her vacation time like 6 months in advance, so she picked when my son was off. I would have rather went in April when the flights are cheaper and the snow birds are starting to head back north.

 

[The Broken Regal]

Instead of flying into Knox, fly into BNA on southwest, I've done it a few times personally and it is about a 2 hour drive from there. Better flight times probably too. I mean hell, I think its like a 10 hour drive from here, you could also look into flying in ATL and driving up, like 3 hours away iirc.

I traveled for 5 years for work and tried to ONLY fly southwest for the rewards and companion pass earning, but sometimes cost would be a factor as our company would cap flight spending depending on department budget. Thats when I started to have to get creative in flying into a different city and then driving.

I think it was mentioned already, but 5 hours away driving is about the break even point where flying starts to be the better option, though not when you start talking 1k+ for 2 people of tickets lol

You are also screwed around this time of year if you are traveling anywhere on a fri/sat/sun of the week

 

[DEEZUZ]

I'll be cousin eddie'ing all over the fuckin' place in front of friends houses

You ain't filling my septic, but your welcome to crash in the back 40

 

[Yaj Yak]

Instead of flying into Knox, fly into BNA on southwest, I've done it a few times personally and it is about a 2 hour drive from there. Better flight times probably too. I mean hell, I think its like a 10 hour drive from here, you could also look into flying in ATL and driving up, like 3 hours away iirc.

I traveled for 5 years for work and tried to ONLY fly southwest for the rewards and companion pass earning, but sometimes cost would be a factor as our company would cap flight spending depending on department budget. Thats when I started to have to get creative in flying into a different city and then driving.

I think it was mentioned already, but 5 hours away driving is about the break even point where flying starts to be the better option, though not when you start talking 1k+ for 2 people of tickets lol

You are also screwed around this time of year if you are traveling anywhere on a fri/sat/sun of the week

yeah but add that 2 hour drive time to my 1 hour to the airport, hour and a half flight, tsa bs, blah blah fucking blah and all of a sudden i might be able to drive there quicker... especially if there's a delay.

and yeah, friday down back sunday flights are ridiculous anywhere it seems. i was trying to go to new orleans in may and can't make it make sense.

You ain't filling my septic, but your welcome to crash in the back 40

i like this idea.

 

[Bub]

yeah but add that 2 hour drive time to my 1 hour to the airport, hour and a half flight, tsa bs, blah blah fucking blah and all of a sudden i might be able to drive there quicker... especially if there's a delay.

and yeah, friday down back sunday flights are ridiculous anywhere it seems. i was trying to go to new orleans in may and can't make it make sense.




i like this idea.

Come pick me up. We won't fill his septic but we will fertilize Indiana roadways on the way home

 

[Frank Dukes]

Depends on time line. If you have Friday thru Monday or friday night thru Sunday night. If you have Friday and Monday, drive. I've done this drive many times and it's not so bad. I've also done it in the pouring rain on a motorcycle. Not so fun.

Flip side, Knoxville not that fun in my opinion. Dad lived there and there really isn't a whole hell of a lot to do for it being a college town imo. Tail of the dragon and blue Ridge pkwy a hop skip and a jump away though. Plenty of bbq. Regardless Nashville and Louisville are superior towns for entertainment but im sure you know that.

 

[Yaj Yak]

we're going to see friends.

 

[ChrisRac]

I drive anywhere and everywhere I can. I might fly if I can't get to my destination in a day but it just depends.

 

[Fish]

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 was going to quote this and talk but since you said your vacation is already allotted, its almost impossible to make that decision for you.

Like you and others said. Your time VS your money is the answer that only you can answer. We dont know your financials.

As for me, I love driving. We used to do it all the time as a kid. I took my wife on a road trip when we were just dating to South Dakota and it was fun, but we were super broke then so we didnt enjoy it as much. Then we did our NY/HOF road tour and that was a lot of fun. Then I got my daughter into it and we went to the Smokey Mountains, ironically passing Knoxville, and it was a cool road trip. We spend less than $200 in gas round trip. Im also a sucker for driving in the mountains. I cant get enough of that shit.

It helps significantly if both people drive. It also sucks, but letting one sleep while the other drives and swapping off can really help the trip along as well. If you left right after work and you napped while taking over later, you roll in late and have probably a good 6 hours of sleep to enjoy the next day.

Ive flown twice. Vegas and Orlando. Was ok, but I dont know if I could do that again. I feel super anxious in a plane and I was younger and less anxious at those times.

 

[Shawn1112]

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.

This^^^^^^^
I have done my fair share of road trips. The older I get the more I hate driving long distance (more than 5hrs). Now if the flight was $1000 for the Wifey and I vs a 9-10hr drive, then we are driving, lol.

 

[Aircal]

$150.00 round trip O'Hare to Jacksonville. Left Wednesday come back tomorrow.