Fly vs Drive - What's your Threshold?

[LakeCleElum]

I hate to fly, even 1st/business class. I know Motion and Hugh are flight buffs, but most of us aren't.

I used to say I'd just drive if within 700-800 miles, now I've upped it 1,100. My Wife's son took a job as a prison chaplin near Montrose, CO a year ago and she misses her 3 grandchildren. I said I'd ride the motorcycle there once a year and drive the car once/yr. In the meantime, she can fly.

So, just returned for a spring break trip. 1,100 miles door to door. Just over 16 hrs to drive. Coming home a few days ago, left Montrose at 0630 and was at the Boise Airport Best Western by 5 PM......Gained an hour on the time zone the next day and was home by 2PM.....

Flights for 2 would have been $1,100 + a night at a Seattle area hotel the night before...Round trip fuel cost for the V6 Camry and a night on the road was about $300.....Time is about the same and saved about $800. No brainer for me.

Also, when flying domestic, I plan it to never change planes. Book one flight to within 300-400 miles of where I'm going and rent a car....Cost of the 2nd flight more than pays for the hire car.

Anyone else do this?

[fastfredracing]

Ill do 1000 miles in the blink of an eye. She hates to fly and I love to drive

[scottmandue]

I will drive 600-1000 miles but I'm a whimp and will break it into 300 mile stops and make a road trip out of it if at all possible.

When we were doing the long distance relationship thing (L.A. to Portland OR. = ~1000 miles) we spent every other weekend together... people would ask if we drove back and forth! It is a 90 minute to two hour flight, to us it was a no brainier... had FF miles on Alaska and JetBlue... I was on a first name basis with the bartender at PDX.

[rwest]

I love a road trip, but if it takes more than a day, it just isn't worth it, four days of driving, gas and two nights of hotel.

Of course if I need to bring lots of tools or other stuff, it becomes much easier to drive than check it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I fly all the time for work. For family stuff it's really a matter of economics. If I'm looking at $400/flight x5 vs driving a full day, it's a no-brainer. For the second year in a row we will be driving to Pensacola for summer vacation, I'll do a one day 16 hour drive to save over $2k. We drove to Phoenix a few weeks ago because I trailered a car out and brought one back, it actually went surprisingly well. Thank God for iPods and iPads......

[masraum]

For me it's more about time than anything else.

Hmm, flight is 2.5 hours, driving to the airport and waiting, 2 hours, or drive 8 hours, hell yeah, I'm flying.

When I visit my mother, it's that plus 1.5 hours from the airport to her house after, still, much faster than driving (which is now 16-17 hours).

I'd rather have that time with my mom.

I'd say that I'm probably going to limit most driving to less than 4 or 5 hours.

The idea of a long road trip just for the sake of doing the road trip sounds like a fun adventure, but not sure it'll ever happen.

[Tervuren]

Charlotte to L.A. is driving distance, about 33-34 hours with fuel stops. If I can avoid the fake "security" systems its worth it to me.

[red-beard]

Depends. Generally I'd say 6 hours. But if I have to take equipment, it can be much further. I used to drive to Chihuahua all the time (12 hours). We don't drive there due to drug violence issues and general crime.

[HardDrive]

Meh. I used to enjoy road tripping. Now, not so much. More than an 12 hour drive, I'll likely fly.

I like flying.

[Charles Freeborn]

Depends mostly on the length of the trip. If I'll be where ever I'm going for more than a few days I'll drive. If it's a quick in 'n out definitely fly.

[Jeff Higgins]

I really hate flying. I'll drive or ride unless there really is no other choice. It's not a matter of time, or cost, or anything like that - I simply know too many guys that work on airplanes.

[Hugh R]

Going to Vegas in June from Burbank. I'll fly, 45 minutes in flight, check in at BUR is nothing.

[JavaBrewer]

I hate flying. That said my business trips are to D.C. region or Japan. Driving is out of the question. I did a 4 day conference in SF and drove a very pleasant 7 hours up the I-5. I hate flying even when bumped to 1st. Hate it.

[eastbay]

Burbank - Best Damn Airport in California

[gprsh924]

Let me start by saying I love driving. But 5 hours in the car vs getting to the airport, having a quick drink, watching a couple tv shows and arriving door to door in somewhere between 50-70% of the time? Driving makes no sense. More than a 5 hour drive, I'm flying unless the flight is prohibitively expensive.

[jyl]

Door to door, a flight takes about 3 hours plus flying time. That 3 hours is getting to the airport, checking in an hour before the flight, then waiting for luggage, getting to destination. So up to 4 hours, driving wins out on time alone, versus even the shortest flight. Driving is more tiring, but you have a car at your destination, those kind of cancel out. Cost depends on if it's just me traveling, or the family, and on checked bag fees, taxi fares, etc.

So, for the whole family taking a trip from Portland to SF Bay, we drive the 10 hours. But for just me, flying clearly wins. For Portland to Seattle, driving for 4 hours always wins (or the train).

[KFC911]

I think 8 hours driving is my threshold these days....virtually every flight out of my local Hooterville INTERNATIONAL (joke) airport is going to a hub, and I've just had too many bad experiences that I vividly remember from my corporate life. Different strokes...I wouldn't accept a 6 figure salary to do what Motion does for fun...now get off my lawn .

[dmcummins]

More than two hours and I'm flying, unless the weather is bad.

[jcommin]

My limit is a day for personal travel - I can stand 6 to 8 hours of driving. Anything longer, I'm flying. But, I'm with Red on this - if I'm carrying equipment, I would consider either driving the extra day.

For business - I have no problems flying. However if the trip is under 400 miles, sometimes it makes more sense to drive. This is especially true traveling from Chicago to Detroit.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by jyl

Door to door, a flight takes about 3 hours plus flying time. That 3 hours is getting to the airport, checking in an hour before the flight, then waiting for luggage, getting to destination. So up to 4 hours, driving wins out on time alone, versus even the shortest flight. Driving is more tiring, but you have a car at your destination, those kind of cancel out. Cost depends on if it's just me traveling, or the family, and on checked bag fees, taxi fares, etc.

So, for the whole family taking a trip from Portland to SF Bay, we drive the 10 hours. But for just me, flying clearly wins. For Portland to Seattle, driving for 4 hours always wins (or the train).

Get TSA Precheck and carry on your bags, I just saved you at least 1.5 hours.