Drive vs flying

We are north of Atlanta, about 10.5 hours drive time from MIA.

 

We are a family of 4 and for us, it's a pretty easy financial decision....

 

 

We must be in nearly the same location in GA. By the time we drive to the busiest airport in the world and arrive early for our flight, we've spent 3.5-4 hours travel time already. Nothing beats flying home though.

We ultimately booked flights in and out of our closest airport. We just waited for a price drop and jumped on the return tickets. Jet blue then sent us a 20 percent off tickets and those dropped so we are happy.

We must be in nearly the same location in GA. By the time we drive to the busiest airport in the world and arrive early for our flight, we've spent 3.5-4 hours travel time already. Nothing beats flying home though.

 

Sounds about right. We plan to leave 3 hours before the flight time, but then we're usually ready and leave early. We moved from Albuquerque this spring, where the airport parking is $3/day with a coupon and right outside the airport, almost never more than 5 minutes for security, and no more than a 10-gate walk to get where you're going. A bit of a change flying out of ATL now. Of course, there are a few more flights out of ATL each day. ;)

Since we retired we always choose driving over flying and make the drive part of the trip. We drive 4-6 hours a day making stops to see things during the drive and stopping for the evening in a new town to explore. We take different routes to and from the port so there are no repeats. We never arrive at the port tired from marathon driving days or from all the hassles with flying. For an extended European trip next fall we are cruising to and from Europe since we can't drive.

It's a simple math problem. Do the complete math for each option -- all options may not apply to your situation -- the real moral is, Be sure you're including all costs and aren't trying to "prove" the point that you really want:

 

Flying

_____ Plane tickets

_____ Cost of checking luggage

_____ Ground transportation to/from the airport (taxi OR parking)

_____ Ground transportation to/from the night-before hotel

_____ Ground transportation to/from the port terminal

_____ Cost difference between eating at home and buying food at the airport

 

_____ Time required; count from the time you leave your house to the time you arrive at your destination, including your time to pass through security.

 

Intangibles: Most difficult in terms of packing, delays are possible.

 

Driving

_____ Gallons of gas needed (miles to the port divided by car's MPG)

x _____ average cost for a gallon of gas =

_____ Cost of gas

_____ Cost difference between eating at home and buying food on the road

_____ Nights on the road (beyond the cost of a single night-before hotel)

_____ Cost of parking at hotels (possible in big cities)

_____ Cost of parking at the port

 

_____ Time required; count from the time you leave your house to the time you arrive at your destination, including rest breaks and meals.

 

Intangibles: Assumes your car is in good condition including oil and tires, easiest in terms of packing, likely the most time consuming option. I didn't include depreciation of the car; one trip shouldn't be significant in the life of a vehicle that you'll drive for years. You may arrive tired, but you shouldn't need "days" to recouperate.

 

Train

_____ Train ticket cost OR _____ Roomlet ticket cost

_____ Ground transportation to/from the night-before hotel

_____ Ground transportation to/from the port terminal

_____ Cost difference between eating at home and buying food on the train

 

_____ Time required; count from the time you leave your house to the time you arrive at your destination.

 

Intangibles: No restrictions on packing, time will probably be as lengthy as driving, buying tickets early and taking advantage of discounts can lower ticket prices, children's tickets are usually half price. Train seats are larger and more comfortable than plane seats; you can walk around; you have two electrical outlets next to every pair of seats.

 

Personally, I've never been able to beat the price of driving, but we're 8 hours away from Port Canaveral, which is a decent driving day. We've never been able to get low-low prices on plane tickets because we're buying for our family -- not just a couple -- and we don't have lots of reward miles. And I drive a car that gets great mileage. I can understand that other people -- people whose circumstances differ -- may end up with a different bottom line.

Edited December 24, 2014 by MrsPete

It is possible to save on some of the costs associated with driving to make it more feasible. Our supermarket offers $50 gas cards for $40 through the loyalty card. We used these last summer for vacation and saved on every fillup. We rarely ever park at the port; we park free by using hotel park & cruise or at reduced cost with offsite shuttle service such as park n go (they are so convenient too - they take you right to the door and handle your luggage).

On one cruise we saved by flying -all others, driving has been the way to go.

 

 

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What supermarket chain is that? I haven't seen anything close to 20% discount where we shop.

 

We just drove ~1000 miles to visit family and never paid more than $2/gallon! It's possible to pay more along the freeway, but buying in/near larger cities it was easy to find $2 or under. Hope it stays that way. You think maybe the cruise lines will start up a reverse fuel surcharge??? :rolleyes:

It is possible to save on some of the costs associated with driving to make it more feasible. Our supermarket offers $50 gas cards for $40 through the loyalty card.

Similarly, my parents are in love with their gas credit card, which gives them good rewards.

Never thought I'd ever see this again :D:D:D And it's actually gone down another cent since yesterday. Looks like our driving to NOLA for our cruise may be cheaper than expected...

 

Edited December 31, 2014 by Raxter54

Never thought I'd ever see this again :D:D:D And it's actually gone down another cent since yesterday. Looks like our driving to NOLA for our cruise may be cheaper than expected...

 

Airlines (and cruise lines) usually can't respond quickly to rapid drops in fuel prices. They have to hedge their prices, and they are still buying some of their fuel at rates contracted when oil prices were higher. But you can take advantage, as a private consumer buying auto fuel, of lower prices. So when oil prices fall, the price of driving responds more quickly than the price of flying does.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines.

What is the train like? Is there a reasonable option. We are from Canada & I've been wondering if that might be a nicer way to get to ports than the endurance marathon also known as flying.

 

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Amtrak is only reasonably priced if you are not passing through any time zones. It is a ridiculously outdated pricing scheme, but it is what it is. Expect to pay more than a flight, but expect to spend less time traveling than driving yourself.

We are driving from Michigan to Fort Lauderdale. There are 3 of us. It will cost us about 240 in gas round trip. I use GasBuddy and their trip fuel cost calculator using current gas prices and they will even recommend where you should stop for fuel along the way to maximize savings. We are also going to come in a day early so we planned on a hotel the night before (but we would do that if we flew). We will drive straight through with the husband and I switching off driving. We have a minivan so we will be comfortable. Plane tickets were $1000 total and airport parking is higher then the port parking. Purely financial.

Never thought I'd ever see this again :D:D:D And it's actually gone down another cent since yesterday. Looks like our driving to NOLA for our cruise may be cheaper than expected...

 

Gas prices are the great unknown about driving. Six months ago I'd have said you were dreaming to suggest that gas would dip below $3.00 ever again. In my area we went as low as $1.93, but now we've crept back up to $2.07 again. What will the prices be when you cruise months from now? It really is anyone's guess.

 

However, I am sure that even if prices skyrocketed to $5.00, my little Honda could still make the 8-hour drive for less than the cost of two plane tickets.

Amtrak is only reasonably priced if you are not passing through any time zones. It is a ridiculously outdated pricing scheme, but it is what it is. Expect to pay more than a flight, but expect to spend less time traveling than driving yourself.

I've only traveled North-South on Amtrak, so I don't know about crossing time zones on a train.

 

The train is considerably cheaper if you buy your tickets well in advance, and several group memberships (AAA, AARP, military) can get you a good discount right off the top. Children travel for 1/2 price, so that's a whopping discount -- and for people who cannot help you with the driving.

 

I disagree about it being less time though. The train travels more slowly than your personal car because it stops frequently. However, you aren't doing the driving, so you may arrive better rested.

 

Do note, too, whether you'd have to travel during the night or day. Unlike airplanes, you can't just pick a different flight, and the timing may be a positive or a negative for your trip.

Gas prices are the great unknown about driving. Six months ago I'd have said you were dreaming to suggest that gas would dip below $3.00 ever again. In my area we went as low as $1.93, but now we've crept back up to $2.07 again. What will the prices be when you cruise months from now? It really is anyone's guess.

 

However, I am sure that even if prices skyrocketed to $5.00, my little Honda could still make the 8-hour drive for less than the cost of two plane tickets.

 

Prices here are now back up to $2.19, but still way below the nearly $4 of last year. So even a 10-20 increase between now and when we leave next Thursday will still be a lot less than we figured. From what I've seen on the internet, gas prices will drop as we head south, so that's even better. :D

We live within 45-60 minutes of Bayonne and NYC so sailing out of there is easy. About 5-6 hours to Boston. And 2 ½ hours to Baltimore. We are sailing out of Baltimore this summer. We are a family of 4 so the cost of airfare really increases the expense of the trip. If it were just my wife and I then it might be more feasible. But dealing with airports is so aggravating anyway, I'd probably still try to find a way to avoid it.