Rental Car, or Plane?

[Annadesu]

My husband and I live in New Hampshire, and are planning to go to Disney World one more time before we start having kids. The plane tickets are, shall we say... not cheap. $900-ish.

We rented a car to drive 14 hours, this Christmas, and didn't find it that bad. Renting a car and driving to Florida would be about 20-22 hours (we've driven 19, before). We would have to stop for gas about 3-4 times, each way.

Do you think it's worth the trouble? Or should we just shell out the cash for a plane ticket?

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's what it's worth to you. The transportation board has a whole thread about doing the long drive, might be worth checking out!

 

[FencerGirl]

Could you go to an airport a bit further away and fly cheaper? If you're flexible with your dates, you could probably get both of you there and back on Southwest for $600.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

You're obviously a lot younger than DH and myself, but you also live further north by a good bit than we do!! We drove to central FL (just north of Disney) when we moved down there in spring of 2007. Drove back up here when we moved back in summer of 2012.
Would NOT do it again. No matter how young you are, how much experience you have in driving long distances, I'd find a less expensive way to fly.
Of course that's up to you 100%. I just know I wouldn't want to ride that far. Part of my reasoning is that I hate spending time in the car on the road when it's taking away from my vacation time!!
You'll find pros and cons for both. And the Transportation Board is a good suggestion. At least check it out.
Have fun.

 

[JessM]

Have you check SW prices out of Manchester? We have never paid more than 300 round trip per ticket.

Or are you any closer to Portland, ME? We flew SW in Dec for 225 per person and are flying again over President's Week for 325 per person round trip. I would think both of these would be cheaper than renting a car, paying for gas and paying for a hotel room/food.

 

[goofydad621]

Hi Anndesu

What part of New Hampshire are you in? We live right outside of Dover and we are leaving end of January for 8 nights, 4 people round trip from Logan for a total of $891 for all 4 of us.

The drive is not that bad I have driven non stop to AZ a few times but you have to decide time vs $$$?

Love to chat with another Granite stae Dis boarder

good Luck
goofydad

 

[KatieCharlotte]

We've done a drive of about the same length, with kids, and are doing it again. But we like road trips -- only you know how you feel about them -- and we would have to buy five plane tickets. It also depends on how much vacation time you get, because you'll really need two days to travel each way. (Only crazy college students drive 20 hours straight.)

You should check other airports, but the cost of plane tickets varies a lot depending on when you're going. You should be able to get something cheaper in the "off-season," specifically non-holiday weeks in Jan and Feb, but prices shoot up in spring break season, no matter which airport you choose.

 

[OKW Lover]

How much gas did you spend on the drive to/from WDW? I'd guess it was ~$400. So, is $500 savings enough to compensate you for the 4 days you spent getting to/from your real vacation?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Boy, only you can decide that. First, I hate flying and will gladly drive anywhere I can drive. But, with 2 people, the cost savings isn't as significant as it is with 4+. For that long of a drive, I'd want to enjoy attractions along the way.

 

[MrsDuck]

Totally boils down to personal opinion and budget: personally, I'd fly unless the plane tix would prevent me from going.

 

[disneyderns]

Not a crazy college student here but we are going to drive the 20 hours on the way there - breaking it into 2 days on the way back. My family of 4 is looking at over $1600 total for plane tickets (I have no wiggle room on my travel dates as both DW and I are teachers and are going on our spring break). That is even out of major airports like O'Hare and Milwaukee. So we are leaving on a Friday late afternoon and hope to get there by Saturday late afternoon with DW and I tag-teaming the driving.

Now I just have to decide if I want to put the miles on my car or if I want to rent one and drive.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Not a crazy college student here but we are going to drive the 20 hours on the way there - breaking it into 2 days on the way back. My family of 4 is looking at over $1600 total for plane tickets (I have no wiggle room on my travel dates as both DW and I are teachers and are going on our spring break). That is even out of major airports like O'Hare and Milwaukee. So we are leaving on a Friday late afternoon and hope to get there by Saturday late afternoon with DW and I tag-teaming the driving.

Now I just have to decide if I want to put the miles on my car or if I want to rent one and drive.

We've left on trips on Friday after school, driven about seven hours, and then driven thirteen hours the next day. I can't sleep in the car and if I miss an entire night's sleep, I can't function the next day. But, I do know a non-college student who is capable of driving straight through alone, so it can be done. Sorry to compare you to crazy college students, but I was thinking of one I know who recently drove 35 hours straight and then back again a couple days later.

 

[NHDisneyKid]

Another Granite-stater here, we live on the seacoast and ALWAYS fly SW out of Manchester. I'm a single mom and when I go alone with my son, I'll only do direct flights, they usually run us in the $250 range. However, I'm pricing flights now for our February vacation (week of the 24th) and flights are OUTRAGEOUS (~$420 each). I'm looking at Boston too, for cheaper options, but not finding much less than $350 each.
I'm going to check SW out of Portland now, whoever suggested that! Since it's NH school break, flights might be a bit less out of ME.

To address the drive vs. fly...I don't think it'd ever be worth it for me (financially, mentally, etc.) to make that drive! Lots of people enjoy it though!

 

[dayvewc]

It is all on what you are comfortable with vs. what you can afford.

Given my 'druthers, I'd rather fly. Most years, though, I drive the 19 hours. It usually costs me about $300 in gas (for the entire trip) as opposed to $285 - $475 when I've priced flights. Obviously, there are some flights that are cheaper than the gas, but when I calculate in needing to rent a car when I'm down there (I don't normally stay onsite) it has never been cost-effective enough for me to do. Except the rush trip I did when I only had 4 day for the entire trip, which was also the only trip so far I've managed to stay on-site at Disney.

In driving the 19 hours, I've always stayed in a hotel on the way down, but driven back straight through. Though I give myself 2 days travel each way, just in case. Somehow, it is easier to drive back than it is to drive down. I think because of the time-change.

But this is all IMHO and YMMV. Best of luck!! You'll be at Disney, it'll all be good.

 

[stinkpickle]

Try Allegiant Air. I just looked at a flight from Portsmouth to Sanford on Jan 27th for $66.50 per person and a return flight on Feb 3rd for $86.50. Now, they will add a bunch of stupid little fees, but it gets you nowhere near the price you were looking at, even after adding a rental car to take from Sanford to WDW. If I lived anywhere near Portsmouth, that would be the way I'd go.

 

[Jfsag123]

We drove from Texas for our trip last year and are planning to drive again for our trip next year. We did it over two days each way last time, but are thinking of doing all 16 hrs at once next time. We are a family that enjoys road trips, though. I like having a car, so it makes more sense for us to drive because if we flew, we'd just end up renting one anyway.

 

[backfire103]

If you're willing to drive to Hartford, CT the flights are not that expensive. I just did a trip in mid December for $430 RT for 2 people on Southwest. Parking was inexpensive as well.

 

[Annadesu]

Hi Anndesu

What part of New Hampshire are you in? We live right outside of Dover and we are leaving end of January for 8 nights, 4 people round trip from Logan for a total of $891 for all 4 of us.

The drive is not that bad I have driven non stop to AZ a few times but you have to decide time vs $$$?

Love to chat with another Granite stae Dis boarder

good Luck
goofydad

We are in Plymouth, NH. It stinks being so far away, doesn't it? lol

Thank you everyone for the input! Doing the math, the gas might actually make it about the same price. We enjoy roadtrips, but if we get stuck in traffic for more than 20 minutes, he starts getting "upset". Also, if we stopped to see "the sights", it would probably make it a two day drive and we would have to deal with a hotel. I guess we'll just have to shop around at different airports and see if it's worth the drive to another city/parking fee for the airport parking lot.

 

[johnsgrl]

We decided to drive down in early March, with it being school/college break time the airfares out of Manchester would have been 1600.00 for 4 of us. With 4 adults we plan on driving strait through on the way down and with splitting the cost of gas, it is less than $50/pp. 2 Will be flying out of Orlando, back to Tx and two of us will be driving back to NH. We will split the return drive over two days but even with the hotel cost we are saving a ton of money, AND we are looking forward to spending some quality time with my son and his GF on the drive down.
I have no objection to driving down when the money works out in my favor, but it is not something I would generally do just for the fun of it

 

[momof2n2]

We've driven from Rochester NY and will do it again with 6 kids. I love road trips.