drive or fly?

[emmababy]

In the past, we have always flown. We enjoy starting our vacation 2.5 hours after we leave the ground. But, we are expecting our third child this summer and our ds will now cost for a ticket.

So, we are looking at $850 or so for 4 plane tickets and parking. Flights used to be cheaper than what I am finding.

Driving, while much cheaper, takes up ALOT of time. 14 plus hours and at least one night in a hotel. Our kids will be 4, 2, and 9 months at the time.

Please give me your advice!

 

[OKW Lover]

Several factors to consider:

• Driving is more dangerous than flying
• You get more actual destination time if you fly
• You might consider the drive to be part of the vacation, in which case disregard the previous comment.
• Some folks do not take well to being in a car for a long trip
• Driving will use up precious vacation days just getting to your destination
• Driving allows you to bring more stuff

The decision is a very individual one, as you can see.

 

[Taja]

As OKW Lover noted, it's a very personal decision.

How well do your two older children behave on long car journeys? The 9-month-old should be fairly easy--please note fairly.

And if you're flying, it sounds as though one parent will have the lap-child and the other will have the two older children. As heavily booked as most flights are these days, that means the lap-child likely will be on your lap the entire flight. Depending on the configuration of the plane, the other three family members (spouse and other two children) may be in a different row.

No easy answer. Lots of thinking involved in this one, isn't there?

 

[mbsquirrel1198]

What about a car when you arrive?? If you need to rent a car, that is another added expense. We have four kids, so we need to rent a mini-van. The cost of a week long rental is OUTRAGEOUS!! So we choose to drive form Virginia.

 

[clkelley]

Also, you have to look at airline schedules. That 14 hour drive may not eat into your vacation as much as you think?

For us "vacation" starts the moment I am sprung from work and ends when I have to be back at work.

Can you get a flight to Orlando the moment you are all off work? Or do you get a flight the next day?? If you wait until the next day to fly then you are not losing any vacation time by driving.

You could start driving the moment you are all sprung from work the evening before and get 5 or 6 hours down the road, then stop for the night. Then finish the 8 or so hours the next day. I bet you get there only an hour or so after that flight would have gotten you there.

What time do you normally fly home?? Early morning, mid day, late night?? If you fly home early morning, then that last day is not lost either.

For example, if your flight home is normally Sunday morning, then check out of your Disney hotel on Saturday, spend the day at the parks, then drive north for 3 or 4 hours, then spend the night somewhere, then finish the drive home on Sunday. You really lose only a few hours on Saturday evening at Disney.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We we having the same dilema for the trip we just took a couple of weeks ago. It was a last-minute trip and we wanted to do it "cheap" so we drove.

We drove straight through from Michigan. My girls did GREAT. They slept all night and their dual dvd players worked wonders. I also had goodie bags of stuff from the dollar store/target dollar section that I rationed out when necessary.

*4:30 pm left home (left after DH got home from work- if we had flown, we would have left the next day, so no real vacation time lost for us here)
*8:30 pm gas, let girls run around a bit, put pjs on
*6:30 am ate at Cracker Barrel, let girls run a bit
*11:00 am stopped at welcome center
*1:30 pm checked into hotel

On the way home we left on Friday afternoon. If we would flown, we would have probably stayed until Saturday so we lost atleast 1/2 day of vacation time here.

It cost us $250 in gas (round trip).

While we are flying in October, I would drive again. I guess it just depends on what is more important to you right now: a little more time on vacation or saving money.

 

[latoyamo49]

Just throwing out another option, have you looked into Amtrak? It is definitely cheaper than flying.

 

[emmababy]

Thanks for all your replies! My hubby thinks driving won't be an issue and we won't have to deal with all the crap and packing and getting thru the airport.

I will try it once and if it is a nightmare- back to flying! We do ME and don't rent a car, but it will be nice to have a car to hop in and go places....

 

[HeatherC]

If your left real early....like 4am, you could drive straight through and be there for a late dinner!!!

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

I would think it would be easier to drive with your little ones. You do not have to deal with the airport, the amount of bags, flight delays, etc.

If you drive you can leave at night and they will sleep most of the way. I would leave around 7pm and you will get there at 9am the next day(14 hours). You can take snacks, drinks and a cooler if it will fit.

Also map quest told us 14 hours, but I think we made it in 12. We do not get a hotel we drive straight through. We only stop for gas and you go to the bathroom then. I would get a dvd player for the kids if you do not already have one.

I reread your post. Is not 9 month old in question not born yet? If so I do not think you can even compare flights now. Who know how much they will actually cost in a year. But all in all it would still be cheaper to drive. Have fun planning your trip.

 

[Alexander]

Just throwing out another option, have you looked into Amtrak? It is definitely cheaper than flying.

Maybe for you!

We are in the same boat as the OP.

• To fly, we are looking at $1,000 plus rental car (yes, we have to have a car).
• To take Amtrak, it was $1,400 plus rental car AND 30 hours to get to our destination!
• Driving we are looking at about $400 in gas, and a hotel night down and back (roughly $100/night).

At this point, I cannot justify flying for a trip we didn't plan to take!