Driving versus Flying - A REAL Comparison

[consultant]

I contend your average person over estimates how much money they are saving driving versus flying. For example...

You can currently get a round trip ticket between Washington DC and Orlando during the month of May for $179. So let's say you have a family of 4. That's $716 in airfare. Let's assume someone will drop you off and pick you up at the airport in DC and you have arranged a shuttle in Orlando for $43 each way (in a Lincoln Towncar no less). You don't have any parking fees of course. So total transportation cost is $716+$43+$43 = $802 for a family of 4 flying.

DC to Orlando is 852 miles or 13 hours. That's about 1-1/2 days of driving when you consider bathroom breaks, meals, occasional traffic congestion, etc. Here's the estimated costs of the drive, one-way:

Gas $2.50/gallon (driving a mid-size SUV, say Ford Explorer V6/4WD/AT getting an average 20MPG which is pretty good) - $106.50 in gas

Wear & Tear on car and depreciation of car due to mileage - The standard mileage rate according to the IRS is $0.445 cents per mile = $379 in wear & tear/depreciation. Let's say the car isn't that new and the people reading this are skeptical about the whole wear & tear/depreciation value (until they go to sell their used car. So let's have the wear & tear/depreciation cost each way to $190.

One night motel stay = $50

1 breakfast, 2 lunches, 1 dinner for 4 at Denny's (including tax and tip) = $20 + 2x$25 + $30 = $100

Number of hours of free time lost driving in car as opposed to flying = 13 hours driving - 3 hours flying = approx. 10 hours times the monetary value you assign your free/vacation time. Let's say $20/hr = $200. Heck lets say you don't value your free/vacation time that much (I value mine at $40/hr) and say $10/hr * 10 hrs = $100

You may or may not have parking fees while you are there. If you do, they will be $10-$15 a day in the resort or at the park. Let's say some people get free or reduced fee parking and just allow an average $5/day for parking/valet fees for a 4-day stay or $20.

So total for driving is:

Gas - $106.5 X 2 (for both ways) = $213
Motel - $50 X 2 (for both ways) = $100
Meals - $100 X 2 (for both ways) = $200
Depreciation of car = $190X2 = $380
Opportunity Cost of Free Time spent driving - $100 X 2 = $200
Parking - $20

Total realistic cost of driving from DC = $1113
Flying = $802

Money saved in exhchange for spending 3 days in a car driving from DC = -$311 (that's a loss of $311 even with a very conservative wear&tear/depreciation cost.)

The example may be a longer drive than your own, but heck, some people might drive from Chicago or Boston which is longer. So I don't think an example of driving 850 miles or a day and a half is unreasonable. You also have to consider the airfare USUALLY gets cheaper as you get closer, sometimes not as is the case with Atlanta.

Now some may argue, the time in the car doesn't cost them anything so I shouldn't add $200 to the driving cost for lost opportunity time. But I should point out the other important point is by spending 20 more hours total on the road than in the plane, the statistics regarding the chances of being in an accident are MUCH MUCH higher driving than flying. Even if the number of hours were equal (3 hours each way in both) the statistics of your chances of getting in a car wreck versus a plane crash are still MUCH MUCH higher (I find it surprising how few people really grasp this fact.) I think that's worth something. It would be the same as free time. You would assign your own personal value to it. So for me, spending those 20 hours less on the road is indeed worth $40/hr to me in combined lowered risk and increased free/vacation time which to me is worth a totoal $800.

By the way, if you want to know how much the difference in risk really is, see "Flying & Driving After The September 11 Attacks" at http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/16237?&print=yes. They state "we estimate that driving the length of a typical nonstop segment (718 miles) is approximately 65 times as risky as flying."


FYI. The current round trip ticket from Atlanta is $259 and that would only be a days drive so in that case, you *MIGHT* save a significant amount of money driving (provided you assign little or no value to the time/risk saved as discussed above and your cars was pretty old already - otherwise it would still be better to fly) so it does depend on where you are traveling from.

But my point in general is, in most cases, your average Joe is way OVER estimating how much money they are saving in reality by driving versus flying let alone the risk they are putting their family at spending all those hours on the highway. In fact in most cases it is probably a loss or at best a break even unless you live within just a few hours of the park (say 250 miles or less?) And by the way, the risk part can't be argued as it is a statistical fact. It can be ignored, which is what we all basically do when we go on road trips.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Wear & Tear on car and depreciation of car due to mileage - The standard mileage rate according to the IRS is $0.445 cents per mile = $379 in wear & tear/depreciation.

The $0.445/mile includes all costs not just wear and tear. So you are charing for gas twice in your calculation.

 

[BillSears]

I travel with just my daughter usually and sometimes by myself. Even with renting a car once I'm there it's still much cheaper for me to fly and using DME makes it even cheaper. On the other hand I drove down to WDW in December. I wanted to experience the trip, stopping at South of the Border, seeing the open road, stopping at Jacksonville and Savannah, and just seeing what it was like to drive 900 miles. It was sort of fun but I'll fly next time.

I had to sit my Aunt down with all of the numbers on paper before she would admit that flying down was cheaper in the end. It was just her and my Mom. With the 2 of them they saved alot of time and money flying.

 

[consultant]

You're right. I forgot about that. So if the average car gets 20MPG (which is about your avergage Highway MPG for your average car on the road these days) and gas is around $2.50/gallon, then gas is costing you $0.125 a mile. Which means the wear&tear/depreciation of that figure is somewhere around $0.32/mile. In my calculation I used $0.22/mile so I'm still being relatively conservative with my calculations.

I know these numbers are hard to swallow for a lot of you drivers out there.

The $0.445/mile includes all costs not just wear and tear. So you are charing for gas twice in your calculation.

 

[ducklite]

My DH is an anomoly in your equation.

He drives back and forth between NJ and FL every month.

He drives a Prius--50/mpg.

Because he drives a hybrid, the government rates don't really apply. They don't take into account cars that get 50 mpg and have longer warranties.

No hotel room, he drives straight through. It usually takes him 17 hours each way. He uses the time to listen to books on tape. Right now he's learning conversational Spanish using a CD set.

He eats before he leaves, brings along a cooler with water, soda, and snacks from home. Has lunch and dinner on the road, total cost is about $10.

He's got a class "A" CDL, and is additionally certified as an ambulance driver in NJ. He's also has EMT certification in NJ and FL, as well as the national certification. He's as safe a driver as it gets. And somebody you want around in an accident.

In fact he's been the first responder at the scene along I-95 a couple of times now, once doing CPR to bring back an accident victim who was clinically dead.

That's something you can't put a price on.

Anne

 

[consultant]

This came to mind right after I posted. If you have alterior motives for driving (visit family, see some sites) then I think it would be reasonable to disregard the lost opportunity cost of the free/vacation time you are losing. But then you really still don't end up saving any money still unless you put a value on visiting your family/friends and seeing some sites.

I hope I don't here someone say next that the drive is a highly valuable family bonding experience (with their bickering kids in back.

I travel with just my daughter usually and sometimes by myself. Even with renting a car once I'm there it's still much cheaper for me to fly and using DME makes it even cheaper. On the other hand I drove down to WDW in December. I wanted to experience the trip, stopping at South of the Border, seeing the open road, stopping at Jacksonville and Savannah, and just seeing what it was like to drive 900 miles. It was sort of fun but I'll fly next time.

I had to sit my Aunt down with all of the numbers on paper before she would admit that flying down was cheaper in the end. It was just her and my Mom. With the 2 of them they saved alot of time and money flying.

 

[consultant]

Anomoly is an understatement.

The fact he saved someone's life at an accident reinforces the whole risk issue.

I don't see a whole lot of people trading in their Explorers and Dodge Caravans for Priuses anytime soon. But even so it wouldn't make that much of a difference as fuel is only 19% of the total cost in my estimate. The fact he listens to books on tape is a great way to pass the time. That's what we do we we drive a couple hours to the ocean.

My DH is an anomoly in your equation.

He drives back and forth between NJ and FL every month.

He drives a Prius--50/mpg.

Because he drives a hybrid, the government rates don't really apply. They don't take into account cars that get 50 mpg and have longer warranties.

No hotel room, he drives straight through. It usually takes him 17 hours each way. He uses the time to listen to books on tape. Right now he's learning conversational Spanish using a CD set.

He eats before he leaves, brings along a cooler with water, soda, and snacks from home. Has lunch and dinner on the road, total cost is about $10.

He's got a class "A" CDL, and is additionally certified as an ambulance driver in NJ. He's also has EMT certification in NJ and FL, as well as the national certification. He's as safe a driver as it gets. And somebody you want around in an accident.

In fact he's been the first responder at the scene along I-95 a couple of times now, once doing CPR to bring back an accident victim who was clinically dead.

That's something you can't put a price on.

Anne

 

[timandlesley]

I agree with you. Also, I couldn't find a hotel for the four of us last time for less than 89 dollars per person plus we required 2 stops one there and one on the way back. I tried to make it but 7 hours away from home my daughter was BEGGING in tears for over an hour to stop at a hotel, we just had to stop which meant another nights hotel stay, more food costs, etc. etc. Needless to say WE ARE FLYING THIS YEAR!!!! Thanks for doing those calculations to make me feel better about our decision! : )

Lesley

 

[Katie]

We are driving down to Ft.Lauderdale in March 2007. From central illinois, about a 20-24 hour drive. We have been over the costs several times, we are traveling with another couple. It is considerably cheaper to drive.

Our figures:
Gas-1100 miles. Suburban 18 MPG--61 gallons @2.50 per gallon(high estimate at this point, 1.99 here now= 151.00 X2--300.00..so I always round up
Gas= 350.00 roundtrip divided by each family 175.00
Hotel= 60X2=120.00 /2 60
Parking at port=14.00X8=112/2 56.00
Food=100.00 (extra day) 100.00
total= 390.00 per family

Flying Costs
325.00 each ticket 650.00
parking at airport 10x11=110 55.00
taxi from airport to hotel night before 20.00
taxi from hotel to port 20.00
taxi from port to airport 20.00

total= 765.00 per family


To us, that is worth the drive! We are leaving one day earlier, and staying the night in southern Georgia/Northern Florida on the way to the cruise ship Coming home, we are driving straight thru! With 4 adults, it should be a breeze!
I drove to florida this summer with my DD(14) and her best friend(14) and mother to get on the cruise ship. The drive was NOT bad at all1

 

[consultant]

You left out lost time opportunity cost and depreciation of the vehicle. You can argue about opportunity cost and say the 1100 miles in the car is a fun and rewarding experience but I'd say most people would prefer to have an extra couple days of free time as opposed to spending it in a car.

You can't argue on the depreciation. If you don't believe me, just take the total price you paid for the last car you sold or traded in, plus ALL the maintenance costs (oil changes, new tires, other services), subtract the amount you sold or traded your car in for, then divide that by the number of miles you put on the car between when you bought it and sold it and that is your depreciation cost per mile no matter where you are driving. Granted the car will lose value whether you drive it or not, but it will lose far less value if you don't put those extra 2,200 miles on it. Especially if you bought your Suburban new or fairly new. That's one car, with the higher gas prices, that will depreciate A LOT and it is not a cheap car.

We are driving down to Ft.Lauderdale in March 2007. From central illinois, about a 20-24 hour drive. We have been over the costs several times, we are traveling with another couple. It is considerably cheaper to drive.

Our figures:
Gas-1100 miles. Suburban 18 MPG--61 gallons @2.50 per gallon(high estimate at this point, 1.99 here now= 151.00 X2--300.00..so I always round up
Gas= 350.00 roundtrip divided by each family 175.00
Hotel= 60X2=120.00 /2 60
Parking at port=14.00X8=112/2 56.00
Food=100.00 (extra day) 100.00
total= 390.00 per family

Flying Costs
325.00 each ticket 650.00
parking at airport 10x11=110 55.00
taxi from airport to hotel night before 20.00
taxi from hotel to port 20.00
taxi from port to airport 20.00

total= 765.00 per family


To us, that is worth the drive! We are leaving one day earlier, and staying the night in southern Georgia/Northern Florida on the way to the cruise ship Coming home, we are driving straight thru! With 4 adults, it should be a breeze!
I drove to florida this summer with my DD(14) and her best friend(14) and mother to get on the cruise ship. The drive was NOT bad at all1

 

[Nascia]

I think you have really overestimated driving cost and time and were very conservative with the flying portion quote. Many people also eat at the airport which you did not factor into your equation.

I contend your average person over estimates how much money they are saving driving versus flying. For example...

You can currently get a round trip ticket between Washington DC and Orlando during the month of May for $179. So let's say you have a family of 4. That's $716 in airfare. Let's assume someone will drop you off and pick you up at the airport in DC and she have arranged a shuttle in Orlando for $43 each way (in a Lincoln Towncar no less). You don't have any parking fees of course. So total transportation cost is $716+$43+$43 = $802 for a family of 4 flying. However if you do have to park, as many families do, you can easily add $100 + for a week long trip.

DC to Orlando is 852 miles or 13 hours. That's about 1-1/2 days of driving when you consider bathroom breaks, meals, occasional traffic congestion, etc. Here's the estimated costs of the drive, one-way: It's more like 16 hours straight through with heavy congestion in Jacksonville and Orlando, have driven from South Western Pa via DC twice a year for the past 3 years.

Gas $2.50/gallon (driving a mid-size SUV, say Ford Explorer V6/4WD/AT getting an average 20MPG which is pretty good) - $106.50 in gas About right

Wear & Tear on car and depreciation of car due to mileage - The standard mileage rate according to the IRS is $0.445 cents per mile = $379 in wear & tear/depreciation. Let's say the car isn't that new and the people reading this are skeptical about the whole wear & tear/depreciation value (until they go to sell their used car. So let's have the wear & tear/depreciation cost each way to $190. As PP mentioned this counts gas usage again

One night motel stay = $50 Never stay overnight, but sounds about right

1 breakfast, 2 lunches, 1 dinner for 4 at Denny's (including tax and tip) = $20 + 2x$25 + $30 = $100 We usually do breakfast and lunch at BK or KFC so for us, it's about $ 30 over

Number of hours of free time lost driving in car as opposed to flying = 13 hours driving - 3 hours flying = approx. 10 hours times the monetary value you assign your free/vacation time. Let's say $20/hr = $200. Heck lets say you don't value your free/vacation time that much (I value mine at $40/hr) and say $10/hr * 10 hrs = $100 Flying takes a much longer than 3 hours. First you have to drive to the airport, for us 2.5 hours and have to be there 2 hours hours early. Then have the 3 hour flight and another 2 hours before you get to you hotel, so in total you have spent about 9.5 hours travel time flying.

You may or may not have parking fees while you are there. If you do, they will be $10-$15 a day in the resort or at the park. Let's say some people get free or reduced fee parking and just allow an average $5/day for parking/valet fees for a 4-day stay or $20. I've never stayed at hotel where we had to pay to park, we have an AP so we don't pay to park onsite either.

So total for driving is:

Gas - $106.5 X 2 (for both ways) = $213
Motel - $50 X 2 (for both ways) = $100
Meals - $100 X 2 (for both ways) = $200
Depreciation of car = $190X2 = $380
Opportunity Cost of Free Time spent driving - $100 X 2 = $200
Parking - $20

Total realistic cost of driving from DC = $1113
Flying = $802

Money saved in exhchange for spending 3 days in a car driving from DC = -$311 (that's a loss of $311 even with a very conservative wear&tear/depreciation cost.)

The example may be a longer drive than your own, but heck, some people might drive from Chicago or Boston which is longer. So I don't think an example of driving 850 miles or a day and a half is unreasonable. You also have to consider the airfare USUALLY gets cheaper as you get closer, sometimes not as is the case with Atlanta.

Now some may argue, the time in the car doesn't cost them anything so I shouldn't add $200 to the driving cost for lost opportunity time. But I should point out the other important point is by spending 20 more hours total on the road than in the plane, the statistics regarding the chances of being in an accident are MUCH MUCH higher driving than flying. Even if the number of hours were equal (3 hours each way in both) the statistics of your chances of getting in a car wreck versus a plane crash are still MUCH MUCH higher (I find it surprising how few people really grasp this fact.) I think that's worth something. It would be the same as free time. You would assign your own personal value to it. So for me, spending those 20 hours less on the road is indeed worth $40/hr to me in combined lowered risk and increased free/vacation time which to me is worth a totoal $800.

By the way, if you want to know how much the difference in risk really is, see "Flying & Driving After The September 11 Attacks" at http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/16237?&print=yes. They state "we estimate that driving the length of a typical nonstop segment (718 miles) is approximately 65 times as risky as flying."


FYI. The current round trip ticket from Atlanta is $259 and that would only be a days drive so in that case, you *MIGHT* save a significant amount of money driving (provided you assign little or no value to the time/risk saved as discussed above and your cars was pretty old already - otherwise it would still be better to fly) so it does depend on where you are traveling from.

But my point in general is, in most cases, your average Joe is way OVER estimating how much money they are saving in reality by driving versus flying let alone the risk they are putting their family at spending all those hours on the highway. In fact in most cases it is probably a loss or at best a break even unless you live within just a few hours of the park (say 250 miles or less?) And by the way, the risk part can't be argued as it is a statistical fact. It can be ignored, which is what we all basically do when we go on road trips.

 

[ohiominnie]

Don't know if it's been mentioned b/c I haven't read all the replies, but once you figure in you can't work the extra days before and after vacation, it makes driving less of a bargain.

For example, if we fly, dh can work that day (or a 1/2 day) and make money instead of taking a 1 1/2 days to drive. Same with the way home. If we fly he can start working the day after we leave WDW. Driving means he can't work the next day b/c he's still in the car.

So lost wages factor in big for us here.

 

[TENIA66]

HELLO ALL

WE drive 14 hours one way and we would never fly.

Five people, airline tickets: $300 each or $1500
Parking would be: $100

total $1600, not to mention limited packing space, toting everything everywhere.......

Driving costs:

Gas $500
Depreciation of Car $250
Hotel: $85
Road Food: $150

Plus no delayed flights, lost luggage

We'll see you all there!!

 

[Anne34]

I guess it really all depends on where you live. We are in the Chicago area, so lots of cheap flights. We usually fly Southwest and for the 5 of us it is usually around 800.00. There is NO WAY I want to spend the first two days and the last two days of my vacation with three whining kids in the car! We also drive a Suburban and we only get about 12mph hwy (it is a 2500 with a 7.2 liter engine for towing). It is not worth our time -- we would only have a few days of vacation by then.

 

[keishashadow]

not having to listen to your kids bicker in the back seat...

priceless!

We're anywhere between 20 - 22 hours from the World, wouldn't dream of driving, nor taking up 4 days of vacation time to do it either.

 

[rie'smom]

This is my calculation:
Driving: gas 150.00
Mental hospital stay from
DD & friend bickering for 10 hrs in the car 60000.00
total 60150.00
Flying so what if it's 1000.00 I'm saving 59,150.00

 

[Debbie]

Since you are counting "time", then I think that you need to include all of the time involved in flying. For our 2.5 hour flight, I need to add 2 hours to drive to the airport (flying out of the US is cheaper, but there is a cost), as well as the 1.5 hours that we wait at the airport. (Also, for us, parking fees at the airport have to be included, because we are 2 hours away.) A year and a half ago, DSis and I flew home from Orlando. We left at 9:00 in the morning on ME (12:30 flight), and she got in at 1:00 the next morning, due to the layover in Atlanta (turned out to be something like 3 hours!). We could have been half way home....and done some shopping.....had we driven. (Not arguing with you, just reminding you that the flight is not the only "time" involved in flying.)

 

[ducklite]

It's more like 16 hours straight through with heavy congestion in Jacksonville and Orlando, have driven from South Western Pa via DC twice a year for the past 3 years.

It depends on when you leave and how many stops you make.

DH leaves at 4:00 am on a Saturday or Sunday to drive from NJ to FL, and hits little to no traffic. He's made it in as little as 16 hours, and he is NOT a speed demon, generally goes no more than 5 mph over. He stops every three-four hours or so to stretch. (Keep in mind he used to drive a truck, so he's used to driving longer distances straight through than the average driver.) He has to get gas once, but usually fills up again before he gets here or he's coming in on fumes.

When driving back to NJ, he leaves again in the wee hours, and it usually takes him 17 back to NJ--no matter when he leaves he always seems to hit northbound traffic around DC.

When he flies, it's two hours to the airport, two hours there, 2.5 on the plane, and an hour to the house. So for him it's about double the time to drive, and he doens't have to deal with screaming kids, seatmates with BO, etc.

That said, he does fly once or twice a year when he finds really good airfare.

Anne

 

[consultant]

You don't factor in cost of lost opportunity spent doing something else for those 28 hours other than sitting in a car, but that's okay.

What's important is you touched on what is one of the key factors that effect the equation. It's not MPG or the cost of gas as many would initially think. It's how many plane tickets you have to buy. Your example is a family of five. In my example I could have used a family of three which really makes flying the way to go. That's why I used a family of four which still points to flying being the best way unless you live close to the park. But when you get up into 5 or 6 tickets, and you live very far away, flying gets expensive.

Even so, with your own example, the total for driving is $985, and your flying total is $1,600. Taking a family of 5 to Disney (unless you are staying in a motel 6, eating McDonalds, and only buying a 2-day ticket) is expensive. I'd venture to guess to go to Disney 3 days and maybe Universal for a day (are you really going to drive all that way for just 3 days at Disney? I hope not.), so at least a 4-night stay, for 5 people, lodging, meals, tickets, a few souvenirs, you are looking at, at least $2,000 when eveything is said and done (taxes, tips, the whole shabang) and that would be going low budget, again, only 4 nights. I'd say on average you are looking at more closer $3,000 if you added everything little thing up and weren't staying at the Roach Motel, more if you are staying more than 4 nights. If you stayed and ate at a Disney Resort, much higher than that. Then add your $1,000 driving costs to that. So we are talking minimum $3K, probably closer to $4K, and if you go in style, closer to $6K for only 4 or 5 nights.

So then you start thinking about putting a value on spending 7-8 hours traveling (mostly while reading or watching a movie on an airplane) as opposed to 28 hours in the car, the $615 you saved driving *may* not really be worth it. I'm saying if $615 makes that big of a difference on a vacation that is probably going to cost you close to $4K, then you might be too stressed out over how much eveything costs while you are there to really enjoy yourself.

Just one perspective. $615 is $615. I realize that. But there's also the big picture.

HELLO ALL

WE drive 14 hours one way and we would never fly.

Five people, airline tickets: $300 each or $1500
Parking would be: $100

total $1600, not to mention limited packing space, toting everything everywhere.......

Driving costs:

Gas $500
Depreciation of Car $250
Hotel: $85
Road Food: $150

Plus no delayed flights, lost luggage

We'll see you all there!!

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

Food. You must remove the food cost from the equation completely. If I spend the day driving, at Disney, or at home, I'm still gonna eat. I can buy at the grocery store and eat it at home, pack it up and ship it to eat in Disney, or pack it and eat it on the road. Or, I could stay home the extra day, but that doesn't mean I won't eat at a restaraunt. If I'm already at Disney because I flew, you guessed it, I'll still need to eat!

In our case, a family of five, we travel in our motorhome... a whole new set of costs and savings. Depreciation vs. tax deduction etc. Oh, and I'll argue we have a ball traveling like this and it will definitely be a family bonding time. Sure, my kids will bicker over what movie or game should be next but, that's just what they would be doing at home