Driving vs. flying (cost analysis here) Thoughts on it?

[summermac]

We booked the flight last night. I decided my time was worth $10 an hour (which was the extra $400/40 hours in the car total for the trip. I erred on the side of caution for time to drive.)

I will be bringing my own stroller, regardless. My daughter is in this "I want to walk and run away from you" phase so the stroller comes with us. It's a baby jogger so I'll probably get some side eye looks at the airport but oh well. LOL!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I can't believe I've come across someone else from Blairstown!..

We moved here about 18 months ago and love it.

 

[Chkysbak]

I did a calculation awhile back driving versus flying... I have it saved in my sig... Hope this helps

 

[scrapquitler]

Also keep in mind the 'opportunity cost' of the time spent driving (which is the reason why we never drive)...we always figure that the drive from here in CT takes about 22 hours of wheels turning . That means 44 hours in the car even without stopping for potty breaks, resting, eating etc. So if you take that into account, we would lose 2 1/2 to 3 days of our vacation on the ride down there and back...and there is a 'cost' involved in that...DH would have to take extra days off of work (without pay, because he is self employed and doesn't get a paid vacation) so we include those days of lost income in the equation when figuing flying vs driving.

 

[Cadiewampus]

We booked the flight last night. I decided my time was worth $10 an hour (which was the extra $400/40 hours in the car total for the trip. I erred on the side of caution for time to drive.)

I will be bringing my own stroller, regardless. My daughter is in this "I want to walk and run away from you" phase so the stroller comes with us. It's a baby jogger so I'll probably get some side eye looks at the airport but oh well. LOL!

Make sure you are signed up for the ME. It is great and worth the price of the airline tickets.

 

[summermac]

Oh yes, we will be signing up for ME!

 

[missj1975]

January 2008 we flew to WDW from St. Louis. September 2008 we drove to WDW from St. Louis. I can now say I prefer flying.

Yes, driving was cheaper (even with those outrageous gas prices in September) but I doubt we would ever drive again. Time is money and we felt like we wasted too much time driving. We did have an enjoyable drive for the most part but it was long, boring, and a little stressful at times due to traffic and gas shortages.

In September 2008, I wanted to try driving because I find airports and flying very stressful. Well driving during a gas shortage is way more stressful then flying. This trip, I will take a valium and play my DS. We are flying next Friday and I can hardly wait. My sister and her family are meeting us at WDW and they are driving. I don't envy them at all. I will be sleeping in my Pop Century bed while they are still on the road.

 

[srwarden1928]

I think youre high. There is NO WAY Im paying $129 for the on the road room. I'll pay it in Disney or on the beach, but the on-the-road stop is more like $50-60. Of course if you want to spend the extra, Im sure there are places that will take your money, but for us, the on the road place needs to be a clean place to sleep and shower.

 

[cbrooks45]

I am driving from texas (east of Dallas) in Feb and we averaged $2.00 per gallon because its $1.65 pg now so it should go up to $2.00 pg in a months time. Its 1020miles from home so at 20 mpg I am looking at 102 gallons approximitely both ways so $250ish or more is about what we would spend to get there and back. The shuttle from the resort will take us to and from the park and we are driving at night (i will sleep in that day till about 1:00pm and leave about 4:00pm) so everyone will be sleeping except me so hardly any stops. I budgeted for $300 just in case. We'd be hard pressed for just one of us to fly for that never mind the five that are going. Hopefully we get more than 20 mpg but I went low on the mpgs cause of 5 people and the weight of luggage. If gas was still high, we wouldnt be going.

 

[carj]

We are from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and we priced it both ways last summer when prices were nearing $4.00 a gallon and showing no signs of stopping. I based my estimate on $5 a gallon then because that seemed likely when we booked in April for a June trip. We came up with about $500 in gas, $100 for food and $100 for a room each way. I tried to estimate a little high because with the 2 day trip, I wanted to be prepared for anything. So my maximum total was $800.
I decided if we could fly for $1000, then it would be worth it to fly for the convenience.

I found flights that were under that number so we flew. We gate checked our stroller, so no fee there. There were no baggage fees for the first bag because of when we booked.

We spent $165 on a rental car and $75 on gas, because my husband was at a conference and needed to go off-site.

Now that gas prices are considerably less, I would really have to think about driving. For us, it is just such an incredibly long trip. I think that we would all be fine, getting there. We were all exhausted by the end of our trip so driving home would be hard.

Also, it is hard for my husband to be away for more than a week and the drive would burn up 4 days of our vacation.

 

[summermac]

That's what happened to me, carj, I picked a price that I'd be comfortable paying per ticket ($200) and don't you know I found this flight for $199. GO FIGURE.

Yahoo maps says the drive was going to take 16 hours but the last time my parents drove it (very minimal stops, way less than we'd need now with 2 little kids) and it took about 20. That's 40 hours..in the car vs. maybe 10 total for flying. We are not extending our trip any though. Instead we now get a bonus recovery day at home (Sunday) before having to return to work. I kind of like that idea!

 

[PiperPizzaz]

We have driven from Indianapolis before and it is such a long drive. I said NEVER again. That was even before we had our Ds.
Our friends drive it with two small kids and have no problem with it so I guess it depends on how much you like riding in a car. They leave at night also. I have no idea how they stay awake! You also need to remember how tired you will be coming back. I am going to fly until we seriously can't afford it anymore.

 

[Suziqzer]

We flew last year, and are driving this year. Google maps says 16 hrs one way... & with a 3 yr old... Ouch!

I absolutely hate to fly! I'm an anxious flier & poor DH has to deal with me. He likes to fly, unless I'm with him. He says I even make him nervous. Last year was the first time I'd flown for about 10 yrs and I can say that I did it, but not that I enjoyed any of it.

This year the whole trip was DH's idea, including the driving. Last week he looked at airline tickets just to get me worked up and by our figures it would cost us a few hundred more to fly. He would consider it, but we booked this last minute trip with the intentions to drive and I don't have it in me to fly!

We've driven that far before, not to Disney and not with a little one. So... guess we'll see how it goes!