Flying vs driving...what is your opinion?

[lweisenb]

That's more bother than what it's worth....

Yeah if an hour of your time is worth more then $3k in travel rewards, I can see your point.

 

[marius97]

Pros of driving...
Cons of driving...
You can't drive over the thunderstorm.
If your kids have a book of jokes, you will learn them all.

Driving through thunderstorms never bother me...We drove home trough a tropical storm last year. It added a few gray hairs, but I already had too many of those.

We brought a Mad libs book with us on the drive one year...I was going to throw either the book or the kids out the window. I'm not sure I made the right choice on that one.

 

[kirstenb1]

We drive 14 hrs each year, with a stop overnight in Savannah. We get to pack whatever everyone wants, and we have a car to drive around when we get there. When we used to fly we'd always rent a car anyways to hit SeaWorld, the outlets, the grocery store, etc. I'd vote drive.

 

[sam_gordon]

Here are my specifics, you may be able to save time and money...
Signed up for two southwest CC (1 personal, 1 business) and do the minimium spend (just normal purchases) and obtain 104000 points.

Do trick to get to 110000 points and get free companion pass (worst case, buy 20000 hotel points and convert). $190

Your "specifics" don't mention the key specifics... how do you get to 104,000 points with two cards? From what I can tell, the 'bonus' points are just 3,000 (or 6K for a 'premium' card). From what I'm reading, unless you're spending on key things (SW air, certain hotels, etc), you get 1 point for every dollar you spend. So you had to spend ~$100,000 to get to that point level. I'm not faulting you if you can do that, but I don't think I'd spend $100K on "normal purchases" in a year.

And what does "do trick" mean?

 

[bigbabyblues]

We prefer to drive. We live about 3 hours from the airport we use in good weather and traffic. We like to take a lot of stuff, and we usually stay at least 10 days. The drive is 14-15 hours or so for us, and we don't mind it. We like being on our own schedule as far as when we want to arrive and when we start home the day we leave. DH is used to being awake at night for work (flight paramedic), and we leave around 3:30 or so in the afternoon and drive straight through.

 

[lweisenb]

Your "specifics" don't mention the key specifics... how do you get to 104,000 points with two cards? From what I can tell, the 'bonus' points are just 3,000 (or 6K for a 'premium' card). From what I'm reading, unless you're spending on key things (SW air, certain hotels, etc), you get 1 point for every dollar you spend. So you had to spend ~$100,000 to get to that point level. I'm not faulting you if you can do that, but I don't think I'd spend $100K on "normal purchases" in a year.

And what does "do trick" mean?

Chase regularly has 4 cards that are eligible for 50k points after $1000 or $2000 spend in 3 months (the offer changes but is usually offered every 2-3 months). The last offer just ends tonight. Get 2 cards (I just did this again, 1 personal and 1 business but did require a call to the business line to get approval), spend your 2k on each card and boom your 104k points. The 52k points for my first card posted 4 days after my first statement close and I expect my second to close next week. I got the additional 6k points for the companion pass by a $200 purchase through the southwest reward site that had a 35/$ bonus and was a reimbursable through my work.

In order to make the 4k spend in 1 month I did prepay cable, cell phone, and auto insurance.

There are literally dozens of tricks for making your $4k spend and getting the additional 6k points without spending lots of money. Amazon allows $1k month credit card payments to another person which counts, that alone would be $3k of the 4k. Send someone flowers will get you 1k points, spend 1k on gift cards for sears right now will get you 6k points, or $200 purchase of points through choice rewards and transfer to chase (a net cost of about $100). For more "trick" ideas check flytalk, millionmilesecrets, frugaltravelguy or the dozens of other sites dedicated to exploiting travel rewards.

Like I said I just did this again (first time was in 2009, wife got both cards and it paid for 4RT to Orlando, 4RT to Ft. Lauderdale, 3RT to Charleston, and 2RT to Chicago, 2RT to Charleston ) and it took about 2 hours time total to get my spend ($4k) and extra points to get 111k points and the companion pass in under 6 weeks.

Here is a link to 1 of the 4 cards that currently has the offer: https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/2ffairpage
The others can be found with a simple google search.

 

[sam_gordon]

Chase regularly has 4 cards that are eligible for 50k points after $1000 or $2000 spend in 3 months (the offer changes but is usually offered every 2-3 months). The last offer just ends tonight. Get 2 cards (I just did this again, 1 personal and 1 business but did require a call to the business line to get approval), spend your 2k on each card and boom your 104k points. The 52k points for my first card posted 4 days after my first statement close and I expect my second to close next week. I got the additional 6k points for the companion pass by a $200 purchase through the southwest reward site that had a 35/$ bonus and was a reimbursable through my work.

In order to make the 4k spend in 1 month I did prepay cable, cell phone, and auto insurance.

There are literally dozens of tricks for making your $4k spend and getting the additional 6k points without spending lots of money. Amazon allows $1k month credit card payments to another person which counts, that alone would be $3k of the 4k. Send someone flowers will get you 1k points, spend 1k on gift cards for sears right now will get you 6k points, or $200 purchase of points through choice rewards and transfer to chase (a net cost of about $100). For more "trick" ideas check flytalk, millionmilesecrets, frugaltravelguy or the dozens of other sites dedicated to exploiting travel rewards.

Like I said I just did this again (first time was in 2009, wife got both cards and it paid for 4RT to Orlando, 4RT to Ft. Lauderdale, 3RT to Charleston, and 2RT to Chicago, 2RT to Charleston ) and it took about 2 hours time total to get my spend ($4k) and extra points to get 111k points and the companion pass in under 6 weeks.

Here is a link to 1 of the 4 cards that currently has the offer: https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/2ffairpage
The others can be found with a simple google search.

Thank you. THAT'S the specifics I was looking for.

To answer the OP, I'm big on flying, but I agree, under 8 hours, I'd probably drive. Your 1 1/2 flight will end up being 4 1/2 at minimum, probably at least 5-5 1/2 hours total travel time. To save 3 hours (even 6 for RT), doesn't make sense to spend $1K (to fly my family of 5).

 

[lweisenb]

Thank you. THAT'S the specifics I was looking for.

No problem, it drives me crazy when I see people wasting their credit to get 10% off their purchase at some store in the mall or even worse a free pop at walmart.

These points can easily be sold for $1k in cash, or better yet used to see the world. In the next year the new batch of 110k points will pay for trips to San Juan, New Orleans, Nashville, Ft. Lauderdale, a second trip to Orlando, as well as allowing my wife to accompany me on a couple business trips through the year for the $5-10 companion fee.

 

[pooch]

I too am a big fan of southwest rewards. If you watch, you can get points for all kinds of things. I get 200-300 points per month just for using a certain electricity supplier, another 500-1000 points per month for completing a few online surveys, using turbo tax and many other things I'd do anyway. We have gotten 10 free r/t to Florida so far and have enough points still for 2 more!!

 

[homedad]

I have no problem with any drive less than 12 hours

 

[mum2four]

An eight hour drive would be a piece of cake for us. We wouldn't even consider flying for that short of a drive.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We almost always drive- 19 hours. We are able to drive straight through and stop very minimally. When we have to get gas, we go to the bathroom, switch drivers, throw out trash, and are on the road again. My girls think its great to sleep in the car overnight- they sleep from about 10 or 11 until 6 or 7. Occasionally my DD(8) will wake up going through Atlanta (she loves to see it in the dark).

We are a ways from the airport, so it takes about 8-10 hours from the time we leave home till the time we reach our Resort. The money we save is worth the extra 9 hours to me. We also have to rent a car if we fly, as DH refuses to rely on only Disney transportation...

 

[jenidot]

Thank you so much for your input! It looks as everyone suggests driving unless I could fly with points or cheap!! Thank you for you time!!