How to calculate cost of driving accurately?

[MagicMakerJB]

We just booked our first trip for the first week of February, we are planning of doing Sun-Thu at Pop and then driving to Miami Thu-Sun to visit some friends and relax by the beach, we are a family of 4, 2 adults, and 2 kids 7-2 years old.

As we will need to rent a car down there for our Miami trip, we are toying around with the idea of driving, I'm trying to create a budget for the drive to see if it's worth it versus flying and renting there, but can't find an accurate calculator online. We'll be driving a Rouge and some calculators give me $150 for gas one way but some others give me like $400-$500 which is way too much in my opinion, we go frequently to Montreal from the GTA area and spend only 1 tank of gas usually on a 6-7 hours trip.

If driving we're planning on leaving Thu after work (around 7 pm), driving until 2-3 am before stopping for the night, drive all Friday, stop another night and arriving Saturday morning to the resort, on our way back we plan on doing the same, leaving Sun night and arriving home Tuesday morning.

Any other drivers out there care to share with me their budgets or calculators??

Many thanks in advance!

 

[jscunningham699]

First figure out how many total miles or kms you will drive. You need to know the amount of miles or kms your gas tank gets per tank. Gas in the states is any where from 2.59-3.59/gallon so I would budget for the highest amount. 3.59/gallon. Figure out how many nights in a hotel you will need for your travel days. Figure on $100/night. Next figure out how many meals you will need to eat on the road. Take all this into account and then figure out what flying and renting a car would be down there. This should give you an idea of what might be better.

 

[Disney Addicted]

April 2018 we drove round-trip Courtice, Ontario to Port Everglades in FLL. Montana van. Filled up at home before we left and paid $352 US in gas for that roughly 5,000 km round-trip.

I hope that helps / gives you an idea.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Our gas in a 2019 minivan from Toronto to Orlando in March was about $500 CAD (so after conversion using a Fido card, which includes a 2.5% mark up).

Don't forget you'll buy food along the way (which was more expensive than I though) and hotels.

For us, even with a rental (14 days for $448 CAD), driving was still cheaper than flying at spring break. Our travel costs were under $2000, whereas flights would have been close to or over $4000 unless we went early and stayed late, which means more hotels, food, entertainment and a rental van in Orlando anyway. With 4 people, it was worth it to drive.

Rental Tip: Check the prices renting from the airport. They are often different than your local rental place. Watch for unlimited mileage. Not all places have it.

 

[Bowen Family]

We drive round trip from Toronto to WDW and/or The Villages (my parents live there) 1-2x/year. A couple of cost-saving tips:

- space permitting, pack a cooler with as much food as you can for lunch and snacks. Not only saves money, but gives you the flexibility of stopping to eat at rest and welcome centres, rather than being limited to fast food at gas stations.

- look for hotels that offer both free dinner and breakfast. We plan our entire first day of driving south around arriving at the Drury in Charlotte, NC in time for their buffet dinner. Having done this drive MANY times, it is a wonderful thing after a long first day of driving to arrive at your hotel, check in and then just immediately sit down for dinner. Between dinner and breakfast the next day, the savings on meals almost pay for the hotel stay.

 

[bankr63]

We drive regularly. The GasBuddy site has a very good calculator that estimates fuel consumption for any model car, and includes costs based on current prices at the gas stations they recommend you fill up at. After multiple trips south I can confirm that the estimates for gas costs were very accurate whether driving our Traverse (large SUV) or Juke (compact SUV) with very different gas consumption profiles. You can even adjust for how much gas you expect to have in the tank when you leave - we try to leave it so that our tank will be empty shortly after crossing to the US> I use the calculator on the website in advance, and then use the app on my phone to find stations when I need gas.

Also, keep track of which costs are coming up in US$ and which are in C$. Yes, you can probably find a hotel room for US$100 on the way down (we usually stay in "slightly" better properties, more like US$125 all in with CAA or chain discount), but that is significantly higher after exchange. But still cheaper for us to drive than to fly.

Also, take into account how your kids are with travel. Mine were fine (too old to travel with us anymore) - it's DW who gets antsy in the car and is ready to jump out the door after 24 hours on the road (48 by the time we are home). I have considered installing child proof locks on the passenger door for her safety. For some families that first drive is the beginning of a wonderful tradition; for others it is the last time they will take a road trip together.

 

[MagicMakerJB]

We drive round trip from Toronto to WDW and/or The Villages (my parents live there) 1-2x/year. A couple of cost-saving tips:

- space permitting, pack a cooler with as much food as you can for lunch and snacks. Not only saves money, but gives you the flexibility of stopping to eat at rest and welcome centres, rather than being limited to fast food at gas stations.

- look for hotels that offer both free dinner and breakfast. We plan our entire first day of driving south around arriving at the Drury in Charlotte, NC in time for their buffet dinner. Having done this drive MANY times, it is a wonderful thing after a long first day of driving to arrive at your hotel, check in and then just immediately sit down for dinner. Between dinner and breakfast the next day, the savings on meals almost pay for the hotel stay.

Thank you so much for this! I didn't know free dinner was even a thing offered in some hotels, will be definitely planning on stopping there for the night if decided to drive.

 

[MagicMakerJB]

We drive regularly. The GasBuddy site has a very good calculator that estimates fuel consumption for any model car, and includes costs based on current prices at the gas stations they recommend you fill up at. After multiple trips south I can confirm that the estimates for gas costs were very accurate whether driving our Traverse (large SUV) or Juke (compact SUV) with very different gas consumption profiles. You can even adjust for how much gas you expect to have in the tank when you leave - we try to leave it so that our tank will be empty shortly after crossing to the US> I use the calculator on the website in advance, and then use the app on my phone to find stations when I need gas.

Also, keep track of which costs are coming up in US$ and which are in C$. Yes, you can probably find a hotel room for US$100 on the way down (we usually stay in "slightly" better properties, more like US$125 all in with CAA or chain discount), but that is significantly higher after exchange. But still cheaper for us to drive than to fly.

Also, take into account how your kids are with travel. Mine were fine (too old to travel with us anymore) - it's DW who gets antsy in the car and is ready to jump out the door after 24 hours on the road (48 by the time we are home). I have considered installing child proof locks on the passenger door for her safety. For some families that first drive is the beginning of a wonderful tradition; for others it is the last time they will take a road trip together.

Thank you! GasBuddy doesn't have my car listed yet but I'm using the 2016 model which is the same as far as gas consumption goes, the calculator is giving me $185 USD for gas round-trip with 3 stops going down and 5 coming back home, hopefully this is accurate as it is way better than even my own calculations.

We have no experience with longer road trips, we are used to doing Niagara Falls-Montreal quite often and is a hit or miss with the kids, some trips they will be angels and some others will be a nightmare it's kind of unpredictable, but I'm exactly like your wife and want to jump out of the window after a couple of hours on the road, I'll take one for the team if we decide driving is the way tho

 

[Bowen Family]

Thank you so much for this! I didn't know free dinner was even a thing offered in some hotels, will be definitely planning on stopping there for the night if decided to drive.

My pleasure! FYI: Drury is the only chain I've encountered so far that offers this, but I assume there are others.

If interested, here is our typical 79/US19/77/26/95 itinerary from Toronto:

Heading south Day 1
- leave Toronto at 4:30am
- arrive at the Charlotte/Northlake Drury Inn between by 6:30pm

Heading south Day 2
- breakfast at hotel and back on the road by 7:45am
- arrive Orlando area around 5pm

Heading north Day 1
- leave Orlando 6am
- arrive at hotel in Beckley, WV around dinner

Heading north Day 2
- depart hotel 7:45am
- arrive home around dinner

 

[isabellea]

We are leaving Saturday at 3am from Mtl to St Pete Beach and have done that drive almost once a year. We always spend approx 250-300$usd on gas (2011 CR-V AWD) and with food and hotel (if not driving straight thru) total is between 500-750$usd. Cheaper than 4 plane tickets plus car rental imo!

 

[StarSeven7]

We drive round trip from Toronto to WDW and/or The Villages (my parents live there) 1-2x/year. A couple of cost-saving tips:

- space permitting, pack a cooler with as much food as you can for lunch and snacks. Not only saves money, but gives you the flexibility of stopping to eat at rest and welcome centres, rather than being limited to fast food at gas stations.

What kind of lunch foods do you pack that can be taken across the border? With the restrictions on meat, dairy, fruits, and veggies, this is something I find pretty difficult to do!

 

[Tndnknin]

What kind of lunch foods do you pack that can be taken across the border? With the restrictions on meat, dairy, fruits, and veggies, this is something I find pretty difficult to do!

I've crossed the border countless times including with a travel trailer which would obviously have food packed and they have never questioned me about what food I am bringing.

 

[StarSeven7]

I've crossed the border countless times including with a travel trailer which would obviously have food packed and they have never questioned me about what food I am bringing.

Well, technically you’re required to declare any restricted food items, even if you’re not asked specifically about them. We live in a border city and I’m from MI so we cross all the time and we get asked specifically about food frequently, even in the Nexus lane, and especially if we’re crossing with our trailer. Nexus can be revoked if you’re caught crossing with anything restricted so we play by the rules on this one!

 

[marchingstar]

Well, technically you’re required to declare any restricted food items, even if you’re not asked specifically about them. We live in a border city and I’m from MI so we cross all the time and we get asked specifically about food frequently, even in the Nexus lane, and especially if we’re crossing with our trailer. Nexus can be revoked if you’re caught crossing with anything restricted so we play by the rules on this one!

could you just stop somewhere shortly after the border and pick up a loaf of bread and some fillings?

 

[Bowen Family]

Well, technically you’re required to declare any restricted food items, even if you’re not asked specifically about them. We live in a border city and I’m from MI so we cross all the time and we get asked specifically about food frequently, even in the Nexus lane, and especially if we’re crossing with our trailer. Nexus can be revoked if you’re caught crossing with anything restricted so we play by the rules on this one!

Whenever asked about food items, I've always simply stated that we have a cooler with food and snacks for the road. They've never enquired any further than that. We are vegetarian so haven't had to worry about declaring meat products, but I've never concealed the fact that we have fruit, cheese, vegetables, etc. Maybe just lucky so far?

 

[marchingstar]

this thread is really making me want to road trip it to disney!

what’s the youngest age you’d consider taking a kid on a long disney road trip? i’m 24 driving hours from the mouse, and my toddler has only gone about 3 hours in the car so far (8 hours on a plane).

 

[Chickinvic]

I've crossed the border countless times including with a travel trailer which would obviously have food packed and they have never questioned me about what food I am bringing.

They have me. I got forced to throw out my can of dog food (seriously, an unopened can of dog food) when driving from Canada into the US.

 

[Tndnknin]

Well, technically you’re required to declare any restricted food items, even if you’re not asked specifically about them. We live in a border city and I’m from MI so we cross all the time and we get asked specifically about food frequently, even in the Nexus lane, and especially if we’re crossing with our trailer. Nexus can be revoked if you’re caught crossing with anything restricted so we play by the rules on this one!

Thank you for clarifying that! I will be more careful about what I take over the border in the future.

 

[bankr63]

The only thing that has ever concerned US Border Services for us has been fruit, generally citrus, and some unprocessed meat products. We have never had an issue with packaged processed meats or baked goods. Dog food is generally suspect because it is meat and has not been inspected to the same standards as human food. The US government has a site that lists pretty specifically what is restricted. We too RV to upper New York state often and have rarely been questioned about foods, but I will always say "no raw meat or fruits". If we want fresh fruits for the road, we will pop into the grocery store in Watertown for a quick stock up (and the first tank of cheap US gas).

Short of it is though that if you get a border services agent who is going to enforce rules to the fullest, then be prepared to give up whatever you have. Not worth the effort to fight it. Answer any questions squarely and generically without being evasive and you should be fine.

My favorite border incident was at the airport (probably our last Disney flight via air, but not for this reason) where the first agent we saw sent us back to fill out a second entry form for my common law wife because we are not married. Then we got to the next agent who gave us heck for not putting both of us on the same form since we are a single household. Sometimes there is just no winning and you just have to go with the flow. I have also had various agents tell me that apples are okay (only citrus is bad) or are not okay - we don't bring apples across anymore. Sure you are supposed to know the rules, but since they don't seem to agree on the rules it can be difficult at times.

 

[StarSeven7]

My MIL had an apple taken away from her at the border so those are definitely not allowed! It's definitely good to be honest and up front with them, I think if you haven't had anything taken away you've gotten lucky! We never bring across any meat, dairy, fruits, or veggies because we don't want a hassle about it. When we camp, we only bring dry goods with us and we have to plan for a grocery stop to pick up everything else. It's kind of a pain but it would be even more of a pain if we got sent to secondary and they made up put up our pop up trailer, and threw away all of our food! Lol!