is the price of gas stopping you from driving?

[hearts8701]

my DH & i love to drive from chicago the price of gas has stopped me from driving down
lucky for us we are retired so we can go another time
just wondering if the price of gas has changed anyone's driving plans

 

[bdcp]

No. We're driving just as much as ever. We do, however, take the autotrain to FL and tickets for Oct have been purchased. But, it's not because of gas prices, I just hate the drive down I-95 and don't particularly care to fly. We'll be driving while in FL though. Sanford to I-Drive to SOG to Port Canaveral back to Sanford all in 18 days.

 

[mcd2745]

No...the thought of being in a car with my family for 20+ hours is keeping me from driving.

 

[FOXFIELDZOO]

still driving -- airfare is still more expensive for 8 of us to fly. driving for us is still the cheapest way.

 

[honeymo78]

Gas right now is about $.30 more than it was when we drove in Dec. If we were to drive today that would be about $30 more than our last drive. For our next drive in Sept we are taking a more fuel efficient car so even if gas were to be $1 more per gallon than our last drive, we would only pay $80 more overall. To me that means a switching from a sit down meal on the drive each way to some fast food if we feel we need to recoup the money.

It definitely is possible that if airfare doesn't increase as fast as gas prices do, it might be possible to get airfare for 2 with luggage that is cheaper than our driving costs. That still might be hard as we like to upgrade for extra leg room and we have plenty of leg room for free in the car. However, our next trip is 4 adults, and gas prices would have to double before airfare was cheaper than all of us driving.

 

[hearts8701]

normal cost for gas driving down from chicago is about $250 round trip for my 2011 sonata wondering what it would be driving down now gas calculator gives me some idea maybe i better get my disney fix before memorial day gas price rising

 

[mousebymarriage]

No. I have been watching airfares for a month or two and even with the rising gas prices it's still cheaper for us to drive. We are a family of four and will be driving down to Disney at the end of June. So far I have been unable to find non-stop airline tickets for our travel dates that are less than $350 pp roundtrip. Many airlines also charge baggage fees plus we would need a rental car when we arrive in Florida because we are only spending a few days in Disney and the rest of the time we will be heading to to the west coast of Florida to visit family.

Cost of flying:

Car service to and from airport: $50 each way= $100 total (DH doesn't like to leave the car in long term parking)
Airline tickets: $1400 (possibly more) (family of 4x $350=$1400)
Baggage fees: $200 ($25 per bag each way.-1 bag pp $25x 4 people=$100 one way)
Rental Car: $300 (possibly more)
Total cost of flying: $2000

Cost of driving:
Gas for the minivan:just under $400 roundtrip (that's when gas hits $4.00 a gal)
Tolls: $40 roundtrip (maybe a bit more but, I don't remember exactly)
Restaurant meals (1 each way): $100-$150 total both meals (depends on where we stop)

*we pack tons of snacks and drinks plus sandwiches so we don't waste money on high priced rest stop snacks and drinks
**We drive straight through so no motel costs

Total cost of driving: $540-$600

 

[kidd_freeper]

my DH & i love to drive from chicago the price of gas has stopped me from driving down
lucky for us we are retired so we can go another time
just wondering if the price of gas has changed anyone's driving plans

No.

Every penny increase of a gallon of gas will increase my cost of driving by $1.47 (2800 miles at 19 miles/gallon).

We're saving over $1200 by driving (when gas was $3.65/gallon).

Gas would have to be $11.81/gallon to make driving less economical. Since flying is easier, it would have to be about $8/gallon (and airline prices stay the same) before I'd consider flying.

 

[mousegear]

No... gas price up but it's still relatively affordable than flying. Until last week, we were seriously thinking about driving down to WDW for the first time in 10 years. The air tix were around $400~600 per person for our desired time but thought of 16~18 hour drive scared us.
We finally found tix for $225 round trip per person and settle on it.

 

[spiceycat]

it won't stop me from going - just not as often.

 

[TDC Nala]

I hardly ever drive at home and I don't drive to WDW (13 hours in a car vs 2 in a plane - no contest) but I am considering driving this December because I'm staying longer and would like to have the car and packing space. But I don't know if I will do it. Airplanes are not that expensive from here for one person, and I don't check luggage or park at the airport (I take public transportation).

 

[Monknmom]

No, because for us it's still cheaper! Plus when you take the plane you have so many what-ifs! Like what if it snows (I'm coming from LI, NY), rain or anything else like that can also delay the plane and then there is the whole fear of flying for me... so yeah they don't affect us too much when we look at it that way. Even Amtrak is cheaper than the planes! We are going in Dec and have budgeted the gas prices to be around $5/gallon (let's pray that it's no where near that though)!

 

[Redarrow5150]

Yeah driving might be less expensive but flying sure is a lot easier on the body. This year we flew to Florida (versus driving) on Spring Break and calculated it probably cost $400 more but my body and mind were lot fresher when we arrived at our location and when we came back.

 

[budafam]

Nope. We looked at both flying and driving on our first trip next month and decided on driving for a few reasons.

#1 is cost. It's much cheaper.
#2 is that we'll have our own vehicle to get around in.
#3 is that we can bring all we want (stroller, fridge, soda, water, snacks, gifts, etc.) and not have to worry about extra baggage fees.
#4 is that we can buy more.. lol.. kinda ties in with #3.
#5 i'm terrified of flying so that's probably really why we're driving

All in all, I think it's going to be fun and we're making it part of our vacation. If it's the worst trip ever we'll consider flying next time.

 

[sharadoc]

Yes, we are probably cancelling our November trip because of gas prices. Our round trip gas will cost around $500 instead of $250 to $300 it normally costs. We don't want to spend $1,000 on gas for two trips, plus the additional ticket cost.

Going down to one trip a year is going to KILL us! But we have to decide now since it will determine whether or not we renew our APs.

 

[nytimez]

Nope, still driving. Having a Prius makes it a bit easier, though -- but I can't imagine I'd feel differently in another vehicle since airfares have been rising too.