Should we Fly or Drive?

[ladytorch101]

Hi all,

I'm struggling with whether or not we should drive to Disneyworld or if we should fly and rent a car. This will be our first time staying off site (we have a friend that recently moved to Orlando and who is letting us stay with her). We will be in Orlando for at least two weeks, so I'll need to book a rental car for at least two weeks. I've never used a rental car before, so I'm a little new to the whole process.

Here's the deal: we are traveling from Iowa. By "we", I mean myself (22 years old) and my best friend (23 years old). I know that you can get good discounts on rental cars, but every place that I've looked into has an extra charge slapped on it if the person renting is younger than 25. Most of these charges are $25 a day....adding up to an extra $350 dollars for the two weeks!

Driving and flying are about the same cost, I think. It's about a 24 hour drive though, which I'm not too excited about. Do any of you know any places that don't charge extra for renters younger than 25? Does anybody think that it's worth it to pay that extra chunk of change just to avoid having to drive there?

ANY advice/help is appreciated!

 

[englishteacha]

I've never heard of any place that doesn't charge for renters under age 25. It's a huge pain. If you drive down you're going to need, essentially 4 days of travel time. Even if you drive straight through for 24 hours you'll need a day to rest, or you can break it up into 2 days of driving each way. However, $350 is a lot of money to add on to your car rental if you fly, plus the cost of the actual car rental.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

There's a great web application called the Fly or Drive Calculator:
<http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/>

You input variables such as estimated cost of flight, estimated cost of hotel rooms en route, how long you're willing to drive each day, what model car you have, how many people traveling, estimated cost of flights, estimated cost or airport car rental, etc. and then it provides information about the two modes of transportation (including length and cost of each trip as well as CO-2 emissions associated with each mode). Pretty useful when asking the question about flying or driving.

 

[Leajess99]

Not sure when you are going but if you are going before Jan 31 than you can get the Special at Hertz that waives the extra $25 for young renters.

 

[ekatiel]

There's a great web application called the Fly or Drive Calculator:
<http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/>

I've never seen that calculator before!! NEAT-O!! --Katie

 

[mrodgers]

There's a great web application called the Fly or Drive Calculator:
<http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/>

It only works for locations in the continental United States. Millions of people know that both Pennsylvania and Disneyworld are in the continental United States, but those who have programed that site seem to think Pennsylvania and Disneyworld are elsewhere

 

[Marionnette]

Hi all,

I'm struggling with whether or not we should drive to Disneyworld or if we should fly and rent a car. This will be our first time staying off site (we have a friend that recently moved to Orlando and who is letting us stay with her). We will be in Orlando for at least two weeks, so I'll need to book a rental car for at least two weeks. I've never used a rental car before, so I'm a little new to the whole process.

Here's the deal: we are traveling from Iowa. By "we", I mean myself (22 years old) and my best friend (23 years old). I know that you can get good discounts on rental cars, but every place that I've looked into has an extra charge slapped on it if the person renting is younger than 25. Most of these charges are $25 a day....adding up to an extra $350 dollars for the two weeks!

Driving and flying are about the same cost, I think. It's about a 24 hour drive though, which I'm not too excited about. Do any of you know any places that don't charge extra for renters younger than 25? Does anybody think that it's worth it to pay that extra chunk of change just to avoid having to drive there?

ANY advice/help is appreciated!

If you're looking for the cheapest option, driving will probably be it. As bad as 24 hours in the car sounds.
You're young. I wouldn't attempt it at my age but young people seem to adapt to this kind of adventure better.
You're not going with small children. Small kids can make a car trip to the grocery store sheer hell.
You can switch off drivers and not have to pay for a hotel along the way. You'll arrive stiff and exhausted but you will get there for very little cost.
You have plenty of time to recover once you arrive.

I don't know of any car rental places in MCO that don't charge an extra fee for "under 25" drivers unless they are covered under a frequent remter plan that an older household member has. But even then, the older family member has to be the one to rent the car.

 

[nilseks]

I agree with PP--drive! Road tripping is fun! You are young, you can do it. My husband and I used to drive all over the place when we were in our 20's, before we had kids. We would literally just hop in the car and drive wherever the road took us. We once drove straight through from New Orleans to Chicago--it was so much fun!

Do one of your parents have a car you could borrow?

 

[pigletto]

Not sure when you are going but if you are going before Jan 31 than you can get the Special at Hertz that waives the extra $25 for young renters.

I was just pricing out rentals last night and saw this too. It would be great if you could get in on that special!

Otherwise in your situation I would drive to have my own car with me.

 

[SaraJayne]

Considering your age (young), the age of the person going with you, and how long you'll be staying, I'd definitely drive.

 

[budafam]

Driving is really not that bad. We did it (4 people total) last May and it went fairly quick (from Wisconsin). We would be doing it again this time but I got a Southwest Visa with the free 50,000 points and I just booked 5 round trip flights for $190 total. Can't go wrong there but our driver will be 29 and the car rental is fairly cheap as well.

I would be driving for sure if I were under 25.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

When I was your age, I drove from MN to FL twice and had a blast.

Since you are under 25 and would have to pay alot more for a rental car because of it, I'd drive.

 

[ladytorch101]

There's a great web application called the Fly or Drive Calculator:
<http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/>

Cool! I checked it out, and it looks like its DEFINITELY cheaper to be driving. Looks like I'll have to start thinking of things to do while stuck in a car for 24 hours!

Not sure when you are going but if you are going before Jan 31 than you can get the Special at Hertz that waives the extra $25 for young renters.

That sounds like a great deal! Unfortunately, we're not going until the end of may.

Do one of your parents have a car you could borrow?

My parents vehicles already have a ton of miles put on them, and I don't think they would be too happy to let me take it across the country. My friend's parents drive antique cars, so that is definitely out of the question.

My car doesn't have air conditioning, so we will definitely not be taking that into Florida! My friend has a 2007 Honda Civic, which should do the trick, although it has a lot of miles on it as well. I think if we get it in for a tune up before we leave it should hopefully be okay...

 

[SandrA9810]

I'd trust the Honda any day. Just make sure you have a good roadside policy. Ever since I was a baby, I've been on road trips. I would rather drive for 16hrs straight over getting on a plane.

Just make sure you don't fill the backseat with stuff, maybe a few snacks on the floor. Leave a pile of blankets back there in case you need to relax for a bit. Ohh and those giant travel mugs they sell at the gas station are really good. Most refills at the fountain drinks are only 99 cents. Much cheaper than buying bottled drinks.

And don't eat at any fast food places for about 2 weeks prior. Nothing like being on the road and not wanting to stop at any place because you're tired of McD's.

 

[nilseks]

If your friend has a 2007 Civic, I'd trust that any day, even if it has super high miles. If you are really worried about it, for $55 your friend can get AAA for the year with roadside assistance, in case you get in a jam. Still much cheaper than flying or renting a car.

 

[RockAndRollBallerina]

Even having a travel agent in the family who is really good at what she does, and been doing it for more than 20 years. She never can get me a good deal on a rental car without having extra fees tacked onto it because I'm under 25 as well. If I was in your situation I would drive, add to that since you are over 21 years of age which is the minimum check in age for most hotels you will easily be able to get one along the way if you need to stop overnight to rest. My mom and I also drove down to Florida this summer to see my sister and have a little vacation of our own and the drive really does go by a lot quicker than you would think. Add to that no hassel of dealing with airports and flying.

 

[SandrA9810]

With two weeks of vacation time, 4 days on the road is minimal. If you were talking just a few days, that'd be a different story.

I couldn't imagine a 2007 with extremely high mileage. A 100,000 is nothing on a Honda. Unless she does cross country driving often, I doubt it's even near that. My aunt's Accord has done several trips from Texas to Florida or Indiana, and still at 117,000 miles, in tip top shape. It's a 2001. 200,000 is high mileage for a Honda.

Just set it on cruise control and go. Try to plan your trip avoiding major cities during rush hour. Especially Atlanta. Either head out early or take a bit of a longer lunch, or star dinner early.

Do not drink high caffine drinks, like rockstars. Sure, it'll keep you awake only because you're trying to hold it in till the next rest stop.