Would you drive 5 hours for a flight?

[MandiC]

It would depend on so many different factors. Time for the trip? My husband doesn't get many vacation days so we would be spending an extra vacation day on each side of our trip for that long of a drive since we like to fly out in the morning and come back as late in the day as we can get a reasonably priced flight. An advantage would be it'd also be a trip to see family, but how much will they enjoy seeing family after a 5 hour drive, needing to get to sleep with jitters excited for a Disney trip and then coming home exhausted?
How far of a flight/drive from Disney? If you are driving 5 hours to the airport and have a less than 15 hour drive from Disney, why not just drive all the way through? You'd save money on the flight likely even if you had to get a hotel along the way.

 

[powellrj]

have you checked into a cheap flight to the city you want to fly out of? I know when I use to have to fly to visit my DS, I would find a cheap flight out of Indy and fly to Chicago and then on to see him.

 

[Carina]

We flew in and out of Seattle on our trip to DL in 2012.
We live on Vancouver Island. That's a 3 hour drive from Seattle to the ferry terminal including a boarder crossing
THEN...
A wait at the ferry - up to 2 hours if you just miss the ferry.
A nearly 2 hour ferry ride
A 1 hour drive from the ferry home.

It was a 22 hour day for the 5 of us including the cross country flight, we would do it again in a minute.

Net savings approx. $1000.

That's a whole lotta money

 

[leebee]

I'd do it. My "home" airport (Bangor) only has three airlines (one of which is Allegiant, with limited travel days) so prices are prohibitive. We usually drive a little over 2 hours to get to the airport, but I've been known to drive another 2 hours for a better price if it's worth the difference. We always used to drive to either Boston or Manchester, staying at my sister's house which is about an hour from either airport, because it was horribly expensive to fly out of Maine. However, now that Southwest is in Portland, I am doing the happy dance!

OP, do the math. If you can stay at your parent's house for one night on either end of the trip and you are going to have a net savings of around $500, I'd go for it!

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

Yes, I'd drive that far to save that much $.

Especially , since you'd get a visit to your folks at the same time. That'd be a big plus for me.

We have a very small local airport but have only flown out of there once. The flights are lots higher & then they fly us to Dallas for a layover anyway.

I always check their prices & and even with free parking there I can't justify the extra expense in my mind. So we drive about 2 hours & save lots even with the parking expense & gas.

 

[seashell724]

We have an airport 15 mins away and have driven 8 hours to save money and also have a direct flight. Depends on the savings though.

 

[njmom47]

I probably would. I definitely would if someone could drop you off and pick you up from the airport (saving parking fees) and if you could stay the night at your parent's house before driving back home.

 

[ICF]

2 hours yes....5 hours, probably not.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I have never lived that far from a major airport, so no.

My litmus would be >3 hours under those circumstances.

That is 10 hours RT plus your overnight.

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

We regularly drive 4-6 hours to get a better flight (we live in New Brunswick Canada and airfare from our airport is ridiculous). We drive to either Bangor or Portland Maine, and have driven as far as Manchester NH. We usually save $300 per person or more by doing so.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Yes. We are going to Hawaii next month. 3 hours to a Seattle and 5 hours back from Bellingham. Our flights were 350. It would have been close to a grand a piece from our home airport.

 

[tvguy]

I might, but I don't get a vote. My wife and kids (now adults) long ago, after driving to Disneyland ( 6 hours one way) laid down the law, no car trips over 3 hours......anything over 3 hours by car, we fly.

 

[maswanson11]

So I would plan to stay the night before the trip, but on the day we fly back we will be back at noon, so I would probably drive home that day. The extra vacation time is not an issue and my parents will drop me at the airport so no parking fees. I figure I will spend $100 in gas and food driving there. And it is a non stop flight compared to a 1 stop flight out of my local airport. I guess I'm most dreading the drive home after Disney, it's going to be bad.

 

[kathy884]

So I can save $200 for each flight for myself and my 2 DD ($600 total savings) if I drive 5 hours to fly out of a bigger airport. My parents live where we would fly out so we have a free place to stay the night before the flight. Would you do it knowing you will have to drive 5 hours home after an 8 day Disney trip with a 9 and 6 year old to save $600?? My DD do travel very well in a car as we visit my parents several times a year. Thanks for your thoughts!!

Everyone has different priorities. There is no way I would do that. I'd cut trip days rather than do that to take $600 off of my budget.

 

[wishesuponastar]

OP, if you feel the trip back home will be bad, why not consider staying at your parents that night and start fresh in the morning?

 

[wishesuponastar]

So I would plan to stay the night before the trip, but on the day we fly back we will be back at noon, so I would probably drive home that day. The extra vacation time is not an issue and my parents will drop me at the airport so no parking fees. I figure I will spend $100 in gas and food driving there. And it is a non stop flight compared to a 1 stop flight out of my local airport. I guess I'm most dreading the drive home after Disney, it's going to be bad.

That's great that your parents will drive you to airport. And I would want the non-stop flight definitely!

 

[momtosam]

So I can save $200 for each flight for myself and my 2 DD ($600 total savings) if I drive 5 hours to fly out of a bigger airport. My parents live where we would fly out so we have a free place to stay the night before the flight. Would you do it knowing you will have to drive 5 hours home after an 8 day Disney trip with a 9 and 6 year old to save $600?? My DD do travel very well in a car as we visit my parents several times a year. Thanks for your thoughts!!

Didn't read the whole thread, but I would not. Too stressful for me!

 

[totallytigger]

My DD and I did this for our flight to Europe. Not only did we save $ but we also eliminated a stop!! It's true that the drive there will be fun--anticipation of the fun to come--and the drive home will seem long--but $600is a significant amount of $ for me--so no second thoughts about driving. . We passed the time driving home talking about how much fun we had on vacation.

 

[JoyG]

Yes. We drove from Buffalo to NYC (about 6.5 hours) for our flights to Hawaii.

There was about a $1000 price savings for our family of five plus we were able to fly nonstop from NYC. Even after you count the gas there and back and parking at the airport it was a really good deal. I would definitely do it again.

 

[dsneprincess]

Yes, I would. We rarely fly out of our local airport. I will drive for price and non-stop. Less expansive non-stop is so worth a drive for me! Before kiddos, DH and I drove the 6+ hours to fly non-stop to the west coast, rented a car both ways to avoid parking fees. My parents live 5&1/2 hours away, twice I have driven there, stayed and flown out prior to a Southwest city being closer to me.