Driving VS. Flying. What's your flavor?

[lovemachine]

Wife and I are looking into what it would cost to take our first vacation together. More than likely, it's going to be too expensive, and we'll have to wait til next summer. But you never know. A place we'd love to go to is Washington DC. I haven't quite figured up what it would cost yet, still working on that.

But it's about 12 hours from my house. Flying is a little expensive, but it's the quicker way. Driving, well, gas prices are high. Traffic jams. All that good stuff, but it could be a lot cheaper, several breaks on the way and it wouldn't be that bad for that long of a distance.


So, if you were going to take a vacation, and the location was 12 hours away. Would you drive or fly? And why?

 

[Fletch]

Drive, drive, drive. It's cheaper (by a lot) when more than one person is involved. The only issue is travel time.

 

[ljadayton]

I drive. I haven't flown since before 9/11. I have control of when and where I stop, not dependant on anyone else for those. Don't have to deal with the mass's at the airport, renting a car, luggage getting lost, etc.

 

[misconfig]

Drive - F being molested by the TSA, F screenings and F them for making me feel like It's such a high honor to give them my money.

Drive DRIVE DRIVE!

 

[k12lts]

For me it usually depends on what there is to see between here and there and how much time you have. I like to travel by car (or motorcycle) and see the country.

On a trip to DC you could drive thru the mountains and some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you have the time, there is a lot to see between here and there.

 

[Fletch]

The only time I fly is when I have a limited amount of time to do the actual traveling, and I'll look at any number of scenarios to make it so I can drive if at all possible.

 

[Brown]

Drive

by the time you leave the house,park, chekc in,get molested by TSA,wait at the gate, land, get the rental car,get to hotel it will be faster to drive.

My general rule of thumb if I can drive it in one hard day driving no flying for me. It will probably be cheaper for you in the long run anyway and dont have to worry about weather delays,mechanical issues,etc. you have control.

Besides, I used to work as a mechanic in the airline industry and I know where most all of the maintenance is currently farmed out to

It is a nice drive from IN to DC by way of PA and MD.
If you get a chance the best way to see the sites and not spend a huge amount of $$ is check out the underground railway (cant remember what it is called there) and stay at a hotel outside of DC but along the route.

 

[Fletch]

My general rule of thumb if I can drive it in one hard day driving no flying for me. It will probably be cheaper for you in the long run anyway and dont have to worry about weather delays,mechanical issues,etc. you have control.

My usual trip: Oklahoma City to Akron. About 1000 miles, 2 days' drive unless I want to kill myself.

$300 - $400 per round trip plane ticket.

OR

6 tanks of gas ($240ish at present prices) plus 2 nights in a hotel ($200ish for non-fleabag hotel).

Cheaper to fly if I'm by myself, cheaper to drive if the wife's going with me. Once we get some kids, it'll be way cheaper to drive, even if we spring for 2 hotel rooms.

 

[BE Mike]

If you have the time to spare...go by air!

 

[ATOMonkey]

We've done the drive to DC twice. I recommend it over flying, especially for 2 people.

The worst part of the drive is the Western Ohio/Eastern Indiana portion. Once you get past that, there is a lot of really nice scenery.

We would leave Friday evening after I got off of work and drive for 4 hours or so and stay in the 'el cheapo motel, and then finish the drive off the next day. Doing it that way we got to DC the same time as if we would have flown out on Saturday morning.

DC is also a fairly big area, and you can spend a small fortune on cab rides getting from your hotel to the sites and back. Especially if you take a trip down to Quantico to see the USMC museum (which I highly recommend).

 

[MadBomber]

Drive. You get the added bonus of not having to undergo a sexual assault by TSA thugs.

 

[Dogman]

Drive. Too many interesting things to see in America to fly.

 

[eldirector]

We are going to DC later this spring as well. It is an easy drive, up to the last hour or so in DC traffic. I've done it in 10 hours in the past. 11 hours is more realistic, and 12 if you are actually going to downtown DC on a weekday.

My wife does NOT fly well, so we stick to driving as much as possible. Anything up to a 2 day drive fine with us. The time in the car is part of the vacation!

Besides, this TSA crap is getting pretty old with me (I travel/fly for work fairly often).

If you are staying in DC proper, the Metro (subway) is actually pretty decent. The stations are walking distance from about anything you would care to see. Parking in town is either expensive or impossible to find. Use the car for stuff out of the city.

 

[femurphy77]

DRIVING to Oklahoma next month, 14 hrs each way. The only reason I didn't drive to Miami for our cruise vacation in February is because I was outvoted!

 

[Cemetery-man]

Drive!

Easy drive, lots to see and enjoy along the way. I give myself a couple extra days so I take the northern route via toll road/turnpike so I can spend a day at Gettysburg and even a day at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore if I have time.

 

[EvilElmo]

Driving is almost certainly cheaper. My family just got back from California, by car. The gasoline for us to drive there was half the cost of the plane tickets, and that didn't include having to rent a car while we were there.

Between that and the BS from your friendly neighborhood government gropers at the airport it was no contest for us.

 

[sepe]

I enjoy getting fondled by TSA. I'd fly across town if I could just so I could be fondled.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Drive, I don't need the sexual assualt by the TSA. Plus I love driving and plan on a trip out to the west coast someday by road trip. And on either the way back or on the way out I plan on taking the old Route 66

 

[DialTone301]

If I had time I would drive. Flying to Florida next week...didn't want to waste a couple of vacation days flying.

 

[magic man]

We drove to NYC stayed there for a night, saw a Yankee's game, left for DC the next day. We stayed there for a week and saw all the sites. The trip is half the fun. When driving for vacations we drive as far as we can on the way their, and only stop to eat and for bathroom breaks. On the way back, when we don't really have a schedule, if we see anything that looks interesting we'll stop and waste some time and just relax on the way back.

We stayed here and drove into DC each day. College Park Maryland hotels, Comfort Inn, hotel near University of Maryland

Once in DC, just take the metro to where ever you want to go.

We went here every night. It is literally right next to the hotel. One word to describe it- Awesome!
Welcome to the College Park Rita's in College Park, MD 20740!