Travel Q&A: Deciding Whether to Drive or Fly
Hey there, fellow travelers! Today, we’re answering a travel question from one of our viewers. Mark Finley wanted to know if we have criteria to decide whether to fly or drive on a family trip. What’s the cutoff point where you will decide to fly instead of drive? Obviously, a lot of our trips are overseas and we have to fly, but we do have criteria to help us decide whether to fly or drive on our domestic trips.
Time Spent in Transit
One of the biggest factors when deciding to drive or fly is the time factor. We weigh how much time we would spend flying vs driving. Of course, flying involves getting to the airport early, checking in through TSA and waiting for a flight, so there’s more than just the flight time to consider. Six to seven hours is usually a good cutoff point where we would start considering flights.
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For example, Nashville is about a six-hour drive for us. If we decide to fly, it’s a 90-minute flight to Atlanta, followed by a 45-minute flight to Nashville. So, 2 ½ hours of flight time isn’t so bad, but that’s not all we account for. It’s one hour to drive to the airport, 90 minutes to allow for check-in and security, plus time on your layover, which is usually at least 90 minutes. So, now the six-hour drive is pretty reasonable.
Length of a Trip
The length of our vacation also factors into our decision to drive vs fly. If we’re on summer break and we have a few weeks to spend, we’re more likely to drive. When driving vs flying, we can stop and explore more along the way, and we’re not in such a rush to get from Point A to Point B.
We love to visit Savannah, which is about a 12-hour drive from our home. But there are so many cool places to stop along the way, that we will gladly drive if we have the time. You can break up the long trip into several days, with stops in Nashville, Knoxville, or even Atlanta.
If we are just off for a weekend getaway, then we’ll usually choose flying as the faster option. This allows us to spend as much time as possible at our destination.
Trip Cost
We also have to factor in prices when we decide whether to fly or drive. We’ve found some great deals on airfare that make the decision to fly an easy one. But there are also four of us to consider, so we have to buy four seats on a plane. If we drive, the cost doesn’t increase by four as we’re all riding in the same car.
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However, driving can sometimes be more expensive. If gas prices are up, that’s a big factor. On a longer trip, we’ll probably stay in a hotel room along the way. Then you have to factor in the stops for food and snacks too.
It’s not always just about the bottom line. For many people, time is money. If you have limited vacation time, you may want to maximize it by taking the fastest way possible.
Airline Preference
We tend to fly Delta as much as we can, in order to maximize our airline status and earning potential with miles. So, yes, we do consider whether Delta flies to a destination or not. If we can book a trip using miles, then we’re going to spend a lot less than we would if we had to choose another airline.
Convenience of Having a Car
Another thing to consider is whether you’ll need a car at your destination. If you’re visiting cities like Chicago, New York, or Boston, you don’t need a car once you arrive. In fact, having a car in these cities can be more of a headache than a convenience.
However, if we’re visiting Arizona or Texas, we will want to have a car as the attractions are spread apart and there’s no real public transportation. In that instance, we have to also factor in the cost of car rental on top of our flights.
While we don’t have a set cutoff point to decide whether to drive or fly, we do have a decision-making process that helps us decide. As you can see, there are many factors that go into it, with time and money being the biggest decision point to drive vs fly. Want more of our family travel tips? Check out some of our other blog posts: