As a general rule, how long of a trip do you need to take before you start looking at flights instead of driving?

[DawnM]

I get that sometimes you don't have an option, but just for say a general vacation/family visit, etc....?    And NOT calculating costs, I also get that sometimes you drive to save $$.

For us it depends, and we have driven from NC to CA and back to visit family, but usually to go to the West Coast we fly.

DH's family live about 750 miles and we drive.   For one thing, we def. want a car while there, but also, it is just easier to get everything there.

But I live about 500 miles from Disney World and we always drive.   It takes us about 8.5 hours with stops.   I am always surprises me when someone heads down and flies the whole family down.  We do the math and for us, the airport is 30 min. away, then there is parking, shuttle, TSA lines are over an hour most days, waiting at the gate, waiting on the tarmac, landing, finding your luggage, getting an UBER or car rental lines, etc ....it doesn't seem to save very much time at all.

I mean, if you want to do it, that's fine, we just prefer our own vehicle if we can.

For us, it seems to be whatever is not a day's drive.   DH's family are 12 hours or so, we drive.  Even a drive to Dallas is a long 17 hour day, but doable with multiple drivers.   Probably beyond that we would seriously look at flights.

I will fly to the West Coast this summer to see family.   

Maybe this is just us?

I even remember being irritated at my work flying us from LA to San Fran or LA to Vegas for conferences, I would have preferred to drive, but they wanted the team to stay together.   I told DH that getting to the airport and flying to Vegas took longer than just getting in my car.   

 

[Kidlit]

Family of six here.  First trip to Disney--about a 12 hour drive--we flew because flights were cheap.  That spoiled me.  I can't physically tolerate being in the car for that long.  If we go that distance we MUST spread it out over days.  If we don't have that much time to spend driving on a long trip, we fly (& if flights are reasonable for our budget).  That is the criteria we have developed over time. 

[KungFuPanda]

Driving feels like work and it depends on how many work days I want on vacation. My last flight was to Boston. My choice was an 8 hour drive or a 90 minute flight. I live pretty close to an airport. Even if I get to the airport early, I’d rather spend a few hours reading a book than all day in traffic. I travel light so I don’t care about having a lot of stuff or my own vehicle (that adds parking fees). I can go about anywhere with a carryon and my purse. 

[DawnM]

11 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

Family of six here.  First trip to Disney--about a 12 hour drive--we flew because flights were cheap.  That spoiled me.  I can't physically tolerate being in the car for that long.  If we go that distance we MUST spread it out over days.  If we don't have that much time to spend driving on a long trip, we fly (& if flights are reasonable for our budget).  That is the criteria we have developed over time. 

Did you rent a car once you got there?

[DawnM]

And weird, my mom died in 2019 and my dad moved to NC in 2020 to be closer and I STILL find it weird not to be planning a trip to the West Coast to see them.

[HomeAgain]

We fly if it's more than 12 hours or so. It's mostly a factor of vacation time vs. convenience.  We'd rather spend an extra two days at the destination than have the convenience of our own vehicle but drive for two days each way.

[Faith-manor]

Financially, just about everywhere we go domestically, it is cheaper for us to drive. But we don't do west coast trips so there is that. In May we went to Manassas, VA for the American Rocketry Challenge, 750 miles each way for us. There were 3 of us volunteering, and flights would have been expensive and then we would have had to rent a car because the competition is at Great Meadows in The Plains. No public transportation to that area. Taxis would have been super expensive to go that far, and we had to be out there multiple times.

It is the same when we go to Alabama to be with the grandkids. 750 miles from here, and flights to Huntsville are generally not that cheap from here. I can drive it for 1/4 the cost of 2 plane tickets. We do get 32mpg with our Equinox freeway driving. Since we pack our own food, we do not have eating out as an expense.

It will be the same for our summer vacation in N.C. 735 miles with the tandem kayak on the roof of the car. $640 plus tax for us to fly and then rent a car for a week plus then kayak rental. We plan on kayaking a lot so when I added it up, we had $400 in kayak rental, high costs for car rental, and no kayak roof mounts so we would only be able to kayak where there was a rental place and drop in, and none of the more remote stretches of stream that we want to try in Pisgah National Forest. Even with all of the driving, it will not be more than $240 in fuel, and again we picnic so our food costs are the price of groceries. We have an Rtic cooler that works very well. 

East of the Rockies, I can't see us buying plane tickets to go anywhere. But part of that is the cost of car rental, and then not having everything with us for keeping food with us. We are trying to be much more outdoorsy people, and making a stab at seeing a lot of the 432 National Park Service Units wherever we go. That means a lot of miles on a rental car, and a lot of planning out food. When we went to Agate Fossil Beds, I was ever so grateful we had our food. Awesome place! But literally in the boonies, and nowhere to buy food, fuel, you name it. Just completely isolated. That poor park ranger acted like we were then first humans he had seen in days! 

[Kidlit]

15 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Did you rent a car once you got there?

We didn't.   We were staying onsite so we just used Disney transportation.  We've taken 3 subsequent trips to there or Universal and have driven every time, though. 

[lmrich]

8   hours 

When we had little kids, if the drive  is less than 8, I would not even bother looking at flights. But now that it is just the  two of us, I have started looking at flights.

[DawnM]

Just now, Kidlit said:

We didn't.   We were staying onsite so we just used Disney transportation.  We've taken 3 subsequent trips to there or Universal and have driven every time, though. 

Gotcha.   We have stayed on site twice, but honestly, we much prefer 2 to 3 bedrooms and a kitchen and SPACE.   We rarely do just hotel rooms unless it is just a couple of us going.   Disney places with bedrooms and space are just too expensive, I can't see paying $500/night for a place you literally are not in very much except to sleep.   So we don't.   

One of these days when it is just DH and Andrew and me, we will stay at a hotel room at Animal Kingdom Lodge with a. Savannah view.   

[Wheres Toto]

We generally drive but most of our trips have been up and down the East Coast.   Farthest we went was the far side of Pennsylvania, which was about an 8 hour drive.    We drove to Florida, which was about 16 hours but we did it in two legs, staying overnight in South Carolina. 

For Florida, we've also driven to Virginia and taken the AutoTrain the rest of the way.

We usually take vacations for at least 2 weeks, camp in different places (we were in Pisgah a few years ago!) and bring all our own gear so driving our large vehicles works out best.  Plus ds is on the spectrum and has SPD so the people/sounds/smells on a plane/in an airport would be very uncomfortable for him.  He'd probably be okay these days (he's almost 18) but when he was younger, it wouldn't have worked well.  

[Granny_Weatherwax]

TMI:  We rarely fly. I think I've flown five times in twenty years and two of those were employer paid trips. The reason will make you shake your head. Before I was diagnosed with celiac I had years and years of bowel issues that necessitated quick trips to the restroom. If I needed to go, I had to go and it wasn't always pleasant. If you have or know someone who has celiac/IBS or something similar, you know what I'm talking about. I couldn't always control when it happened and not being able to get out of my seat at certain points of the flight were terrifying. "Remain in your seat until the captain has turned off the seatbelt light." "Um, I need to use the restroom." "I'm sorry, Miss, you must remain in your seat." Doubling over in pain and squeezing the arm rest so tight it might break. Doing the slow step-step-pause clenched buttcheek walk to the restroom when finally allowed to roam freely about the cabin. Praying the people in the seats right next to the restroom were hard of hearing.

Not fun. It was easier to drive the minivan with an emergency portatoilet or take highways with multiple rest stops and businesses.

[Heartstrings]

My husband and I differ. I’ll drive for 2 or 3 days before I’ll fly.  He’d rather fly so he’d prefer to fly if it’s over 2 or 3 hours.  I hate flying.   It’s just a horrible experience.  
 

Multiple times I’ve driven somewhere with the kids and he’s flown down to meet us so he’s not eating vacation days driving.   

Edited June 10, 2023 by Heartstrings

[kokotg]

I hate flying and will avoid it whenever possible. But then I also have a travel trailer and a husband with summers off. Right now we’re midway between ga and Newfoundland, but we’ll be gone 8 weeks total. We mostly fly if it’s overseas or to visit west coast family (but we’ve done that drive, too). With 4 kids, we got pretty used to the price of 6 plane tickets being too much to even consider. Possible we’ll lean toward flying more often as they start to leave home. Although I just did 2200 miles in a week and a half to retrieve my oldest after college graduation. I like road trips.

[Faith-manor]

16 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:

My husband and I differ. I’ll drive for 2 or 3 days before I’ll fly.  He’d rather fly so he’d prefer to fly if it’s over 2 or 3 hours.  I hate flying.   It’s just a horrible experience.  
 

Multiple times I’ve driven somewhere with the kids and he’s flown down to meet us so he’s not eating vacation days driving.   

We have had that before as well. Mark would have limited vacation time so I would drive the kids, and he would fly. This happened multiple times for family funerals. Now if an event is far away like that, since flights have gotten a lot more expensive as has car rental, and hotels since usually family cannot us up, we just send a generous donation, or in the case of wedding, cash gift. Ya. I know. Our presence is supposed to be more important. But, it just isn't practical anymore. 

I personally do love to fly. So for us it is just a matter or finances and practicality that keeps us driving.

[livetoread]

For me it really depends. I like road trips but don't like to drive more than about six hours a day for them to be enjoyable. I just drove nine hours for a family situation rather than flying to save some money. But nine hours is about my limit now that I'm older and things hurt more with a long day of driving. Anything more than that I'm looking at flights. It also depends on whether I'm traveling by myself, in which case I have more time and flexibility because I have minimal responsibilities at home right now, or with dh whose time is more limited. Road trips eat into his time so we are more likely to fly if he is coming.

[Katy]

I like to drive, but we’ll fly to save time or if we need to be there fast for something like a funeral. Though it’s weird for all airline staff to ask kids about if they’re excited for Disney to have to say, “No, mom’s from Florida and we’re going back there for a funeral.”

ETA: off topic, but it’s weird. It doesn’t matter if we’re flying into Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando or Miami, for some reason people assume the only reason kids fly to Florida is a Disney trip. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Katy

[Grace Hopper]

Four to five hours. But it’s not the distance we factor in so much as the availability of ground transportation at the destination. It’s a pain to be stuck without a vehicle and ime rental car companies can be flaky. 

[Kidlit]

43 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Gotcha.   We have stayed on site twice, but honestly, we much prefer 2 to 3 bedrooms and a kitchen and SPACE.   We rarely do just hotel rooms unless it is just a couple of us going.   Disney places with bedrooms and space are just too expensive, I can't see paying $500/night for a place you literally are not in very much except to sleep.   So we don't.   

One of these days when it is just DH and Andrew and me, we will stay at a hotel room at Animal Kingdom Lodge with a. Savannah view.   

Our first trip We had three kids, so 5 people, and one was a toddler. The value room was doable.  Next time I was pregnant with baby 4 and we again stayed in a value resort.  Both of these trips were during the time that kids ate free, so it was worth it for that cost savings.  Our last trip to Disney was in 2021, so we had two teens and two big kids.  We rented a condo with three bedrooms and three baths that was maybe 10 min away from parks.  
 

We can no longer stay in value resorts.  🤣

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Katy said:

I like to drive, but we’ll fly to save time or if we need to be there fast for something like a funeral. Though it’s weird for all airline staff to ask kids about if they’re excited for Disney to have to say, “No, mom’s from Florida and we’re going back there for a funeral.”

ETA: off topic, but it’s weird. It doesn’t matter if we’re flying into Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando or Miami, for some reason people assume the only reason kids fly to Florida is a Disney trip. 

LOL, Disney is the last reason we would take the grandkids to Florida. I get it!

We do, someday, want to venture to Dry Tortugas. Mark says he needs to stand out there on the beach and yell, "But why is all the rum gone!" 😂😂😂

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

I fly to Florida. It’s an 18 hour drive and DH hated to travel, so it’s me and whichever kids are coming along. I fly budget airlines into Orlando or Tampa; I just got three round trip tickets in September for less than $400 all together. 

Since anywhere I go, I’m the only driver(see above: DH hates travel beyond all reason), it has to be six hours or less for me to drive it with the kids.  My kids are great travelers but we all prefer flying.  I love Disney and Universal to the point I have a line item budget. It also helps I have a sister two hours from Orlando lol. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Mrs Tiggywinkle Again

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

I fly to Florida. It’s an 18 hour drive and DH hated to travel, so it’s me and whichever kids are coming along. I fly budget airlines into Orlando or Tampa; I just got three round trip tickets in September for less than $400 all together. 

Since anywhere I go, I’m the only driver(see above: DH hates travel beyond all reason), it has to be six hours or less for me to drive it with the kids.  My kids are great travelers but we all prefer flying.

Boy I wish we got those kinds of rates! We never see anything like that out of DTW which in and of itself is a 2.5 drive one way so that adds a whole nother consideration to flying. The airport 1 hr 15 min from here is so small that there just aren't a lot of options. I would fly more if I could get some good rates.

[lauraw4321]

More than 6 hours and we price it. Availability of public or other transport in the city makes a big difference. 

[Pawz4me]

We're former RV'ers. That right there probably tells you we love a good road trip. The journey is a big part of the adventure. Even now, when we don't have one, we'd be MUCH more inclined to drive than to fly. DH actually (for some unfathomable to me reason) enjoys flying. I hate it with passion and my hatred has nothing at all to do with cost. I'd have to either have a serious time constraint or want to go overseas to willingly fly.

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

1 minute ago, Faith-manor said:

Boy I wish we got those kinds of rates! We never see anything like that out of DTW which in and of itself is a 2.5 drive one way so that adds a whole nother consideration to flying. The airport 1 hr 15 min from here is so small that there just aren't a lot of options. I would fly more if I could get some good rates.

I have two small airports within an hour of me that offer discount airfare straight to Orlando.  The airlines are no frills and only fly two or three times a week, but I’ve always had good reliable service.  Right now one way tickets are hovering around $49, I only bring a carry on, and I’m able to travel pretty cheap.  Everyone looks askance at me when I say I go to DisneyWorld two or three times a year, but I am able to do it really really cheaply. 

[Kidlit]

4 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

I have two small airports within an hour of me that offer discount airfare straight to Orlando.  The airlines are no frills and only fly two or three times a week, but I’ve always had good reliable service.  Right now one way tickets are hovering around $49, I only bring a carry on, and I’m able to travel pretty cheap.  Everyone looks askance at me when I say I go to DisneyWorld two or three times a year, but I am able to do it really really cheaply. 

This is about how much we paid when we flew--Huntsville direct to Orlando via Southwest.  It was DEFINITELY the right thing to do with three kids and it kind of spoiled me.  Alas, those deals went away (though I hear they're back regionally--I don't know details, but my hairdresser was planning a trips for her and her 5 yo that was going to cost them less than $200 round trip to fly!)

[Faith-manor]

5 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

 Right now one way tickets are hovering around $49, I only bring a carry on, and I’m able to travel pretty cheap. 

Faith faints dead away at that price........

[catz]

Well we haven’t done a typical family vacation since Covid.  We did a lot of road trips when kids were younger.  Some flights but would need to be a couple days drive.  My daughter is going to college in a major city about 6-7 hours drive from us.  We took a flight in April there because we only had a couple days and the price was right.   Parking is expensive and you don’t need then car once there.   If you watch flights can be cheap, oh so many flights out of metro there daily.   
 

So going into a long season with her there, we will be weighing how many of us go vs her coming home for break vs parking vs length of trip.  Actually Amtrak is an option as is bus as well.  

Edited June 10, 2023 by catz

[Annie G]

For us it depends on the trip. Quick weekend trip to see friends 8 hours away? Fly, because we don’t need a car there and I’m not going to drive a day there and a day back for a three day visit.  So generally if it’s a destination trip we fly. 
We love road trips and prefer to drive when we have time to stop and see things along the way. 

[cintinative]

It's generally always cheaper for us to drive, although it takes a lot longer, because even with cheap flights, we need a rental car when we get there. ETA: I just saw you said don't consider costs.  Well, if we had a money tree, we would probably fly and rent a car in lieu of a two day drive.  But we don't, and we have a dog, so . . . .  😃 

We drive about 17-18 hours to FL annually and break it into two days with lots of stops.  The older I get the less tolerant my body is of sitting a really long time. So 12 hours is really my maximum, and that is pushing it.  If we spend two days driving, we stay at least five days before we drive back.  Preferably seven to ten days.  

If it was a one day drive, maybe a four day buffer in between. 

Really, I hate to say it, but age is a factor here.  When I was "young", a 13 hour drive was not a big deal. Now, my body screams to move about after a few hours.  Fortunately (?), we take our dog with us, and he also needs to get up and move, so because of him we often spend our stops at parks and eat picnics there. It makes the long drive more tolerable. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by cintinative

[City Mouse]

For me it is a combination of cost, time, work, and plans.

We used to drive to Florida when we lived in Houston. We had 4 people total and 2 drivers. With 2 young kids and all the stuff we thought we needed to take, it was too stressful to try to fly. Then we moved 12 hrs further away from Florida, so now we fly. I have taken one road trip to Florida. I think it was the summer before Covid. It was just me and my DS who was 17 and driving. I’m a teacher and had several weeks for the trip. My DS drove some of the trip mostly in low traffic areas like west Texas. 

It is more difficult for me when I am driving all by myself. I can only drive about 8 hours a day, so I will often choose to fly instead of drive particularly when the schedule is short.

on the other hand, the whole family likes road trips, so we will often take trips where the whole point is to drive to different places.

[KungFuPanda]

If we’re including Amtrak I use all different math. It can take longer than driving but is so much more enjoyable. It’s like you get a vacation day back. 

[Faith-manor]

16 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

If we’re including Amtrak I use all different math. It can take longer than driving but is so much more enjoyable. It’s like you get a vacation day back. 

I really wish we had better Amtrak options! I like rail travel. But it only goes west to Chicago from our nearest station one time per day. No other options. If we could go south and then east, I would be booking with them.

[MEmama]

Most of our non-day trips are overseas, so obviously we have to fly. One set of parents is on the west coast and the other is >25 hour drive, so we fly to visit family as well.

We all prefer trains and take them whenever we can. But living on the edge of the continent does mean road trips to too many places, unfortunately. DH and I drove around the country a ton when we were younger and I'm pretty much over it now. If we do have to drive long distance, 12 hours is my max. It's a pain (and expensive) to have to rent a car on the other side so whether we drive or fly awkward distances is often in question.

[Indigo Blue]

We drive from NC to AR. It’s about 13 hours give or take. As long as I’m comfortable, I’m fine. The road trip is fun. 

[aggie96]

Due to preference we drive unless it requires crossing a body of water without a ferry.  🙂

Travelers: 5 people (2 adult, 3 teens  all adult size)

Longest Duration: 16 days    Shortest Duration: 10 days   (travel under 4-4.5hr anywhere would be a day-trip for us)

Longest travel/car day: usually 1x12-hour travel day to get out of Texas, 1x14-hour travel day to come back to Texas, average 4-6-hour travel days with sightseeing incorporated between our primary destinations on trip

Sleep: always in hotels (all 5 stay in same room), 1-night cheaper hotel, 2-nights big room/small suite, 3+-nights nice suite

Car: Expedition Max (suburban) with cargo tray on hitch, all luggage on cargo rack with cooler/food/pillow/blankets and quick grab stuff in truck

Pro tip: When we have a quick overnight (get in late/leave early) everyone carries into hotel 1 packing cube each with PJ and next day clothes and small or shared toiletry bag. This way we do not have to lug all luggage into hotel. Or if we do need to unload cargo tray for security of our stuff, we still do this so we don't have to repack anything for less than 8-hrs in hotel. With 5 travelers this makes it easy.

[Loowit]

We pretty much always drive anywhere we have gone, the only exception was a trip with DH's company years ago where we only had to pay for the plane tickets to Disneyland and they paid for the room and everything else.  It is the only time I have every flown anywhere.

We discussed whether to fly or drive last year to San Diego, about 1,200 miles from us, for DS's graduation from boot camp.  But because of covid and cost, we decided to drive.  We might have anyway though.  However, if we were to go visit him at his permanent duty station on the east coast, we would fly, that is too far for me to want to drive, unless we were doing it as a vacation on purpose for the drive to see other things as well.

Most of our trips are planned to be within what we consider driving distance, which is a day or two drive, although most are within about 5 hours.  But we just don't do much traveling in general.

[QueenCat]

It depends, mostly on whether or not it's just me or if dh is going. He can tolerate longer hours behind the wheel than I can. If it's just me, six hours max in a day, including stops. If it's both of us, up to ten hours. Dh can't stand to be the passenger, so I drive very little, if any of it. If we have enough time, we might go further & spend the night somewhere along the way. We could both tolerate driving longer in a day when we were younger, but are now in our late 50s... that changed about ten years ago. Car rentals are needed if we both go, most of the time, as we are likely staying at a hotel & not someone's house. 

[mommyoffive]

4 hours ago, DawnM said:

I get that sometimes you don't have an option, but just for say a general vacation/family visit, etc....?    And NOT calculating costs, I also get that sometimes you drive to save $$.

For us it depends, and we have driven from NC to CA and back to visit family, but usually to go to the West Coast we fly.

DH's family live about 750 miles and we drive.   For one thing, we def. want a car while there, but also, it is just easier to get everything there.

But I live about 500 miles from Disney World and we always drive.   It takes us about 8.5 hours with stops.   I am always surprises me when someone heads down and flies the whole family down.  We do the math and for us, the airport is 30 min. away, then there is parking, shuttle, TSA lines are over an hour most days, waiting at the gate, waiting on the tarmac, landing, finding your luggage, getting an UBER or car rental lines, etc ....it doesn't seem to save very much time at all.

I mean, if you want to do it, that's fine, we just prefer our own vehicle if we can.

For us, it seems to be whatever is not a day's drive.   DH's family are 12 hours or so, we drive.  Even a drive to Dallas is a long 17 hour day, but doable with multiple drivers.   Probably beyond that we would seriously look at flights.

I will fly to the West Coast this summer to see family.   

Maybe this is just us?

I even remember being irritated at my work flying us from LA to San Fran or LA to Vegas for conferences, I would have preferred to drive, but they wanted the team to stay together.   I told DH that getting to the airport and flying to Vegas took longer than just getting in my car.   

 

I think a lot of people don't really calculate the amount of time they think they are saving by flying instead of driving and then the cost of renting a car (usually) at the location too. 

We mostly have flown for vacations because the place we wanted to go was 20 plus hours away driving or international.  Other than really short distances from our home 4 hours or less one way did we drive.  

But I calculate everything in when I am trip planning now.  Flight prices, drive time, rental car costs, and on and on.  One thing for us that makes flying cheaper than driving a lot of the time is that we travel hack and use most of that for flights.  

[itsheresomewhere]

We drive unless it has to be a flight.  About 18 hours to Disney from my house and we do it fine in the suv.  Especially, since this suv runs off old veggie oil so we use very little diesel.  The last time I took a flight was a funeral that was the next day. 

[Amira]

In my life, I drive rather than fly unless 

a) there’s an ocean in the way

b) there are insurgents between me and my destination 

c) there are no roads that go from where I am to where I want to go

d) our car is on a different continent from where I am

One or more of these options usually happens on longer trips, and I’m always sad that I have to fly rather than going overland. We finally can do a 6600km road trip this summer and I’m very much looking forward to it.

[gardenmom5]

Not counting costs..  I consider flight time vs drive time.  (Including airport hassles car rental hassles,  et )  how many people are traveling.   I usually consider four to six hours a wash.

Then consider road conditions.   We drove over the Suskyus last year.  I hated them, and I've driven over a lot of mt passes.  I'd rather fly, even if I have to rent a car at the other end.

[Ottakee]

6 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Faith faints dead away at that price........

There have been flights that price out of Grand Rapids and Flint recently

[Pam in CT]

Has to be > 8 hours drive before flying even saves any TIME, forget about costs. 

We're 1.5 hours from the NY airports (more with traffic); at the NY airports you *really do* have to arrive 2 hours early to reliably get bags checked and get through security (yes, we have Global Entry); from the NY airports you have to build in an average 30 minutes' sitting on the tarmac before you get a takeoff runway.  So, we have to leave the house 4 hours before takeoff.

[then flight time]

Then on the other end, wherever we are, it'll be 30 minutes minimum to get into a car rental *even if we don't check any bags*, then minimum 30 more minutes to get from the airport to whatever local destination we're aiming for. 

So: 4+ hours pre-flight + flight time + 1 hour post-flight to get to a door-to-door comparison... even before any calculation of money, it just doesn't make any sense timewise for anything less than 8 hours.

 

And honestly sitting in the car is more *comfortable* than sitting in Econosqueeze, and you have a lot more agency. We're all good travelers and regularly do the CT to Pittsburgh drive (7.5 hours) without stopping for anything but gas & bathrooms, even the puppy.

[rebcoola]

We usually drive we like the flexibility.   We've driven up to 24 hrs to reach a destination.  Ive also flown across the state for a special event when I was going alone and didnt have a lot of time to spare.  I always do the train to travel to Portland and wish I could go more places on amtrak easily.

If I had to say its about 12 hour drive before I look into flights.

Edited June 10, 2023 by rebcoola

[SKL]

So many factors.  For work, between 3&6 hours (time vs. convenience factors).  For a personal destination, I don't balk at a 6-12 hour drive.  And I find "road trips" fun.  We've done a number of trips via rental car (after landing by plane).  Alaska, Iceland, New Zealand, etc.  We've done other trips by hired driver (India, Guatemala, Costa Rica, etc.).

[Lynn in al]

If I have the time I don't mind driving, I love a good road trip but if timing is important such as only going for a couple days for an event or holiday I'd choose to fly anything over 8 hours.

[regentrude]

I live two hours from the airport. I fly overseas and to the West coast (if only there for a short time). Anything else we drive. 

We drive 20 hours to the desert. Because we need a car there and our gear. If we'd fly, we'd have to rent a car and buy gas cartridges before even starting towards our destination.  Makes no sense.

Edited June 10, 2023 by regentrude

[Kassia]

DH prefers to drive no matter how long it is.  I hate driving because of the bathroom issue.  I am terrified of getting stuck on the highway and not able to get off to use a restroom.  And I'm afraid to drink anything, so I get uncomfortably thirsty.   I also worry about having car issues on a long trip.   I do like the convenience of having our own vehicle and being able to pack whatever we want, but the bathroom issue is huge for me.  We're doing a 20 hour drive to Dallas next month (and then another 20 hours back) to settle dd into her new apartment, get her a car, etc. before she starts her new job.  I'm dreading it.  We've done it twice in the past three years for bringing her to college.  

[forty-two]

Because of cost, we almost always drive when it's all of us, only considering flying when it's just one person (who won't need to rent a car), or if my parents are paying.  But not considering cost, most places we go are either 2.5-4.5hr drives, where flying would actually take longer, or 18hr-20hr drives, where I would probably fly if we could get by without a car (borrow a relative's or something), but if we needed a car, we'd probably drive.  It is pretty convenient to fly for those trips, though; it still takes the better part of a day to travel (since we can't get direct flights), but that's a lot better than a day and a half when driving.  Any drive that can be done in a day (8-12hr) I'd probably just drive for, instead of fooling around with flying (we have to drive 2hr to get to the nearest large airport, plus all the hurry-up-and-wait times inherent to flying these days, so we'd be leaving the house close to 5hrs prior to the flight, which really reduces the potential time savings wrt flying.)  ETA: I suppose I also consider time-of-visit - I'm more likely to fly when the visit is short, because then I don't have to be worried about be recovered enough to do the return drive; plus in general it's annoying when the travel time exceeds the visit time.

I grew up doing 24hr drives, so it feels normal to me.  My parents only starting flying to visit extended relatives after Dad's stroke (where he could no longer drive, and also needs handicap bathroom access, etc); prior to that they always drove, even though they had the money to fly if they'd wanted.  Mom just likes bringing lots of stuff and having her own vehicle.

Edited June 10, 2023 by forty-two