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

[footballmom]

There is a whole calculus to it for me: how many are going, which actual people are going (plays a factor), are there direct flights available, how long are we going for and what are our transportation needs and options at the destination?

Typically, over a 5 hour drive I’m looking at flights. When we did college visits with oldest, we drove a 5+ hour trip because we were visiting several NC schools that were relatively close together so driving versus flying made sense. With middle child’s visits, we flew because it was 8+ hours and multiple states. 

[73349]

We're a household of 3, so not as expensive to fly as a larger bunch. We don't regularly drive more than 2.5-3 hours from home. At 3-4 hours' drive I start checking on whether the train is in option--I prefer the experience over both driving and flying.

I consider flying at about the 6-hour drive mark, or breaking the drive into two days. We've only gone to WDW once (from NC) and flew.

Edited June 10, 2023 by 73349

[KidsHappen]

I haven't flown in about 26 years. When two of my dds lived in GA it was about a five hour drive. That is about what I am comfortable driving in one day. I have family in TX and that is about a ten hour drive so we usually overnight in Little Rock. When we are going to FL it is also about a 10 hour drive but the whole family goes so we usually caravan and can take turns driving. I can't drive anymore but I need to take more pain meds to spend that much time in a car. Basically for my family because there are so many of us it is always cheaper to drive. 

[DawnM]

1 hour ago, 73349 said:

We're a household of 3, so not as expensive to fly as a larger bunch. We don't regularly drive more than 2.5-3 hours from home. At 3-4 hours' drive I start checking on whether the train is in option--I prefer the experience over both driving and flying.

I consider flying at about the 6-hour drive mark, or breaking the drive into two days. We've only gone to WDW once (from NC) and flew.

Ok, now I looked up the trip by train.   YIKES!   The 8 hour drive?   Well, the train takes 21 HOURS and the seat is $444 and the cabin starts at $600.

It would be far cheaper and faster to drive or fly.

[Ottakee]

I almost always drive when it is everyone.   I have kids with anxiety over security and it is costly to fly 5….plus we would need to rent a mini van when we get somewhere and that is $$) and we live with few direct flights.

 

florida has been our only flights with the kids

[SKL]

I am spoiled because we live 20 minutes away from an international airport.  So if the drive is more than 3 hours, it can be faster to fly.

Trains - I looked into that as a way to get my kid home for a work shift a day before everyone else.  The train would have taken about 12 hours compared to a 6 hour car drive.  And it wasn't cheap either.  And then we would have had to find transportation from the train station.

[Melissa in Australia]

 for us If it involves leaving the country then plane, otherwise drive

[73349]

11 hours ago, DawnM said:

Ok, now I looked up the trip by train.   YIKES!   The 8 hour drive?   Well, the train takes 21 HOURS and the seat is $444 and the cabin starts at $600.

It would be far cheaper and faster to drive or fly.

Yeah, it depends a lot where you're going. From Raleigh, the train is the best option IMO to Charlotte, Richmond, DC, or Philadelphia, but not a great option to Boston, and not really even possible to El Paso, for example. I don't care if it costs as much as flying and takes as long as driving (or a little beyond) because it's such a vastly easier way to travel, but for some trips, it's just not reasonable.

[Carrie12345]

We just did ~14 hours (with stops, and more on the way down with a motorcycle accident right in front of us) with 5 people and a tiny dog.

The airport an hour away from us is twice the cost of the airport 2 hours from us, and you need to be there even earlier, so it’s already a bit of a time suck, plus we would need to rent a car for 7. (2 kids met us there.) And we’d have to drive through crazy traffic out of the ATL airport to our destination. So some hours would be saved, but not a ton, and no money at all. Given that we couldn’t get any hotel points reservations, the thought of the cost makes me ill, lol.

When I go by myself, flying is the obvious choice, and family can pick me up from the train and I stay with them. Plus, flying is safer. Dh flies there for work.

We’ve never traveled farther as a family.

[Ellie]

For me, it's cost over mileage. I don't mind driving for two or three days, as when we drove from Austin to Seattle. We're thinking about driving to Disneyland next time, which is two nights. It isn't a lovely drive, either. But air fare has gotten so expensive. We drove to Walt Disney World last time, which is a much nicer drive although still about the same drive time. When we do Disney we don't need a vehicle, because we're going to be in the parks all day, every day. 🙂 We're pondering a trip next year to WDW, then up to Virginia and NC to visit family and whatnot. Definitely driving for that.

[Faith-manor]

12 hours ago, DawnM said:

Ok, now I looked up the trip by train.   YIKES!   The 8 hour drive?   Well, the train takes 21 HOURS and the seat is $444 and the cabin starts at $600.

It would be far cheaper and faster to drive or fly.

I know! It is crazy. We love rail travel but it is priced so high. I want to do some sort of Rockies rail tour, but the prices are just insane and the cabins are so tiny, and from the reviews I have read not that comfortable. So it is a no go with Amtrak. There is a different company that does them, and doesn't have sleeper cars. Hotel accommodations at each stop are included in the price. I think IF we ever do it, that will be what we book. I suspect we never will. The reality is we can drive it, and make all the stops and see all the things for less.

[Faith-manor]

Apparently, there are some cheap rates here to Orlando. LOL, I have never looked at them because that isn't where we want to go. We have no desire to do WDW or Universal or any of that. We need to fly into Miami and then rent a car. Dry Tortugas and the Florida Keys is our destination if heading to Florida. In four years, dd wants to take N to Harry Potter/Universal for his wand. But, I still don't see us flying because we will go to the Bama house first for his H.P. themed birthday party where they will give him his letter. So I think we will be loading up and driving because it will be too many people make flying economical, and Universal is a different set up so I think we will need vehicles when we get there anyway. I don't think we will be getting any kind of park/hotel combo. But maybe I am wrong about that.

[Ginevra]

Somewhere around 8-10 hr drive will make me heavily consider flying instead, though we have driven longer distances due to other considerations.