Should I drive, or should I fly? This is a question that’s occasionally asked by people who are taking a trip that’s not exactly short, but not cross-country either. Money and convenience come into play as parts of the equation when trying to make a decision on whether or not to drive or book a flight.
I thought of this question recently, because it applied to me! Specifically, I had to make a decision on how to get to FinCon – the Financial Blogger Conference. This edition of FinCon is to be held in St. Louis, which is around 300 miles from where I live in suburban Chicago. Round trip, we’re talking about just over 600 miles for this journey. Not exactly local, yet not across the country either.
My first reaction was that I would drive. Once a person gets out of the massive, sprawling Chicagoland area, it should be a traffic-free drive all the way to St. Louis. Not too bad! However, even though you don’t have to buy a plane ticket, there are additional costs to consider. Let’s use my trip as an example of how a person could consider whether or not to fly or drive.
Cost of Driving
Gas
For over 600 miles round trip, I’m looking at about 25 gallons of gas. At current prices, this should be at least $80. Clearly, it’s not cheap to drive! It’s a good thing to keep in mind even when driving locally – each mile adds up.
Wear and Tear on the Car
Cars generally have a useful life. They don’t go on forever, as much as we would like them to. I’m someone who embraces car longevity, having taken a prior car to well over 200,000 miles before selling it.
Let’s say you have a car that would cost $20,000 new. If it has a useful life of 200,000 miles, it would be worth $0.10 per mile. Now, I know this is an inexact estimate and absolutely has inherent flaws. However, just as a ballpark measure of how cars can lose value as they’re driven more, this works well enough.
In my case, this would cause an estimated $60 in depreciation with the 600 miles of driving. Now, let’s say that I would have driven 100 miles anyway had the trip not been planned. Okay, so that would bring the incremental miles driven down to 500, which means that we’re looking at $50 in depreciation.
Wear and Tear on the Driver
I’ll be driving alone, with nobody to share driving. Not that 300 miles each way is a huge deal, but having done long commutes to work before, I can tell you that driving does take a little something out of you. It’s way easier to be sitting on a plane or even waiting at an airport for a flight, where you can multitask easier. Or, just veg out. Plus, driving can take additional time versus flying.
Anyway, while not quantified here, let’s say that there is some value to convenience.
Additional Costs
Sometimes, there could be extras associated with driving. One which will come up for this trip is parking. Apparently, it might cost over $80 to park at the actual hotel. There seem to be other alternatives, but aren’t free anyway and don’t offer the perceived benefit of parking at the actual hotel. Even if some other alternative was found that cost only $30, it would still be cash outlay!
Cost of Flying
Airline Tickets
Its great to look for bargain fares, and try to focus on getting the best price well ahead of time. Fares can really vary wildly for the same route, depending on when someone looks.
In the case of my trip, the best fare I found was about $185 round trip. Not bad! Unfortunately, I procrastinated and fares went up to $234. So, that’s the cost of a flight.
Spending Money at the Airport
Okay, this is something people overlook when flying. However, it can be costly to buy anything at an airport. I once spent $13 on a sub sandwich and water at an airport! If one plans ahead and considers ways to save money at airports, it could help curb costs. In my case, I would make sure to spend nothing!
Transportation to/from Airport
People could rent cars, take taxis, or go on public transportation once they arrive at their destination. If I took the latter, and spent maybe $10, that wouldn’t be too bad either.
Of course, we can’t forget the cost of getting to the airport before you fly out – and the cost of getting home! If you can get a ride from someone or take public transportation, it would be great. In my case, it would entail parking at the airport – which would probably be over $40 for the duration of the trip.
Overall – Drive or Fly
Clearly, there are different factors to consider when deciding on which way to go. In the specific example shared above, I estimated the costs of driving to total around $220. The costs of flying would be around $290.
Of course, money isn’t everything. If we could save time, that has value too. After all, time is money – or more important, really. Also, there is some value to convenience and letting someone else do the work.
What did I choose to do? I chose driving. If I could have found a lower fare, I would have planned to fly, as I think that the cost of driving clearly goes beyond just fueling up your car. So while in many cases I would absolutely choose flying, the difference in this case was enough for me to find it worth driving. While that stretch of driving is not the most exciting, I did stop by my local library to pick up a few audiobooks to make the drive interesting. Between that, music, and the fall colors, I’ll be fine 🙂
My Questions for You
Have you ever had to make a decision on whether or not to drive or fly?
If so, what factors did you consider?
Smart post! Growing up, when we traveled, we drove EVERYWHERE. We went camping a lot, which made it a necessity, but the end result is that even as an adult I never even think about flying as a real option. I need to break that habit, especially as I start to travel more and more. Thanks for showing how you can compare the costs and pros and cons of driving versus flying – definitely keeping this in mind for my next trip.
Thanks Kali! What you’re saying just might be the case with a lot of people, who just ignore flying as an option. However, like many things, if we stop and take a closer look while really thinking things through, flying could actually be an option much more often than we realize. I say that even though in the example I shared, driving was the decision. But I can see that you picked up on the factors considered in the assessment, which is what I was hoping to convey!
I used I live in the suburbs of Chicago and I would absolutely drive! I never experienced a time-savings by flying out of Midway or O’Hare because you have to factor in traffic, airport parking, shuttle to the terminal, and then the long lines at security.
However, the boredom factor from driving by myself does make flying a much more valuable option. Listening to audiobooks or podcasts on the road can help with the “watched pot” syndrome (might I suggest the MoneyPlan SOS podcast?)
Parking at the Mansion House garage is only $8 (cash only) when exiting (no in-and-out privileges). I live in St. Louis and have parked there many times. You exit through the Crown Plaza hotel – which is on the other side of the street from the Hyatt. This makes for a very frugal option.
BTW: Did you plan on checking a bag if flying? That could increase your estimate by $25 each way.
Steve – thanks for the parking tip! Given that there probably won’t be a need to be leaving the hotel via car during FinCon, your suggestion just might work. Much appreciated.
I generally choose to drive because I don’t mind driving and in most cases the prices would end up being about the same by the time we rent a car on the other end. We don’t live near a major market airport so flights are more expensive for us.
If you don’t mind driving, that helps. For some reason, I’m kind of looking forward to the drive this time.
I do miss the road trips since have to fly to get anywhere. I’ve never really been to Chicago I want to go when you guys have the taste of Chicago.
Chicago is a great place to visit, particularly in the summer.
Unless we talk at least 2k miles to the destination, we’re gonna drive. I have the car to be used, not admired, so I really don’t bother my mind with it being ‘used’. We also like not worrying about luggage and airfare can get really expensive if you want to get some stuff with you 😉
I’m with you on not worrying about my car being admired, though it’s in good shape at this point and looks good. Now, if a drive is 1k miles, that’s a long way! I think I’ll fly in that case 🙂
I guess I’m lucky in the Northeast that we have such great bus lines. It’s so cheap and easy to get anywhere that’s a few hours away by either Megabus or Bolt Bus that the decision’s not a tough one — especially since I don’t have to do the driving myself and there’s WiFi and power included.
I will say it’s a shame that we don’t have better trains — would extend even further the easily coverable distance I could travel
That’s nice for convenience, I know what you mean. Having someone else responsible for driving makes things much more relaxed, and allows for multitasking. Good benefits!
I drove to Chicago from Toronto for fincon11. Let me tell you, never again. Ten hours is just too long of a time to be in the car.
I’ve done that drive before, a few times. That’s a long drive, accompanied by a potentially long border crossing. The last time I went to Toronto I took a flight, based on prior experience.
I would drive 300 in a heartbeat. I drive 600 round trip in a day when I pick up or drop off my college freshman. It is a horrible drive, but we really have no other options.
Have fun!
With no other options, it seems like you must drive. In my case, where I live, I do have quite a few options in terms of flights since there are multiple major airports close by. However, sometimes it can be nice to drive!
We always believe that if we go on car and it will take almost a day to reach our destination, then getting on plane is a wiser decision.
A full day in a car doesn’t seem as easy and relaxing of a trip as flying. If it’s a big family, it might get expensive to fly.
My wife’s best friend lives about 400 miles away. They fly to see each other every now and then. They also make the drive if they are planning to stay for a week or so. They like to have their own vehicle to mess around in and visit other people, and they can easily load up the trunk with more luggage, games, and things to share. So it comes down to the purpose of the trip and the length of the stay.
Bryce – that makes sense. If the trip requires packing a lot of things and/or a lot of local driving, there are added expenses involved with flying. Such as, baggage fees and rental car costs.
I’d much rather fly somewhere or take a train than drive. Unless it’s somewhere really close. I just am not a big fan of driving. I’ve been taking public transit for so long that I try to avoid being behind the wheel myself whenever possible.