How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
Before 9/11, flying wasn’t great, with the airlines’ drift towards being flying bus lines, but it was awfully convenient. Now, it’s not, not just because of the TSA follies.
Courtesy of Small Dead Animals, I read this Globe & Mail column stating that 1,000 miles is about the author‘s minimum distance beyond which flying becomes more attractive than driving. It occurred to me that that’s about the distance I’d mentally adopted. I’m willing to drive from the Upper Midwest to, say, Washington, D.C. I've got to fly to New Mexico for a weekend, but if it were a longer trip, I might consider driving. And, all things being equal, I like flying.
Now, all of this is lunatic, in a way, given the vastly greater time (and danger) of road travel compared to air travel, but the sheer unpleasantness, slowness, and relative unreliability of flying seems to be pushing a lot of people away.
How about you? Any mile marker at which the calculus changes? And has it moved one way or the other in recent years?
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Oct '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
I live in NJ and I have family in Florida which is almost exactly 1,000 miles away. Even before 9/11 I liked driving because I needn't rent a car and I could bring what I wanted. Now, with the TSA, as well as the luggage surcharges, I'd probably drive if it were say 1,200 miles.
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
My recent trip was so unpleasant--mostly the outbound flight, the flight back was okay--that I would seriously consider snorkeling next time. Time and money, not risk, is the boundary on my decision-making. It's so much cheaper and so much faster to fly cross-country that I can't really imagine driving (it would count as a "vacation," not a "rational business decision). But I'd accept driving-levels of risk to have flying be as comfortable as driving. At least, I think I would: Maybe I'd feel differently if I started seeing regular headlines about planes dropping out of the sky.
Dec '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
It depends on how long I'd be away. For a weekend 300 miles would be about it. For a week, maybe 1000. If I were retired and did not have to be anywhere: anywhere in the 48.
Jun '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
Not a fair question, I love to drive. I'm sure I would love to fly if I actually flew the plane, but since I don't, I don't love to fly. In short I'm up for a road trip anytime and usually any where.
Dec '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
I drive about 1000mi between Colorado and Idaho a few times a year, and I have no complaints. My limit, is usually whatever I could drive in a day, so under 16hrs. ID to CO is about 13hr. Flights to more rural airports (like Boise) are still pretty expensive, so I tend to save money, even if I'm driving alone. The only thing that detours me, and only seasonally, are the snow drifts on Wyoming roads.
Dec '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
double post
Edited on August 3, 2011 at 9:15amFeb '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
It also depends on whether you are travelling alone.
Jul '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
Same here; I hate to fly. One thing I'd like to mention, though, is that flying in and out of a small-town is a lot more pleasant than it is to do the same from metropolitan areas. I fly fairly often between LaGuardia and Billings (change in Minneapolis), and let me tell you the experience is a lot more pleasant on the Montana end. Not just because the scale is more human but because the people who work there are polite and efficient. In New York I think all TSA employees need to pass the "how to behave as if you have a chip on your shoulder" class in order to be certified.
Nov '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
76 m.p.h. x 14 hours = 1,064 miles.
After my last flight I decided dying alone in a hurtling box I'm steering is preferable to dying in a hurtling box full of strangers piloted by others. And the freedom to whip into a quick shop at will for a microwave burrito is enough to assuage my fear of a head-on with a tweeting cheerleader.
Aug '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
I used to fly a lot. I even remember a time when it was fun. Now, I only fly commercial to Alaska, Hawaii, and Europe. Everything else has become a road trip. In other words, I fly only if I have no other option.
Road trips can be quite enjoyable when strategically timed to miss metropolitan rush hours when passing through a city. But I must admit the the old jingle updated for the times, 'See the USA in your Government Motors Bailout Vehicle' does not work for me. But I don't have a Chevy and expect I never will, so its a moot point, I suppose.
Fortunately, Online Web conferencing has reduced the need for business travel considerably.
Aug '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
In Los Angeles for carmageddon people raced from Burbank to Long Beach (about 45 miles) on a bicycle versus an airplane. The bicycle won on door-to-door time, largely thanks to security.
Another factor is whether I want my car at my destination --- sometimes it's a necessity other times it's just more hassle. We took a train from Boston to NYC a few years ago largely to avoid having to park in Manhattan. However a couple months later I drove from Boston to New Jersey, which was both further and I was by myself. The difference is that if I'm going to a city with cheap parking and no public transportation then I want to have my car when I get there. This is of course one of the basic issues that HSR zealots overlook, nobody is going to take HSR from Houston to Dallas or Miami to Tampa because you don't want to take the metro bus around once you arrive.
Apr '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
J.C., the freedom to eat a microwave burrito is no kind of freedom at all.
:-)
(Just kidding. But if I ever go on a road trip with you, can I make mine a bag of salt-n-vinegar chips?)
Jul '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
Our farthest grandchildren are 1100 miles. I prefer to drive for all the reasons above. Actually, as it takes nearly all day to "fly" a 2.5 hr. flight, the drive only adds a few hours the next day, and I have our car, can change our schedule, stop when I wish, carry whatever I wish including my trusty Kimber .45, and I don't get treated like a piece of dog [expletive] en route.
Edited on August 3, 2011 at 3:40pmDec '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
I've logged a little over 2 million miles in the air over the past 15 years. I've got 2 rules of thumb - one for business, one for pleasure. For business, if it's over 5 hours driving, I fly. Unfortunately, when you live in Portland, the only cities of any size that fall within the 5 hour range are Seattle and Spokane.
For pleasure I extend it out a little further, depending on how much pleasure time I have on my hands. I'll drive to LA (about 17-18 hours) if I've got a full vacation week (9 days), breaking it up into 2 days each way. If the number of days is limited - like for a long weekend - 8 hours is the max. That means Boise or Sacramento.
Apr '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
The Great Adventure!: I've logged a little over 2 million miles in the air over the past 15 years. I've got 2 rules of thumb - one for business, one for pleasure. For business, if it's over 5 hours driving, I fly. Unfortunately, when you live in Portland, the only cities of any size that fall within the 5 hour range are Seattle and Spokane.
For pleasure I extend it out a little further, depending on how much pleasure time I have on my hands. I'll drive to LA (about 17-18 hours) if I've got a full vacation week (9 days), breaking it up into 2 days each way. If the number of days is limited - like for a long weekend - 8 hours is the max. That means Boise or Sacramento. · Aug 3 at 5:40am
Ditto here, with several flights every month. Being in NJ, there are lots of great driving destinations that I visit frequenly for work - Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Washington. Prior to 9/11, I always flew to these places. With the family, we love to take long driving vacations and have gone to FL and SC several times.
Jan '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
1000 miles is waaay too far for me. I don't mind driving, but I don't especially like it. I feel just as cooped up in a car as I do a plane, but on a plane I can at least read, watch a movie, etc. not to mention I can walk around, a little bit, if I want to stretch my legs. When I do the math I estimate about 2.5 - 3.5 hours time for me getting to the airport, going through security, waiting at the gate, boarding, unboarding, getting bags, renting car, and getting to destination, then I add the flight time. Anything over 6 hours seems like a waste of time to me. So I'm going to say my limit is 400 miles.
I guess I just have too many memories of being crammed in the back of the station wagon with the luggage when my Mom, Dad, and four brothers and sisters used to go on vacation. Being in the car is no fun for me.
Edited on August 3, 2011 at 3:12pmJun '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
It depends on the time allowed. I love the freedom of putting bikes and anything else we want in the back of the mini van and hitting the road on our own time schedule. But we do need to fly on the next three trips scheduled for this year: Ireland, South Carolina, and Las Vegas. It can't be helped. My daughter's band booked two rental cars to head out to a gig in Wisconsin. Flights are outrageously priced, and limits/surchages & headaches for instruments as carry-ons for eight members would have been crazy......they'll share the 2100 mile round trip driving duties. Glad I'm not in the cars with them!
Sep '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
At a conference I was at several years ago, a panel participant told the story of how the CEO of Southwest Airlines was being criticized by other airlines for setting prices way below the industry standard, to which the CEO replied (something to the effect of): what you don't understand is, we're not competing against other airlines; we're competing against the automobile.
Aug '10
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
I've driven 2,611 kms rather than fly. However, it was largely because I had a lot of computer gear to take with me, and shipping it overnight would have been one heck of a hassle. Plus, every Canuckistani should drive the Trans-Canada Highway at least once. Northern Ontario is fantastic.
Apr '11
Re: How Far Would You Have to Drive Before You’d Prefer to Fly?
I stopped flying back when they started requiring photo ID (sometime in the 80's, I guess), so there's no distance in the CONUS I won't drive. Before that I enjoyed flying for distances as short as a couple hundred miles. I particularly enjoyed being invited into the cockpit (infrequently) when the pilots found out I was an aircraft mechanic. I don't imagine that happens much anymore, or courtesy visits extended to private pilots.