“You’re driving there?” I was asked this in the same tone someone might ask, “You’re ripping your fingernails out?” See, the company I was working for at the time was doing a “brand activation” at a Supercross race – we were doing them at every race on the circuit that year – and while the rest of team was hopping on a two-hour flight to get to the event, I drew the short straw and would be driving the five or six hours to the venue so I could bring a pickup-truck bedload’s worth of stuff we needed to set up the activation.
But I hadn’t actually drawn the short straw, at least not accidentally: no, I requested the short straw, and the drive it represented. I was looking forward to it, in fact. This stunned my work buddies, who thought I would have it hard while they had it easy. It was the other way around, I explained.
“Let’s do the math,” I said. “Is a two-hour flight really a two-hour flight? You’re going to drive about a half-hour to the airport, take at least another 30 minutes to get through security and to the gate, and then blow an hour waiting at the gate and boarding. We’ll assume the plane takes off and lands on time, and the flight is precisely two hours. You’re going to kill another 30 minutes deplaning and getting your bags, then 30 more getting the rental cars, and then you’re driving at least 40 minutes to the venue. That’s 340 minutes, divide by 60 … five hours and 36 minutes.”
I could see it starting to register. “Going through security, sitting in a gate chair eating a garbage lunch, squeezing into a coach seat, waiting in line at the rental place … none of that sounds fun to me. While you’re doing that, I’m going to hop into a nice, new Honda Ridgeline [the company had just purchased one as an errand runner] and take a scenic drive through southern Texas – alone – as I blast my music as loud as I want. I’ll stop to refill the tank at Buc-Ee’s, stretch my legs a bit and enjoy a chopped brisket sandwich with those hand-cut potato chips of theirs, then hit a full-size, nice-n-private bathroom stall before heading back out on the road in a comfy seat, with my tunes on the stereo and a giant Coke in the cupholder. I’ll arrive about the same time you do. Who will be more refreshed and less sore, you think?”
So, long story short: if the drive is going to be 12 hours or less, and it’s not expected to be a traffic beatdown, I will choose driving over flying every time.
Your turn: How Long Does A Drive Have To Be Before You Consider Flying Instead?
Top graphic images: depositphotos.com
Highly variable dependent on what flights are available out of Albany and how much they cost. Sometimes I’m driving to Newark to get on a flight, which is already a 3.5 hour drive from here (which is what I’ll be doing in May for my flight to Belize).
Typically my limit is 12 hours of driving, which is about what I’m willing to drive in a single day, though I’ve stretched that up to 14 if the destination is nowhere near an airport. In a world where I and my wife had more vacation time, I would hardly ever choose to fly domestically. But if I have a destination to get to, I can’t be spending multiple days getting there, and multiple getting back.
“Traffic beatdown” is the key phrase. I live in Tampa and I’d take a plane or a train to Orlando if I could because traffic’s gotten just that bad.
It’s very true. I guess some smart people did some smart studies and determined that the Atlantic side would be more profitable (which I can understand b/c Orlando and all), but boy would the Gulf side benefit from use of those freight tracks.
I’m not pretending to know the answer, or proposing that the Brightline Murder Express (ha) make it’s way west, but it’d sure be nice to have.
Tampa to Ft. Meyers would surely work out. Having stops in Sarasota, Punta Gorda, connecting all the airports. It doesn’t have to have 20 stops, just like 8 or so.
Well, since people have been trying to put high speed rail in from Tampa to Orlando for 20 years (yikes, I’m old), maybe if I live to 70, I’ll get to see it in play. Of course, I’ll be sitting in traffic watching the construction.
That idea is so dumb. The use case to go from Tampa to friggin’ Orlando, off all places, has to be pretty low, lol.
Like I said before, and to even further the thought, a line on the Gulf side would be great, even better if it went all the way up to Tallahassee.
A trip from Sarasota to the Capital would obviously be a long ride, but as of now one can only puddle jump (sometimes in the opposite direction) to get there, or take a bus.
Taking the bus in Florida is an adventure I’m not sure many people would want to do.
12 hours is around the time I’ll consider flying, but stress on “consider”. Then there are other factors. Will I be camping at my destination? If so, I’d much rather bring my own equipment than rent camping supplies when I get there. Are there interesting stops along the way? Leaving aside actual attractions along the route, sometimes a long drive means it’s not far out of my way to visit an old friend / family / in-laws.
Sadly, my wife strongly prefers to fly. She takes great pride in having pre-check, in flying often enough for work (and using the “right” credit cards) that she gets lounge access, etc. She also likes the window seat. So I end up flying in the middle seat of economy+. I hate it.
I’ll gladly drive 8 hours one way. Leave early enough, you still get a full day at wherever you are going and traveling probably takes the same amount of time and now you are free to wander at your location and it is probably cheaper. Especially if you add in a spouse and toddler.
Growing up in Georgia, I’d do a four drive across the middle of the state to see my then fiance for a day and then turn around and drive back. That was in a truck with no cruise control going down the eternally dull I-16 for half the drive. Driving is easy when things are spread out.
It isn’t like the plane is more comfortable or all that much faster MOST of the time. I’m looking at cost of the ticket, how much I need a car at my destination, total time, cost of a potential rental car, how much stuff I need to take…there are a lot of factors.
12 hours
I have been from NC to upstate NY many times. Roughly 12 hrs. I have never flown before. However, I have plans to attend Hot Rod Drag Week which begins in Indianapolis. My friend who lives near there is also attending so my plan is to fly into Indianapolis where he will pick me up and we are taking his Mustang to the events.
I’ve done this drive A LOT. My wife has family in NC.
Sometimes there’s a budget airline that flies directly into Raleigh, that we consider if it’s just the two of us, or if it’s just her and my daughter. It’s hard to opt for flying when you’re traveling as a family of four though, even if the flights are cheaper than usual.
I live in Wilmington so we have our own smaller airport. Ideally I can catch one out of there. If it were for a different reason I would likely drive.
You’ve never flown before? Like, ever?
What’s that like knowing you are about to for the first time?
I went up on a private single engine once for about 5 minutes. Outside of that I have never. I am not too bothered. Either it goes well, or it is rapidly no longer my problem.
Right on. Well, it is pretty sweet. Some people take it for granted, but I still look out the window every once in a while to see what life looks life above the clouds 🙂
Have fun!
I drive unless plane tickets will be cheaper than gas. Simple math. Means I’ve ended up driving 24+ hours before, though. T-bird gets good highway mileage (25-35 MPG, depending on terrain) and Canadian flights are expensive.
I am 2.5 hours from a big airport, often 2.5 hours in the wrong direction of where I want to end my travels. Has to be at least 8 hours in the car to even think about flying, but it is usually closer to 12.
Definitely depends on the vehicle. I’ll do ~5 hours even in my crappy pickup with the sloppy steering, bustid A/C and the harmonic balancer about to fall off, but it’s work. There’s a 11 hour roadtrip I want to do, but I’d better fix things up first.
Long-time road warrior here, with a 20-year career traveling all over the USA, usually on short notice. For me, the question of drive vs fly also needs to incorporate the weather. I live in Denver, which is a great airport for getting around the country. Usually, for any trip within 8-10 hours driving, I would drive.
Except if the weather is bad. Lots of points West of Denver require driving in the mountains. If bad weather is expected, I’ll usually choose to fly rather than drive. This time of year (March-April) is when we get the worst storms, so more time in airports. Summertime? More driving, less flying.
I always drive when ever possible. To help prove your point, I could drop a person off at the airport on the north side of Houston and drive to Dallas and pick them up.
I used to regularly drive from NJ to the Detroit area when my parents lived there. A few years ago I drove from Mackinaw City, MI back to NJ in one day. Whilst in a band 20 years ago, we drove from Niagara Falls, NY to Minneapolis, and immediately set up our gear for a gig.
I dislike flying, not for the actual flight itself (with the exception of turbulence), but for feeling like a cattle in numerous lines and the boarding and deplaning process. I don’t like being on someone else’s schedule.
Less an hour limit, as i used to semi-frequently drive cross-country and loved it, but more of a physical barrier limitation. If there’s an ocean in my way, I’ll fly. Or in a time-critical emergency situation.
10 hours of driving time in a day is my absolute maximum – so that’s my upper boundary unless I’m also staying in a hotel. Beyond that, I’m flying.
There isn’t much within 10 hours of here worth visiting and travelling around the USA mostly sucks (why travel the USA when Asia and Europe are so accessible?), so I’m inherently not much of a road trip person – I nearly always fly.
If work didn’t make me fly to Boston once a year I would drive and that would be a 22 hour drive. Every few years when I go to Michigan I always drive the 12 hours or so. Only time I think about flying is when I have to drive through western Nebraska but then I drive anyway cause seeing the mountains come into view as you hit the Colorado border is just awesome.
Don’t forget when you drive you can leave whenever you chose and you car will never get cancelled or delayed
It’s a very simple formula:
set dt = drive_hours set rt = drive_route*index(frustration+delays+boredom) set ob = travel_reason if dt <= 5 then drive(yes) else if ob = "chill & enjoy" then drive(yes) else if ob = "get there" then if dt > 8 then drive(no) if dt < 8 then if rt < moderate then drive(yes) else drive(no) fi fi fiWe as a family of four drove from Ohio to Florida last summer for the first time. We thankfully broke it up to see friends outside of Atlanta. About 16 hours since we made a mistake of stopping at a new Buc-ees as well as somehow getting stuck in traffic in Atlanta Monday morning. But it was tolerable and the kids did pretty good surprisingly.
The drive back, however, was awful as we got stuck in Hilton Head traffic for almost two hours, slept in a shit hotel outside Charlotte that was 4-star on Google somehow and a minute long scare when our car started hiccupping after a fill-up.
I would prefer to take the risk in flying, but we drove because it was going to be $2000+ to fly down and get a rental car. That is a significant amount of money for us normal folks. This year, it’s the same thing so looks like we’re driving again. <insert facepalm emoji>
Ya cost vs time is my big determinant. I have little kids now and whenever I go back to visit family in the west coast, it’s going to be a drive (because we can’t afford all those plane tickets). We’re trying to plan now how to deal with the 30 hours of driving with 3 little kids next year sometime. Should be “fun”…
Best bet is to break it up over multiple days. By the time we got to our friends, the kids were pretty miserable and over being in the car. As soon as they got out and had the ability to run around with our friends’ kids, they perked up a bit.
We also got them each a box that held comic books that they could fill with whatever toys they wanted to take. It doubled as a nice foot rest for them as well. Tablets did help a lot and I hate to admit that.
Ya that’s the going plan right now. From Michigan, do Minnesota (family), Colorado (family), Arizona (family). I could potentially work remotely a little so I wouldn’t be taking 2+ weeks straight off of work. We’ll see how we actually do it
Best of luck.
If I win the lottery I’m going to travel by private rail coach
Rail is the superior form of travel, any hopes I had of my state completing more lines from our local station to nearby cities have vaporized sadly
I prefer to drive, regardless of the distance.
By driving, I’m not tied to a specific itinerary. I can stop wherever I’d like, and if I want to head back home a day early or a day late, I can easily do so without having to hassle with changing flights.
The only time I’d fly over driving is if the route to get there is too convoluted, or I have to be there on short notice and won’t be staying long. I live in the Dallas area, so pretty much anywhere in the South, Southwest, Plains States, and Midwest are driveable. If I were to visit the Pacific Northwest, or the upper East coast, that’s when I’d fly.
I did drive from Dallas to Boston for a friend’s wedding years ago, but I made a stop in Atlanta to pick up my brother, so it worked out well.
in 2025? If it’s across the ocean, or unaccessible by car. Otherwise it’s a Zoom call.
As someone who lives in Maine, anything NYC and beyond is flight territory. All of New England is fine, though Connecticut (mostly just 95) suuuuucks to drive through.
I’d honestly drive to NYC if visiting with a car wasn’t such a pain, but even just passing through on my way to NC (a 15hr+ roadtrip) makes me never want to putt around town there.
Maine just takes a lot of driving. Good thing it’s beautiful driving, because there’s no other options really.
So many factors to contemplate…
How long will I stay at the destination? Will the family be joining? Is it a one-way trip? Is the car comfortable, or am I taking my NA Miata?
On average though, I’d happily drive across the country, as long as I’ve got a relatively comfortable car and good company.
I also don’t mind flying. Yes, it can be uncomfortable sometimes, and yes, it’s a time suck, but there is no better people watching than an airport. I also like playing rental car roulette.
4 hours driving is about the point where I at least look at flights. Though the where and why play a lot into that as well.
Houston to New Orleans? I’m always gonna fly. The traffic can suck, and if there’s an accident on the bridges over the swamps it easily becomes 6-8 hours vs a 1 hour flight.
Houston to Dallas? Generally will drive unless there’s a time crunch and its a work trip- sort of thing where I can go in and out in 1 day vs 8 hours of drive time.
LA to Vegas? I love the drive, so I’ll do it, but I will plan it to make sure I’m not on the road for peak traffic.
Yeah, same. 12-14 hours. I will factor in cost though. If the flight is cheap enough that the gas and wear/tear on my car isn’t worth it, I’ll take the flight.
I did the Amtrak to my parent’s place a few years ago thinking that might be a good way to allow myself work remotely while on the train and not have to take a vacation day for the day out and back. While I was able to work a few hours, the train apparently goes through a lot of AT&T dead zones, and the wifi on the train was unreliable too. It made it very hard to stay online. It also took about 40% longer than driving and the food was really bad (frozen and microwaved to order).