Comments on: Fly or Drive?

By: Jim Slade

Jim Slade — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:48:23 +0000

Unless it’s over water, I go by car. I savor the freedom and love the intimate view of the country. I go when I please, I stop when I please. Nobody makes me take off my shoes or sit beside someone I don’t know. My car stereo is better than the airline junk and my car has its own navigation and telephone.
Most of all, I see the country..this beautiful country with all its flavors.
I spent more than 50 years on the airlines and watched them deteriorate into the cattle trains they are. The airplanes themselves are beautiful, but what a way to treat them!
Jim Slade

By: John

John — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 02:30:18 +0000

For me it is economics as well as the overall hassle of flying now. If it takes more than a day to drive to the place I’ll consider flying.

TSA’s mindless “security” is at best irritating mostly in the airport, but some of that insanity extends inflight was well. TSA is just part of the challenge to me, the large number of people who are either clueless or think they are special and muck up the boarding process make me want to just avoid airports. The late boarders, those carrying more luggage on than “permitted” just all compound the less than pleasant experience in airports. Way to many people think the rules do not apply to them, and I avoid those types whenever possible.

Most of the time we end up needing a vehicle on the trip, and that further detracts from flying.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:27:12 +0000

Let’s see – if I still had access to that Cessna 182, it’s a no brainer! Anything more than 300 miles, I’m flying! As far as commercial flying, due to the hassles already mentioned, I’m probably going to fly at distances of 700 miles or more, unless ticket costs are way up!

By: JohnM Brussels

JohnM Brussels — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:06:23 +0000

How far does a trip have to be before letting the train take the strain ? Here in Europe we have high-speed rail networks with trains travelling at up to 180 Mph. City center to city centre, it is very convenient (provided you are not too far from the network) and has replaced almost all short-haul air travel less that 300 miles.

By: NYC-HDL

NYC-HDL — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:48:35 +0000

This really depends on how far you are from the airport, and how you would get there. In NYC, I have to allow 60 to 90 minutes to get to the airport, and the cost of a taxi is between $50 and $90. These are all relevant factors to consider when flying (as would be the cost of parking for those who would drive to the airport — a 3-day parking cost is vastly different from a 3-week parking cost).

For trips of 200 to 300 miles, I actually prefer Amtrak — after considering transit time to/from the airport, security lines and other delays, it is usually faster than flying. The seats are more comfortable, too.

By: JohnD

JohnD — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:13:17 +0000

It really isn’t a question of “how far?” for me; it is instead a question of “How much time?”

Driving 300 miles takes about five hours if you obey the speed limit. Flying 300 miles takes an hour to drive to the airport, an hour (at least!) to get through security, an hour-plus to fly, a half-hour to get your checked baggage, and another hour to drive to your final destination; that adds up to nearly five hours, and assumes that the airline hasn’t changed the schedule or cancelled the flight or decided to reassign your seat because it is a day ending in “y”.

At 500 miles, the time advantage turns slightly in the airlines’ favor, and it is clearly faster to fly 700 miles than to fly – unless something goes really wrong with the airline.