It’s a quandary many travelers contemplate when traveling for the busy travel season: “Should I drive or fly?” It’s a confusing choice: driving vs flying.
The Car Coach Lauren Fix shares the top five reasons why traveling by automobile is the way to go.
When considering travel for more than one person, The Family Funmobile is definitely more economical. A family of four traveling from New York to Florida can easily spend upwards of $1,200 just on the plane tickets. The same trip by car at nearly $4 per gallon and 25 mpg still totals only $360, according to Travel Math.com.
Instead of rushing to your destination, make the drive part of your vacation. Plan stops along the way that the whole family would enjoy and visit historic and quirky attractions. There is so much you miss when flying that you never knew existed along the highways and byways of your route.
Unless you really enjoy a Home Alone-esque trip to the airport to catch a plane, take the car! Do you really want to wake up at 5 a.m. to catch an 8 a.m. flight? And what if you oversleep? Sure a flight might take less time, but think about all the extra details and stress. Everyone present? IDs and documents in hand? Transportation to the airport? Transportation from the airport? Rental car when you get to your destination? Long lines at baggage check? Taking the car eliminates most of the stresses of travel.
Facing off with a TSA agent over “enhanced pat downs” or radiation-producing X-Ray machines is not a great start to a vacation. Plus if you drive there is no stale, recycled air or other people’s crying children. Neither are there kids—or rude adults—kicking the back of your seat and no germ-spreading coughing from the sick person next to you. You can avoid that passenger who wants to talk the entire four hour flight, too. And the real bonus? No uncomfortable, claustrophobic seats. If you drive, you get to ride in the comfort of your own car.
Planning on getting out of town for the spring? Good luck with that. With the furloughs “as a result of automatic budget cuts” the family vacation may turn into the family-stays-at-the-airport-and-waitcation. Besides, with fewer air traffic controllers and the ones on duty probably getting overworked, who wants to take the safety risk? Furloughs might be reason enough to save your money and drive your car on vacation.