How far of a drive to a tourney before you decide to fly?

[4Martini]

Just curious at what drive length people decide to fly. Especially with how unreliable the airlines seem to be lately getting you where you booked on time.

I have a 10 hour drive tourney that I just can’t decide on. I’m guessing door to door flying will be 6-7 hours if all goes well. But less than half of my recent flights have gone on time/ gone at all.

 

[Lance Steckler]

don't forget to add the additional check bag(s) fees you will need versus throwing all clothes and gear in your vehicle

 

[HunterMO]

At 10-hours, we likely still drive. If we have to travel on a school day, DD can get her schoolwork up front and work during the drive. Or get it done during downtime at the hotel. At this point, the cost of plane ticket, baggage fee, and rental car rarely meet or beat average cost of gas.

That drive is around 4-6 gas stops round trip (up and back, not counting during in area fill-ups during the tournament). Let's say you average 20mpg, I would estimate 3 fill-ups per leg (there and back). It's probably 2, but lets round up. (6 x 28-gal) x $3.25 = $546. Food is probably $75 - $100(ish) for the day (assuming breakfast, lunch, and dinner stops). You could obviously keep that lower. So that's $646.

Per Southwest, you'd average a 5 - 5.5 hour flight. Average "Wanna Get Away" is $250 per person after taxes & fees. But you get two bags free. That's 500. Plus food expense. Plus a rental car if needed. And you'd still have to fill up the rental with gas before returning (unless you choose the option where you don't have to and play that game). Factor in time before flight (1 - 2 hours), waiting on bags (20-30min) and picking up rental (30min - 1hr)....your total travel time is probably 8 - 9 hours. Give or take.

I'm sure you can spend some time to nickle and dime the flight cost down. Pre-pack snacks for the flight to mitigate airport food costs. So it then boils down to ease and comfort of travel. If my difference of total travel time is 2-3 hours, I'm likely driving. More comfortable and more on my time. Less cattle herding in the airport and less risk of losing a bag (though I've been fortunate on that the past couple years). You also have the freedom of coming and going as you want. And as soon as a rental car is needed, you're upside down on cost.

 

[uncdrew]

Just curious at what drive length people decide to fly. Especially with how unreliable the airlines seem to be lately getting you where you booked on time.

I have a 10 hour drive tourney that I just can’t decide on. I’m guessing door to door flying will be 6-7 hours if all goes well. But less than half of my recent flights have gone on time/ gone at all.

How long the tournament is (in days) factors into my decision. Longer trip, save more money on rental car needs if you drive. And of course the longer the gap between driving there and driving home helps.

For a 10 hour drive... Would need to be all week for me. Otherwise I fly or don't go. Fortunately for my situation, our long trips are the week-long California and Colorado. Our weekend tourneys are usually an hour away, sometimes up to 4-5.

 

[ChrisSB]

We drove to scenic city, which was 9 hours. I didn't think it was a bad drive at all. Colorado would've been a 16 hour drive so we flew there.

 

[JayIndy]

I always look at what do I want to drive back, not so much getting there. Leaving on a Thursday night is different than heading out on a Sunday afternoon after a long weekend. We always look at the balance of time off vs car rental vs flight costs. I enjoy driving so 10 hours or so is not bad. We did Colorado drive once from Indiana, never again!

 

[Orange Socks]

It all depends. We always drove to Colorado (15 hrs). Pretty scenery really helps. Flew to Cali, St Louis, Atl. Free on SW Rapid Rewards program.

 

[HunterMO]

Free on SW Rapid Rewards program.

This is a big one. I travel a lot for work. So lots of flight and hotel points. At 12-15 hours, I typically will go ahead and tap into those.

 

[Orange Socks]

This is a big one. I travel a lot for work. So lots of flight and hotel points. At 12-15 hours, I typically will go ahead and tap into those.

When DD was a freshman I decided to start putting all expenses on my RR card. I haven't paid for a flight out of pocket in 8 years. Also, look into taking advantage of the Chase eco system of credit cards. Sign up bonuses and referring back and forth with spouse is a difference maker too. Several facebook sites. Travel on Points, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Partners, 10X Travel Insiders.

 

[Northball]

Drove to Boulder from MN, broke it up over two days.
Straight shot return trip. Longest 13 hours of my life.