THAN!! "cheaper to fly THAN it is to drive."

Yes submitter, this is because the airlines are operating at huge losses, billions. They're in a constant fare war and cannot raise ticket prices because the first one to do so will lose all their business over night.

Get back to teaching English 101 Rob. The world needs more GTA instructors like you.

Reading that article was like being stuck in freeway traffic.

We need a nationalized airline. Nobody ever listens to me.

it is now cheaper to fly then it is to drive

Not counting that tax money that's being used to prop up the airlines, though.

Con_Authority: Yes submitter, this is because the airlines are operating at huge losses, billions. They're in a constant fare war and cannot raise ticket prices because the first one to do so will lose all their business over night.

Not to mention that they know they can suckle at the government welfare teat whenever they are threatened with bankruptcy.

Peak energy? Guess I'd better book a table at Milliway's.

Noexit: THAN!! "cheaper to fly THAN it is to drive."

Thank you.

Than, a conjunction, is used to compare things.
Then, an adverb, is used with descriptions of time.

Let me be the first to suggest that was should create a nationalized airline.

:)

pigeonstopper: We need a nationalized airline. Nobody ever listens to me.


Are you farking kidding me?!

/No wonder

a nationalized airline makes more sense than subsidizing every airline.

which isn't to say that both options aren't distasteful, of course.

Con_Authority: Yes submitter, this is because the airlines are operating at huge losses, billions. They're in a constant fare war and cannot raise ticket prices because the first one to do so will lose all their business over night.

When did Southwest start operating at a loss?

Sloth_DC: When did Southwest start operating at a loss?

when was southwest anything other than the exception to the rule?

heap: a nationalized airline makes more sense than subsidizing every airline.

We don't subsidize every airline - just the old ones. There are at least two airlines not being subsidized, and one of them is mentioned in the article.

Sloth_DC: We don't subsidize every airline - just the old ones.

well, that's certainly a good thing....

as long as two of them don't suck away our tax money every couple of years, everything is OK.

heap: when was southwest anything other than the exception to the rule?

Well, it was the airline used in the article, which Con Authority seems to think is operating at a loss to be cheaper than driving.

I know I'm just being a biatch, but every time I submit a correctly spelled headline, it gets rejected.

Maybe I should just fark off on my spelling, and all will be well.

not too many flights go for $39. I would say that for the great majority of flights it is still cheaper to drive.

...but then you wouldn't have a cheeky news story about it.

The article does not factor in the cost of driving to and from the airport or the price of a shuttle or cab. So unless you live at the Baltimore Airport and have meetings at the Islip airport the price comparison isn't valid.

This is just the end of cheap energy. There is still plenty of oil to be had. it is just costlier to get and refine into the yummy juice we love so much.

Depends how many people you can fit in your vehical.

I actually did a price comparison for a 900 mile trip 5 years ago and it was cheaper to fly than drive then too.

but is cheaper to the enviroment? surely pollution per mile from planes is FAR higher than by car

completely disregards the added cost of rental cars or public transportation after flying.

sf-la for $60 flying isn't so much better a deal than driving depending on what kind of car you drive, and having wheels when you get there makes all the difference.

whatshisname

That's a good handle. I'm always referring to someone as whatshisname or whozit. Sometimes assface.

In June I'm flying from Louisville to Phoenix, and driving my GF's car back. Wanna guess which is more expensive? like 5x more? ugh.

Sloth_DC: When did Southwest start operating at a loss?

By singling out Southwest, you've pointed the way to why it would be cheaper to fly than drive. Airlines all hedge future oil prices to some extent by purchasing futures. Southwest hedged more than the others, and is thus in better shape in the current climate. Once their ladder of futures contracts runs out, there's a problem. Anyway, in an environment of quickly-rising oil prices, if one group (airlines) is holding futures and another (drivers) is not, the one group will tend to have an advantage.

For some reason all the peak oil "debunkers" that used to post on Fark maybe a year or so ago seem to have disappeared. Where did they all go?

gtothemacp: surely pollution per mile from planes is FAR higher than by car

Can you fit 200 people in your car?

gtothemacp: but is cheaper to the enviroment? surely pollution per mile from planes is FAR higher than by car

Depends on the occupancy of the plane, really.

What does the train cost? Bicycle? Donkey?

i Haet to speling nazi's. Way too ruen a thred. this iz knot skool kidz. U wanna pick on ghrammar etc.. take up a tutorin job!!

Shenanigans. There's NFW he got 34.9MPG, going 75MPH, in a Camry. They get good mileage, but not 34.9 highway. It's rated at 33MPG, by the EPA. Unless he drove the whole thing, without stopping or slowing down, this didn't happen.

How much do busses cost?

whatshisname
Than, a conjunction, is used to compare things.
Then, an adverb, is used with descriptions of time.

"Then" also functions in a cause and effect situation. Still, it's definately not used properly in the headline.

In a sure sign junk science still makes the front page, this thread is born.

relaxitsjustme: What does the train cost? Bicycle? Donkey?

Shanks' Mare?

/yes, I'm old, shaddap
//lawn!

Retarded article. Last time I went to the airport, you either had to pay to park, or pay a taxi to get you there. Details.

And Con_Authority.... "because the airlines are operating at huge losses, billions. They're in a constant fare war and cannot raise ticket prices because the first one to do so will lose all their business over night. "

That was then, this is now.

Airlines are enjoying some of the highest fare environments they have in years. Fare wars are dead. A metric called RASM (revenue per available seat mile) has been rocketing at 10%+ clips for the past few months. Lastly, not a single US airline is posting operating losses anymore. Net income, however, is a different story.

submitter here. I spotted my typographical error immediately after I had hit the "Submit" button. I tried to rectify it by submitting the same article from a different source, and with a correctly spelled alternate headline that I thought was much funnier.

Normally, I'm a better speller and typist than this headline.

I am forced to disregard anything that is said when someone uses then for than.

/peeved!

thekavorka: Last time I went to the airport, you either had to pay to park, or pay a taxi to get you there. Details.

Well, you could always live where there's public transit.

/I know, teh horrors!

Incedentally, this makes my Third approved submission, all of which have had some sort of typographical or grammatical error... I seem to have discovered a pattern.

I'd rather pay the extra money to drive and get to live to reach my destination.

(Or if I get killed along the way, at least get to avoid the two minutes of screaming terror as I plummet from the sky.)

LicenceToFark: Haet to speling nazi's. Way too ruen a thred. this iz knot skool kidz. U wanna pick on ghrammar etc.. take up a tutorin job!!

It is not a spelin issue. It's a grammmer isshue. The subbmitter didnt' spell what he ment rong, He don't no how to yooz the rite werd. Dingus!

it burns when i pee.

yeah i think it's only like $15/week for a bus pass in la, but i put a pretty high value on private voyages as opposed to public ones.

so if I bought a plan and flew my 40 minute commute every day it would be cheaper?

drta

The flight cost $39.30, including tax.

The drive cost $41.26, including tolls. Gas at an Exxon near the Islip airport cost $3.20 a gallon that day.

It was a trip between Baltimore and NY. Anyone who has driven in this corridor knows the folly of this comparison... THE TOLLS!!! Going through Deleware costs you an arm and a leg just to pass through their tiny, tiny amount of highway. Then there's the Jersey turnpike, the tunnel in Baltimore's toll, tolls outside of NYC... etc...

Take out the tolls, and no, actually it's STILL cheaper to drive. There are also other factors to consider...

ALSO that is ONLY on that one particular - very well travelled - route. They get economies of scale working due to the volume...

In any case there are going to be examples of it being more expensive to drive here, and less to drive there... What should REALLY be considered is how much more efficient it is to fly, rather than drive. ALL those people piled into all those cars DOES cost more than flying them around. Yes, the plane is pretty expensive, but not so much considering how much it's used over the decades of it's serviceable lifespan...

I always wondered how the cost of an oxygen rebreather, catheter/waste collection system, food and water rations, and an appropriate crate with which to ship myself UPS would compare to a passenger flight. Probably about the same, and with the courier, I'd arrive damaged.