Driving to Chicago from Albany this Thanksgiving is going to be cheaper and less irritating than dealing with everything involved with flying nowadays.

And I'm including the whole driving through Gary part.

And the fact that theStevenson is torn up.

And all of the Pennsylvania drivers.

And Ohio.

So yeah, good job airlines. You and your associated security theater are more irritating than Ohio.

WaltzingMathilda: soze: And I'm including the whole driving through Gary part.

all 4 minutes of it from an isolated and very safe highway?

Yes. It's icky.

The government should really step in and regulate prices

WaltzingMathilda: soze: WaltzingMathilda: soze: And I'm including the whole driving through Gary part.

all 4 minutes of it from an isolated and very safe highway?

Yes. It's icky.

ha, fair enough.

well, i would say that unless you're planning to fly a family or at least planning to fly with one other person, i don't know how driving would be cheaper with $4 gas. i would have to assume that 1 person could fly to alb-chi for less than the round trip of fuel costs, not to mention the value of your time.

The Mini gets about 33mpg, and it's about a 15hr drive. Using NY prices for premium, that's a couple hundred bucks for gas and tolls. I started looking at airfare in August and there's just nothing under $1k for both of us.

I've got plenty of vacation time, and it's worth the extra eight hours to travel in comfort with ample snacky bits and not having to deal with 137 of my least-liked neighbors who don't know how to behave in public. Oh, and not getting groped by anyone who normally shouldn't be groping me.

That should be 33mpg highway. City gets me down to 28mpg. :)

MayoSlather: The government should really step in and regulate prices

Or at least continue to bail out the airline industry.

Credit card companies, banks and airlines should all merge to form two or three giant conglomerative mega-corporations, since their goals with regard to the American consumer are the same.

A new Occupy slogan: "DON'T HATE: JUST REGULATE"

WaltzingMathilda: i don't know how driving would be cheaper with $4 gas.

Already covered in discussion, but more generally, travel by car is better if you're a solo traveler only out to 6-8 hours, depending on how much you detest flying. I travel as part of my job, and the next trip I'm taking is going to be a 6-hour drive (one way) and it's frankly easier AND cheaper. My car gets good mileage (38mpg highway) and I don't need a couple extra hours to park, check in, go through security, etc. I don't need to think about where my pocketknife is; it can be in my effin' pocket where it belongs.

But if you're hauling a family of 4 or more, driving winds up being cheaper for an awful lot of routes. Those would be cases where I'd want to drive a minivan, though. After 3 hours or so, four pairs of legs feel cramped even in a full-size sedan.

I forgot to say: Bear in mind driving around crotchfruit for holiday season barely makes a dent in gas mileage, whereas airlines charge by the seat.

/ You will be making more frequent pit stops than by yourself, though

Unfortunately my Thanksgiving trip takes me from Honolulu to Kingston so Yes I will bend over and grab my ankles Mr. Airline sir,


be gentle

dragonchild: I forgot to say: Bear in mind driving around crotchfruit for holiday season barely makes a dent in gas mileage, whereas airlines charge by the seat.

/ You will be making more frequent pit stops than by yourself, though

Depends.

soze: Driving to Chicago from Albany this Thanksgiving is going to be cheaper and less irritating than dealing with everything involved with flying nowadays.

And I'm including the whole driving through Gary part.

And the fact that theStevenson is torn up.

And all of the Pennsylvania drivers.

And Ohio.

So yeah, good job airlines. You and your associated security theater are more irritating than Ohio.

I'm planning on driving from Maryland to Texas to avoid flying. So yeah.

StrangeQ: soze: Driving to Chicago from Albany this Thanksgiving is going to be cheaper and less irritating than dealing with everything involved with flying nowadays.

And I'm including the whole driving through Gary part.

And the fact that theStevenson is torn up.

And all of the Pennsylvania drivers.

And Ohio.

So yeah, good job airlines. You and your associated security theater are more irritating than Ohio.

I'm planning on driving from Maryland to Texas to avoid flying. So yeah.

PA has the worst Turnpike and drivers in the country. For the love of God it shouldn't take so freakin long to cross your craptastic state! I have no issues with Ohio since the reststops are clean and they aren't working on the entire thing year after year without making any progress at all. Yea PA that's you also. From the time i drive in from Ohio its 75% construction past Harrisburg. EVERY YEAR!!! Seriously have to find a different way out to visit family next year

FrancoFile: dragonchild: I forgot to say: Bear in mind driving around crotchfruit for holiday season barely makes a dent in gas mileage, whereas airlines charge by the seat.

/ You will be making more frequent pit stops than by yourself, though

Depends.

I see what you did there.

I too am doing the drive this thanksgiving.
Plane ticket $200 each person (x4)
Kennel the dog $200 (since I don't want to stick friends with my dog on their holiday)
Or
Rent a car $250-300 for the week
take the dog with us
gas to go about 700 miles each way $150-200.

I just hope i-80 across wyoming isn't to bad, or i-84 isn't bad heading north out of Utah.

eagles95:
PA has the worst Turnpike and drivers in the country. For the love of God it shouldn't take so freakin long to cross your craptastic state! I have no issues with Ohio since the reststops are clean and they aren't working on the entire thing year after year without making any progress at all. Yea PA that's you also. From the time i drive in from Ohio its 75% construction past Harrisburg. EVERY YEAR!!! Seriously have to find a different way out to visit family next year

Don't take the Turnpike, take I-80. It's pretty much all truckers the whole way across the state (not much commuter traffic), there's usually less construction, and as long as you signal lane changes and aren't a complete asshat, the cops usually won't mind if you're doing 80.

Well start charging them for carry-on too at $25 a bag. Since people keep hauling luggage with them on their flights domestically, it was become a nightmare getting on or off the plane and everything is packed to the brim also. I almost missed my flight to Paris because of these people.

This is why along with Delta not offering a nonstop flight to Los Angeles this January is why I am flying with Southwest.

Tube: eagles95:
PA has the worst Turnpike and drivers in the country. For the love of God it shouldn't take so freakin long to cross your craptastic state! I have no issues with Ohio since the reststops are clean and they aren't working on the entire thing year after year without making any progress at all. Yea PA that's you also. From the time i drive in from Ohio its 75% construction past Harrisburg. EVERY YEAR!!! Seriously have to find a different way out to visit family next year

Don't take the Turnpike, take I-80. It's pretty much all truckers the whole way across the state (not much commuter traffic), there's usually less construction, and as long as you signal lane changes and aren't a complete asshat, the cops usually won't mind if you're doing 80.

Noted.....next summer this is what i will do!!

Amtrak: Boston to Trenton, business class, round trip: $321

~5 and a half hours each way, which is about the same time as flying when you factor in having to check in early, boarding, and the inevitable delays, maybe an hour longer if things went perfectly for flying (which they never do). This is almost exactly how long it takes to drive, when I've done the trip before (though this was NOT on a holiday weekend). Despite what jokes people make, Amtrak on the NEC is pretty good, not many delays above half an hour.

No cramped legs from driving for that long, and they even have Yuengling and sammiches. Business class means no screaming crotchlings, and every now and again, an empty seat next to you.

Southwest just announced $59.00 one way fares from now until after Christmas.

Why can't the bigger outfits do something like this?

You know it's sad when a person would rather take AMTRAK to get somewhere, rather than deal with the TSA and the airline's douchebaggery.

WaltzingMathilda: soze: WaltzingMathilda: soze: WaltzingMathilda: soze: And I'm including the whole driving through Gary part.

all 4 minutes of it from an isolated and very safe highway?

Yes. It's icky.

ha, fair enough.

I LOL'd


well, i would say that unless you're planning to fly a family or at least planning to fly with one other person, i don't know how driving would be cheaper with $4 gas. i would have to assume that 1 person could fly to alb-chi for less than the round trip of fuel costs, not to mention the value of your time.

The Mini gets about 33mpg, and it's about a 15hr drive. Using NY prices for premium, that's a couple hundred bucks for gas and tolls. I started looking at airfare in August and there's just nothing under $1k for both of us.

I've got plenty of vacation time, and it's worth the extra eight hours to travel in comfort with ample snacky bits and not having to deal with 137 of my least-liked neighbors who don't know how to behave in public. Oh, and not getting groped by anyone who normally shouldn't be groping me.

yeah, 2 people at holiday prices, you could get away with driving for less. it's probably a wash for one person and in that case i'm going to fly so that i can close my eyes and listen to music and not have to focus on the driving part.

lets also not forget that if you plan your gas filling up properly, you can greatly minimize how much filling 'er up will cost. For examples, this:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

Helps greatly on my trip from NWI (right smack on the IL/IN border) to NJ. You also have the valueadd of having your car with you, which can be huge.


Tube: eagles95:
PA has the worst Turnpike and drivers in the country. For the love of God it shouldn't take so freakin long to cross your craptastic state! I have no issues with Ohio since the reststops are clean and they aren't working on the entire thing year after year without making any progress at all. Yea PA that's you also. From the time i drive in from Ohio its 75% construction past Harrisburg. EVERY YEAR!!! Seriously have to find a different way out to visit family next year

Don't take the Turnpike, take I-80. It's pretty much all truckers the whole way across the state (not much commuter traffic), there's usually less construction, and as long as you signal lane changes and aren't a complete asshat, the cops usually won't mind if you're doing 80.

iiiiiiinteresting! So if i were going to Philly, where would you recommend that I turn off of to get there?

FrancoFile: dragonchild: I forgot to say: Bear in mind driving around crotchfruit for holiday season barely makes a dent in gas mileage, whereas airlines charge by the seat.

/ You will be making more frequent pit stops than by yourself, though

Depends.

Yeah, even a dumb person can do basic sums without effort, if you set your prices so that basically any factor beyond "single person with no luggage going over 1000 miles" makes driving significantly cheaper people aren't going to use your service.

If I could drive back and forth to texas in a two days i'd do it

Considering I just flew to Tulsa and had to pay to check a single bag onto the plane, fark you United Airlines, fark you

Please, please USA, please construct a high speed commuter rail system some time before I die.

/but, socialism, I know

loonatic112358: Considering I just flew to Tulsa and had to pay to check a single bag onto the plane, fark you United Airlines, fark you

United is pretty horrible, but not as horrible as Delta

/has the luxury of only using Frontier, is usually pretty happy
//except for the Embraer E-170 i flew in on christmas day
///how the airline can fly Airbus A318,319, and 320s all the time and then put that piece of trash in the lineup is beyond me

thesilence:
iiiiiiinteresting! So if i were going to Philly, where would you recommend that I turn off of to get there?


I-80 runs right into I-476 in the Poconos, which is a straight shot into Philly. I have almost no experience with 476, though, so for all I know it could be a hundred miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic. I-80's still a great way to dodge the mess that is the Penna Pike, though.

And I should've made Goimir's point, too: I-80 is great until you run into construction, at which point you'll wonder where all the cars came from. If you drive it regularly, make some friends at the truck stops along the way, try to get some advance warning of where the bad spots are. I-80 is the main trucking artery between NYC/New England and the Midwest, and there are a lot of state routes that run parallel at one point or another, so you can usually hear about a good shortcut if you're willing to listen to the pros.

My family has decided we're going to put off Xmas until spring or summer from now on. It's cheaper, and there's little to no chance of getting snowed in somewhere during the summer in the continental US.

Knara: Please, please USA, please construct a high speed commuter rail system some time before I die

^ THIS! So much cheaper, better for the environment, etc. I don't even care if it takes 5x longer than flying -- if I don't have to deal with TSA and a bunch of bullshiat fees, it's worth it.

KSCA75: Southwest just announced $59.00 one way fares from now until after Christmas.

Why can't the bigger outfits do something like this?

Southwest is damn near as big as any other airline in the US, based on the number of aircraft they own/lease. They simply have more empty seats than anyone else over that time frame. They also aren't doing this to be nice, they're trying to make up for poor sales