Road trips how often, how far, how much do you spend, fun stories or nightmares, etc?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Driving requires 100% attention for 5 hours as in my case from Los Angeles to Las Vegas each way. Yes when adding all the wait times for flying it equates to the same amount of time as driving but doesn't require 100% attention as driving. Here are some of the numbers. Driving and gas each way with today's prices is about $80 each way (excluding wear & tear). Flying costs $39 including taxes & fees each way on Southwest. Uber from home to LAX airport is about $15. Then Uber from LAS Harry Reid international (formerly McCarran) to Orleans or Gold Coast (2 comp'd nights at either place) another $15. So costs are about the same for driving or flying. Time-wise about the same as well. Let's say my flight is at 3 pm. From home at 1 pm, I'll order the Uber and get to LAX at 1:30 pm. Lounge, relax, and do a little work if needed until the 3 pm flight. Takes 1 hour to land in Harry Reid so 4 pm now (if not delayed). Uber to Orleans or Gold Coast and check in at 5 pm. Door to door for flying 4 hours and I arrive with at my hotel with hardly any energy or effort. Driving to Las Vegas and I'm drained of all my energy, sweaty, and exhausted. Also, during the drive I have to pee about 4x's each way (I know TMI, lol). Partly because I fill 2 tumblers with ice cubes & water to stay hydrated in the dry Mojave desert atmosphere.

An added benefit of flying is the opportunity to get bumped and compensated for the voluntary bump which could be a topic for another thread. Before the flight I'll go to the podium and volunteer myself to get bumped if the plane is overbooked and they add my name to the list. Sometimes they make an announcement saying they are overbooked and offer to be put on a later flight for a voucher for future use which can be very lucrative. I sit as close as possible to the podium for this very reason in order to be the 1st person to take advantage of this situation. Over the years I've gotten about 10 offers of being bumped which can range from 1x future free roundtrip to as much as 3x. Sometimes they will even compensate even for not getting bumped but being available to be bumped. I remember once where the plane was boarded and I was the lone passenger waiting at the podium for volunteering to be bumped and the agent called for the final passenger "John Smith this is your final boarding call for flight xxxx to Las Vegas." John Smith never came so I boarded the plane and got compensted a free roundtrip voucher for being available to be bumped and still made my flight. Other times they'll make an announcement such as the flight is overbooked and anyone willing to get bumped will get a $300 voucher for future use in addition to be putting on another later flight. The farther the destination the higher the amount. I've heard announcements for Florida or New York gets a $650 voucher, etc.

[Fishindude77]

I love road trips. Taking off on one this week to go out of state hunting for a couple days with some buddies.

Much prefer automobile travel over airline travel. Usually try to stay off the interstates and drive the two lane roads whenever possible as well.

We run around with another couple and occasionally do unplanned road trips. Just pack clothing and money for a few days and take off, destination unknown other than a general direction and no real schedule.
Get off the main roads and see the country. We always find interesting places and things to see and do.

[ua_guy]

Driving requires 100% attention for 5 hours as in my case from Los Angeles to Las Vegas each way. Yes when adding all the wait times for flying it equates to the same amount of time as driving but doesn't require 100% attention as driving. Here are some of the numbers. Driving and gas each way with today's prices is about $80 each way (excluding wear & tear). Flying costs $39 including taxes & fees each way on Southwest. Uber from home to LAX airport is about $15. Then Uber from LAS Harry Reid international (formerly McCarran) to Orleans or Gold Coast (2 comp'd nights at either place) another $15. So costs are about the same for driving or flying. Time-wise about the same as well. Let's say my flight is at 3 pm. From home at 1 pm, I'll order the Uber and get to LAX at 1:30 pm. Lounge, relax, and do a little work if needed until the 3 pm flight. Takes 1 hour to land in Harry Reid so 4 pm now (if not delayed). Uber to Orleans or Gold Coast and check in at 5 pm. Door to door for flying 4 hours and I arrive with at my hotel with hardly any energy or effort. Driving to Las Vegas and I'm drained of all my energy, sweaty, and exhausted. Also, during the drive I have to pee about 4x's each way (I know TMI, lol). Partly because I fill 2 tumblers with ice cubes & water to stay hydrated in the dry Mojave desert atmosphere.

An added benefit of flying is the opportunity to get bumped and compensated for the voluntary bump which could be a topic for another thread. Before the flight I'll go to the podium and volunteer myself to get bumped if the plane is overbooked and they add my name to the list. Sometimes they make an announcement saying they are overbooked and offer to be put on a later flight for a voucher for future use which can be very lucrative. I sit as close as possible to the podium for this very reason in order to be the 1st person to take advantage of this situation. Over the years I've gotten about 10 offers of being bumped which can range from 1x future free roundtrip to as much as 3x. Sometimes they will even compensate even for not getting bumped but being available to be bumped. I remember once where the plane was boarded and I was the lone passenger waiting at the podium for volunteering to be bumped and the agent called for the final passenger "John Smith this is your final boarding call for flight xxxx to Las Vegas." John Smith never came so I boarded the plane and got compensted a free roundtrip voucher for being available to be bumped and still made my flight. Other times they'll make an announcement such as the flight is overbooked and anyone willing to get bumped will get a $300 voucher for future use in addition to be putting on another later flight. The farther the destination the higher the amount. I've heard announcements for Florida or New York gets a $650 voucher, etc.

Makes sense to me. When traveling for leisure/vacation given marginal cost differences, I think people should travel how they want to and what is most comfortable for them. Sometimes flying is THE only way. I'm not driving to Hawaii anytime soon...haha.

And sometimes there isn't time to drive. The husband and I have taken a weekender down to Southern California before. We fly first class, one fare is companion/ free because of miles and other card benefits. We enjoy a cocktail or two in the air and 3 hours later we're on the ground standing among palm trees. That lets us enjoy the most of 2-3 days that we have to spend without the 30+ hours of driving it might take round trip.

For me, when I'm able to incorporate an "interesting" road trip as part of the adventure, avoiding main highways like Fishindude says, that gets me excited and tuned into adventure mode. Windshield time involves a lot of time for deep thinking and introspection, or good conversation if there's a passenger. Even being married for a long time, you'd think we wouldn't have much to talk about, but we do. And that makes silence OK too.

[disneysteve]

QMM, you chose a very specific situation where flying might make sense. Keep in mind that there is only one of you. Add a spouse and a kid or two and the numbers change. You're also going straight to a hotel and staying there or walking around so no car is needed and you probably don't have much luggage.

Out of curiosity, I just priced round trip tickets to Orlando for a week in March. For the 3 of us, it comes to $1,385. That doesn't include a week of airport parking. It doesn't include a rental car when we get there which is probably another $400. So we're looking at about $1,900 just for transportation. Or we can drive. Under $300 for gas. Another $300 for a hotel for one night each way. Total of under $600 instead of $1,900. That's a huge difference.

Driving we also can pack what we want. We aren't limited to 3 oz of shampoo. We can bring drinks and snacks and food to have in our room when we're there.

Driving is also part of the vacation for us. We like to stop at certain places. There are regional snacks we look forward to, like the nut store in Skippers, VA or the fudge shop in North Carolina or the citrus place in southern Georgia. Last time my wife and I drove down, we spent a few hours in Savannah, GA and had a nice lunch on River Street and browsed the shops. We had never been there and it was beautiful.

So yes, sometimes flying might work out best, but generally not and it totally changes the experience and ratchets up the stress level significantly.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Southwest's Rapid Rewards program was a winner before they changed over to this new program. Before 8 roundtrips regardless of price or distance earned 1 free roundtrip to anywhere Southwest flew. Now they go by price and/or distance where my short trips from Los Angeles to Las Vegas takes very long to earn a reward. When the old program was in place I'd fly once a month to Las Vegas and earn 1 free round trip every year which I'd use to go to St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Atlantic City (not direct but had to go to Philly, I think, but drove to AC), New York, New Jersey, Texas, New Orleans, Reno, etc. Those were the good ole days. I would have never gone to those places if wasn't for the free round trip.

[disneysteve]

Takes 1 hour to land in Harry Reid so 4 pm now (if not delayed).

I'd also point out that delays in air travel are quite common, sometimes extreme. A friend was flying Southwest a couple of weeks. They boarded the plane, closed everything up, and then sat on the tarmac for 4 hours before taking off. A few years ago, we were flying to Orlando on one of the rare trips when we didn't drive because we were only going for 2 nights to attend a fundraiser. There was a medical emergency in-flight and we had to land in Raleigh. That added a couple of hours to our trip. We almost missed our reservations that evening. One recent time my wife and I were flying home from West Palm Beach, they couldn't board because they were short one crew member. Someone called out and it took them almost 2 hours to get a replacement person there. The worst we ever had was the time our flight to Orlando got scrapped because of snow. The airport shut down and we were stuck there overnight. We spent over 24 hours at the airport until it reopened the next day and we were finally able to get on a flight.

To be fair, there are delays when driving, too. Traffic. Accidents. Construction. Weather. I'm just pointing out that when comparing times, you need to account for flight delays.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The worst driving delay that I experienced was the Sunday after Thanksgiving maybe a decade ago returning home to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. It was on Megabus which is sort of like a Greyhound bus. The departure time was 1 pm at the South Strip Terminal (SST) bus station, near Harry Reid international airport. We arrived at Los Angeles after midnight. The poor bus driver was exhausted. I told myself never again for the Thanksgiving weekend.

In Philly on Southwest we were also delayed 5 hours on the tarmac but Southwest gave everyone (I think) a voucher for another 1 way segment. There was a huge storm and had to wait it out. But eventually the pilot said we'd take off and go around Florida to avoid the storm. And they gave free alcohol once we were in the air. I remember getting cheesesteak sandwiches from both Gino's and Pat's and having it on the plane and luckily that I had those delicious sandwiches which helped pass the time. As to which is better, it was both the same to me.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The worst we ever had was the time our flight to Orlando got scrapped because of snow. The airport shut down and we were stuck there overnight. We spent over 24 hours at the airport until it reopened the next day and we were finally able to get on a flight.

Having to spend 24 hours at the airport is brutal, why didn't you get a room?


My 2nd worst driving experience was on a Friday night from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. I finished work at 5 pm working from home. At 5:01 pm I was in my car going on the road trip. It was stop and go traffic all the way Victorville (1/4 of the way) or maybe even to Barstow (1/2 way to Vegas). I remember getting to Plaza at precisely midnight. Then on the Sunday coming home maybe it took 6 hours. I learned my lesson to avoid those weekend nightmares. My schedule changed and I get Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays off so more conducive to less traffic on road trips.

[disneysteve]

Having to spend 24 hours at the airport is brutal, why didn't you get a room?

I was traveling to Orlando to take my medical board exam. We had no way to know when the airport would resume operations but we wanted to be there when they did so we could get the soonest flight out. Of course, we had no clue that it wouldn't be until the next day. As it turned out, we were flying down a day early which saved me. A lot of my classmates were flying the following day and some never got there and missed the exam. We lucked out because we were at the airport and got on the first plane out. After we took off, the airport shut down again for a while.

[rennigade]

I seem to one of the few here that doesn't get stressed when flying and absolutely loves it. My wife gets really stressed. Makes no sense to me. You get to the airport, sit down and do nothing until you board. You sit on the plane and do nothing or whatever entertainment you want. Someone takes you to where you want to go in a matter of hours vs half a day or more of driving.

We used to drive to Florida from PA and we both day there no chance of us doing that again. Flying is just too convenient. We don't care if it costs more. Driving that distance isn't fun for us. We do take road trips from time to time but that's usually driving between nation parks so only a couple hours of driving then we stop for the night.

[kork13]

QMM, in your specific circumstance of frequent travel to Las Vegas, it makes plenty of sense to fly, since it's relatively cheap for you. But Las Vegas is a highly exceptional location -- the casinos subsidize flights into Las Vegas (direct payments to the airlines), knowing that the travel is often a barrier to what is otherwise a highly lucrative source of income. Same reason that they also comp rooms & meals. If they can just get people in the city & in the doors, they're almost guaranteed to make a sizable profit off of >90% of those tourists.

[kork13]

Another reason I hate flying commercial is likely not well understood by most... But I've spent over a decade of my career as mission crew on a military aircraft that was a converted airliner (Boeing 707 airframe) ... over 2000 flying hours logged. The difference is that our jets are WAAAAY more comfortable to fly on. So I'm irreparably biased.

We've got all the storage space you might need, independent captain's chairs that spin around & actually recline decently, and all the leg & elbow room you could dream of. Plus in the back we've got fold-down bunks, we can get up & walk around (or exercise -- no kidding, there's space for that) whenever we want except takeoff/landing, and we can use the galley (ovens, water heater, etc.) anytime we'd like. Not to say that our 50 y/o bucket-o-bolts is fancy or in great mechanical condition... But it's comfortable, and has completely spoiled me for ever flying on commercial airliners. First class seats might come close in comfort, but even those seats are too closely packed in.... not to mention the $1k-$2k+ price tag.

[disneysteve]

In a timely development for this thread, all flights were grounded today due to an outage of the FAA system.

You’ll never hear of all driving being stopped nationwide.

[rennigade]

I said this before but I wish flights would do away with overhead space. Would speed up boarding/deplaning...if that's a word. We pay to check a bag and bring backpacks on. Always bring an outfit or two with in case our luggage gets lost. Again, doesn't stress me out if luggage vanishes. We never have valuables in it.

We're so jaded but to me it's still amazing how you can get across the continent in sub 6 hours zooming through the sky at 500mph. I never take it for granted how lucky we are to do that. What once took months on a horse now can be done in hours.

[ua_guy]

Doing air travel for work will usually change someone's mind on how great air travel is. It got old real quick for me.

Not that road travel doesn't have its share of problems. I've spent the night in a car during a snowstorm when the freeway was shut down, finally opened 18 hours later. We're driving from Palm Springs to Seattle at the end of the month and I'm a little nervous about pass conditions going over the Siskiyous. We're on a tight timeline and we might have to slide our schedule by a day or two. The coastal route/101 has been affected by landslides and would not be a good alternative.