Fly or drive?

My oldest brother lives north of Tampa. I live in central Vermont. Breeze airways has direct round-trip flights. With a package on a rental car it would cost me between $500-$600.

I'd still need a hotel room for three nights.

Or drive down, see the country, see friends along the way, and bring a sleeping bag. The Prius C would cost under $300 in gas to round-trip it. But it would be a seven day adventure with less time in Florida.

What would you do?

I'd lose another Florida day to stay at one end of the Dragon NC side and drive it. Doors fall of of planes now, a Prius on the Dragon is still a cool drive.

berkeley it, drive it.

Preach makes a good suggestion, if you enjoy driving the Prius on twisty roads...

It's not a bad trip for most of the way.    South GA/North Fla gets a bit boring, but the rest is paralleling the Appalachian mountains.  I'd definitely say fly if you were running through the cornfields of Northern Ohio.....

I fly for work a couple of times a month.  If it’s at all an option I drive on my vacations. 

Drive down to northern VA, then take the auto train to FL then drive the rest of the way to Tampa. 

I'd fly it. That's probably 50+ hours of driving. Not good driving, E36 M3 driving down I95. To hit the twistiest in NC you are going to add a bunch of hours to that. So is 4 days of your time worth $300? 
you can probably make another vacation with the extra 4 days and go to western NC when you want. 
Either way you choose, have fun, enjoy the journey. 

yupididit said:

Drive down to northern VA, then take the auto train to FL then drive the rest of the way to Tampa. 

You know. This is just crazy enough to work.

There are ups and downs to both options. I've driven from the GTA in Ontario to Gainesville for the Challenge a couple times, and it's basically 2 8-10hr days of driving each way. Taking I75 down and I79 on the way back. I mainly drove so I could bring my car to compete. There are some fun roads you can pass through around Six Gap or TOTD area and SR68 in Tennessee. Also some scenic driving through WV, and you can save some time on PA's unofficial autobahn

If I didn't want to get my car to the event, would I drive? Honestly I'm not sure. It's less stress to drive but more time and the cost is about the same (with a car with more ordinary efficiency). I also didn't really have time to stop other than for quick refuel breaks and to sleep, if I had more time to make other stops that would be more reason to drive.

I also considered the autotrain, ended up skipping it because it was more expensive, but not a bad idea.

The worst parts were white-knuckling it through the wind-blasted rough highways approaching Windsor, ON, trying to find a place with a public bathroom in Detroit (at least you can avoid those two), banging over the E36 M3ty busted speed-trap-filled highways of Kentucky (more speed traps than Ohio IME), being stuck in Atlanta traffic (made me feel right at home, much like Toronto's regional traffic disaster zone but with more heat), and the extended Desert-Bus-style driving through south GA/north FL.

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

yupididit said:

Drive down to northern VA, then take the auto train to FL then drive the rest of the way to Tampa. 

You know. This is just crazy enough to work.

Until you check the price...unless things have changed, the auto train is not cost effective. You can fly down & rent a car for a week for a good bit less and spend a lot less time traveling in a metal tube.

I much prefer driving when I have the choice, but more than about 600 miles per day isn't fun anymore.  So it usually just depends on how far and how much time I have to do it.

I'd fly JUST to not have to drive I95 through South Carolina. Avoiding the VA, DC, Maryland corridor is a close second.

In reply to hobiercr :

Don't forget all the popo's along I-95 in southern VA & southern NC. Like a sheriff Buford T. Justice convention...

Fly, without hesitation.

Don't speed in VA. 

I like road trips but would probably fly for this one. It's not a fun drive. 

I would drive. It wouldn't add much time to shift west via I87 to I81 and miss most of the unpleasantness of NYC to Richmond on I95. The $300 savings isn't a deciding factor in my mind. You don't see anything from a plane - you never know what you'll see on the road. 

I travel from northern MD to Orlando a couple of times a year for work and always drive. My coworkers think that I'm nuts. They might not be wrong.

How often do you see your brother?  I'd fly.

Wanna know what you'll see on I-81/I-75?  TRUCKS, TRUCKS and MORE TRUCKS, many of whom will be side by side on a two lane interstate for endless miles.  

I'd pay 2X the cost to fly just to avoid Atlanta.

stukndapast said:

Wanna know what you'll see on I-81/I-75?  TRUCKS, TRUCKS and MORE TRUCKS .....

... and with fewer services and not much lighting.

Decided on Breeze Airways. Non stop from BTV to Tampa. Aug 14-17. Less than three hundred smackers!

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

That seems like a good choice to this reader. 

This one is a nobrainer, I'm flying every time. 
 

Nowadays, 4+ hours and I'm looking to see if a flight is an option. I have TSA precheck and live 15 minutes from one of the busiest airports in the world. Flights are often easy and cheap for me. 
 

7+ hours and I'm probably flying. 
 

I have the luxury of not considering anything but a direct flight. A connection is worth 2 hours of driving minimum.