The holidays are around the corner and travel is a big part of it. With flying getting more expensive and driving often being time-consuming, which one is worth your while?
If you’ve got a medium to large-sized family, maybe a wife or husband, a couple of kids, dog, hamster, etc., then you may already be having the debate about whether you should fly or drive on your long holiday trip this year.
That’s exactly what I went through this past month.
With a couple of kids in tow, my family makes an annual trip up to western New York to see the in-laws. We knew we’d all go a little crazy during the 15-ish hours in the car, but my wife and I also knew that the kids were just too young to fly.
However, now the kids are a little older and can certainly handle the flight. The question has transitioned to: Can my bank account handle it?
Driving
When it comes to driving, you’ve got to consider the basics: gas, hotel room (if the drive is too long for one day) and tolls.
But there are other things to consider that will weigh on the wallet in the long term, or acutely mid-trip:
- Vehicle wear and tear - For example, a long trip means you’ll have to get oil changes sooner
- Emergency fund - One year, we had a tire blow out on the drive up. We spent a couple of hundred bucks on a new tire
- The economy of your time - You’ve got to add up the hours you're spending in the car and figure out how much you make per hour. That’s what your time is worth, on the most basic level. Would making a time-saving flight allow you to actually work a couple of extra days and earn money as opposed to spending it?
- And finally, psychology - Can your mind handle 10 or more hours in the car with everyone? Will you be paying for expensive therapy after this trip? (Only kidding... kind of)
You take all of those variables, plug them in and add them up, then you’ll get the true cost of driving.
Flying
Finding the cost of flying is much easier. Just get the tickets, add in how much it’ll cost to park your car, or get a ride to the airport.
I found for my specific trip, it was going to be about $500 more to fly four of us up to the family’s house. But maybe that little bit extra expense is worth it to have more time with your loved ones.