mmm..the off topic board... :)

harbingerofthefish · Post by **harbingerofthefish** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:34 pm

okay so I am plannig a trip to Dallas over the 4th of July. Hes the topic for debate. Drive or Fly

car info:

20+/- mpg
18+/- gallon tank
$36.50+/- to fill up
4+/- tanks to get their and back (not driving while there)
$150+/-
+9-10 hours each way (20+/- total)

flying info:

Out of pensacola $201 Rt with 1 stop one the arrival flight
7 hours+/- total air/layover time

Points to remeber:

Im ALWAYS on a tight budget.
$50 could go a ong way while there.

so...

is the $50 worht the 13 hours and car wear?

Post by **snoopdog** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:46 pm

If flying does not bother you, then fly. Alot can happen to a car on a trip, always seems to happen out of town too. Busted windshield, hole in a tire, road shrapnel chipping paint, wrecks, leaks....etc.

KrazyPlace · Post by **KrazyPlace** » Thu May 27, 2004 8:48 pm

Drive! Don't loose the great American tradition of the ROAD TRIP!

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:10 pm

What kind of car? How old? How many miles are on it? Has all the recommended maintenance been done? What kind of shape are the tires in? Belts? Brakes? Hoses? coolant condition? Have you factored in the different prices of gas along your route? The roads in Louisiana are terrible.

On the other hand how old is the plane? How many hours are on it? Has the maintenance been done? Etc.

If it were me I would drive. To me there is nothing like having your own vehicle wherever you go. You never know when you might need to take a side trip from your friends/family to visit a local adult beverage facility.

harbingerofthefish · Post by **harbingerofthefish** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:26 pm

okay yeah, I would love to drive it. went to memphis for new years and wasnt a bad drive. But 10 hours each way is a long time by yourself (idle minds...

) If i had more time I would love to meet the friend there and go somewhere after words, but alas its only going to be like 4 may...be 5 days tops.

yeah I sorta averaged the gas at 2.10 a gallon to give a figure, so thats all the +/-'s

snoop- your so positive...but i guess you get that all the time

scott-

2001 S-10
31,000 miles +/-
*EDIT* 36,000 mile warranty

tires, brakes, coolant etc... cool but obviously I will check all that out before I go.
And Last time i drove to dallas it was from memphis. I dont know how the louisiana roads could be worse than Arkansas

obvioulsy no clue on the plane. Delta so who knows.

and as far as leaving the friends for some side time...i dont think that will be a problem or needed

the only down side to flying, yeah is the stranded feeling, but they have the weekend cleared and the only day they have to work is that monday, but only for a few hours so i think i'll survive.

its really a time vs cash flow thing.

plus Im going back in october for a concert so diifferent plans might work out. hell, gas might be back down to 1.50 by then

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:32 pm

If you know how your truck was maintained and really with as few miles that it has on it I would definately drive. You never know what yahoo might have worked on the plane last. I don't have any aversion to flying, I have flown in lot's of planes from Delta to B-25's, I just like driving

Post by **snoopdog** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:38 pm

snoop- your so positive...but i guess you get that all the time

Ok so i have a negative side, nah i never hear that

Phisher · Post by **Phisher** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:39 pm

I made trip to Key West in an s10, not the best vehicle for long trips, no cruise, no tilt, no leg room. Of course that was like 25 hrs, big difference.

Joe

tbmoore · Post by **tbmoore** » Thu May 27, 2004 9:43 pm

If you fly you will be more rested...also they always overbook and if you do not have a strick schedule you should end up with a gift coupon for another flight or at least couple hundred dollars toward it if you give up you seat and take the next flight......every flight I have taken from mobile to atlanta has been overbooked both ways......being a holiday weekend you can almost bet on it....just a thought....

harbingerofthefish · Post by **harbingerofthefish** » Thu May 27, 2004 10:09 pm

yeah i got bumbed on a flight form dallas to portalnd once. the 400 travel check was cool. that might be an incentive.

Rested BAH! a few beers and Im a new man anyway

my S-10 has all the cruise tilt goodness you could want. leg room, well that doesnt matter much. my legs fall asleep on the can afterall. But i do get the binus of all the country and religeoud stations i could ever want on a drive. why is it that that is all you pick up on the interstae?!?!

and since i bought it new it has been maintained well by its owner :humble emotion:

i guess i need to make a final desicison this week so that i can get a good rate. no telling when flight prices will jump within 30 days. and the last time i procrastinated i got hit with a BIG TICKET price.

ahh we'll see, she said the whole weekend is free so time of arrival is not an issue for her. its not so much the drive there as it is the drive back. those always suck.

Post by **snoopdog** » Thu May 27, 2004 10:17 pm

I just had bad luck on some of our long trips. My first long trip was with my girlfriend to Nebraska in a new Nissan Sentra. In MS right at the state line a tire developed a bubble on the outside, a few states later we had no option but to change it. Then while travelling unfamilar roads a few states down she bottoms out going down a steep hill to fast and dents the oil pan, it then took a half a quart less on oil-changes. Then in Nebraska a rock flips off a cars tire and chips the windshield. On the way back the heat cracks the chip further to wear the windhshield cracks all the way down. For a new car it sure did look like shit.

I have bad luck with cars though, ask Amy how many bad things have happened to me while driving.

KrazyPlace · Post by **KrazyPlace** » Fri May 28, 2004 5:41 am

Good side of flying is the American Express $1 million dollar life insurance plan if the plane goes down! Don't get that from your car insurance.

I make about 2 trips a year driving. We drive 14 hours to go home for Christmas (with 4 kids) and then some years another time for 'family events'. I like the drive.

harbingerofthefish · Post by **harbingerofthefish** » Fri May 28, 2004 7:23 pm

thanks for all the back and forth. I bounced the pros and cons around at work too. I think im just going to fly it this time. Maybe i will get bumped and pay for the flight in october.

10 hours OT this week and looking like the same for next week, so the 40 or so more isn't going to kill me.

now I just need to figure out how to get to and from p'cola

Post by **snoopdog** » Fri May 28, 2004 7:29 pm

There is a point to where driving goes from being fun to a job. A long car ride can kill the back, even with frequent breaks. Never been in a plane so do not know how they are.

Brandon · Post by **Brandon** » Fri May 28, 2004 8:54 pm

I would think that 13 hrs of your time would be worth more than $50. You could make more than that doing anything.