Friday, June 14, 2013

Alternatives to flying

I've randomly selected the days between Aug 2 and Aug 11 to be my vacation days. It falls during my birthday too, but that was unintended. I have 8 "use it or lose it" vacation days that expire at the end of August, so time is ticking.

Price of flights have sure gone up! I normally fly during the summer season and the prices reflect it, but nothing like this go around! I've paid up to $260 for a plane ticket. Now? The same/similar flights cost $387. Ouch! That's not including parking (about $80 for 10 days).

I was told I should check the alternatives. Namely, bus and trains. I've driven to Chicago once at the cool cost of $300 and 30hr roundtrip, but the car died shortly after. My current car wouldn't get me past Ohio, so I wont even go there. Here are my alternatives:

Train
Amtrak Capitol Limited line from DC to Chicago: $210. Not too bad. Except for the 20hr departure and 17hr arrival rides. That's 37hours! Plus, it does not include meal, about $30/trip (or I can pack it, I'm sure). I can also get a sleeper car for only $380 more! What a steal.

Bus
Greyhound from DC to Chicago: $160. That's 17hrs in, 19hrs back (36hrs). About two 1hr layover in PA and OH. No meals included either. And a heck of a lot more stops. And a lot less room.

Plane (for comparison)
Mixed airlines from Baltimore to Chicago: $387 or DC to Chicago: $290, 2.5hrs each way.

Regardless of whether or not I make this trip, I think the winner is easy to see. Laying things down helps make sense of the data. And though I'd love to take a train ride, I don't think it's worth the extra 35hrs. At least I don't think so right away! So I'll keep looking.

Have you taking an alternative to flying before? I've never been on a train and would love to, but I just don't think it makes sense. Even less by myself!

17 comments:

  1. I would fly. I would also like to take a train trip but probably not one that was so long I was ready to leave when I got to my destination. I know its more money but it is your vacation.

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  2. I really love train travel, we did it a lot as kids and its a holiday in itself if you like it. But if I were you I'd get the plane, nice and quick and then you have more time to enjoy it when you get there.

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  3. I'm going to go with the plane ride too. You are talking about hours and hours on a bus/train just for the sake of saving a little bit of money. Sounds inconvenient to me :) Perhaps you can cut back a little on expenses if possible between now and your trip to compensate for paying more for the plane ticket??

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    1. Oh, I totally agreed with the plane ticket. I think I made it a bit confusing, but though I'd love the train ride, it makes no sense!

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  4. If you are in DC and want to take the train - take it to NY. Do NOT take it to Chicago. Friend did that - miserable.

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    1. I've taken a bus to NY and it was alright. It was only 7hrs, and I could drive it in 5. I was there last year, and don't really have anyone to visit there...

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  5. I've never taken a train before but I've done Greyhound. I was planning a trip for July and considered using Megabus (uber cheap but limited bus service) but it would have taken about 6 or 7 different buses and 20+ hours to get to my destination with at least one overnight stay. While saving money is nice, time is valuable.

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    1. Agreed. Sadly, Megabus doesn't go to Chicago, or at least not from DC. Time is definitely valuable, especially during a vacation!

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    2. It doesn't go directly but I planned a similar trip from 4 hours south of DC to Milwaukee (haven't used Megabus yet though). You can take 4 different buses (DC to Pittsburgh, to Cleveland, to Chicago) and get there for about $50 in 31 hours...but it includes a 13 hour overnight wait in Cleveland though so unless you have friends or relatives to visit there, flying is probably a better option. :)

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    3. Oh, and that was just one way.

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  6. I've been doing a similar comparison. I hate to fly. Especially with kids in tow. I will only take nonstop flights. If I find a good deal, we can probably fly to orlando for about $1000 - $1100. Or we could drive a 15 1/2 hour drive. If we drove we would use an estimated $320 for gas, $100 to stay over night half way on the way down and then again on the way back, plus the cost of all the extra meals from having to take extra time. But then we also wouldn't have to worry about transportation once we got there. Decisions, Decisions...

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    1. Talk about it! Definitely decisions, decisions. Some plus, some minuses, a lot of so-so alternatives. I did Chicago and it was 15hrs each way, about $350 in gas at the time. Would do it again if my car allowed it, especially because I want to rent a car to go sight seeing on my own.

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  7. I took the train in 1999 from Albany, NY to Chicago, and then a local to Rockford IL for a convention. I left on Friday around 5pm, traveled all night and arrived the next day around 2pm(I think). Another hour to Rockford. It was cheap and except for the 2 HOURS we sat in Albany without air in a hot car in June waiting to leave due to budget cutbacks AND the crazy middle eastern woman who sat in the aisle on the floor screaming and refused to move because she couldn't find 2 seats together b/c she got on somewhere in Indiana in the middle of the night, it was uneventful. It's not too bad sitting up and sleeping...lol....compared to buying a sleeping car berth which is RIDICULOUSLY expen$ive, even back then.

    How about renting a car for a week to use to drive there? Would save the wear/tear on your car and if you can pick-up/drop off at an airport it's generally cheaper.

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    1. I had not thought about renting a car myself for the travel... isn't there some mileage restrictions? I'll have to check for sure. As I've mentioned, I wouldnt mind doing the travel again (and having A/C would be AWESOME!), but I just dont think my current car would survive.

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    2. I know my sister and her husband used to rent a car to drive to Florida a couple of times because they didn't want to drive their own. That would solve two issues. You'll be able to make the drive and have a car for sight seeing.

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  8. I moved back to mainland Europe so that flying would no longer be the only viable option when I wanted to go somewhere. I love the train and will take that over flying most of the time. But that's here, where if I miss the train I want to get on to travel the eight hours or so to my sister in France, I probably won't have to wait longer than about an hour for another connection.

    I did take the train in the US once when I was on holidays - we went from NYC to Niagra Falls, from there to Boston and then from Boston to Buffalo and back to New York. Or some variation that got us to all those places for a couple of days each. Buffalo was just an overnight on the way back to NYC, I think and ended up being the nicest place we stayed in - then we got to spend six hours waiting for a train that couldn't leave Chicago because it was too cold. I do remember that it was pretty cold in the cars when travelling and I have pictures of the ice that formed in the parts of the trains near the doors/where the toilets were. The only other thing I remember about the American trains is that they were very sway-y so it was kind of difficult to walk around.

    Sounds like flying will be the way to make the most of your holiday this time. Although renting a car could be a good option, too. I recently took out an annual insurance policy to cover car rental deductibles, cost me about 50 euro and I saved more than that by not taking out the extra insurance from the car hire place. Just something to think about checking into if you do decide to hire a car.

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  9. My friend & her family rented a car to drive to Disney last year - saved mileage on their car - they said they would probably do that any time they drive anywhere on vacation from now on.

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