Your Guide to a Frugal Summer Vacation: To Fly or to Drive

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As the school year winds down and the weather gets warmer, many people are excitedly planning their summer vacations and much-needed breaks from the doldrums of work and school. However, while I firmly believe that travel is one of the best ways to spend money (if you have it), it is also one of the easiest budget lines to blow, especially if you opt for luxury or convenience over cost savings. For many of us, however, planning that frugal summer vacation is not only possible, but the best and only way to enjoy the benefits of travel, especially with young children. Knowing where you are going and when is just the beginning. The next, and perhaps the most important questions budget-wise, is how are you going to get there?

The Great Summer Vacation Debate: Flying vs. Driving

Choosing to drive vs. fly to your summer vacation is probably one of the most impactful ways to save or over-spend on the trip. Unfortunately, while it seems like driving is always the more frugal summer vacation choice, this isn’t always the case. There are actually times when the real or associated costs of driving actually outweigh the costs to fly. As an example, let’s take a look at some rounded number from a recent trip my family took from our home in New York to my parent’s place in Florida. Note my family includes me, my husband, our 5 and 7 year-old daughters and 1-year-old son.

Cost to Fly

TOTAL TRAVEL TIME (door to door): 7.5 hrs.

4 plane tickets (the baby flies free) – $1320 (approx. $330 each)

Checked Bag Fee (2 bags each way @ $20 each) – $80

Parking fees for 9 days in Albany ($13 per day)- $117

1 tank of gas and tolls for drive to and from airport – $50

Rental Car in Orlando(approx. $50 per day) – $450

Food and drink at the airport – $100

TOTAL: $2117

Cost to Drive

TOTAL TRAVEL TIME (door to door): 33 hours

6 tanks of gas and tolls – $320

Hotel (1 night each way) – $200

Food – $250

TOTAL: $770

While, on the surface, driving is clearly the best choice financially, these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Ultimately, my husband and I chose a “hybrid” travel arrangement that took advantage of the fact that my son, who is under 2, flies for free as well as the kindness of my MIL who drove me to the airport for my trip out (my husband picked me up on the trip back, so that round trip gas and tolls still applies). I also didn’t need to check as many bags – just one on the return trip. So here’s our actual cost:

Hybrid Trip

1 plane ticket (baby flies free) – $330

1 checked bag – $20

1 tanks of gas and tolls for drive to and from airport – $50

Food and drink at the airport – $25

6 tanks of gas and tolls – $320

Hotel (1 night each way) – $200

Food – $250

TOTAL: $1,170

Of course, the hybrid “costs” more than simply driving – abut $400 more to be exact – but it is still over $1,000 less than flying everyone. It also saved us on a number of “intangible” costs that mattered more, ultimately, than that extra $400.

The first factor is time. Though the numbers are rounded, the time it took for each trip is accurate to the best of my recollection (at least on the way down, on the way back there were storms, but that affected both flying and driving). On the other hand, either having all of my children together at the airport or having a baby in the car for 20+ hours would have substantially increased the time taken on either trip.

Another important, and critical, element saved by this arrangement was our sanity. Because I was only responsible for my son and because my husband was only responsible for the two older girls, we were able to give each more attention and eliminate meltdowns.

Finally, and I know this isn’t something everyone can do, but because I spent a full day on either end of my trip alone with my son (both times in Florida with my parents), I didn’t have to “take time off” work on those days. Since I work remotely, my mother simply watched my son and I was able to work on my laptop, ultimately making more money than I spent on that extra ticket.

The Takeaway: Planning Your Frugal Summer Vacation

So, how will you plan a frugal summer vacation?

Unfortunately, there is no real right or wrong answer here. When it comes to vacation savings, each person and each family will have a different experience and even my own circumstances will change once my son turns 2 and can no longer fly for free.

Furthermore, many single people, couples, and families with only one child often find that the cost to fly over long distances is consistently less than driving, especially if, like us, they can utilize major airports and get discounts on their flights. There are other savings possibilities as well. In our case, for example, we wouldn’t have needed a rental car if it was just the two of us or if we only had one child because we could have fit in my dad’s SUV. We also likely would not have needed to check two bags.

In addition, there are other ways to save on the cost of driving as well. Though these figures are accurate, my husband and I actually “paid” less for his drive because we used credit card rewards to pay for gas and hotels. On the way back, when he got caught in the storm, he was also able to save by staying at his aunt’s house in Virginia instead of spending a second night in a hotel.

Finally, the benefits I gained by being able to work on each end of my trip are not something that most people, including my husband who works in the medical profession, can enjoy. He is fortunate enough to have a lot of vacation time, but people without either of these benefits may also need to weigh the cost of spending some of their vacation on the road instead of at their destination, especially if the later is with family, as it was for us.

Bottom line: the best way to ensure that you have a frugal summer vacation is to plan for it. Every person’s situation is different, so crunching your own numbers is absolutely critical. My husband and I spent a lot of time thinking and debating about who should fly and why. We decided on this combination because it maximized the benefits of both scenarios for a relatively low cost. Your conclusion might be different, the point, however, is that you take the time to reach the best, more frugal one for you.

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