$$$$ Flying vs Driving from NYC

[Aisling]

I have always flown to Orlando, never even considered driving, but just for the sake of curiousity, can anyone tell me the price comparison of driving vs flying from NYC to Orlando the end of June/early July? Plane fare would be about $800 for the 4 of us, but I have no idea about gas prices for the way down and back. Any ideas?

 

[cindala]

We drove to WDW from the NYC area the end of June/beginning of July in '94,'95,'96,'97, & '98. I would say that then it cost us about $350 between gas, tolls, food, and 1 overnite going and coming. That would include 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners. Hotels were between $50-$60 a night with a AAA discount.

Our car got excellent gas mileage- 40mpg, (Honda Civic Auto) with AC and a fully loaded trunk. If you have a gas guzzler, expect to pay much more, also considering that the price of gas has been steadily creeping upwards.

We purchased our airfare this year for $720 (4 of us), and last year it was $680. There are still some good fares to be had. Try looking out of LGA. We find it is much cheaper than Newark.

When you drive your own car, you don't have the added expense of a car rental, but you do put wear and tear on your car and added miles. If you have the vacation days, and time is not the issue, then it will be cheaper to drive. However, if you need to take extra days from work to drive down, consider that in your cost also. Good luck!

 

[worm761]

where are you flying from? jetblue out of jfk usually has decent fares. or maybe you could hope for a friends fly free with southwest.

 

[disneymom1]

If I were you, I would make the plans to drive. You can always cancel those plans if something better comes up. The cost will definately be less than the airfare for 4, even when you consider the wear and tear on the car.

However, if you are like me and dread the throught of driving 1000 miles each way, there is hope!! The airfares will almonst certainly come down significantly before June. There are LOTS of empty seats on flights, especially out of LGA and JFK (you probably won't get a great fare out of Newark - too bad for me since I am only 15 minutes from there). Check the rates at least every few days of not more frequently. I have caught rate reductions out of LGA and JFK that are significant. For my trip in April, the rate went down from around $450 to $236 and then back up to over $500. You should also be able to get a connecting flight for much less that $800. I would rather take a connecting flight tan drive.

Use orbitz.com. or farechase.com to search fares. Both can give you fares from all 3 airports and all airlines. The key is to check often to catch the few seats that they open up at the lower fare.

The fares won't stay at $800. No leasure traveler will pay that. They will have to eventually lower the fare to fill the plane. Your best bet for a low fare on a direct flight is Delta. You can see the number of empty seats easily on their web site when you enter your dates of travel. This should help you determine when there is a likelihood of fares being lowered. Good luck.

 

[sueg]

I strongly second the suggestion of checking airfare every day. We are flying down, as a family on Delta Express, out of EWR. Oldest DS is staying on w/ his BB team & returning regular Delta into LGA. That tkt. price has varied wildly. We are paying $211 ea. (w/ DH flying free!) When I first checked DS's tkt. it was $648 & I was hyperventilating. It then dropped continuously, until it seemed to bottom at $248. I booked it & forgot about it. Then I was back on Delta for something else & found the tkt. had dropped another $30. I was too busy to call for a voucher & when I went back last night, the tkt. is back up to the mid-$600s. Go figure.

 

[Aisling]

Thanks so much for all the advice!

 

[apagano]

Actually $800 for a family of four seems about average. $200 per person is normally the benchmark I use to determine whether or not to purchase plane tickets. I do agree that you should be able to find something better from NYC, however. Go directly to the websites of the low-fare carriers for the best deals. JetBlue comes to mind off the top of my head.

As for driving, no matter how you crunch the numbers it will still be much cheaper than flying for four people. But you have to consider the non-monetary costs such as time and being confined in a vehicle with your family for 18 hours.

 

[married2grumpy]

We have never driven to Disney but were seriously considering it for our trip this May. My husband has several friends who drive from NY to Orlando and insist it is the way to go. What we decided to do is plan on driving and if we found a great airfare we could always change our minds. We just purchased 5 round trip tickets for $765 on SWA. We thought this was a fair price and we are leaving from Islip which is only 20 minutes away from our home compared to JFK or LGA. I just read on another post that Delta has a great sale right now. Check it out and see. We are happy with our decision to fly. We will try the drive someday but not this trip. Good luck and have a safe trip.

 

[RamseyTrio]

Hi -

We're flying JetBlue out of JFK in May and our total for 4 people was $660.

JetBlue is an amazing airline. I've had nothing but great things to say about them after each trip I've taken.

Of course I'm a very impatient driver/passenger so the time spent flying vs. driving is enough to justify any extra costs!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Aisling:
Don't forget--if you drive you'll have car at WDW. A great advantage, and you'll save any $$ you would spend on a rental car.

 

[It'sMe]

Hurry to Delta.com now. They have round trip $135 total. My dates are in August, maybe yours will work too!