Fly or drive? We do the math
— -- Last week I borrowed a friend's car and promptly spent $82 to fill the tank. So out of curiosity, I visited the site of the airline industry's low-cost leader, Southwest Airlines, to see how far that same $82 would have taken me. Without even searching very hard, I found the following one-way flights:
• Denver to the West Coast (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.): $79 • Austin to Oakland: $79 • Philadelphia to Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, etc.): $64
Now comparing travel prices on a per-mile basis usually doesn't make much sense. When I worked for the Pan Am Shuttle, the hourly departures between New York and Boston and Washington, D.C., were among the most high-yield flights in the country, so on any given day there were transcontinental fare sales priced for less than those quick hops within the Northeast. But today the price of gasoline has reconfigured the driving vs. flying conundrum in a dramatic way, so the old assumptions about driving being cheaper need to be reevaluated.
There's no question that fuel costs are altering vacation plans this summer. Just this week, the travel site Kayak released results of a survey that found more than 64% of respondents plan to be tourists in their home state or within a three-hour drive of their house. According to Kayak, driving 200 to 400 miles is more affordable than flying.
But what about for longer trips? Last weekend, the AAA reported the national average for unleaded regular fuel was $4.07 per gallon, up from $2.99 a year ago. And even as more gas stations ban charge card sales, the cost of filling up is remaking travel plans for millions of Americans this summer. The bottom line is that gas prices at the pump have skyrocketed across America, rising by about a third over the last year, while airfares have inched upward at a relatively slower pace.
So has the option of flying become the cheaper alternative? The answer is ... sometimes.
Crunching the numbers
Determining how much you'll pay to travel on vacation requires a little bit of time spent with a calculator. In order to crunch your own driving numbers, first you'll need to determine the vehicle's gas mileage. The Environmental Protection Agency's car comparison calculator provides miles-per-gallon estimates for both city and highway driving.
As for benchmarking gasoline costs, the best source is the AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, which allows you to compare detailed gas prices in hundreds of markets from Akron to Yuma. For a quick and dirty analysis, click on the AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator, and punch in your origin, destination, and vehicle's year, make, and model to determine mileage, gallons used, and estimated fuel cost. (Be warned, however, that the calculator has occasionally been out of order recently, presumably due to increased demand.)
It's important to note that such calculations are based solely on gas prices, and don't take into account the other costs of driving your own car, including maintenance, wear and tear, insurance, etc. And if you're driving a rental car, obviously this doesn't include those fees as well. For some very useful benchmarks on the overall cost of driving, visit the U.S. General Services Administration's Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates page.
Cars and planes, head-to-head
I decided to compare costs on a few selected routes across the country for a family of four traveling for one week in mid-July, based on the current average pump price of $4.07 per gallon. According to the EPA's calculator for highway driving, an economy car such as the Toyota Corolla gets 37 miles per gallon, while an average family sedan such as the Chevrolet Malibu notches 30 miles per gallon and a full-size SUV such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee posts just 14 miles per gallon. To obtain the lowest available round-trip airfares, I used the search engine Kayak.
Here's a rundown of what I found when comparing fuel costs to airfares:
• San Francisco to San Diego (1,038 miles round-trip) Economy car: $114 Family sedan: $140 Full-size SUV: $302 Kayak/1 ticket: $159, Virgin America Kayak/2 tickets: $318, Virgin America Kayak/4 tickets: $636, Virgin America
• Chicago to St. Louis (592 miles round-trip) Economy car: $66 Family sedan: $80 Full-size SUV: $172 Kayak/1 ticket: $159, American Kayak/2 tickets: $318, American Kayak/4 tickets: $636, American
• Atlanta to Orlando (876 miles round-trip) Economy car: $96 Family sedan: $118 Full-size SUV: $254 Kayak/1 ticket: $199, AirTran Kayak/2 tickets: $398, AirTran Kayak/4 tickets: $796, AirTran
• Boston to Baltimore (804 miles round-trip) Economy car: $88 Family sedan: $108 Full-size SUV: $234 Kayak/1 ticket: $179, AirTran Kayak/2 tickets: $358, AirTran Kayak/4 tickets: $716, AirTran
• New York City to Fort Lauderdale (2,144 miles round-trip) Economy car: $236 Family sedan: $290 Full-size SUV: $624 Kayak/1 ticket: $224, Delta Kayak/2 tickets: $448, Delta Kayak/4 tickets: $896, Delta
• Dallas to Las Vegas (2,478 miles round-trip) Economy car: $272 Family sedan: $336 Full-size SUV: $720 Kayak*/1 ticket: $374, Southwest Kayak*/2 tickets: $748, Southwest Kayak*/4 tickets: $1,496, Southwest *redirected to Southwest.com
• Dallas to Houston (478 miles round-trip) Economy car: $52 Family sedan: $64 Full-size SUV: $138 Kayak*/1 ticket: $156, Southwest Kayak*/2 tickets: $312, Southwest Kayak*/4 tickets: $624, Southwest *redirected to Southwest.com
Clearly, finding the economic sweet spot in the driving vs. flying puzzle depends on several factors, including:
• Is there low-cost airline competition on that route? • What type of vehicle are you driving?• How many people are traveling?
As we've seen time and again, airfares are driven by low-cost competition. So in a market such as New York-Fort Lauderdale, where there is downward pressure from low-fare carriers such as JetBlue, a round-trip fare of $224 is less than the $236 gas tab for even the most fuel-efficient economy car. In fact, even round-trip fares for four people totaling $896 are worth comparing to the $624 in gas burned by a large SUV. And remember, this reflects fuel bills only, and not hotels en route and other associated costs of driving.
Calculating gasoline prices underscores how important it is to be driving the right vehicle for a given trip, especially if only one or two people are traveling. An SUV averaging 14 miles per gallon on the highway will generate gas bills more than twice as high as an average family sedan, and considerably higher than an economy car. These days, that can mean hundreds of dollars for a given trip. Even from Chicago to St. Louis, fuel for the Grand Cherokee cost $92 more than the Malibu and $106 more than the Corolla.
On the other hand, packing more passengers into a larger vehicle can save money. Obviously driving offers a distinct advantage for larger families and groups, since fewer travelers generate a considerable savings in airfares, while additional travelers translate into a relatively negligible increase in fuel burn. For families with three or more members, driving can still offer a cost advantage on most routes, despite rising gas prices.
Conversely, however, one or sometimes even two people can fly for less than the cost of gas if driving in some vehicles. This is shown in the trip from San Francisco to San Diego, where the fuel tab for a large SUV is $302, a bill that is much higher than a round-trip airfare of $159 for one person, comparable to the $318 airfares for two people, but less than half the expense of four airline tickets for $636.
Rent the one you want
Of course, not everyone drives their own cars on vacation. News reports have proliferated in recent weeks about owners of SUVs who are parking their gas-guzzlers and renting economy cars. Even after factoring in the rental costs, the fuel savings make it more economically viable.
But there is a problem: a shortage of smaller rental cars. And as noted in my March column, " When is a Ford Focus not a Ford Focus?", car rental companies often upgrade you to a larger car class whether you like it or not. While many renters may have viewed this as an attractive alternative in the past, today's fuel prices mean fewer people want a full-sized SUV after they've requested a compact car.
So how can you prevent getting upgraded against your will? It's a tough call, because this summer rental fleets will be chocked with gas-guzzlers. But keep this in mind:
• The larger the location, the better your chances of getting the car you really want. If possible, avoid renting from smaller facilities or off-airport locations.
• In many cases, if you can get there earlier in the day, the vehicle selection should be more extensive. However, there are exceptions; for example, many business travelers return cars on Friday evenings. The best advice is to ask about such availability issues when you're booking.
• Be specific when making the reservation, and consider choosing the smallest car class if you can. Remember: The higher the class, the larger the vehicle on the upgrade.
• Always ask if a "car exchange" is available. This means that if you are upgraded against your will at Location A, you can drive to Location B and swap for the original vehicle you booked.
Of course, there are other choices besides driving or flying, and many of them are looking more attractive from a cost perspective (not to mention from a carbon footprint perspective). In addition to Amtrak and interstate motor coaches, there are regional alternatives as well. For a state-by-state breakdown of public transportation options, visit the American Public Transportation Association's interactive map. You may save more than gas money.
Bill McGee, a contributing editor to Consumer Reports and the former editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, is an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher who worked in airline operations and management for several years. Tell him what you think of his latest column by sending him an e-mail at travel@usatoday. Include your name, hometown and daytime phone number, and he may use your feedback in a future column.