I was astonished to read this article in the Telegraph, London (may be paywalled).
A couple flew more than 1,300 miles to Malaga [in Spain] and back to the UK to pick up a new car – as it was cheaper than getting a train.
Mother-of-four Kristina Coulson and her husband, Dan, live in Cornwall and needed to collect a new car near Crewe after Mrs Coulson was hit by a drunk driver.
She “could not believe how expensive” getting a train would cost – up to £200 [currently about US $250] per person just for the one-way journey.
After some research the support worker found it was cheaper to fly from Newquay to Malaga and back to Manchester – with flights costing £54 [about US $67].
There's more at the link.
Of course, UK railroads are in the main very inefficient compared to other forms of transport. They're running on older infrastructure, much of which has never been fully updated, and using engines and coaches that are far less advanced that modern technology would allow. They're also crippled by high (often union-driven) salaries and personnel costs. Even so, that big of a cost difference is ludicrous. If one calculates it on a cost-per-mile basis, it's so ridiculous it's funny.
I wonder how many similar examples we could find here in the USA? Have any of my readers compared costs across various means of transportation to get from Point A to Point B? I've done so a few times, comparing a Greyhound bus ticket to an Amtrak train ticket to an airline ticket to renting a car and driving it myself. Oddly enough, the car rental option was frequently the cheapest, because I didn't have to use public transport or taxis or what have you to get from the terminus at my destination to the place where I was staying. Time was also a factor, from the perspective that "time is money". Airline travel often came off worse than other methods. Getting to an airport in time to go through check-in and security screening, and at the other end collect one's luggage and take a taxi or other transport to one's actual destination, sometimes could take longer overall than any other way of travel.
How about it, readers? Have any of you made similar calculations? If so, please let us know in Comments.
Peter
21 comments:
Comparison of train prices subsidized or UNsubsidized? Would make one heck of a difference.
When TSA started, I read a comment from a pilot who said that greater than 400 miles was his break point. If it was less, he drove. as the time & cost would be faster & cheaper.
I've done my own door to door calculations over the years and found his statement to be aprox accurate.
Steve
I used to live in southern California and attend an industry event in Las Vegas. After flying one year with all the delays and issues you spoke of I decided to drive the 270 miles. Even with driving in LA metro traffic it was much less stressful than dealing air travel and then ground transport, plus I didn't have to rush-rush-rush at the end of the event to get back to the airport to catch my return flight.
In the last couple of years I've been travelling a bit with a part-time job during retirement.
Flying is the thing. I fly from a little airport to either Houston or Dallas, and from there onward. The average trip kills a day that usually starts here at 0600. By the time I get a rental car and find my hotel, the day is gone.
If it's less than a ten hour drive, I'll take my own wheels.
A couple we see in a local bar split their time between Northern VA & Beaufort, SC. She's retired, he isn't. She takes Amtrak to Yemassee (think escaped monkeys) and Ubers the 40 minute drive to here. If she flew, no direct flight to Charleston or Savannah. So, she saves $$$ and time.
I used to fly a lot and I found it took a little over 8 hours to go commercial from DSM to BHM. A few times I flew in the company plane and it took 2-3 hours to make the same trip. I might mention the CO planes where a Queen Air and a Navajo.
I had a client in the Palm Beach area that I needed to visit every few weeks. I had to justify why I was driving down each time instead of flying. Travel time down there was 4.5 hours whether I drove or flew, and mileage costs were the same as plane tickets and airport parking. Plus the client didn't have to pay for Ubers, and I wasn't stuck in a hotel every night.
As much as I enjoy travel, and flying doesn't really bother me, given my druthers I'd rather drive if it's less than 8 hours away.
Many times. I travel a lot for work and doing so as efficiently as possible is important.
Efficiency doesn't always mean "cheapest". If that were the only factor, Greyhound would be the mode of choice...except that the company has to pay me for my time as well as for the bus ticket and when it takes three days to get somewhere I could fly to in a day...that's a factor in efficiency.
Even for personal travel, that's a thing.
My general rule of thumb is that if I can drive it in less than 12 hours (I can do that in one day without too much trouble) it's usually most efficient to rent a car and drive it.
That's generally just a little bit less expensive than air fare. The time it takes sounds like a lot but with the state of current air travel, with security screenings and connecting flights and layovers, it takes almost as long to fly a trip of that distance...and rental cars are MUCH more comfortable than airport waiting areas and airline seats.
If it would take over a day of driving time, flying is the more efficient option.
Amtrac costs as much as flying but takes as long as driving (sometimes longer), and Greyhound is relatively cheap, but takes.freaking.forever to get anywhere so those options are never even in the running.
Much of the expense is likely because they're not starting from central London. Which is where the ministers would start. Who cares about the hoi polloi after all?
/sarc
So recent comparisons for North Show MA to Museum of USAF in Dayton Ohio. Distance is approximately 850 miles. Time to drive 13 to 13.5 Hrs. Way too long for me and my wife in one shot these days so a 2 day drive. Cost 3-4 tanks of gas roundtrip about $150, ovenight in a hotel for 150 plus some meal for maybe $450 total.
It was possible via Amtrak, Acela to Washington, Overnight to Cincinnati. Total time 14.5 hrs. In addition your stop in Cincinnati was at 3am in the morning*it was headed for Chicago) and that train ran once a day. No nearby car rental so you'd sit in the station until they rentals would drop off at about 5 am. Given NE corridor gets fouled up on a regular basis you would need to have at least a 3 hr stopover in D.C. to make sure you didn't miss your train or you eat a day of hotel in D.C. Total cost about $1000 per passenger.
Finally Aircraft. MANY flights Boston to Covington (Cincinnati Intl is in Kentucky). Prices from 250 roundtrip to 400 roundtrip (basic with extend legroom 1 checked bag each) per person. Used Shuttle from Woburn for $25 roundtrip/person.
about $800 total for 2 pax at reasonable time. Got on the shuttle at 5:45 am, Caught 9:30AM flight stepped off in Covington about 12:15 PM at our AirBNB in Dayton about 2pm
Air travel used 2 less days than either Train or Car, and was $1200 less than Amtrak (though about 300 more than projected car). Honestly even if you want to go to DC Air or driving is better from here. And Amtrak on Acela kicks ass and takes names over almost any interior route. Only daytrip to NYC does Amtrak/Acela start to win and that's due to parking cost in NYC and check in at the airport.
Big issue is can you get there. You can almost always get there by car. Small Regional airports abound with decent flights from hubs and many larger cities. I'm not sure Amtrak pays off except on the Acela route in the crowded NE corridor, and even there most days you'll get there sooner by car even with near peak traffic.
When the tsa came into being, air flight was no longer a choice. We bought a motorhome. Go where we want, when we want in the comfort of our own home.
My daughter flew from Copenhagen to Budapest last weekend for $60. When she was living in Brussels she once flew to Manchester, England for $20. It cost her more than that to get to the airport. Flights within Europe can be insanely cheap.
My brother who travels by air weekly, is complaining that his reserved rental car is not there half the time now. He is so unhappy that he bought a SUV to sit at the airport parking lot for $600/year that he travels to frequently.
I travel to an engineering conference from south Texas to Norman, OK every year in February. 500 miles each way. I always drive since I am taking 40 lbs of brochures with me. And I drive my 4x4 F-150 in case of ice/snow.
used to rent a Cessna 150 for most trips over 200 miles, flew out of small airports, car rental available, very close to destinations: no TSA, no airline delays, but weather could sometimes be a prob
I have frequently traveled from Hampton, VA to Jacksonville, FL as part of a team visiting a ship. Everyone else flies, I drive a rental car. I carry their awkward stuff (hard hats and similar), leave at 04:00 ( about when they get up to go to the airport in Norfolk), drive a leisurely pace with stops along the way for lunch and other reasons, and arrive at the hotel by the airport about the same time as everyone else.
As we had to have the rental car anyway, the only travel expense I added was gas.
I've made friends at stops both ways, I can leave when I'm ready to with no airline penalty, and sometimes I buy stuff at local businesses to carry home at no extra cost.
P.S. If you like antiques/tools/architectural salvage, stop along I95 in Jacksonville, Waldoboro SC, Lumberton NC, Selma NC, flea market in Brunswick, GA. Never stopped at South of the Border.
I enjoy the drive and the people I meet.
I hate the flight and the uncertainty that comes with it, along with the luggage limitations, TSA, schedule problems, missed connections...
The US is big, and airfares are wildly variable. So, if you can get a cheap airfare, and are headed to someplace "far away" (for your personal definition of far), then flying can be the right answer. It also depends on what airfares and connections are like where you live. Since I live near a hub, then I can usually get nonstops, so I don't need to worry about missed connections -- which also makes a difference. Also note that, if you can travel without checking bags, it saves time, and may add flexibility (and, depending on how much you fly/airline status, saves money as well). My most recent con was 1400 miles from my house -- flying seemed to be pretty much the obvious choice.
And it also depends on the value you put on time -- and that's different for each traveler.
Amtrak pretty much is only the right answer in the Acela corridor in the Northeast. Otherwise, it costs more and takes longer.
But, of course, if you can drive easily, it's almost certainly the right answer.
One thing many forget to 'add' to driving costs (if you drive your own vehicle) is the 'maintenance cost' of $.60/mi. I can drive 8 hours, so right around 500 miles. Anything more, I fly, due to back issues.
All the time...
I drive everywhere because I'm old school... I will not be stranded without wheels... Ever.
With TSA and all, if the distance is less than 750miles, it is generally faster to drive...
But, whats even more interesting is just how much cheaper it is to take the 5th wheel RV with on the long trips... Motels are expensive... Packing and unpacking takes an extra 90min a day...
So much more convenient to have everything already unpacked... To be able to drive until I WANT to stop, not be tied to reservations... Food when we want it, no searching for the right restaurant...
It's the only way to go!
--
My work sends me to Vegas 3-4 times a year. I'm in Salt Lake.
Driving takes 6 hours each way and 3 tanks of gas at about $60 a tank.
Flying takes about 4-5 hours each way and typically costs $59-99 each way, plus rental car and maybe about 1/4 tank of gas for about $15. Hotel and food costs are the same either way, so I'm ignoring them.
To me it's more or less 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. Anything farther than the 400-ish miles with the straight-shot along the interstate I'd probably prefer to fly, however.
In the vein of this whole European car buying thing, though.... i had a co-worker some time back who bought a BMW, but had one custom built. It was right on the edge of what he could afford, but with import fees, transport across the ocean billed by a middleman, etc..... More than he could afford. But he looked it all up and found that if he bought it directly from BMW, then flew to Europe and drove it to the port himself he could avoid transport fees and import fees since he was simply "transferring his own property" and it returned to being (barely) affordable for him... so he did that.
I found I could take Amtrak round trip from Seattle to Portland for less than than the cost of gas one. OTOH, it did take twice as long.
And it depends on convenience. I used to work nights, when I got off work, the first train south was in four hours. By the time I would have caught the train, I could be in PDX.
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