To Drive or Fly....That is the Question

_ Choose to fly, and be prepared to empty your wallet on airfare. Choose drive, and spend half of your trip on the road. Most of my family lives in Hamilton, Ohio, a mere speck of dust on the map, and year after year we make the painful trek there. In the past, we have usually ended up taking the good old Toyota Sienna mini-van all 12 hours, in a desperate attempt to avoid those nasty plane ticket fares, though I sometimes wondered which method of transportation was really the better choice. Then, as if by some divine power, my prayers were answered. In 2009, befrugal.com created the “FlyorDriveCalculator,” a program that compares the pros, cons, and (most importantly) prices of travel by air and land. When you first enter the site, you are asked to provide information about your options for flying and for driving: airports, car type, hotel prices, etc. Once all of the details about your trip are listed, the “Fly or Drive Calculator” maps out comparable costs, times, and even environmental impact. Everything is broken down into individual components that outline exactly where your time and money are being distributed. For example, on my trip to Hamilton, it will take 5 hours 35 minutes each way and $892.57 round trip by plane, whereas by car, it will take 11 hours 53 minutes door to door but only cost about 186.90 if we drive without stopping at a hotel. So this year, when you’re faced with that nasty question, “to fly, or to drive?” let the befrugal.com decide for you.
Ellen Studer
BestWeelends.com