| There's generally disheartening news for business | | | | cost at just over 33 dollars (33.23). The calculator |
| people and vacationers intending to fly on business or | | | | also computed the round-trip cost of the drive, in this |
| on vacation this summer, according to a recent article | | | | case, 66.46. |
| published in U.S. News & World Report. Not only have | | | | To compare this to the cost of flying, I next visited |
| flight delays increased, but so, too, have the number | | | | Sidestep appeals to me because it scours hundreds |
| of passengers impacted per plane. For some, the | | | | of airline and discounted fare websites for the best |
| news was worse than for others. Ranking major | | | | fare and then lets me book my flight directly with |
| airports based on a combination of the percentage of | | | | the airline in question instead of using an intermediary |
| flights delayed and the average load of departing | | | | like Orbitz, Travelocity or Expedia. Dealing with the |
| planes, the U.S. News article branded Detroit's Wayne | | | | airline directly and not through a third-party ticket |
| County Airport as the nations "most miserable | | | | broker, makes it easier and possibly less costly if |
| airport". | | | | fees are involved to rebook if necessary. |
| Official Department of Transportation numbers paint | | | | At sidestep.com, I located an American Airlines |
| a frustrating picture for Motown's frequent fliers. | | | | non-stop flight that would whisk me from Detroit to |
| Thirty-nine percent of flights at Detroit leave the | | | | Chicago on a Tuesday and return me the following |
| tarmac late. Combined with an average load factor of | | | | Thursday at a total round-trip cost of 119.00 dollars. |
| just under seventy-seven percent - meaning that | | | | Not at all a bad price, but still roughly twice as |
| passenger flights leaving the Motor City are nearly 77 | | | | expensive as the cost of traveling by car. And the |
| percent full - Detroit's airport offers the most misery | | | | price did not factor in the cost of airport parking or |
| to the largest number of passengers when flights are | | | | any added airport fees or taxes. |
| delayed. | | | | Because I enjoy driving, the decision to drive to |
| Because I live near Detroit and occasionally travel to | | | | Chicago on my next business trip was an obvious |
| nearby Chicago or Cleveland on business, these | | | | one. My route takes me right by the Detroit airport |
| statistics got me wondering about the advantages - | | | | anyway and I'd rather spend my time driving through |
| if any - of traveling by car to these destinations. | | | | the scenic countryside of Western Michigan than |
| Thanks to some other advice in the article, it was | | | | battling long lines and possible delays at the airport. |
| quite simple for me to price and then compare the | | | | As an added bonus, it's nice to have my own car in |
| cost of driving and flying to each of these cities. | | | | Chicago and also nice to save on the cost of a rental. |
| The first step in the process was to check out | | | | Whether a decision like mine adds up in your case |
| Maintained by the American Automobile Association | | | | depends to a large extent on your starting point and |
| (AAA), this website makes it easy to input your | | | | final destination. Even though it's still marginally less |
| starting point and destination along with the make, | | | | expensive for me to drive from Detroit to Los |
| model and year of manufacture of your vehicle. Using | | | | Angeles than it is to fly, for example, I'd never |
| MPG estimates for your particular vehicle and the | | | | dream of making this long drive part of a business |
| average gas price for your neck of the woods, | | | | trip. |
| AAA's fuel cost calculator rapidly computes the | | | | As a rule it's the shorter trips, on the order of 250 to |
| distance, the quantity of fuel required and total price | | | | 450 miles, where driving makes sense. Decide for |
| of the gas for a typical drive from in my case - | | | | yourself by comparing the cost of flying and the cost |
| Detroit to Chicago. In my case, I learned that I could | | | | of driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, |
| expect to consume 10.58 gallons of gas for the | | | | Washington, D.C. |
| 275-mile drive to the Windy City at at a ballpark fuel | | | | |