Saturday, April 12, 2008

Do We Fly or Drive On Our Next Vacation?

So, in the last week or so we've heard:

"American Airlines Cancels More than 300,000 travelers were left stranded by American Airlines in one week..."

"ATA Airlines shut down operations and stranded thousands of travelers..."

When airlines go under, fliers find that they have few protections

And a personal story about a mistake in SouthWest's reservation system leading to a sneaky $66 charge for a flight change by The Strobist

Plus our own luggage being lost by American Airlines 6 months ago and the lack of effort as far as getting our luggage back to us in a timely manner so we could enjoy our vacation.

And the decision is easy -we're taking an extra few days off to drive to Canada this year instead of fly. With the fair increases, it should be no more $ than flying even including the gas, hotels, etc. Besides, this way we don't have to worry about lines, getting stuff packed so we can get through security with our various electronic devices and camera gear. Oh, and we know that the $1k plus that we'll pay for an airline ticket won't be simply lost if we're one of the growing number left stranded at the airport when these airlines go under while their already well-paid executives are reportedly doubling their salary. Ridiculous. We'll drive, thanks.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:23 AM

    I'm with you on driving. We live in Colorado and made plans last winter to visit Disneyland in CA this summer. It will take a 12-14 hour drive to get there and we thought our kids could handle it. Plus we save on having to rent a car or pay for shuttles at our destination.
    With the price of gas going up and up we were thinking it might be better to fly instead. I did a rough calculation on gas, estimating costs and distances on the high side and it came to less than $500. Factoring in the alternate cost of airline tickets and transportation in CA and the decision was a no brainer.
    This solution may not be practical for every one. Driving adds a lot of time to the trip. We're esssentially losing 2 days of our vacation just being on the road. If we were going further, say Florida, it wouldn't be practical. One other item to consider is safety. Flying is much, much safer than driving when you consider the distance involved and the number of cars on the road.
    Bruce

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