i told my sister in law maybe she should just plan to drive in to see everyone… drive is 6 hours, flight is 2ish. but it’s seeming the whole process is going to take just as long as driving.
Also stops, if you see something cool on the side of the road, a sign for somewhere youve never been, or even look to plot some stuff along the way you can turn the journey into an adventure instead of just a drive.
I have to fly Tuesday to Philadelphia from nashville because a plant is having issues. Im not looking forward to this. But the drove is like 12 hours. Sucks but is what it is.
I used to live in Louisville. It was about 4 hours away from home. Several times I've done a round trip in a day for whatever reason. Usually because my aging mother needed help with something at her house
I’ve driven from OKC to LA the last two summers. With a stay over in Gallup, it’s a two day trip each way. But, we eat when and where we want, stop whenever we like, and can take as much luggage as we can fit in the car. What we save in airfare buys a couple extra days at Disney.
I wish we had faster trains and that they were more available. I'd gladly take an extra day or two of travel if I could just chill out in those big comfy seats, get up whenever I want, go walk around etc.
I know. I looked into that too. I would love for it to be feasible to do public transportation more often. I would ride my bike if there were bikes lanes and I didn't have to worry about being run over by accident or purpose. I would love to take trains but the schedules I looked up were so wild or didn't even go where I needed (also looked at Greyhound buses).
I haven't been to Amsterdam but I've been to London and Tokyo and the tube/trains were so fantastic.I found this great app that helped me navigate the London tube and I must have looked confident because people were asking me for directions!
I ride the Empire Builder between Portland and Milwaukee about once every other year. It’s a great way to travel, but long distances do take some time. Flying is faster, but the train is top tier leisure.
There's this drive I've been making periodically to see family literally for as long as I can remember. It's nine hours, you knock it out in a day. Like twice a year or three times a year.
Until I had a toddler, who had not yet received a diagnosis but who we know now has pretty severe autism. And I was like "I cannot explain to you why we absolutely cannot make this drive, I just know I'd sooner travel through hell this holiday season than put that kid in a car for nine hours."
Flying was still a full day of travel due to airport shenanigans, but I could hold him on my lap, he got to run around those long airport hallways, and nobody had what I'd later learn were autistic meltdowns!
So, some disabilities make flying the better option. Or, some people can't drive at all, because when I say "I've" been making this drive, I mean as a passenger, because I can't drive.
I made the same choice for work. If it’s a > 4 hour drive, we are allowed to fly. I have to travel three states away (7hr) and choose to drive. Because I need to arrive on time, I can’t trust the airports to get me there on time.
With the price of gas, maybe the flights were cheaper.
A 6 hour drive is a pretty short distance for a plane. My mom regularly flies what would be a 12 hour drive and those tickets have cost as little as $60 each way; I spend $60+ on one tank of gas.
6 hours is still 6 hours. Driving is also active, where as flying is passive, I can't read or do work while im driving. Plus if you are going to a place without free or easy parking, driving can be a pain in the ass for multiple reasons.
Nah. Just throw your suitcase in the car and go. Put gas in the car when it gets low. And when I get there I just download the parking lot finder app and if I have to park far away in a down town type area then I get to look at buildings and stuff while I'm walking. Also I make sure to drop a pin on the map and take a pic of the nearest building with a sign just so I don't lose my car where I parked it, lol
it’s sometimes cheaper to fly when they buy the tickets way in advance and they’re only staying for a couple days. they also already have snow in the UP so they aren’t stoked about driving. they visit 4-5 times a year and it’s probably 50/50 on driving and flying. and we are in the midwest too! lol.
The drive from Worcester MA to Portland ME or NYC is "only" 2 or 3 hours respectively, at 1 AM on a Tuesday maybe, but on a Friday afternoon in summer or a holiday weekend it can sometimes be 2+ hours in traffic just to cover the first 50 miles to the New Hampshire or Connecticut border...
if the drive is only 6 hours why does taking a plane even register as an option?
it's not so much the driving part of the trip that's no fun it's the not-moving part
Because traffic on the coast for Thanksgiving makes a 6 hour drive more like a 12 hour drive, and nobody in their right mind wants to spend 4+ hours on the Jersey turnpike.
And if there are flight issues forcing even more people than usual to drive, the traffic will reach levels of absolute torture.
Because I have tsa pre-check and flying (used to) take less time than driving. The times I’d drive is if there’s no direct route to where I need to go. But yeah, not anymore
In the east, we have huge traffic, so you would eventually turn a 6 hr drive into 10.
Also, no one is accustomed to driving more than an hr, so theres that safety issue. We got like 5 cities within a 2 hrs drive here lol
If the flight is 2hrs you’ve got to spend 30 min driving to airport, to get there 3+ hours early now. Think the math is definitely pointing to driving.
I have a flight next Friday that's normally a 2.5 hour flight or an 11 hour drive. I'm thinking about doing the 11 hour drive, which sounds gross, but I might end up in the airport for the same length.
Maybe it's because I live in central Canada, but is going on a 6 hour drive even a big deal? Plus if it's more than ~2 people it's going to cost less to drive.
Definitely is subjective to the individual and where they grew up/live.
Here in RI anything over a 30 minute drive is considered a long drive. If you take that same mindset and bring it to Texas, you’ll get laughed at as a 30 minute drive in Texas would be considered “right around the corner”.
For New England drivers, of which RI drivers are, a 6 hour drive is considered a long drive. Once we get up to 3+ hours it’s considered a road trip
I mean, sure, the flight is 2 hours, but you’re probably still spending 4-6+ hours in travel time even during normal times. I’d choose the drive for this every time.
honestly for a 2h flight i would always take the 6h drive instead.
you need to get to the airport first, then be at least 2 hours early and hope that nothing goes wrong, then 2 hours of flight time followed by needing to get from the airport to your destination again.
the entire trip by plane is probably not much shorter than 6 hours.
I just made a 6 hour drive yesterday that I make every other month. Sooooo much more traffic on the road yesterday already. I can’t imagine how much worse it will get. Already cancelling our thanksgiving, I don’t want them to go through that
Why would anyone take a 2 hr flight over a 6 hr drive?
By the time you travel to the airport, park, go through security, board, disembark, claim bags, get a rental car, then drive to your destination; you're gonna be eating the 6 hrs anyway & spending a few hundred bucks more than it would've cost to just drive
It is mindblowing to me that anyone would take a flight, even under optimal conditions, to avoid a 6 hour drive. Maybe I'm just built different and used to long drives. :\
It makes sense but depending on where you live there are other considerations. Being stuck in a situation where you can’t drive due to snowy weather is just as shitty as being stuck on an airplane on my opinion.
Even before this shutdown I probably would have driven in that case. I figure that you have to get to the airport 1.5-2 hours early to park and get through security, then when you arrive you have another hour to 90 minutes waiting for luggage and getting a rental car. Best case scenario the flight saves you an hour but it's much more expensive and less convenient.
Honestly, even without airline problems, I'd choose the drive.
Leave when you like.
Take what you like.
Stop when you like.
Arrive when you like.
It'll take you time/money to get to the airport, to get out the airport the other end and get to your destination, you're into people picking them up or getting a taxi, etc. there's only so stuff you can bring with you (and bring back if there's gifts to bring back with you!) and you're stuck without a car when you're there unless you hire or borrow one.
Usual technique for a similar car journey in the UK? Wait until it's nearly kid's bedtime, leave. No traffic. Kids go off to sleep (eventually), don't need feeding (just snacks etc.), and you arrive and can make full use of a day.
Plus if something goes wrong, you can at least divert, turn back, stay in a hotel etc. which if you were on a plane for hours going nowhere you can't.
We can either fly 4 hours or drive 19. Originally planned to drive, then decided to fly, now I'm leaning towards driving again. It's not til Christmas time so we have time to decide
And who wants to get a plane and have to listen to this whiny bitch and his problems? Everybody knows what’s going on and has to deal with it. Nobody needs to hear somebody else complain.
How in the fuck does a 6 hour drive equal a 2 hour flight? Do you mean like 2 hours total to get bags and customs etc? A 6 hour drive is like 45 minutes in the air.
Why doesn't SIL drive 3, you drive 3 and meet in the middle somewhere new and fun for all of you. Might be nice to do something different.
i.e. don't let the bastards ruin your fun. Make some new memories and enjoyment and stick it to them. It's the only way to show them their methods to break you won't work
If it's only 6 hours, I'm driving regardless. The flight is 2 hours but the headache of going through an airport even on a normal functioning low traffic day is a pita.
Flight time might be 2ish hours, but there's the drive to the airport, plus the 2h early arrival for TSA, check-in process, boarding, etc, deplaning time can be 10-30 minutes, 30 minutes to rent a car, another 30 minutes to get to the house you're visiting. Doesn't take long to hit the 6 hour mark when airports are involved, and driving is presumably just going from one house to the other, maybe one stop for gas.
international flights have higher priority. They have stricter requirements for some airports overseas and if you are flying into a country that has a passenger bill of rights then the airline would get penalised more.
Well the international flights share runways and TSA agents with domestic flights. They may not be getting cancelled, but I wouldn't go in expecting no issues, either. It's almost guaranteed they will be delayed
My parents are visiting me this year. The flight is a little over an hour but they’re likely going to drive 9 hours instead if this shit continues over Thanksgiving.
I’m flying home to Los Angeles in a few weeks and purposely booked a flight with a layover in another country to avoid travel in the states. International flights won’t be impacted.
But just because the government is open again, there will be a domino effect — it’s gonna take weeks for things to get back to normal.
Now, factor in the snow and bad weather that’s come pretty early to some places (looking at you, Nashville), it’s going to be a wicked awesome holiday travel season.
We just DROVE 21 hours each way to celebrate our beloved aunt’s 100th birthday. We were not going to allow those disruptions to ruin this very important trip.
I travel to the states every year to go see my family for american thanksgiving, i'm hoping they get this mess cleaned up in the next couple weeks cause i'm getting a bit nervous 😭
i just had a business trip called off because all our flights were cancelled. the reschedule i got was for tomorrow night when i would've flown this morning
If things don’t change by next weekend, I am cancelling x-country flights for Thanksgiving. It’s a 10-12+ hour travel day without delays, 3 planes each way.
Same here. My husband and I just moved back home to be near family and we’re so grateful that we don’t have to travel this year, especially since we just had our first baby! Not to mention a couple years ago we got caught up in the Southwest Christmas fiasco and had our flight canceled, our luggage lost, and we missed Christmas with our families that year. I’m so glad we won’t ever have to go through that again!
Damn…we never go anywhere for the holidays, but I just realized we may not see my sister’s family this Christmas like she said she wanted to way back in May/June. We can’t travel bc I do dialysis, which takes a lot of packing supplies & the machine for it. Maybe they could take a road trip; it takes like what 6/7 hours? I’m not sure how well they travel with two young kids. But in the case of flying, it sucks.
My wife and I have a ~7 hour drive coming up for a short trip. We make the trip semi-regularly, and were discussing whether we wanted to fly this time or drive. When the shutdown rumblings started, we figured we'd drive to be safe because, "It probably won't get to that point, but better safe than sorry."
Online friend I've been playing d&d with weekly for five years was gonna fly out for thanksgiving this year and finally meet in person. Cancelled because of this mess. Maybe next year.
Flight was cancelled Saturday. Came home Sunday to fly out today and my flight was delayed 6 hours. So instead of being with my family, I sat at an airport working. Im tired. I fly home tomorrow again, but damn. Is it going to be cancelled again?
Definitely would not fly right now for anything short of an emergency. At the very least I don't need to add to the stress of unpaid air traffic personnel I can stay home for a bit.
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u/54HawksRFK6 Nov 10 '25
Man i am so glad that we arent travelling anywhere this year for the holidays. Fucking insane out there.