In California, is it cheaper to fly or drive?
Yesterday, we told you there were flights as cheap as $44 each way on Southwest. But United is topping that with West Coast fares starting at $39 each way. Jet Blue is in on the fun too with their R&R sale.
According to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report, the average price for a gallon of gas in Los Angeles is $3.19. The question then becomes, is it cheaper to fly or drive? I did some math on a few destinations and found that it was cheaper to fly to San Francisco but a little less expensive to drive to Las Vegas.
Call your friends, decide on where to go and book your flights by Thursday Jan. 24, 2008, for the Southwest sale and Friday Jan. 25 for JetBlue and United West Coast sales.
A car-versus-plane cost comparison:
Los Angeles to San Francisco: 390 miles each way. If you get 20 miles to the gallon and gas is priced at $3.19, the trip will cost you about $62 to get there. Note that the average cost of a gallon of gas in San Francisco is $3.42 or $67 to get back. The total gas price if driving is $129. Total flight cost if using Southwest sale, $109. Result: Cheaper to Fly.
Long Beach to Las Vegas: 282 miles each way. If you get 20 miles to the gallon and gas is priced at $3.19, the trip will cost you $45 to get there. The average price of a gallon of gas in Las Vegas is $3 or $42 to get back. The total cost to drive back and forth is $87. The total cost to fly if using the JetBlue sale, $113. Result: Cheaper to drive.
Note: These samples don’t take into account the cost of getting to the airport or transportation once you’re away from home.
Tell us, would you rather fly or drive when traveling in California?
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger
[Photo: Sean Masterson, EPA]
10 Comments on “In California, is it cheaper to fly or drive?”
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January 24th, 2008 at 8:20 am
You’re forgetting about Megabus.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Why do we always assume it’s fly or drive? What about bus and train?
MegaBus: you can get fares for as low as 1.00 each way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
Also, Amtrak to San Francisco from Los Angeles is cheap too.
(and Megabus also)
January 24th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Good point travelers, Megabus has always been cheaper than both as far as I know.
Thanks for adding your comments. As you know, we write about Megabus deals and personal trips often. My intent was not to slight them, just kept my cost comparison simple between two modes of transport. Maybe I’ll do train vs. bus next….
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger
January 24th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[...] Today on the LA Times Daily Travel & Deal Blog there was a post asking, “In California, is it cheaper to drive or fly?” According the the author, if you’re going to San Francisco it’s cheaper to fly and if you’re going to Las Vegas it’s cheaper to drive. Of course, the author ignores other modes of travel to those two cities that may be cheaper, namely taking a bus (either Megabus or Greyhound).MetroRiderLA is going to give you the information that the LA Times neglected in order to help you find the cheapest way to appease your wanderlust. [...]
January 24th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
You’re assuming that the cost of driving is just gas, which is just wrong–wear and tear on your car is a much bigger expense. That SF/LA trip gets you 780 miles (round up to 1000 if you’re actually going to go see anything once you get there) closer to your next oil change, scheduled maintenance, and ultimately having to buy your next car.
According to the AAA site, the actual cost of driving is something like $0.50 a mile. So the real cost of this trip is more like $390 (I bet somewhat lower since highway miles are easier on your car, and your insurance rate is based on commute distance, not road trips–but still, I’m sure it’s *way* more than $119).
So unless you’re packing your car full of friends, Southwest is a much better deal, and Megabus is cheaper yet.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:28 am
Shouldn’t you also factor in the cost of getting to and from the airport?
January 31st, 2008 at 10:11 am
This is also highly dependent upon the number of people traveling. If you drive, then you can add up to 4 or 5 people (or more with a van) for basically the same price. If you fly, the cost goes up dramatically.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
sorry but amtrack does not own enough tracks to go from S.F to L.A.
You would have to leave from Emeryville. (on the other side of the bay) at comute time getting to emeryville would be 90min from S.F.then the train goes as far as Bakersfield.then they put you on a bus to L.A. I called and thats what they told me, so we decided to drive to L.A.
February 24th, 2008 at 1:26 am
The LAT Bottleneck blog posted on the same subject and elicited several thoughtful, provocative comments as well: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bottleneck/2008/02/cheaper-to-driv.html#more
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Anyone know best airline or air connections from San Luis Obispo [or Santa Maria] to Fort Bragg?