Comments on: The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Flying Costs Come Home to Roost Edition

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:52:16 +0000

Be sure to hit the McDonald’s on the interstates and pick up a lodging coupon book. You can save a substantial amount. Some Welcome Centers have them, but the McDonald’s are more reliable.

Also, in the morning, be sure to figure out how far you will go and make a reservation for that evening. The coupon book hotels usually won’t make a reservation but if you travel late it can literally be a lifesaver. Falling asleep while driving can take out the whole family.

And be sure to stop in at Pueblo! We have a great little city here. If you plan to visit, Trent, e-mail me and I’ll introduce you to my family. Bring Milkbones!

By: Madelaine

Madelaine — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:02:55 +0000

We’re going to Seattle, but we bought tickets during a sale back in January.

Flying to Seattle in the summer always seems expensive to me. It’s a really looong drive, though.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:22:39 +0000

That’s interesting…I have family in Seattle and when I did a search for tickets I came up with fares for $200-$250. Then again, I’d be flying out of Chicago, and I did it as a flexible date search.

Another reason why I want to travel more before having kids.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:31:28 +0000

I have always heard that flying takes more fuel (or at least creates more emissions) per passenger than driving — I guess now that fuel costs are higher, the tradeoff is more obvious.

By: Recritique.com

Recritique.com — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:23:03 +0000

I know the US has some high gas costs right now but just imagine how it is in other countries. This is why they have been involved in mass transit for years. We Americans are now finally deciding it is too much to have our own cars and necessity creates change. It will be interesting to see how this changes things.

Robyn

Recritique.com

Restaurant Printable Coupons, Freebies and More.

By: K @ The Homestead

K @ The Homestead — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:29:18 +0000

Forget Colorado…. come to Montana!! If you can hit Butte in mid-July you can attend the National Folklife Festival.

And if you need some ideas about frugal car travel with tots just ask.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:53:07 +0000

Yeah, it really sucks. The wife and I will be traveling to Leadville, CO in august for a mountain bike race. We checked plane ticket prices and *almost* died. It was going to be over $1000. Then, we’ve got to pay extra for the bike (both ways) AND we’d have to rent a car to get around.

Needless to say, we’re driving now.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:44:03 +0000

$400/seat is quite reasonable these days, especially for those of us the “fly-over states” where there’s not much competition from major carriers (I’m in PA). I have to say, though, while I understand you needed to coordinate plans – even in GOOD economic times there is simply no way to get a good deal on tickets unless you buy in advance (i.e., months in advance). Even buying in advance and then paying a fee to change dates, if necessary, generally comes out ahead of buying only days or weeks ahead of the event. Also: isn’t your youngest child under 2? Why would you pay for a separate seat for her?

If you get a chance…Could you talk a little bit about what factors *other than price* went into your decision? Obviously, long car rides with young children (especially a breastfeeding infant) are no walk in the park, and now you’re not going to be seeing your family in Seattle. (I’m also assuming that you’re not going to be saving *that* much now that gas prices are over $4/gallon throughout much of the West.) What factors in favor of visiting Colorado outweighed the convenience/family factors of the original Seattle trip? DH and I are planning a trip sometime later this summer and are weighing these factors ourselves, so any input would be appreciated!

By: MVP

MVP — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:59:24 +0000

Um, $400 is a bargain. I fly from Washington state (usually a smaller airport or Portland, Ore.) to Michigan a couple times a year to visit family and have always paid at least $400 for each ticket every time. I’m sure from now on, it’s going to cost far more, but get used to it. The key is budgeting for vacations. We came to the realization long ago that once kids come along, we’re going to really have to save up money if we ever want them to know their grandparents 3,000 miles away.

We’re driving rather than flying to Colo. for a summer vacation in a couple weeks. It’s likely going to cost us far less than flying, even with the high gas prices and car rental. And I’m thrilled we won’t have to deal with any airport hassles.

By: MES

MES — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:01:50 +0000

We live in the Seattle area, so we have the ocean and all those lovely mountains at our fingertips. Sorry you’re going to miss out! Colorado sounds like a fabulous 2nd choice.

Since the arrival of our 2.5 year old, and with the impending arrival of a new baby, we feel the air travel crunch too. Not just the base price of tickets, but also the new limitations on baggage. I try all the time to get great-grandma to understand that she could visit us 4 times for the price we would pay to visit her once. Plus she can stay longer than we would be able to.

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:44:55 +0000

Well, Trent, Colorado is my home state. If you come here I might like to meet you. I’ve been reading your blog almost since it started, and you just seem like a great guy.

By: Shevy

Shevy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:18:06 +0000

@Kacie
Don’t babies fly free? Or at least half price?
Maybe that’s a thing of the past as well.

The last few times I flew with a baby or toddler I had to buy a ticket for her to sit in her car seat in a separate seat. I believe the time she was 4 mos old and I flew cross-country to a wedding I had the option to check the car seat and hold her in my lap, but 5 hours with an infant in your lap is pretty rough even not considering safety issues.

By: Miguel Wickert (Pineiro)

Miguel Wickert (Pineiro) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:02:28 +0000

Wow! You have some solid resources here. The 75 tips post is amazing. I’ll have to share that one with friends. Thanks!

By: margo

margo — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:46:23 +0000

Trent, I think Eden misunderstood and thought you meant $1,600 per ticket. Which is, hahasigh, still cheaper than first class, probably.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:12:39 +0000

I fly to Des Moines several times a year from the East coast and I find there are rarely any good deals because there is not much competition at the airport and no low cost carriers (to my knowledge). I am going there this weekend: $500 round trip. I could have saved some money had I gone with less convenient travel times but I wanted make the most of my time out there.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:10:42 +0000

See ya in Colorado! Thats our destination this summer, too, toward the end of June. We live in Kansas, so its not too far.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:03:14 +0000

Oh yeah, and we most certainly do NOT buy anything other than coach…Australia is just expensive to get to. :)

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:02:14 +0000

Wouldn’t this fall under your “saving for priorities” category? Didn’t you write a post about that…maybe it was someone else. We go overseas to visit family each year and pay $1500 PER TICKET! But, it’s important to us and something we sacrifice in other areas in order to manage it. We are a family of 3 soon to be 4, so believe me, it hurts. But, we talk about it at length every year and we are all close our family over there, so it’s always worth it. Luckily though we don’t have to spend any on accomodation and little on food. And we had 2 free tickets from miles (from our American Advantage credit card which we charge everything on to accumulate miles) this year which was really nice!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:58:38 +0000

Don’t babies fly free? Or at least half price?

Maybe that’s a thing of the past as well.

By: Chad @ Sentient Money

Chad @ Sentient Money — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:49:17 +0000

The high cost of plane tickets are the result of two factors; high oil prices and the realization by the airlines that their previous business model sucks. It’s going to be awful hard to get airlines to drop prices back to pre-credit/pre-oil crisis levels.