Should i fly back to philadelphia or drive? (Cleveland: rental car, rental)

[daboywonder2002]

ok here's the deal. to fly for 4 people would be around $1000-1100 bucks. thats with us flying southwest. on top of that, i would still rent a car. Now my thing is driving would be about 1100 miles. How much money would i be saving driving? because if its only 300 dollars or less. i may as well fly. but if i can save 600 or more. im gonna drive. i plan on staying for like a week and 2 days.

[1stpontiac]

Driving:
1,100 miles x 2 (I assume you are coming back) = 2,200 miles/25 mpg = 88 gallons x $3.75/gal = $330

Flying:
$1,100 + $40/day x 9 (car rental) = $1,460

Pretty obvious in this case. Even if you take two days and spend a night in a hotel each way, driving is cheaper.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Ever done the drive before?

I've probably done it...10 times? 12? Know what you're getting yourself into, and try to time going through Chicago either early in the morning or late at night to be most efficient. We used to do it two days, and stay in a hotel either right before or right after Chicago. With a couple of drivers, one day's possible though.

[uptown_urbanist]

We've done that drive a bunch of times. I agree with the Chicago warnings; that's definitely a hassle. Bring lots of small change for all the tolls around there, too. We usually stopped near the Indiana/Ohio border for the night.

[daboywonder2002]

one thing i noticed is that there is a megabus that goes from minneapolis to chicago. maybe i could take that and then rent a car in chicago and drive the rest of the way??/

[daboywonder2002]

im not driving my car. im renting a car to drive.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

one thing i noticed is that there is a megabus that goes from minneapolis to chicago. maybe i could take that and then rent a car in chicago and drive the rest of the way??/

Still going to be way more expensive than just driving. Megabus costs ~$15 per way per person, so 4 people x $15 x 2-way = $120 plus you are now paying for gas for 800 mi each way Chicago-Philly AND you are paying for the car rental.

Much as I like mass transit, with 4 people, driving is always going to be cheaper than any other option.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

im not driving my car. im renting a car to drive.

Ah, I didn't realize that. Driving is still probably cheapest. It looks like you could greyhound the entire way for ~$930, but again, that's ~$600 more than driving (and renting the car would be a wash for any option).

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

On the megabus front:

And this idea would be terribly annoying to put into practice.

But Chicago is a hub for megabus. Philly is a hub. Pittsburgh either is or will be a hub.

You can take megabus from MPLS to Chicago, then transfer from Chicago to something like Cleveland, OH or Columbus. From there, take the megabus to Pittsburgh. And from there, take it to Philly.

I think that can work. If not now, then soon.

Might waste some time waiting to transfer though.

[golfgal]

How much time to you have. You are looking at 2 days of driving each way. Sorry, but my time is worth more than that. I would fly-Priceline tickets if you have to but I would not want that drive--unless of course you are making a "vacation" out of the drive and stopping at sights along the way, etc.

Everyone also seems to forget you need to eat along the way-so $350 for gas, $100/hotel each way so $200, food, $20 at LEAST per meal so $60-80/day for food times 4 days is another $240+ and you are getting close to $900 and you haven't paid for your rental car yet. Fly.