sometimes it’s hard to decide. My general rule of thumb is that if the drive is less than five hours, it’s not worth it. Here’s why:
- with the exception of HPN, I need to allow at least an hour to get to the airports. This applies whether I’m driving from home or taking mass transit from work. If I’m going via mass transit to HPN, then that’s an hour too.
- two hour arrival time, again that’s with the exception of HPN. The NYC area airports are such a zoo that <2 hours, even without luggage, worries me.
- 1 hour flight (roughly for a 350 mile drive)
- de-planing, meeting people or getting tround transport, travel time from the airport…
Yep, five hours gone. That’s not to say I haven’t broken that “rule” on several occasions — namely when I don’t feel like driving to Rochester or the fare is so good that it’s not worth it once you figure in gas and tolls. I usually end up regretting it, partially due to the issues discussed in the recent Today in the Sky. Travelling through the NY airports just isn’t smooth.
It’s interesting to look at the Bradley-Newark flight that Jeanne Leblanc discussed today. Ignoring the fact that the flight is of no use to me personally — I’m almost equi-distant between the two, slightly closer to EWR – the drive is probably < 3 hours even with traffic. I’m guessing it’s of use to business folk but I can’t imagine what time it might save, even without the delays.
As I plan travels — I keep the 5 hour idea in mind. The break-even point is going to change though with:
- more flights from HPN, and in the Spring/Summer I’ll be willing to risk the midwest connection in either DTW or ORD
- the rising cost of gas and NYS Thruway tolls (although I do have EZ Pass). Note: for all four years of college it cost $9.95 each way between the Exit 16 toll barrier and exit 45 for 490/Roc – this was before the EZ Pass discount was much of anything. This weekend (I won’t take the toll-free 17/390 in the winter) it was $10.85 each way to Exit 43.
