There are times when the transportation options for a destination are limited: If you are travelling over a body of water, you’re limited to aeroplane travel or travelling by boat (such as on a cruise). Most of the time, however, for overland travel, there are several options to consider. Flying is one option, going by train, bus and private vehicle are others. We have flown, travelled by train and taken a private vehicle during past trips (though our bus trip experience has been limited to day trips or group trips only, so far).
We have travelled by aeroplane when it has been necessary due to the location of the destination, or when we have been limited by our schedule. International trips require plane flights for us, because Australia is an island! But we have also opted for plane travel when driving may have been an option, in order to make our schedule work. For example, in 2019, we decided to fly from New York to Orlando, a distance we had driven (in reverse) on a previous trip. We made this decision because we were trying to fit as much as possible into a limited time frame. We had already experienced the cities that we would have driven through on that journey, so efficiency was our number one priority. It was also quite cost-effective, with both destinations being very popular for internal travel within the United States.
We also took a train journey from Niagara Falls to New York during the same holiday. On that occasion, Amtrak had a good sale happening (one child free with each paying adult). It was also quite efficient for us in terms of time and the train came into a station right across the road from our accommodation – it was the perfect way to avoid NYC traffic. We wanted to see the scenery outside on our journey, because we don’t really get ‘fall colours’ at home. Flying would have taken away the opportunity to see the scenery, and driving would have meant one of the adults had to have their eyes on the road. Travelling by train meant everyone got to look out of the windows. We also travelled by rail to the Grand Canyon, because the steam train ride was a special part of the whole experience.
Most of the time, however, our family prefers to travel by road. There are several reasons we think road trips are ideal for family travel.
First and foremost, road trips offer great flexibility. We can choose which sites we want to see on our journey and how long we want to spend at each one. We can change our itinerary at will. If we are hungry, we get to choose when to stop for food and what we eat. If anyone needs the bathroom, we can stop then, too. We can engage in conversation, listen to music, have judgment-free ‘screen time’, read aloud, play games, sleep and discipline the children (when needed) without worrying about inconveniencing anyone around us. The kids can have their own ‘zones’ set up so they have predictability whenever they get into the vehicle. We often buy food for the trip in advance and just unpack whatever we need at each stop, leaving the rest in the car. For all these reasons and more, we love the flexibility of road tripping.
Road trips are also cost-effective for larger families. If you have your own vehicle, your main transportation cost is petrol because there’s no car hire to factor in. We have also done road trips in hired cars, and then there’s an expense associated with the flexibility noted above, but it’s still cheaper than flying between each stop. Road trips are also ideal if there is a lot to see between destinations.
Of course, travelling by road can take a lot longer than flying. And when travelling by road, someone has to take on the role of driver, meaning that person isn’t getting a chance to relax. These are definitely factors to consider, especially for long drives. See my post about the importance of rest, which is even more important if one person is the primary driver for the trip!
We have been considering a trip to Australia’s capital, Canberra. This is a trek most Australian children make at some point during their school years (or at least, before COVID-19, it was a trip that many schools had on the calendar during students’ last year of primary school). Our girls haven’t been to Canberra yet, and we have some links to the area in their family tree, so we definitely want to travel there at some point.
I decided to do a comparison of three transportation options for a trip from Brisbane to Canberra for our family of six, which I have outlined below (all amounts are in AUD and current mid-April 2021, and obviously subject to change):
*********************************************
COSTS TO FLY
Flights down, p/person $285
Flights back, p/person $215
Flights, total p/person: $500
FAMILY FLIGHTS $3000
Hire car for a week
(Kia Carnival) $810
TOTAL TO FLY $3810
DURATION TO FLY
1 hr 55 min in air each way
**********************************************
COSTS TO DRIVE
Petrol down $195
Petrol back $195
PETROL TO & FROM
DESTINATION $390
Accommodation
both ways $740
TOTAL TO DRIVE $1,130
DURATION TO DRIVE
12 hr 46 min on road each way
Potential overnight stays
***********************************************
COSTS BY TRAIN
Fare down $140
Fare back $140
FARES FOR TRAIN $1680
Hire car for a week $810
TOTAL FOR TRAIN $2490
DURATION BY TRAIN
19 hr 25 min on train each way
***********************************************
NOTES
Flights
These were the cheapest flights available during a school holiday period. I kept the flight times very flexible to chase the lowest fares. Rewards points may be one way to keep flight costs down.
Petrol
Based on Kia Carnival specifications for an unleaded petrol vehicle with fuel efficiency of 10.8L/100km. We find a diesel more efficient and on long stretches of highway, the fuel efficiency always sits below 10L/100km. Petrol cost for time in Canberra not included (consistent across all three options).
Limited time options
Train appears to offer only two options daily from Brisbane, whereas there were many flight options (at different prices) and when driving by car, you can leave when you choose!
Car hire in Canberra
For both travel by air and travel by train, I'm assuming a car will be needed in Canberra, as the key sites are not within easy walking distance of each other and there are many interesting areas to explore (including ski fields) within the region. The price is from Budget Car Rental for a Kia Carnival or equivalent (people mover). An alternative would be to include Uber or taxi fares. Petrol costs for the time in Canberra are not included.
Duration
Given the length of the drive, our family would probably split this trip into two days of driving (which is still a lot of driving per day). If we wanted to see destinations along the way, we would break this down further. Splitting the driving days into two days each way would double the number of days in transit – it would be worth considering whether this would require additional time off work and any lost income.
For the air and rail options, the duration does not include time to drive to airport or station or time to go through security beforehand, nor does it include time from the airport or station to accommodation.
The train trip has the longest duration by quite a large margin, suggesting that there will be lengthy waits and lags between connections at different stages of the journey. This trip may require some form of sleeping arrangements.
Accommodation
Presuming our family would break up the drive, I priced accommodation in Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales coast, which is approximately half way between Brisbane and Canberra. The price included above was not the cheapest available, but I looked for a three-bedroom suite in a motor inn for both stops. The cheapest accommodation for our family on Booking.com was just $217 per night during school holiday periods.
Other considerations
*Parking/storage fees for own vehicle if self-driving to airport or station
*Luggage limitations for airline or train and fare type
*Mask/health requirements for travel on an aeroplane or train
*Driver fatigue – rest stops required every two hours when driving
*Food stops – can bring own food in the car to keep costs down, but most likely will eat some food at cafes and takeaway locations along the way, unsure of food rules on train.
**********************************************
According to these quick ‘back of the envelope’ comparisons, for our family, travelling by road would be about one third of the cost of going by air, and about half the cost of going by train. Travelling by train takes by far the longest time, and since it doesn’t offer especially good savings, it’s not an option we would consider for this trip.
For our family, the decision would depend on the amount of time available for the trip. If we were very pressed for time, we may consider using some frequent flyer rewards points to reduce the cost of airfares.
To demonstrate how the balance shifts depending on the number of children in your family, I’m including a quick comparison for each option below:
2 adults + 1 child
Fly & car hire: $2014 (smaller car)
Drive: $828 (smaller accommodation)
2 adults + 2 children
Fly & car hire: $2514 (smaller car)
Drive: $1,130
2 adults + 3 children
Fly & car hire: $3014 (smaller car)
Drive: $1,130
2 adults + 4 children
Fly & car hire: $3810
Drive: $1,130
*I know I am making an assumption about two adults. These costs could be adjusted to remove one adult fare.
*********************************************
Flying is clearly the most expensive option for all family types, but the cost benefits associated with road tripping are greatest for the family of six. A family with one child would need to consider whether the convenience of saving a couple of days of driving would be worth $1186, while a family like ours would pay $2680 to save the time by flying. Definitely a serious consideration, because a larger family will also pay more for entry to sites of interest, tours, food, etc. while at the destination as well. It’s important to get savings when you can!
I hope the snapshot above has been helpful to others who might be planning a similar trip. I’m sure there are considerations I’ve missed, and I’d love to hear about them. Please leave me a comment to let me know which transportation method you’d choose in the circumstances, and why!
It helps that we really enjoy the road trip experience. We’ll be talking about that on the podcast soon and I’ll follow up with some road trip tips and tricks in another post soon.
Happy planning,
Jane
Comments