Up, Up and Away

One of the biggest problems with us trying to get back to Ohio is that we are too close to fly (the cost of a flight out ways the gas it would take) and at times it feels like we are too far away to drive (It seems like you have to be at the airport three days before your flight). So we are just going to have to suck it up and drive either 7 or 9 hours to see family... or do we.

Before I left Columbus I was forced into a press conference about a new airlines called Skybus. It's a new airline that is based out of Columbus and their big hook was flights as low as $10. Yeah right 10 bucks, what are they going to do strap us to the wing? They will never sell tickets for $10! Well, I was wrong, The Wife talked to someone back home and they are taking a flight to Seattle for $80 one way! I know it's $160 round trip, but hell, that seems pretty cheap to me. The Wife started to look around the website and found out they fly out of Greensboro (just over an hour away) and the price ranges from $10-$50 one way.

Lets do the math here a bit, lets say I get two $10 tickets round trip so that's $40 (plus tax) for the flight. With the Mazda I can do Greensboro for a half a tank so lets say $20-$35 (depending on how much they are gouging me at the pumps that week). If we go with the economy rental car for 5 days it will cost $60 (That's if we don't get a rental while we stay in Columbus and just have people come pick us up or drop us off). If we go to Ironton for a day that's one tank of gas at $35 and if we go to Dayton and back that's $60. Then we have the parking at Greensboro so that will be $50. Total cost of the flight and everything else is $265.

That may seem still a little high, but think about the gas we would use, I think it was four or five tanks of gas, but I usually have to get an oil change before or after, then there is the wear and tear on my car, if we can work day side We will usually get a hotel in Beckley, WVa for around 80 dollars so in the long run we would break even. Too bad for our trip to Ohio in June we are bringing back two of her nephews and a niece or we would fly out on this trip.