Fly the cheap skies

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Gene

I am heading down to San Diego at the end of the month to help out at a conference; I thought it might be a good opportunity to put the top down on the roadster and drive ala James Dean along the coast (albeit somewhat slower and more cautiously)… a California roadtrip.
Problems arise: first off, it is about 9 hours to San Diego from here. Longer if one counts breaks, stops at funky roadside attractions, etc. Second, it is about 460 miles, and at an average of 22 miles per gallon with gas at $3.50 per gallon here, it would cost me about $150 to drive.
Now here’s where we learn why airplanes are so crowded. There are flights from San Jose to San Diego 10 times per day. The flight takes an hour and a half. A ticket costs $50 each way. $10 for a cab ride each way from the airport, and I’m still coming out ahead.
True, I won’t have the wind-in-my-hair James Dean experience. But who needs 9 hours of that?