Today’s post is from our regular Wednesday contributor, Cat.
As many of you know, I absolutely love to travel. I’ve been lucky enough to see some pretty cool places and even got to live abroad for almost three years.
Still, whenever I’m planning a trip, I always find it hard to decide exactly how to to travel. Do I take a cruise, fly somewhere awesome, or just hop in the car and go on a road trip?
If you don’t have a preferred way to travel either, consider some of the pros and cons below:
Cruise
With a cruise, you get to see many different destinations at one time. Whether you take a quick weekend trip to the Caribbean or a 3 week European vacation, it’s nice to have someone else plan out all the details and events.
Sure you have to pick an excursion or two, but you don’t have to worry about cabs or hotels or luggage. It’s all taken care of! This could be a con if you are the type of person who loves to check out things off the beaten path or likes to change plans once you get there, like adding on a quick side trip. Essentially, once you get on the boat, you really are stuck there (that is, unless you don’t get back to it on time!)
The great thing is that typically, you pay one price and get all of your meals included. Most of them are going to be nice with tons of course options. The drawback here, though, is that alcohol isn’t included and neither are soft drinks. All of those things you’ll have to pay extra for which can really add up. There are also other fees and tips to consider, which can be tagged on to your bill at the end.
Be sure to read our post 15 Tips for people going on a cruise if you are going on one or considering going on one.
Plane
When booking plane travel, there are lots of ways to get a better deal cost wise. We write all the time about credit card churning, which is a great way to fly just about anywhere for just a few dollars in fees (provided you have a healthy relationship with credit cards of course!).
However, let’s say you don’t have airline points and you don’t want to churn for them. If that’s the case, plane flights can be pretty expensive. They also have all sorts of fees, like charging for bags and even peanuts. The nerve! I find it’s also a pretty uncomfortable way to travel. To me, the only way this is more cost effective than driving is if somehow the ticket is less than all the gasoline and overnight stops of a road trip.
Road Trip
First, let me say that I love road trips. I don’t love forced road trips, like the one I just had to take from Louisiana to New Jersey when I moved a few weeks ago. However, I do enjoy your run of the mill road trip adventures.
I like how flexible they are, how comfortable you are in your own car, and how you can really shop around for the best prices on hotels and food, which makes everything a lot easier on the ol’ pocketbook. I think I’d take a road trip over a cruise any day, but that’s just me.
Regardless of how you decide to travel, you will want to check out our post on 5 Creative Ways to Pay for Travel to help you afford your trips.
What’s your preferred way of travel?
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I guess it depends where we are going. I definitely love a good road trip. We don’t have any big summer vaca plans so we will likely go on a road trip. I find driving so relaxing and I agree-definitely more comfortable than flying! I’ve never been on a cruise and am a little afraid with all the bad press they’ve been getting lately. With that said, there are some excellent deals and sometimes I want to reconsider.
The cheapest thing for us is an all-inclusive resort/plane ride combo. We can typically get our flights for free or almost-free and all-inclusives include everything else for one low price.
I am definitely fan of a driving vacation if you don’t have to go far and rack up a ton of money on gas. I especially like that when I drive that I can bring my own food and drinks to cut down costs in other areas.
I haven’t been on an actual road trip in a while! The last drive we did was NY to SC, and after adding all the costs up, we were probably better off flying. I don’t think we will encounter as many tolls now, so that’s a positive. I’ve never been on a cruise, but I don’t fully like the idea of being stuck on a boat, and having a time limit to explore the ports.
It depends on where we’re going for me and who we’re bringing. If it’s all the kiddos it’s likely going to be a road trip. If it’s just my wife and I it’ll likely be a plane flight. We have gone on several cruises and love those, though we tend to go on those if we really just want to completely relax and do nothing on the trip.
FrugalRules I love trips where you do nothing!! :)
JourneytoSaving Blogger road trip?? Who’s coming? ;)
blonde_finance Me too. It’s nice to go at your own pace!
Holly at ClubThrifty I do like all inclusives. It’s good for the frugal folk because we can have our steak and wine without obsessing about it. :)
BudgetforMore My hubby would agree with you. He love to drive!!
I have friends who are big fans of cruises because of the entertainment and food the cruise provides. The prices do seem pretty affordable, especially if you go during the off-season. Road trips are pretty cool…my favorite was driving up the Pacific Coast Highway. Now that you’re in NJ, hopefully you guys will do some road trips to different places in the Northeast.
My preferred way is by Plane followed by a Cruise. I do like the all inclusive of the cruise but I wouldn’t do more than 7 days on a ship. I really don’t enjoy road trips mainly because I don’t like driving. Especially longer than 2 hours. Even that is a drag for me.
Hey Cat, I’ve got to agree with you, flights are just flat out uncomfortable. If I have a choice when it comes to how I’m going to travel, it’s definitely a road trip all the way…even if the gas does cost a little more.
I’d take just about any kind of trip, but have never done a cruise. I’m not good at lounging, so I’m not sure if I’d love it or be bored!
Andrew LivingRichCheaply I know I want to go to New England when the beans get a little bigger. :)
Raquel@Practical Cents That’s so interesting! My hubby loves to drive and hates planes lol
Joshua Rodriguez If only we could all afford first class every time. ;)
Eyesonthedollar I like both kinds of travel – lounging and then super hectic learn as much as you can about a place type of travel. :)
I don’t mind road trips, but I prefer cruises over most things. I also like flying to pretty much anywhere with a beach and warm weather.
Have been on many cruises and love them. Going on a short one this summer. After awhile though, they all seem the same. Same foods on the ship, same shops on board, same stores at ports of call. We will be more likely moving into more road trips as our kids get older.
I love road trips! I’ve never been on a cruise but it’s in my to-do list. I also don’t mind flying… okay I love vacations – it doesn’t matter how I get there.
My rule of thumb is that, the more people are coming, the more a car trip makes sense (same gas, more or less). Going solo? Sometimes a flight is cheaper, when you add in some extra costs of a road trip (like hotels).
Probably plane number one, then road trip. The right road trip is awesome! I did go on a cruise my senior year as part of a senior class spring break trip to the Bahamas. It was pretty awesome, but for the most part everything feels a bit canned. And while the food is good, it’s hard to say no to and I’d gain about 100 pounds. I would like to do an alaskan cruise at some point.
I think it totally depends. I was looking into cruises recently, they rope you in with these crazy cheap prices, but by the time you add in all the taxes and fees, it winds up being just as expensive as anything else.
I don’t mind road trips if they are not too far, but planes are my favorite way to travel.
I think it depends on your purpose of traveling. If you want to get to the destination fast plane is definitely the way to go. If you want to enjoy the road, road trip can create lots of fun memories. If you just want to take a laid-back vacation and want everything to be taken care of, cruise is the option. I’ve never been on a cruise before though, but it’s definitely something I’ll do in the future.
Well you’re going to Hawaii and were all jealous :)
I can see how it would get repetitive. I’ve only been on one!
Haha amen!
Actually that makes a lot of sense!
Oh me too. Def want to go to Alaska!
I agree. I think someone (Lance or DC maybe?) did a post on the actual cost.
They are definitely good if you are going far!
Yeah I’ve only been on one but it was a long time ago!
I think I’ve mostly ruled out cruises for me… too much food and not enough flexibility of itinerary. We went once when I was in high school, though, and that was fantastic. We could do whatever we wanted because our parents knew that even if we were out until 3am, we were still within the confines of the ship!
Road trips and cruises are my favs. Air travel is better when you are on vacation, but even still we’ve had delays and missed connections that made the trip quite precarious. I’ve done enough business travel that I’m pretty much fed up with it now.