Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Flying To Save Time?
Last night, I flew back to New York City, after a wonderful holiday with my family in the Chicago area. As I was on the train back home, I wonder how much time I really saved - and if the flight was worth it. Door to door, the drive from my house to my parents is 14 hours.
The flight from New York to Chicago is two hours. Seems like it should save a lot of time, yes? Well, maybe not so much. On my drive over to the airport, we hit traffic. So that's two hours. You have to get to the airport an hour early, a three and a half hour delay, 30 minutes minimum to get out of the airport on the back end, and then two hours to get back home in nasty weather in Chicago.
Suddenly two hours just became eleven. 11 Hours. Flying NYC to Chicago is basically an all day affair. Yet it is more convenient.
Now this case isn't necessarily typical. I live a fair distance from area airports, and the closest airport to me is usually the most expensive to fly from (Newark). And the weather was nasty in Chicago.... but I think we have a tendency to fly more out of convenience than anything else. Driving can be fun, but in the middle of the night in December, I'd rather be eating my complimentary JetBlue chips and watching Law and Order SVU on the seatback TV. Even if I only save a couple hours in the process.
Roger, 2:02 PM
