Author Topic: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?  (Read 4138 times)

MVal

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 844
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Missouri
Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« on: September 11, 2017, 03:55:43 PM »
I have an opportunity to attend a conference in Washington D.C. next month and I am trying to figure out if it is worth it to drive a rent car there rather than fly. The flights are running about $300-400 from my location to DC round trip, but a rent car would only cost about $150 for the week. Plus, I'd be splitting the cost of the car with a friend. However, I don't know if with gas, meals, lodging for one night (It is a 17 hour drive) and potential parking costs in DC if we'd be better off just flying.

I might add we have great luck in that the conference will cover all room and board for us once we arrive at no cost to us (free conference, even!). With the lack of any other costs for the 3 day event, I'm wondering if I can justify the convenience of the flight over driving for two days.

Has anyone made the drive from KC to DC? Is it a good drive or not really? I'm assuming we'll have to go over the Appalachians at some point.

Dave1442397

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1646
  • Location: NJ
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2017, 04:31:00 PM »
I don't know where you're staying in DC, but check the parking prices. It could easily be $40-50 a night, and DC is notorious for parking enforcement and speed cameras. DC is also very easy to get around using public transportation (and by foot), so unless you need a car, I would just go with the flight.

evensjw

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 33
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2017, 04:51:58 PM »
I've driven from Richmond, VA to St Louis, MO and back which is a similar drive, although it looks like Google maps would have you take I-70 to DC rather than I-64.  It's not a particularly fun drive.  Driving through the Appalachians is nice if you are going to stop for a hike or something, but otherwise they are just stressful miles of twisty interstate shared with crazy semi-truck drivers.

I don't even drive to DC from Richmond if I can help it because driving in DC is so terrible.  Parking is a nightmare. 

I'm seeing round trip, non-stop flights for $336.  Say you split $150 for the rental and $150 in gas and $100 in lodging with a friend, and save $136.  Is that worth driving for 8+ hours for 4 days in a single week?

I mean, I've done it (drove to Ft Worth TX and back once too), but you have to accept that it's more for the challenge and experience that to really save any serious money.




Megma

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 744
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2017, 07:05:58 PM »
I've driven D.C. to KC (actually passed to central ks), unless you're broke, id fly. Driving through Ohio is super boring. And the drive is crazy long.

I only drive when i need to transport things i don't want to fly with, like my dog. I did D.C. to KS with a friend when we were both broke AF and wanted to go for Christmas but not now.

MVal

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 844
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Missouri
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2017, 09:33:03 PM »
Great advice, thank you all! I really would prefer to fly, but I had to make sure I wasn't just being lazy or needing a facepunch for wanting to do so. So glad some of you who have made the same drive chimed in!

I sell things on eBay throughout the year and usually make a few hundred dollars by fall and this is what I always use for my vacation money. This trip could just be my vacation. I have enough money to cover the airfare from my sales.

civil4life

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 440
    • My Journal
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2017, 06:33:02 PM »
I live in the DC area.  I moved from the suburbs of Ohio.  Driving in DC takes time to get used to.  It is a whole new world.  The definition of traffic jam in DC vs Ohio where I am from is not even comparable. 

It sounds like it is going to only be a day or two.  The cost may be a bit cheaper with the rental, but that drive is not fun.  I regularly go from Ohio to DC which is 6 hours of non fun.

Public transportation in DC is extremely convenient and easy to navigate.  Either you have expensive hotel or other parking deck parking or street parking which is very restrictive. 

EricEng

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 605
  • Location: CO
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2017, 10:42:23 AM »
I used to live in DC and parents in Arkansas.  I've done that drive a few times as have my parents and it is miserable.  Just fly if you can.  Been too many close calls driving to justify the small savings not to mention the amount of time wasted.  DC is more fun to get around view Metro anyway, driving downtown and finding parking is miserable. 

Tetsuya Hondo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 503
  • Location: 1960's Tokyo on the Bad Side of Town
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2017, 01:02:58 PM »
No, no. Everyone else here is wrong.

If you fly you'll miss out on: the meth heads on the road in St. Louis (70% of them), the insomnia inducing cornfields of Illinois and Indiana, broken up by an occasional suicidal deer that wants nothing more than to jump through your windshield and bleed out in your lap. Then, there's Ohio. Fucking Ohio. Full to the fucking brim with Ohioans. Where everyone drives 52 mph in the left lane. But, wait, you'll also miss out on the spooky parts of West Virginia. Deliverance country. Depending on your route, you can enjoy the PA Turnpike, where the lanes are three feet wide, there is no shoulder, just a immovable concrete barrier separating you from every pill popping trucker in the oncoming lane, except for the pill popping trucker behind you that will not use his brakes no matter how GD close he may come to you at the very nadir of Mt. Pennsyltucky. And then, you'll hit the DC metro traffic, which begins about 200 miles out and will come to a complete fucking standstill for hours if a butterfly flaps its wings too close the road. Aaaaa! AAaaagaghhhg! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

And once you're done with DC, you get to turn around and do it all again.

Yes, you should totally drive.

MVal

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 844
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Missouri
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2017, 02:05:50 PM »
No, no. Everyone else here is wrong.

If you fly you'll miss out on: the meth heads on the road in St. Louis (70% of them), the insomnia inducing cornfields of Illinois and Indiana, broken up by an occasional suicidal deer that wants nothing more than to jump through your windshield and bleed out in your lap. Then, there's Ohio. Fucking Ohio. Full to the fucking brim with Ohioans. Where everyone drives 52 mph in the left lane. But, wait, you'll also miss out on the spooky parts of West Virginia. Deliverance country. Depending on your route, you can enjoy the PA Turnpike, where the lanes are three feet wide, there is no shoulder, just a immovable concrete barrier separating you from every pill popping trucker in the oncoming lane, except for the pill popping trucker behind you that will not use his brakes no matter how GD close he may come to you at the very nadir of Mt. Pennsyltucky. And then, you'll hit the DC metro traffic, which begins about 200 miles out and will come to a complete fucking standstill for hours if a butterfly flaps its wings too close the road. Aaaaa! AAaaagaghhhg! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

And once you're done with DC, you get to turn around and do it all again.

Yes, you should totally drive.

XD Hahaha!! Truckers hopped up on trucker-speed, I love it! Yes, I forgot what a harrowing gauntlet driving in St. Louis is...that alone is enough to confirm flying is best.

AccidentalMiser

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 704
  • Age: 56
  • Location: SE Tenn
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2017, 02:10:40 PM »
I grew up near KC and have traveled to DC many times.  I have NEVER rented or driven a car in DC.  I would STRONGLY advise against driving in DC unless you absolutely must. 

Best of luck to you!

Channel-Z

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 173
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2017, 04:08:02 PM »
I live in Kansas City. I would not even think of driving all the way to Washington, D.C.. Keep in mind, in October, you would be prone to surprise snow or ice storms in the Appalachian Mountains, however unlikely it might seem now. Fly. Let someone else do the driving for you.

patchyfacialhair

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1259
  • Age: 34
Re: Drive from Kansas City to Washington D.C. or fly?
« Reply #11 on: September 15, 2017, 11:47:27 AM »
I've been to DC a few times (only have flown in).

Driving stinks. My wife was working all around the metro area so she had a rental car, and driving was so stressful, and I grew up driving in Socal city driving. I'm no stranger to aggressive city traffic.

Fly in (to Reagan, if you're staying in DC proper), hop on the Metro (station is at the airport), and easily get to wherever you need to go using your feet, the metro, and lyft as a last resort.