"Yes, I believe that's what I said... Is there some point you're trying to make?"

Yeah, I thought it was abvious. I fully don't believe you. Many FF's on here are complaining and making drastic statements, but are ignoring the fact that the reason why they fly is still there and hans't changed. It sort of reminds me of how people have complained about Windows for decades, but have never changed to anything else.

Your travel times would be these. Of course they are excluding breaks for more fuel/take a leak, traffic, getting lost, etc.

Chicago to Minneapolis
Total Est. Time: 6 hours, 37 minutes Total Est. Distance: 408.08 miles

Minne to Omaha
Total Est. Time: 5 hours, 55 minutes Total Est. Distance: 378.79 miles

Omaha to Forth Worth
Total Est. Time: 10 hours, 40 minutes Total Est. Distance: 717.73 miles

Forth Worth to Chicago
Total Est. Time: 15 hours, 2 minutes Total Est. Distance: 993.52 miles

That, round trip equates to about 38 hours of driving. Go ahead big boy and tell us how you're going to do that every week. A 3 year old might believe you, but I don't.

I understand your tantrum here, but if you travel a lot you should be mature enough to deal with this. All they're doing, essentially, is taking your toothpaste. :rolleyes:

Yes, I know what the travel times are. Is there some reason you just assumed I didn't?

When did I say I would do it round trip? There are a number of possibilities here. I could fly NRT-ORD, then drive ORD-MSP, then MSP-OMA, then OMA-DFW, and then fly DFW-NRT. (Or perhaps you missed the part of my post where I said I live in Japan?) Or do the reverse--fly into DFW first, do the trip in reverse and then fly back from ORD. Or I could fly into MSP, drive to ORD, drive to OMA, drive to DFW, and fly out of DFW. That's a total of 24 hours of driving, spread out over 1 to 2 weeks.

Also, I never said anywhere that I would drive ORD to DFW.

When did I say I would do it every week? I travel to the US maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Is it so hard to believe I would make this kind of trip 3 times a year?

Well, perhaps if you hadn't (apparently) misunderstood my post in the several ways I have pointed out above, you wouldn't find my plans so unbelievable. Try reading a post next time before making all kinds of assumptions that turn out to be wrong. (Interesting how you spent so much time researching the driving time and mileage for all those city pairs to include in your post. Perhaps your time would have been better spent reading my post fully before responding.)

:rolleyes:

I agree with the General. I'm not considering driving, in cases where I would normally fly. Take a 30 hour drive from Atlanta to Vegas and back? No thanks. The hotel will have toothpaste. Can't bring my own water? Boo-hoo, I can manage. Have to check bags and wait to get them? I can tough it out.

For the record, if I had to travel ATL-LAS, I would fly too. I never said I would try to drive that. I said I might re-arrange my visits to the US to cluster my client visits in one region of the country on each visit (to facilitate driving the domestic legs of my trip). So on one visit I hit a few midwestern cities, on my next visit I hit some east coast cities, etc.

Oh heck, why am I bothering with this? If someone can't take 30 seconds to understand my original post before responding, it's not my problem.

I don't want to speak out of turn for Unimatrix or anyone else on the "pro-driving" side of this discussion; I'll only speak for myself:

This is not about carry-on toothpaste/liquids for me, or the wait for baggage claim. I already check a bag every week. This is about reaching the "tipping point". Flying is already an indignity; these new issues (and my personal opinion (YMMV!) that the carry-on electronics ban is inevitable) only add to the indignity further.

I'm not looking at replacing flying with driving one-for one...obviously the time factors in comparision make it impossible to do an even swap. I personally am exploring a fundamental change to my traveling habits and logistics, which, if I can successfully implement them, will allow me to continue to make my living in location(s) that are not my home base, while cutting back and/or minimizing my flying, and while making those times when I do fly easier. 8/10 is the catalyst for these considerations.

As I stated earlier in this thread...I have no problem with RESPECTFUL difference of opinion on these matters. What I do have a problem with is those posters who couch their responses with a tenor of, "You're wrong, and you're stupid too". We're not idiots here, folks. I make a VERY comfortable living in my line of work, as a road warrior, because I'm a pretty smart guy. Like everyone else, I have my own levels of tolerance for the indignities of flying and my own need for the "control" that the air travel experience takes away from me, and guess what, they may differ from yours. This doesn't make you any more right than me, nor does it make me any more stupid than you.

Go ahead and state your counterpoints...just think about the tenor/tone of your statements. There's a big difference between, "I respectfully disagree with you; here is my alternative opinion...", and just stating your opinion and doing so in a tenor/tone that suggests, basically, "How could you not agree with me??"

Although ironically that's generally a misplaced feeling of heightened safety: being an armed driver is far more dangerous than being an unarmed airline passenger.

I'm flying and hoping there are fewer of you fellow 1Ks out there to compete with for upgrades........
I must just be lucky-as going through security isn't a hassle to me.
The water/liquid thing is annoying-but that's about it since I usually check bags anyway.

You wanna talk annoyance? The daily commute into DC, now THAT's an annoyance.

I agree with drat19. Why be rude when disagreeing?
Like Unimatrix, I too have decided to curtail my flying. Unlike many of the people on these boards, I fly for PLEASURE only. To travel or not to travel is my choice. This latest round of rules have proven to be the straw that has broken the camel's back for me. I have started to collect travel guides and am contemplating taking trips that I can drive to in 4-6 hours. From Atlanta, I have quite a few choices from Tenn, Fla, Ala, Ms, Louisana, North and South Carolina. Hopefully I will be retiring in the next 11 months, and I will have all the travel time I need without worrying about using up all of my vacation.
Like the other poster from Atlanta, I too love going to Las Vegas. I have decided though that instead of 4 4-5 day trips to Vegas each year, to just make it twice per year for about 10-15 days each trip and also visit California. For those trips I would still fly of course. But I would only fly non-stop flights even if it means paying more for my tickets.
The bottom line is this. If terrorists want to attack whether it be by land or plane, they're going to find a way. All of these so called tightened rules for flying are only taking away the few freedoms that we have left in regard to flying.

A study after 9/11 found that more people died in the couple years after 9/11 because they decided to drive instead (which is a lot more dangerous) than died on 9/11. These new airport hassles seem destined to drive (pardon the pun) more deaths than they save lives.

I would agree with you. Roads are more dangerous.
I'd say...
"higher" the security at the airports, more travel related deaths...

way to go TSA. :td:

I have moved out my driving perimeter at least another hour since 8/10. I have driven from Northern Virginia to Dayton OH (~500 miles) and from NOVA to Asheville NC (~550 miles). To get to either location requires a connection somewhere. When you tack on the total door-door time with additinal time to retrieve your checked luggage with the same contents as you check in with, driving was within one hour of flying. The decision for me was a no-brainer.

There's absolutely no hassle on Toyota Airlines. I don't have to show my ID to anyone, I don't have to take off my shoes to get into my truck, I can carry all the prohibited items I want, and I can use any lavatory I darn well choose to use. Plus, this beautiful country of ours is so much more pleasant at ground level.

I will fly when I have to and, so far, have checked my carry-on with TSA locks. I expect that someday, something will be stolen. I will have to fly again next week. This time, I will take my toiletries and check them in as small a container as I can find. I have an old padded fabric lunch bag that might do the trick.

I think this goes far beyond toothpaste and make-up. It's a matter of freedom and of a government civil aviation security bureaucracy completely out of control fighting the last war. There's also an environmental issue that hs been created. I don't want to participate in the act of needlessly throwing away -- to find their way into a landfill somewhere -- tubes of toothpaste with just a fraction used, bottles of mouthwash barely used, tons of cosmetics barely used, etc. Since the Department of Homeland Security has screwed up the environment on a massive scale (Gulf Coast) I would expect they really don't care about filling up landfills with barely-used liquids.

For the OP -- Have you considered using AMTRAK for your longer hauls? I suspect you can get some pretty good deals on rail passes outside the US. You could cut your driving down on the longer legs and pick up a rental car when you get to your destination.

that's driving time!
 

I've done all of those drives. You need all sorts of stops for gas, food, rest rooms and to keep your circulation going.

By the way, it's FORT Worth!

That spelling error happens so often, you can GOOGLE it.

If you include accidental crashes, I agree. I was referring to the realm of the TSA, which is to prevent intentional attacks.

I gave up the intentional crashes after high school. ;)

Safe motoring...

I chose to drive from PIT to south-central Michigan the day before yesterday (and return yesterday) rather than flying. However, had nothing to do w/security but moreso to do with ticket prices. Well over $500... too much for what I was going to do.