Over breaks, long weekends and summer, many students at Mt. Vernon travel to different vacation spots. They go to Florida, Great Wolf Lodge and other scenic spots. However, in order to arrive at their destination, they need to make a decision on how to get there. Most places are available by road or plane. The pros and cons of each one are extremely important to evaluate before deciding how to travel.
Road trips are traditionally the more favored of the two. While only about 7-8% of travellers fly, 85-90% drive. However, there are many downsides to this decision. Road trips take much longer and involve more personal effort. It is much easier to pack up a carry-on and go than drive for hours on end in a car.
Flying is also the safer one of the two options. There were about 0.57 deaths every 100 million miles for those in cars and trucks while there were only 0.003 deaths for the same distance on flights. If people want to be safer, a flight is always the better option.
Car trips often require more stops for the bathroom, gas refills or breaks to rest sore legs. Airplanes are also much faster than cars. Most airplanes cruise between 550 and 600 mph. Meanwhile, one of the fastest speed limits in the United States is 85 mph, 460 mph slower than the low end of that range.
Car trips also tend to be more expensive for single passengers. Gas usually costs far more than a single flight, although rental car costs may raise the price. A round-trip flight from San Francisco to Miami was recorded to be $553 cheaper than the $822 gas prices for one person in 2025. Flights are much better options for people with smaller budgets.
Nevertheless, flights are not perfect. They force people to rent a car or call an uber from whatever location they end up at. They often cause people to pack less luggage and buy more in their vacation spot. Passengers also often sit next to strangers.
Cars, on the other hand, allow people to pick their passengers, bring almost all the luggage they need and keep their car during their stay. In 2025, car trips were cheaper travelling options for groups of four or more. There are a lot of benefits to carpooling and taking a car in general.
However, most high school students neither pay nor drive for their vacations. If they are going with their families, they are probably removed from either of these issues. For these students, they have a variety of things in mind when deciding their preference. However, nearly all of the students surveyed said they preferred traveling by car.
Bianka Muñoz, grade 10, explained how the carbon emissions released by planes make her prefer traveling by car.
Jasmeen Kaur, grade 12, agreed that the stops and memories available on a car make it the better option for her.
With this in mind, driving is easily the more preferable of the two for ease. On a vacation when someone is looking for fun memories and positive experiences, car trips give this opportunity for their passengers. They might take longer, but they are overall the better experience for everyone.
