Flying versus driving to Durban and Cape Town – The price winner is clear

[Willie Trombone]

Except its not cheaper to fly, even for 1 person.

The flight merely gets you to King Shaka or Cape Town International... now you have to factor in the car rental/uber to get you to and from wherever you are going...

You only need to be in a city for 2 or 3 days before driving actually becomes cheaper (even for a single person)

Add an extra day hotel for the car and your time on the road.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Add an extra day hotel for the car and your time on the road.

For CPT, yeah... Flying is quicker.. it might not be cheaper but its quicker.

DBN though, its maybe an hour or 2 difference in travel time.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

agree with @Sepeng
how many are traveling? and whats your purpose in DBN

if its just you, can your company afford to pay the 1000 + KM petrol claims?
and toll roads and all the rest of it, or do you have a company car with a petrol card.
and couldn't care less about the maintenance and wear and tear.

its all dependent on your needs, Id say most companies cheap out these days and rather Fly you down for less than a week.
and leave it up to you how you would get around ect ect...

but I could be wrong here.

 

[ToxicBunny]

agree with @Sepeng
how many are traveling? and whats your purpose in DBN

if its just you, can your company afford to pay the 1000 + KM petrol claims?
and toll roads and all the rest of it, or do you have a company car with a petrol card.
and couldn't care less about the maintenance and wear and tear.

its all dependent on your needs, Id say most companies cheap out these days and rather Fly you down for less than a week.
and leave it up to you how you would get around ect ect...

but I could be wrong here.

You are wrong.

Companies fly people and also fund the rental car. If my company cheaped out and flew me somewhere and left it up to me to get around I'd tell them to get fscked.

Its not necessarily about being cheaper for a company, there is an aspect of convenience from their point of view, but if it was purely a cost issue, then driving would win between DBN/JHB more often than not if the trip was longer than say 3 days.

 

[Easter Bunny]

this is great! next time me, my wife and my son will rather fly down instead of using three different cars.

 

[Willie Trombone]

For CPT, yeah... Flying is quicker.. it might not be cheaper but its quicker.

DBN though, its maybe an hour or 2 difference in travel time.

True, and to be fair, you have full control over arrival time with the car which you don't have with the plane.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

What maintenance would you be doing for R294.79 and R728.15 while driving?

Also the flight cost is for one person. For 2+ it would be cheaper to drive.

And in terms of time, for JHB-DBN at least, it works out to almost the same thing by the time you factor in the time spent driving to the airport, waiting around, check in, board, fly, disembark, collect your luggage etc. - and you still don't have a car to drive around in. You'd need to rent one at an additional cost that needs to be factored in...

 

[Willie Trombone]

You are wrong.

Companies fly people and also fund the rental car. If my company cheaped out and flew me somewhere and left it up to me to get around I'd tell them to get fscked.

Its not necessarily about being cheaper for a company, there is an aspect of convenience from their point of view, but if it was purely a cost issue, then driving would win between DBN/JHB more often than not if the trip was longer than say 3 days.

I think you and eg were on the same page there...

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

You are wrong.

Companies fly people and also fund the rental car. If my company cheaped out and flew me somewhere and left it up to me to get around I'd tell them to get fscked.

Its not necessarily about being cheaper for a company, there is an aspect of convenience from their point of view, but if it was purely a cost issue, then driving would win between DBN/JHB more often than not if the trip was longer than say 3 days.

obviously our experiences differ, Ive seen companies cheap out and say its cheaper to fly you down, pay for the hotel and leave you a budget to figure out how to get around in DBN,
and if you say id rather drive, they will then say we wont fund the petrol claims and toll roads.

for a companies point of view, it makes sense to simply say,
we will spend X on flight and accommodation and budget Y for the uber/food claims for Z individual.

if Z individual had to drive it would be a LOT more petrol,toll roads ect ect...
and then Z individual says tires cost this, and service cost that.
obviously if its a company car vs private car there is a difference.


but again, my experience might be different than yours.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I think you and eg were on the same page there...

Very much doubt it... eg is generally on his own page when it comes to reality.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Very much doubt it... eg is generally on his own page when it comes to reality.

LOL
Not that time as far as I'm reading. You were both saying it's expensive to drive and companies prefer flying. He did say they might leave you to do your own thing on that side, but he could have meant 'to rent a car, use uber, etc. and claim back' but I get your point

 

[Danie_V]

In the modern era (modernisation, 4IR, machine learning and all those lovely words) it would have been good to also introduce the comparison with an electric vehicle which runs at a third to a quarter of the fuel cost...

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

In the modern era (modernisation, 4IR, machine learning and all those lovely words) it would have been good to also introduce the comparison with an electric vehicle which runs at a third to a quarter of the fuel cost...

Range is an issue, as is charging stations.

By the time you stop and find somewhere to recharge you're looking at 2-3 days to go from JHB to DBN + accommodation costs...

 

[ToxicBunny]

LOL
Not that time as far as I'm reading. You were both saying it's expensive to drive and companies prefer flying. He did say they might leave you to do your own thing on that side, but he could have meant 'to rent a car, use uber, etc. and claim back' but I get your point

Nah ...

He is saying Flying is betterer, period...

I'm saying its not that cut and dried, and companies may prefer it for the convenience for them.. also if a company sent me somewhere and then left me to sort out my travel arrangements to claim back at a later point, I'd tell them to get bent... I have no issue with claiming back food and all that (since it shouldn't be a retardedly large sum) I would have an issue claiming back a car rental, or daily ubers and such.

 

[whatwhat]

If your company isn't stupid they just link your existing Uber account to Uber Business, when you request a ride the company pays for it automatically - no need to claim back later.

I'd fly all day every day. My life is worth more than trying to save a few bucks and risking it against the lawlessness that is the average South African driver. Too many friends have had bad, bad accidents in the last few years.

 

[GhostSixFour]

obviously our experiences differ, Ive seen companies cheap out and say its cheaper to fly you down, pay for the hotel and leave you a budget to figure out how to get around in DBN,
and if you say id rather drive, they will then say we wont fund the petrol claims and toll roads.

for a companies point of view, it makes sense to simply say,
we will spend X on flight and accommodation and budget Y for the uber/food claims for Z individual.

if Z individual had to drive it would be a LOT more petrol,toll roads ect ect...
and then Z individual says tires cost this, and service cost that.
obviously if its a company car vs private car there is a difference.


but again, my experience might be different than yours.

I'm with @ToxicBunny here. If a company pulled that on me, then I have to assume whatever they expected me to do down there is not important enough so I'll just decline to go in this instance.

 

[v3gout]

Do the flight costs include all the airport taxes? If not, then there's another false equivalence in the comparison.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

I'm with @ToxicBunny here. If a company pulled that on me, then I have to assume whatever they expected me to do down there is not important enough so I'll just decline to go in this instance.

like I said my experience with the schittiest of places has been that.
either you fly down, dont provide you a rental car, and try to do everything on the cheap.
give you a budget of X and make your own way to site Y ect...

maybe ive just had the misfortune of dealing with scum of the earth like that.
love to see places that actually give you a choice and include a rental car (although my age might have played into consideration)

 

[ToxicBunny]

like I said my experience with the schittiest of places has been that.
either you fly down, dont provide you a rental car, and try to do everything on the cheap.
give you a budget of X and make your own way to site Y ect...

maybe ive just had the misfortune of dealing with scum of the earth like that.
love to see places that actually give you a choice and include a rental car (although my age might have played into consideration)

You seem to think its a choice...

If a company wants me to travel, they provide everything up front that is possible... so flights,accomodation, car (or travel arrangements for simple things). If those aren't there, then I don't travel.

 

[Scorpion101]

Mybroadband should stick to tech reviews and Eskom updates. This is truly not your core business. As a individual making a trip to the respective provinces yes it is cheap to a certain degree. If you are carting your family on holiday then please multiply the amount by the number of occupants. The comparison is misleading. If you going to do a comparison don’t do it half ass some people on this forum rely on good reseach and journalism.