The road trip is an American institution. Whether heading off to college, moving across the country, taking the kiddies to Disney World or simply enjoying the freedom of the highway, Americans can often be found behind the wheel over their vacations. For many, driving — despite today’s gas prices — remains a cheaper option than flying. Using the following resources, you can compare for yourself whether a U.S. or Canadian road trip is worth the time and energy for the money saved and find further ways to reduce fuel costs over your trip.
AAA uses average prices per region, distance and make and model of your car to estimate fuel costs for a U.S. road trip. The Frugal Panda uses this calculator to do an elaborate cost comparison of flying vs. driving.
Whether you’re traveling or just tanking up at home, an interesting website for comparing gas prices is Gas Buddy. Volunteers update gas prices as they change; you can too by registering with the site. With a little forethought, you can plan the cheapest fill-ups along a road trip within the U.S. or Canada.
The Gas Buddy site also offers two pages of gas-saving tips: 1, 2. Gas Price Watch, among other tips, writes that Wednesday morning is usually the best time to fill up the tank.
Other useful fuel-saving tips:
+ Before a long road trip, always check the pressure in your tires and fill appropriately.
+ If you have a choice, drive your most fuel-efficient vehicle on long trips.
+ If you’re driving a rental, consider the fuel-efficiency of any “free” upgrade. This may in fact end up costing you more than a smaller, efficient model.
Drive safe and buckle up!
[...] presents Road Trip Savings: Fuel Costs posted at Less Than a Shoestring, saying, “This entry has perhaps the broadest potential [...]
[...] + Third, before setting out on the road, they improved the car’s gas mileage by properly inflating the tires. I cover this tip and others in my post on Road Trip Savings: Fuel Costs. [...]
Find this and other Earth-friendly posts at the Small Actions to Save the World carnival, hosted by Sustainabee.
Find this and even more Earth-friendly posts at the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle carnival, hosted by Organic Picks.
Keeping your tires aired up is crucial for the mileage, and a big noise is being made lately about filling tires with nitrogen.
Without getting into a big kerfuffle about the science (and dearth of tests) of it, most of the anecdotal evidence is spurious, but EPA tests have demonstrated that nitrogen keeps pressure longer, and helps preserve tires. Not enough to be worth the cost of refilling the tires, except that apparently Costco is filling tires (at least new ones) with nitrogen for free. I haven’t followed up on that yet, but I will.