Help to choose the best way for commuting

Help to choose the best way for commuting?

I need to go to cleveland every ONE month from Fortwane, IN. The average driving hours between two cities might be 6 hrs. Other than this, I don't need a car for any other purpose. The average flight cost, I guess, is $350 for round trip each time, plus other transportation fee. I heard there is a lot of money in maintaining a car. Should I: buy a second hand car; rent car; or go by flight?

Commuting - 1 Answers

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I think it depends on how long you're going to be in Cleveland each time, and how many times you have to go there. I used to travel all the time for work (2 to 3 times a week), and I always figured that unless I could get a non-stop flight, a six hour drive was as fast as flying, once you figured in getting to the airport early, layovers, actually getting where you want to go once you get to the airport, etc. One-way car rentals can be expensive, so if you're only going to be in Cleveland for less than a week, it will probably be cheaper to rent the car in Ft. Wayne, park it for a couple of days in Cleveland, and then drive it back. You'll need to talk to the rental companies directly to see about the cost (including insurance-I'm assuming you don't have insurance, and will need to buy it from the rental company). Buying a car just for this probably doesn't make a lot of sense, unless it looks like this monthly trip is going to be pretty much a permanent part of your life. You'll have either a big outlay of cash, or monthly payments, plus insurance, plus you'd be on the hook for any repairs that need to be done. What I would probably do, if I could get flights for $350 round trip, would be to fly in the winter (I'd rather be stuck in the Cincinnati airport than out on the interstate if the weather gets bad), and rent a car once it gets to be springtime.