@Dutchess_III Flying isn’t always more expensive. It depends on the situation. If it is a family of 4, then most likely flying is more expensive. If it is just you, or you and one more person, sometimes flying is cheaper. If it is a very long trip where you have to stay overnight in a hotel, plus the price of gas is high, then the ground travel adds up, plus you get wear and tear on your car. Since you live out west, most likely your flights are more expensive than what we can get up and down the eastern seaboard. When I lived in Memphis a flight to Detroit was $400 round trip, from Ft. Laud to Detroit was $250. Memphis to Detroit is half the distance, so the plane uses less fuel. Memphis has Southwest now, so it might be cheaper.
NYC is 18 hours driving, about 1,100 miles. I think that would be about $250 in gas round trip. If I stay in a hotel one night that is another $130. If there are tolls might be another $40. God forbid the car breaks down during the trip. The big savings is if you need the car at the destination, which I don’t for NYC, because then you have to add renting a car. It is nice to have ones own car instead of a rental.
It’s nice to drive if it is part of the vacation, if you can stop and see sights along the way. My husband isn’t very good at doing that. Sometimes I can talk him into it. He let me stop in Charleston for 3 hours the last time we traveled up I95 after asking him 3 times before over 10 years. I must have driven by the Charleston exit 10 times during our marriage though.