<p>Hey, all.</p>
<p>So, for winter break I'm driving home, which is roughly 1000 miles away from the college I go to. I have offered to take other people with me and drop them off various places that fall on my route. I'm really not sure how I should charge people. I was going to charge different rates for the different locations. Does anyone have any suggestions? How do you all charge for gas when going on trips with other people?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>FrayedPages</p>
<p>Random strangers, or friends? Personally, you could not pay me enough to be the driver to a carful of random strangers for an 18-hour road trip. Friends, I’d have whoever’s in the car split the gas at each stop.</p>
<p>I used to drive people ~350 miles across my state for breaks, generally just dropping them off at a restaurant or something near the closest exit to the highway for them (family would then come and pick them up). Generally my rides would cover gas, my meal, and maybe a few bucks extra if I had a car full of people.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should get anything less than $50 from each one of them but maybe not anything more than $100 because that’s almost the same as train/bus costs. People who are getting dropped off between 200-400 miles should pay like $50, 400-700 should be $60 and 700-1000 should be $75.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the responses!</p>
<p>I’m estimating about $150 for driving expenses. I have three people interested who live in the cities that surround mine, so they will be there for the whole 1000 miles. They’re all strangers, but we have a good community here (small school), so I’m not too worried. I’m thinking about just settling on $70 - that’ll cover gas + give cushion in case something happens on the road.</p>
<p>Assuming you stick to your typical home route and just drop the people off at their exits along the way, you could just charge…nothing. Since it wouldn’t cost you any extra anyways. But that’s just one possibility.</p>
<p>Personally, the cost of owning a car is expensive enough. Passengers should offer to pay for all of the gas, tolls, etc. Gas is not that expensive.</p>
<p>My son, who is about 150 miles from home catches rides and I tell him to pay 100% of the gas cost. From my point of view, I don’t have to make the round trip myself and actually end up saving money. Bus fare is $40, and takes 2 extra hours. Of course, with the short distance, even at 20 MPG, the total only ends up being around $25.</p>
<p>One thing with your trip however, is that 1000 miles is really too far for one driver without stopping overnight. You do have the option of taking turns behind the wheel, so having the extra passengers does provide some you some benefit, and that may affect how much you want to charge.</p>
<p>I think it’d be fair to have the 3 passengers split the cost of the gas. You’d be saving the $150 you would spend to go home (and putting serious miles on your car, which is a payment in itself), and they’d be getting a deal on a 1000 mile trip. </p>
<p>Also, maybe you could all pitch in for snacks and music and stuff. That’ll be one long drive to go without drinks, food and some good tunes!!</p>
<p>Oh, wow - I didn’t expect this topic to continue! Sorry for not responding. </p>
<p>I think that if this were a short trip, splitting the direct cost of gas would be more appropriate; However, since it’s a long trip, I think $70 is fair. It’s way cheaper than a bus, train, or plane by at least half - I checked. I have two confirmations, and they are fine with $70. Giving free rides would be great, but I can’t afford it. Adding people actually causes me to take a loss because of added weight and distance. Plus, I’m providing a service - it’s pretty much the same as if we were renting a car, except I have the added responsibility of being the company who takes care of the car, too. </p>
<p>We are planning on splitting the driving, although I’ll probably drive most of the way. Hopefully, we will be able to make it home within a day instead of stopping and spending more money at a motel or something (rest stops are sketchy at night).</p>
<p>Again, thanks for the input :)</p>
<p>Well let them know they cant except a free ride since its a long drive. Otherwise they could take public transportation. </p>
<p>I’m sure they wouldn’t mind pitching in gas money.</p>