Driving vs. Flying

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>I think I posted about this a while ago, but back then it was all hypothetical, where as now Bama is the reality… :slight_smile: anyway, my mother and I have been discussing the merits of flying versus driving down to Bama in August. We’re from New Jersey, so it’s a 16 hour drive. Originally driving seemed ideal to get all of my stuff down there, but now it doesn’t seem worth it. If my mom and I flew down, we could between us take three large suitcases/duffles with my belongings, which would probably be enough to cover me for a while. I’ve been at boarding school for three years, so I’m pretty good with packing and knowing what I actually need at this point. If we drove down, we would have to rent a car (ours just is not big enough to make the drive worth it; we would need more space for my stuff), stay over at least one night along the way, etc. Between paying for gas, car rental, and hotels along the way, it would be cheaper for both of us to fly and rent a car from Birmingham…</p>

<p>So now I’m thinking the best option would be to fly into BHM earlyish on the 12th, do some shopping (if necessary) in Birmingham, stay at the Capstone (have reservations already) that night, then move in (hopefully) on the 13th (I’m doing AA).</p>

<p>My plan is to pack basically clothes, shoes, makeup, etc…I’m buying all new bedding and towels so I’ll order that online and have it shipped to Bama, toiletries can be bought once I’m there, and I’ll have my mom ship things from home like my printer, coffee maker, and monitor.</p>

<p>Does this sound like the most reasonable option to those of you with experience?</p>

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<p>our drive is only 10ish hours, so we just drive the whole way in one day.</p>

<p>maybe robotbldmom would have insight since they are roughly from your area. i do know her son flew down alone (with some stuff) and then the parents drove a week later with the rest of his stuff.</p>

<p>for you, it sounds like flying would be the better option. just bring what you can on the plane and ship whatever else you need, although you could practically buy a (crappy) coffee maker for what it would cost to ship one there.</p>

<p>my advice would be to make precise lists of what you need to buy when you get there, because i think it would be hard to do all that in one day without forgetting a lot of things.</p>

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<p>Just a little side note - you can pick up a basic printer locally very inexpensively. You can also see if any roommates (who are driving) already have a printer then you can arrange to help pay for ink, etc. I know we were going to get my S one but it turned out he never had a problem printing his stuff up elsewhere and it didn’t bother him enough to arrange for his own. </p>

<p>Coffeemaker - can also consider a french press (small to pack) and you can heat water in microwave. </p>

<p>Flying into BHM gives you a lot of shopping options too, like Costco, BBB, etc.</p>

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<p>We decided to do the same thing last year with lil bro. Our only issue was his tv. </p>

<p>We decided it would be better just to buy another one off amazon and have them ship it to Paty. This way he could put the new one in storage over the summer and have it for his 4 years down there and still have his old one in his bedroom when he comes home. </p>

<p>The cost of a new tv and a storage unit for 4 months sure beats having to drive down and back twice a year.</p>

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<p>Yeah, luckily I don’t have anything big like a TV (I’ll buy a new one down there) that I want to bring, so I think flying should work out…</p>

<p>As for the other items I mentioned, I will certainly check shipping costs vs. the cost of buying new things. I just got a free printer because I bought a MacBook, so I wanted to bring it just because it’s nice and new and still in the box, and my coffee maker is one of those single-serve Keurig ones and I happen to be very attached to it ;).</p>

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<p>^ make sure and see if Amazon is still offering free Prime (free shipping!) with a college email address, then ship to Paty :)</p>

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<p>of yeah - i think i remember you mentioning a keurig before maybe. : )</p>

<p>maybe someone who has shipped stuff can give you some pointers about that.</p>

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<p>lil bro packed his printer in one of his suitcases and just put a bunch of clothes around it to protect it. Worked out fine.</p>

<p>Amazon Student is the way to go. Be sure to sign up when you can. Free 2 day shipping is tough to beat.</p>

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<p>We also weighed the merits of driving vs. flying last summer. In addition, I went to UPS to inquire about the cost of sending a large box, which was not so cheap especially if I were to send more than one. We then realized that the cost of space bags was less than the cost of shipping a large box. </p>

<p>Ultimately, since we have a 14 hour drive from PA, we thought it best to fly down to Alabama; it was also my first visit. We had 6 suitcases (no fee with Southwest) between my husband, my son, and myself. If you can believe it, we packed in suitcases 1 full/queen comforter, 2 sets of XL sheets, 2 bed pillows, 1 mattress pad, 3 sets of towels, most of son’s summer and winter wear including sweaters, jackets and a suit, 6 pairs of shoes, quite a bit of paper and office supplies, large first aid kit, some toilettries, an iron, a few tools, several packs of Purex detergent sheets and some odds and ends. We made sure the weight distribution was equitable among the bags to avoid excess weight fee.</p>

<p>Space bags, ranging from jumbo to medium sizes, are pretty amazing; they nearly doubled our suitcase capacity. Any wrinkles came out after being unfolded and hung or with touch ups with an iron. </p>

<p>When we arrived, we bought consumables and breakables from Target like plates, glasses, cups, utensils, breakfast/snack food items, paper products, ironing board and liquid items like shampoo, soap, dish detergent. We ordered a printer from Amazon and had it shipped free to Paty Hall. </p>

<p>Echoing NJBama, the free Amazon Prime student offer was very timely and we have used it extensively during the year.</p>

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<p>I’ll echo NJBama and sophocles in that flying can be the better choice, especially in future years when your parents don’t necessarily need/want to move you in. This year, I shipped 3 boxes to UA and brought 2 suitcases and my backpack. Coming home, I shipped one box and took 2 suitcases, a carry-on bag, and my backpack. This summer, I’m taking one suitcase and my backpack.</p>

<p>The best, albeit clich</p>

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<p>Okay, Sorry, that it took me so long to weigh in the subject. I have only been home from Tuscaloosa a short while and son just arrived home from a study abroad.
I will gladly add what we did last year as a possible option for any of you. MikeW is right, our son did fly down early last year for Outdoor Action taking only what was necessary for the duration of that week: clothes, toiletries, personal items, notebooks, pens/pencils, computer and reading material. (Don’t forget sunscreen). He was able to walk to Publix and picked up some food items and other needed items like TP.</p>

<p>We (husband and I) drove down with all his other items. We packed for four years (not kidding). I knew that we would be storing items at year’s end and not bringing those items back home again. We included the following items and some of these may be unimportant to you: Full kitchen gear (because no other roommate stepped up to include any of these) pots,pans,dishes,cooking + eating utensils,plates,mugs,glasses, Brita Pitcher/water filters, ice trays, drawer trays and liners, Dish rack/drainboard, toaster, alum. foil, food storage containers/bags. There were enough for at least 4 people to dine with.
All cleaning supplies (son’s bathroom and kitchen) -TP, disposable plates and cups.
Swiffer mop, vacuum cleaner, broom, plunger, etc.
We also brought a bookcase (to be assembled), small cart (to store school supplies), Closet Shelving System (freestanding)all school supplies, tool box with flashlights and batteries (came in very handy during aftermath of tornado), printer and a full box of printer paper. When we arrived we went to target and added anything else we needed. Girls and even guys might like a full length mirror (target has them for about $10, they stick on either a wall or door. Bedding consisted of several sets of sheets, extra pillowcases, a comforter, a small throw, several pillows and a mattress topper, and a mattress pad protector (zips around mattress). Buy everything in extra long. My son also took an iron and ironing board and a drying rack. There were also two bath rugs and a shower curtain. A fan is also a good idea as well as a small clock. Don’t forget clothes for all seasons, shoes, boots and sweatshirts and jackets and you can see why our car was stuffed. It is nice to add some personal items for a more “individual” touch. Command Strips and hooks are great for this. I am sure that there are many smaller items that I forgot to mention as well.
It is completely up to you how you choose to furnish the common area but I can tell you that in my son’s suite the boys did literally nothing. The kitchen would also have been empty if we did not supply the above items. My son did more cooking than he originally intended and even bought extra kitchen items as needed.
For us, we furnished his bedroom and the kitchen/bathroom as if we were furnishing a small apartment.
I included this info in case anyone needed a list of items they might like to bring,hope it helps :slight_smile:
From the Northeast, it can be a very long drive to Alabama and there are several variables that add to the length of the drive. Of course traffic is number one and we can add many hours if we hit rush hour traffic just leaving the state. Conservatively, it is over a 20 hour drive. However, it really was the only way to move son cross country with as much as we brought. Driving also gave us the opportunity to be back on campus for several days, to help him get moved in and to stock food supplies. I believe that I have mentioned this in a previous thread but I even bought a “Congratulations on your first day of College” cake and milk for their fridge. We timed our arrival late in the week so we would have the weekend to spend some family time together.
I personally think that new college students have so much to do their first weeks that being well stocked and supplied just makes things easier.
I hope our experience helps make your decision easier. It really went very smoothly.</p>

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<p>Thank you all so much for all the tips! Robotbldmom, you’ve made me realize that it’s not worth doing the drive unless I’m going to be driving enough stuff down to really make it count, which I wouldn’t. There really isn’t that much stuff I already have that I want to bring, because all of my “dorm things” I’ve already used for three years and it’s time to get rid of most of it. Also, two of my roommates are driving to Bama (we’re all getting there for the early week), and one is going to have a car there, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue getting things we need for the room like cleaning supplies, dishes, etc.</p>

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<p>Terrific, decision made, one more thing accomplished :)</p>

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<p>Yes, making a decision is always half the battle for me! :)</p>

<p>If there is one thing I have learned from attending boarding school, it is how to pack! I am so glad now that I already have the experience of living in a dorm room, albeit one without a kitchen or bathroom (which will certainly affect packing/shopping). I’m working on a packing list (yes…I know it is a couple months early…), divided into categories of things to bring from home, things to ship from home, things to buy online and ship to Tuscaloosa, and things to buy in Birmingham/Tuscaloosa.</p>

<p>I think I remember reading on here that Paty will hold things for up to a month, is that correct? So if I start shipping/ordering things around the middle to end of July, I should be good?</p>

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<p>I was wondering if anyone had used a freight carrier vs. usp, usps, dl, or fedex to ship a pallet of stuff across country. I think we could consolidate things down to a pallet of stuff under 200 lbs but I haven’t compared shipping costs and wondered if others have done something like this.</p>

<p>My other thought would be to craigslist search for someone that is moving to the college area and try to secure some space in their moving truck.</p>

<p>Grant</p>

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<p>No info on freight carrier.</p>

<p>H has decided that he wants to drive our last child to college, so we are going to pack up the compact suv. Once I calculated the gas, you don’t really save any money, but it’s a little easier logistically. I would say this is a one-time thing though, he will look for storage over the summer.</p>

<p>Printer- S had a good printer that he certainly could take with him but he used it so little the ink dried up. Even in hs he hardly ever printed. His teachers wanted most things electronically apart from the lab notebook. I would think we could just replace the ink cartridge, but I wonder how much it will be used. What is the situation at Bama? Is work primarily submitted electronically?</p>

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<p>i find that if it one person going, flying is cheaper (or the same. if you are bringing multiple people, driving is much cheaper.</p>

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<p>From the Northeast, even with the price of gas, driving with two or three people is usually less expensive than flying. However, it does depend on several factors, so I always check prices carefully.
When it comes to logistics, I think it is much easier to move across the country by car than trying to ship items, then fly, then shop for what you couldn’t ship. It seems easier to just pack the car and go. My suggestion is to pack like you are moving for four years and at the end of the semester place items in storage.</p>

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<p>If you have the time and a car that will “hold” everything I personally would suggest driving. Our oldest DD we shipped off to NYC with steamer trunks and then went up two days later , stayed for a week (DH was guest lecturing at NYU) and helped get her settled. The other 3 we have all packed up the car loaded in and made the “road trip” to their respective Universities. I can tell you we had memorable conversations with each one (some I could post here and others not;) ). We reminisced, did some sightseeing when the opportunity arose and my DH gave each of them his last “come to Jesus” speech (I believe he called it “The Road to Righteousness”…LOL). What I am saying is that it really was a nice transition to college and I wouldn’t do t any other way! We also found that as soon as they were each checked in, the contents of the car unloaded in the room and the important stuff done (Target run, grocery store run, a good meal eaten) that each of them was ready for a hug, a kiss one last word of advice ( a few $$$ might have crossed palms) and then they basically told us to go. The first time was hard but by the time we moved DD (oh by the way we flew DS into St. Louis and picked him up on the way…we need support staff to build stuff) in last year I was expecting it and so we left her Saturday night and even though we stayed until Sunday morning we got up early and left without seeing her again. So my advice it to drive if you can and hopefully yall will have some great memories. Oh FYI…about returning this year… DD’s boyfriend is coming up from Alabama (yep all the way to Missouri) to load up his truck and her car and move her back. We are not going at all…won’t see her until we come down for football. And…she announced last night that she is going to HIS house to Turkey Day and then they are going to the Iron Bowl…DH and I decided we will go to NYC…so there!</p>

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<p>I am trying to make this same decision with my S coming from the NE, 23 hours away, whether to fly or drive. I found this website ship2school.com. Don’t know anything about them but seems they will ship 6 boxes of 50 lbs. If we fly Southwest we can each have 2 bags of 50lb checked. The key is trying to figure out how much my S will need.</p>