Is It Cheaper to Fly or Drive? There’s An App For That!

For $2.99 you travelling folks out there can quickly and easily figure out which is better economically, flying or driving. In the harsh financial times we’re in right now, I believe an app like this could save you quite a bit of money in the long run.

Some of the features include utilizing the smartphone’s location services to automatically fill in current location information and integrating with the iPhone’s address book to easily add the address of a friend or contact. The Cost2Drive app also enables users to store up to 5 vehicles and takes advantage of the iPhone’s touch screen to quickly compare the cost of driving different vehicles with a simple swipe of a finger.

 

Unlike other road trip apps that require the user to manually enter items like a vehicle’s MPG or local gas prices, the Cost2Drive app removes that burden by including fuel-efficiency information on over 20,000 cars and light trucks and by tapping into current fuel prices for three grades of fuel (regular, premium and diesel) from over 100,000 retail outlets across the US.

There are many practical uses for the Cost2Drive iPhone app including:

• Discovering if its cheaper to drive or fly on vacation
• Seeing if a great deal 60 miles away is still worth it after factoring in fuel costs
• Divvying up fuel costs among friends for road trips
• Assessing the commuting costs for a new job or house purchase
• Determining which car to take on a trip
• Knowing what to charge for delivery orders or ride shares

The Cost2Drive iPhone application estimates trip costs based on the fuel-efficiency of a vehicle (as determined by the EPA) and current gas prices along a route. This is important as fuel prices can vary tremendously from city-to-city and state-to-state. The app also displays driving time and distance and provides a link to view additional information such as route maps and where to find the cheapest gas at refueling points along the way.

 

The US version of the Cost2Drive iPhone app requires Internet access and is currently available in iTunes for a special introductory price of $2.99. It’s available in all country stores so that people planning to visit the US can utilize the application to help plan their trip. Additional country versions are under development as are versions for the iPad and Android-powered devices. Routing and maps are powered by Google Maps API, fuel prices are provided by OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) and airfares are the cheapest airfares found by users of Kayak.com.