What's the cheapest/fastest way to travel?

I would like to take a trip home this summer but I don't have much vacation time left, and my new vacation time doesn't start until September. I was hoping to fly home for a long weekend, but prices are really high right now! :eek: Even if I flew to Chicago (a few hours away from where my family lives) it would be well over $300.

Gas prices are really high, and even going straight through takes 12 hours (so, that would take 2 days of travel there and back).

The train is relatively cheap, but it's always late headed east-bound which would cut into travel time, too- and even that takes between 12-17 hours, depending on how delayed it is.

Greyhound is cheap, but uncomfortable and has weird hours and would still take a long time...

How do you travel quickly/cheaply? Which do you think is more important?

Do you happen to have an auto train near you? You have to have a car to put on the train, but once on the train it makes no stops so it's much quicker than a regular train. It's a pretty fair price too. Other than that, maybe look at www.cheaptickets.com or www.priceline.com for cheaper plane tickets. Flying has gotten so expensive though, I don't know how 'cheap' you can actually get tickets, but I have used both of those sites in the past and everything went smoothly. The only problem is that once you buy the tickets, there are no refunds. Also, if you have a southwest airlines at your airport going where you want to go, their fares are usually cheaper than other airlines (again though, with prices the way they have been lately, that might still be expensive).

If it's just a long weekend, I'd take the flight. Saves more time for your
vacation get-away. :)

I have booked most of my flights with Travelocity for the past few years. I find they usually have the best rates. You can use their "farewatcher" program to alert you whenthe fare for specific areas lowers. By doing that, I have been able to find some reasonable rates to and from Florida for me and my folks. By using their program, you don't have to keep going back every few days.. they let you know when the rate has been lowered.

I have also used Expedia, Priceline, and gone directly to the airlines websites. You just have to have the patience and tenacity to find a great price!
Good luck.

Yup, what DonnaJ said. For a short trip, you want to maximize your time on location and that means flying. Get direct flights, none of this changing planes for a short stay. No time! :D