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Some destinations to which flying might be a better option than driving include, top to bottom, Boston, Orlando, Fla., and Philadelphia. (Photos by The Associated Press) Click photo for larger image.
Click photo for larger image.

Looking for the cheapest way for you and a friend to get to Orlando?

First, step away from your vehicle.

With gas prices poised near record levels, and discount airlines staking claims on the Pittsburgh market, flying to some popular destinations is now cheaper than driving.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in the Pittsburgh area yesterday was $2.991, up nearly 4 cents in the past week and 13 cents from a month ago, according to AAA East Central's weekly survey of local stations.

Driving to Orlando, Fla., one-way in a Ford F-150 -- the best-selling vehicle in America in July -- will cost about $161 in fuel costs alone. On Southwest Airlines, tickets can be found for $80 each one-way, including taxes. For a couple of travelers, flying would save $1, not to mention more than a dozen hours of driving.

Of course, like the rain/snow line that can dictate precipitation in the wintertime, the fly/drive line is dependent on several variables. If a rental car is required, that will obviously add costs to flying. And the more passengers on the trip, the more economical driving becomes.

It's a conundrum that Americans are puzzling over, according to a July survey of 1,500 U.S. travelers by AAA.

"We have seen more people doing comparisons to air travel vs. car travel," said Bevi Norris, spokeswoman for the AAA East Central office that serves Western Pennsylvania. "More people are trying to weigh out the costs."

Ms. Norris said that for a family of four, it's almost always cheaper to drive. That calculation may change, however, if time is also assigned a dollar value -- particularly time in a hot car with toddlers.

Barbara Twaddle, a travel agent with Run Away Travel at the Latrobe Airport, said that in the last six months, she's seen increased demand for flights to destinations such as Charlotte, N.C., and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"I do think that people tend to be flying more when a year or two ago they would have driven a lot of places," she said.

The choice to fly or drive to other popular destinations from Pittsburgh is less clear-cut than it is for a trip to Orlando.

To get to Boston or Chicago, for example, a solo traveler in an F-150 would save money by flying instead -- about $10 for Boston flying JetBlue and $17 for Chicago flying Southwest. But if that traveler's spouse were coming along, driving clearly would be cheaper.

And if that traveler were driving a Toyota Camry -- July's third highest-selling vehicle -- instead of a pickup truck, driving would be more economical for even one person.

For Pittsburghers traveling to New York or Washington, D.C., driving is still cheaper than flying, even for one passenger driving a gas-guzzler. But with gas prices predicted to rise because of the shutdown of a major BP Alaskan pipeline, those figures may continue to shift.

Regardless, compared with a few years ago -- when gas prices were below $1 and US Airways held a near-monopoly on Pittsburgh airfares -- it's worth it to run the numbers before jumping in the car.