You can never save money flying yourself in pure dollars from point A to point B. Except for the very occasional multiple stop trip once in a blue moon to places with bad connections. That's the first thing one needs to understand. Aircraft ownership makes no financial sense. However, if you start factoring in other things - time, hassle, convenience, stress, unscheduled changes, change of plans etc, and if you put a price on that, then it can make a little bit of sense.
I'll give you a good example. I'm in Vancouver for work right now, which is 900nm away from where I live in LA. I wanted to fly myself up, but my plane is still getting her annual. The fuel cost back and forth (I don't ever count anything else) would have been about $1600. My employer has $1100 in airfare money set aside for me. So, had I flow I would have had to paid $500 out of my own pocket. This is something I'd gladly put up with for the freedom of flying myself there and the hassle free travel it entails and not being bound by schedules. Hell, just skipping security and TSA pat-downs is worth $500 alone. Yes, it would have taken 6hrs, but accounting for 2hr to get to LAX, 2hrs spent at the airport for check-in, 3hrs flying and 1 hr to go through customs, I would have done this trip in the same amount of time in my own plane door-to-door. Fort me personally, it would have been worth it. It might not be for others. Guess what - the job might now extend and the non-refundable ticket would have to be re-bought by my employer. In that scenario, my airplane and me flying would actually be a cheaper option, as I'm not bound by schedules. So, it's not as clear cut as it always seems always.
Last edited by AdamFrisch; 10th Nov 2012 at 05:35.