Is fuel price really a valid reason to pick a stopover?

Is fuel price really a valid reason to pick a stopover?

  • Yep.

    Votes: 70 84.3%

  • Nope.

    Votes: 13 15.7%
  • Total voters
    83
IK04

IK04

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Some airports have cheap gas and nothing else. Some have expensive gas and awesome amenities.

What are your experiences with the price of fuel versus the "niceness" of a particular airport?
 
Fuel price, fuel price, and...fuel price. I'm not paying $3 more per gallon because they have leather couches and wear dressy clothes inside the FBO. If I over paid $230 bucks for a leather couch I may not even sit on every time I topped off, I would be flying a whole lot less. All I want in an FBO is a place to ****, and a place to fuel, and I really only need a bush for the former.
 
I remember flying into Horseshoe Bay in My C-150 STOL and telling the fuel guy to "fill 'er up!" They would drive you to the country club in a stretch limo for a free brunch if you filled up your airplane on Sunday. Best $3.87 I ever spent!
 
Like most things. It depends.
If I’m with family-wife specifically. And there is a fuel stop cheaper but with a super crappy nonexistent FBO crappy bathrooms. My wife won’t like that and she barely tolerates being in plane.
If it’s just me or a buddy who doesn’t mind watering weeds-cheaper fuel.
 
One thing I learned recently is that large FBO's seldom run out of gas. Small airports have no way to alert pilots they have no fuel.
 
It’s just another component in the mix. I can’t really think of any 1 thing that’s paramount, even location. It all depends.
 
Solo, absolutely. My needs, in order, are:

1. A restroom, porta-john, tree, or rock

2. A few gallons of juiced dinosaur

3. The ability to be on my way in the next 10 minutes and not looped into conversation with the benchload of codgers who judged my landing and hold 4th class medicals.

Sometimes, a vending machine or restaurant comes in handy. It's getting really hard to get accurate data on who has a restaurant on-field anymore.


I'd say ~95% of my long XC flying is solo.
 
IK04 said:
Some airports have cheap gas and nothing else. Some have expensive gas and awesome amenities.

What are your experiences with the price of fuel versus the "niceness" of a particular airport?
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I have used stops that had very cheap fuel and courtesy cars. There are also expensive stops without maint. available but have the flash lobby.

If on an XC, I like a descent facility, with maint and courtesy transportation first then the best fuel price. When you find you butt stranded some place, you will figure it out.
 
Depends on where I'm going, what I'm doing, outside conditions and who my passenger is. If it's Mrs. Steingar, her comfort is paramount. If its a long stop I want something to do, and I'll pay a premium to do it. If I'm just by myself, yeah cheap fuel and little else. Just gotta make certainI can get into and out of the runway safely. Came close to getting nailed once by that last caveat.
 
IK04 said:
One thing I learned recently is that large FBO's seldom run out of gas. Small airports have no way to alert pilots they have no fuel.
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Yes they do, NOTAMS. I’ve also seen them announce it via the automated ASOS.

Personally I plan my fuel stops so that I can make it to another airport if my first one doesn’t work out. I’ve had people crash in front of me and shutdown the airport, etc. If I can’t plan for multiple
options (rare) a phone call is an easy way to check.
 
Fuel price is top of my list of priorities.
Next on the list, as others have stated, depends on if I have the wife/kids with me for which 'creature comforts' I'm looking for.
 
Never even consider fuel prices. The most variance i see might be $1.50 a gallon.

Of course my total fuel is 24 gallons and a fill up is usually half that.

So cost delta is not huge and airport decision is made based on easy access and closest routing.
 
Lndwarrior said:
Never even consider fuel prices. The most variance i see might be $1.50 a gallon.

Of course my total fuel is 24 gallons and a fill up is usually half that.

So cost delta is not huge and airport decision is made based on easy access and closest routing.
Click to expand...

I just picked a random class C, first one I picked was KIND.

Within 10 miles of Indy: $4.25 - $7.55. I'll give ya one guess who has the highest price.
Eagle Creek only 7nm away, $5.05
And 9nm away $4.25 at 2R2
 
EdFred said:
I just picked a random class C, first one I picked was KIND.

Within 10 miles of Indy: $4.25 - $7.55. I'll give ya one guess who has the highest price.
Eagle Creek only 7nm away, $5.05
And 9nm away $4.25 at 2R2
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Perhaps you should have been less random. Here’s about 100 miles around where he is......

Pretty darn close in price.

DF2EF736-95A3-436D-934A-04C001F1642C.png
 
Hotels, internet availability, off-airport options are all important. Rental car costs, too. Sometimes cheap fuel, ain't.
 
100 miles? That's not even a "real" XC where you're actually heading to a destination. :P
 
A reason? Absolutely. The one and only reason? No.

We may want to grab lunch along the way too, so somewhere nearby to eat could be another reason. Is it on field or nearby? Do they have crew cars or is Uber available?

If the weather may not be great, good approaches, or even a tower, may be good reasons; it's _waaaay_ easier to depart IFR with a tower, although the new "call the center directly" may make calling in better than it was previously.

Fees could be another reason. High fees may lead one to an airport with lower fees; landing fee, ramp fee, security fee, infrastructure fee, whatever.

But yes, the fuel prices is a reason to pick a stopover point.
 
If actually stopping, a hotel & restaurant within walking distance, so I don’t have to rent a car.
In addition, I usually require on site repair facility....just in case.


Tom
 
Lndwarrior said:
Never even consider fuel prices. The most variance i see might be $1.50 a gallon.

Of course my total fuel is 24 gallons and a fill up is usually half that.

So cost delta is not huge and airport decision is made based on easy access and closest routing.
Click to expand...

There's over $2/gal difference between Fulton County (KFTY) and Stockmar (20GA). They are only 18 nm apart.

You are correct though that some people are penny-wise and pound-foolish. They are saving $4 on fuel and spending more than that in wear-n-tear or in their own time.

While I may put more emphasis on fuel price on a stopover, it gets a lower emphasis at the destination. I'm not spending another 30 minutes driving after I land to save a few dollars. I'm flying to get there faster. It costs hundreds of dollars to get there and back home again. Saving $30 bucks is small potatoes and meaningless to me if it adds significantly to my travel time or takes away from my trip. When we flew to the Outback Bowl in Tampa we flew to Tampa International because it was the closest to the stadium. It was a long walk, so we got a ride from the FBO on the way over. Took a taxi back, but probably would have been faster to walk the 2 miles. Even with the fees it was a much better, and probably cheaper, to land there than much further out, renting a car and then paying high dollar even parking.
 
Nice and cheap fuel aren't mutually exclusive. Flew from Atlanta to New England at Christmas time last year. Picked ~ 3 hour legs and cheap fuel. KMTV had a nice restaurant and since I ate, they fueled the plane for me at the SS price. KMIV was a bit more for fuel, but reasonable for the New Jersey area. Another good restaurant and FBO. Wife and Daughter were both happy with trip. Didn't see leather couches in either place, but really wasn't looking for them either. Also, both stops were stop and go - so not worried about hotels being close by. It's not like chasing a couple pennies difference either, full fuel for me can be a $50 to $100 difference.
 
I don’t even look at prices. If I’m doing a XC, I’ve already established that I’m going to spend $$$. Saving a few bucks here or there, isn’t even on my radar. With 1,000 mile range, I rarely need to stop but if I do, it’s an airport that based on location and facilities only.
 
Hotel with a free shuttle or walking distance, and free breakfast. Mechanic on field, reasonable gas price.
 
jesse said:
Yes they do, NOTAMS. I’ve also seen them announce it via the automated ASOS.

Personally I plan my fuel stops so that I can make it to another airport if my first one doesn’t work out. I’ve had people crash in front of me and shutdown the airport, etc. If I can’t plan for multiple
options (rare) a phone call is an easy way to check.
Click to expand...


Taxi way broken too? Harrison ford said its noooooo promblem man!
 
For a fuel and pit stop yes absolutely. That's pretty much the primary deciding factor after location and runway suitability. I just need gas and a bathroom, who cares about amenities?

If I'm staying overnight though, that's going to totally change the equation. Then convenience of transportation/availability of services starts to matter. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the places that give out the free refreshments and have big plush couches and such but I don't normally go places for their airport and whatever gets the mission accomplished best for the least cash expended tends to win.
 
genna said:
Rent wet. Absolutely don't care what the fuel costs :).
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I rent wet too. But I do have to pay the difference between home airport price and the price at the other airport though.
 
IK04 said:
Some airports have cheap gas and nothing else. Some have expensive gas and awesome amenities.

What are your experiences with the price of fuel versus the "niceness" of a particular airport?
Click to expand...

That they aren't necessarily correlated in any way.

IK04 said:
One thing I learned recently is that large FBO's seldom run out of gas. Small airports have no way to alert pilots they have no fuel.
Click to expand...

Sure they do - NOTAMs. And that's the same tool the large airports have.

frfly172 said:
Mechanic on field
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I'm really surprised at the number of people who said this. First of all, every field has a mechanic. If you limit it to the ones where there's a big hangar with a sign out front, several employees, and a copy of TotalFBO, your options will be much more limited... But every time I've had any sort on anomaly I needed checked out, no matter what podunk little place I was, a mechanic always appeared as if by magic once the first person knew of my predicament. Little airports are awesome.

Second... What kind of poorly maintained planes are y'all flying that you need a mechanic at every field you land at? :o
 
IK04 said:
One thing I learned recently is that large FBO's seldom run out of gas. Small airports have no way to alert pilots they have no fuel.
Click to expand...
flyingcheesehead said:
Sure they do - NOTAMs. And that's the same tool the large airports have.
Click to expand...
In a perfect world, that would be true. Seems to me that small airports tend to have more imperfection than large ones with regards to this one aspect. :eek:
 
jesse said:
Yes they do, NOTAMS. I’ve also seen them announce it via the automated ASOS.
Click to expand...

asicer said:
In a perfect world, that would be true. Seems to me that small airports tend to have more imperfection than large ones with regards to this one aspect. :eek:
Click to expand...

In the case where I was notified of "No fuel," it was a paper sign on the pump. The airport services are run by the city and there is no person assigned the specific duty of reporting NOTAMS on the FAA web page. The good folks at the flight school would do it, time permitting.

I recently went to an airport where the only permanent structure was the self-serve fuel tank and pump. Good luck with that...
 
Although I rent at a wet rate, I used to be part owner of a rental plane, so I have sympathy for the difficulty owners have in breaking even, let alone making any profit. Consequently, if a good fuel price is available along my planned route, I will take advantage of it if it is reasonable to do so, and I actively avoid airports with super-expensive fuel.
 
BrianNC said:
I rent wet too. But I do have to pay the difference between home airport price and the price at the other airport though.
Click to expand...

I don’t. My rental place covers any fuel price. I try not to abuse that too much. Most really high cost cost fuel FBOs also have other fees that I try to avoid, so it works out
 
I just make sure I am not landing at an $8/gal full serve FBO, but other than that not going to divert to save $1/gallon.
 
Old flying club used to burn up a lot of starters trying to get the Bo Started Hot-Start, but the gas was $1.50 cheaper... It's different if you are bumming around.

I made the same trip in that Bo, and an Archer. Archer I didn't stop for cheap fuel, BO I did. Time in the logbook matched to the tenth, archer was overall cheaper.

Pick a stopover, sure. Add a stopover? rarely.
The answer is, "it depends". If i need to make a stop, or if the price is stupid expensive I'll pay attention to fuel and ramp prices for sure.
 
When I go to Vegas, I land at KLAS

Yes, the fuel prices are obnoxious, but if you’re going anywhere on the strip, the convenience and free transportation is worth it.
 
Fuel prices are a consideration, but not the only one. Same with landing fees. When I go to Oakland, I'm usually going to Downtown Oakland. As such, KHWD just isn't as good an option, when you consider both time and the total cost of flying (an Uber is, at least, twice as much). KCCR is even worse. Nope, I'll go to KOAK, where they handle light GA beautifully. Unlike Dans2992, however, I'll go to KHND when I go to Vegas. Just not enough of a difference in time and cost savings outside fuel to justify paying $3-4 more per gallon. I don't care about pretty FBOs, but I don't like pumping my own gas either, cause I'm bad at it.
 
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