The family holiday is booked. The accommodation looks good. Then comes the question that can quickly blow the budget: do you drive or fly?
For South Africans planning a December getaway, the answer is becoming less straightforward.
Domestic airfares are climbing during the peak summer season, while fuel, tolls, overnight stops and car hire can also make a long-distance road trip an expensive undertaking.
Current fare data also shows December remains one of the most expensive periods for domestic flights. So, which is actually cheaper?
According to Shirley-Ann McQuade, Flight Centre South Africa’s regional manager for the Western Cape, travellers should not base their destination choices merely on a comparison between fuel expenses and flight fares.
“The road trip versus flight decision is trip-dependent rather than driven purely by cost,” she says.
The real cost of getting there
"The National" conducted a cost comparison of the estimated expenses for two adults and two children travelling from Durban to Cape Town from December 14 to 16, 2026, comparing three options: flying, hiring a vehicle and driving, or using their own vehicle.
The comparison found that flying was the most expensive option at approximately R25 237, including flights, airport transfers and food, while hiring a vehicle and driving was estimated at R18 621, including vehicle hire, fuel, an overnight stop, tolls and food.
The December airfare is based on a standard R2 813 fare on FlySafair with baggage calculated separately.
For the vehicle-hire option, the total is estimated at R18 621. This includes R6 067 for car hire, R7 000 for fuel, R3 686 for an overnight stop, R228 in toll fees, R960 for food along the way and R679 for an XL Uber to the airport.
For travellers using their own vehicle, the estimated total falls to R11,874, made up of R7 000 for fuel, R3 686 for an overnight stop, R228 in tolls and R960 for food.
On the face of it, driving your own car is the clear winner. But the figures also demonstrate why travellers need to calculate the entire journey, rather than assuming driving will always be cheaper.
For the road-trip option, fuel alone accounts for R7 000, while an overnight stop adds R3 686. Hiring a vehicle pushes the cost up by a further R6 067.
And there is another question to ask: Do you actually need a car when you arrive?
For a point-to-point destination such as Sun City, where much of the holiday can be spent on the resort, flying and arranging a transfer could make more sense than driving hundreds of kilometres or paying for a rental car.
For a Garden Route holiday, however, the journey and the freedom to explore are part of the experience. In that case, having a vehicle can make a road trip far more practical.
When driving makes sense
Road trips can become particularly attractive for larger families.
McQuade says a large SUV or people carrier shared between six or eight people can represent good value compared with paying for several return flights.
But travellers need to add up the costs first, including fuel, tolls, food, accommodation if an overnight stop is necessary and vehicle hire.
The Garden Route remains a particularly strong option for families looking for a domestic road trip, while destinations such as Sun City continue to attract travellers looking for a more contained resort experience.
The key is matching the mode of transport to the holiday itself.
When flying may be the smarter choice
For shorter breaks or destinations where a car is not essential, the convenience of flying can outweigh the additional cost.
A family flying to a resort, for example, can avoid fuel, tolls and potentially an overnight stop, while also saving significant travel time.
This is why the cheapest option on paper may not necessarily offer the best value.
“Travellers who are still anchoring their expectations to pre-pandemic domestic airfares are going to be disappointed,” says McQuade.
With December being a peak travel period, waiting until the last minute can also prove costly as domestic fares typically rise sharply around the festive season.
How to make your December holiday budget stretch
Rather than treating the holiday as one large expense, McQuade advises travellers to examine every component separately.
That could mean moving your travel dates by a week or two, choosing self-catering accommodation instead of a full-service resort or opting for four-star accommodation rather than five-star.
Rewards points and travel benefits can also help reduce unavoidable costs such as flights.
Shortening a trip can be another way to make the budget work without cancelling the holiday altogether.
A well-planned four-night break can deliver better value than stretching the budget across a longer trip.
And don’t automatically assume a domestic holiday will be cheaper than an international one.
McQuade says families are increasingly comparing the cost of local holidays with international island destinations and are sometimes surprised by how narrow the gap can be.
That comparison is useful because it allows travellers to choose based on actual value rather than the assumption that staying in South Africa will automatically cost less.
Don’t leave December planning too late
For anyone hoping to travel this December, the message is simple: start planning now.
Travel operators are already promoting December 2026 packages, while current flight data points to the festive season as a peak pricing period with flight prices steadily inclining.
Waiting until October or November could mean paying more and having fewer accommodation and transport options, particularly in popular coastal destinations.
Ultimately, the smartest holiday is not necessarily the one with the cheapest airfare or the lowest fuel bill.
It is the one where you calculate the cost of the entire journey, work out what you actually need and choose the option that gives your family the best value for money.
♦These figures are estimates for the specific December trip and can change according to fares, availability, vehicle costs, fuel prices and individual spending.
zamandosi.cele@nationalmg.co.za