For the past three years, we've made the 4 1/2 hour drive to Charlotte (we live 2 hours east of Raleigh). I've felt the nonstop flight, along with not having to get up in the middle of the night to get to the airport, wait around for two flights, and shlep carryons between planes, was worth it. My husband has always disagreed, so this year we're flying out of New Bern. The flights were a few dollars cheaper, and we'll save the cost of gas, two nights in a hotel, three restaurant meals for each of us, and nine hours of driving. With that savings, we added just a few more dollars, and are flying first class. Hopefully that will take some of the pain out of getting up at 2 AM to drive to the airport.