My traveler “s problem entails determining the most cheapest way to visit Reston, VA and Greenville, South Carolina. Here “s the deal.

I live in New Jersey. On October 29, I “ll be speaking at EclipseWorld conference. On October 30, I need to attend a meeting in Greenville, South Carolina and return back home.

Getting to Reston is a no brainer ndash; 3.5 hours of driving from my house. Things became interesting when I went online to check the prices for the non-stop flights to Greenville.

1. I can drive to Washington, DC (30 min), and leave the car there. When I saw that the cheapest roundtrip economy ticket from Washington to Greenville is $685 (!), I decided to do it smarter.

2. After the talk at the conference, I can drive back to New Jersey (3.5 hours) and flight from Newark ndash; I need to go back to NJ anyway. Right? Wrong! Because the non-stop roundtrip from ticket from Newark to Greenville cost $1061 (!!!)

3. But I “m not giving up. There is another airport between New Jersey and Virginia. Yep, I “m talking about Philly. So after the talk at the conference, I “ll drive to Philadelphia airport for 2.5 hours, will leave the car there, and the economy ticket costs only $391. After coming back, I “ll need to drive home for an hour, but this is a piece of cake.

Am I smart or what? But these freaking airlines are getting a bit crazy. Charging more than a grand for a 90-min flight in economy class? It sucks.