Airport transfers

In article ,
Frank F. Matthews wrote:

I see you classify France an undeveloped. While there is RER service to
CDG it is almost impossible to use and extremely inconvenient.

Far be it from me to defend anything French, but what's so bad about
RER service to CDG? Often, I just grab a taxi, but I've also used
RER, more times than I can count. Terminal 1 is a bit of hassle
(a short shuttle ride required), but you can walk to the RER station
from pretty much anywhere in Terminal 2. The trains are frequent,
reasonably clean, reasonably fast, and stop in several places in the
city, which is a big advantage over something like Heathrow Express.

"Frank F. Matthews" schreef in bericht
...
Sjoerd wrote:

"Airport Transfers Australia" schreef in
bericht . au...

I would like some opinions on what is the best way to get from the major
international airports in the US and Europe.

Preference Taxi verses Shuttle Buses verses Limousines.

I am in the Limousine Industry in Australia and looking at similarities
around the world.


In most developed nations, there is excellent public transport from
airports
into city centers and other nearby destinations. It is often faster and
always cheaper than taxis and limousines.

Sjoerd

I see you classify France an undeveloped. While there is RER service to
CDG it is almost impossible to use and extremely inconvenient.

I have used it many times and it is a decent service. Why would it be almost
impossible to use?


In fact there may be no developed countries by this characterization.
Public transport to airports usually only works for employees or
business travelers without luggage.

Bull****. Have you ever tried the train from AMS to Amsterdam Central
Station? The airport express in Hong Kong? The train in Barcelona? The tube
in London from Heathrow? The airport bus in Helsinki? The airport train in
Kuala Lumpur? And I could go on and on and on.

Sjoerd

Sjoerd wrote:
"Frank F. Matthews" schreef:
In fact there may be no developed countries by this characterization.
Public transport to airports usually only works for employees or
business travelers without luggage.

Bull****. Have you ever tried the train from AMS to Amsterdam Central
Station? The airport express in Hong Kong? The train in Barcelona? The tube
in London from Heathrow? The airport bus in Helsinki? The airport train in
Kuala Lumpur? And I could go on and on and on.

The airport express train in Sydney? The Metro from DCA in Washington? BART
from SFO? The Metro in Istanbul? The MRT in Singapore? The Metro in Mexico
City? Rapid transit in Cleveland?

These and those that Sjoerd mentioned have always worked well for me. In the
case of train lines, the airport is usually near the end of the line, so
when you're arriving and tired and unfamiliar with the place, there's lots
of empty space on the train to get situated in and read the map.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

I've tried a few of these but they simply dump you at a location in the
city from which you wander to your final location. From CDG I tried the
RER since it would get me to 5 or 6 blocks from my destination. A real
loss as I've said in another post. By and large the best choice is
usually a mini van service. The only serious exception I can remember
is New Orleans where a taxi is the same price for 2 and more convenient
to the quarter. FFM

freeda wrote:

I would like some opinions on what is the best way to get from the major
international airports in the US and Europe.

Preference Taxi verses Shuttle Buses verses Limousines.

I am in the Limousine Industry in Australia and looking at similarities
around the world.


LHR NE Coach if going home, Tube or Hex if going into London
LGW NE Coach if heading home, Gex if in hurry or Thameslink
SOU Bus or train
DUB 747 Bus
FRA Train
OPO Bus or taxi
CDG Bus
STN Train

In article ,
Frank F. Matthews wrote:

Far be it from me to defend anything French, but what's so bad about
RER service to CDG?

Getting to the terminal is as you say a moderate walk. You can even
find the elevator to move your bags to the ticket level. Then the fun
begins. There are ticket machines but they don't really want to sell
tickets. Despite the several credit card stickers on the machines they
were rejecting cards from around the world and accepting none.

You have a point. RER ticket machines are exceptionally idiotic.
They have VISA stickers, but I think they only accept home-brewed
French cards with chips or some such nonsense in them. I basically
stopped using the machines, and always buy my tickets from the window.

Beyond
that they will not accept euro notes so travelers were scurrying around
the station area trying to find something to buy to get the six euros
per person they needed to get a ticket.

That's strange. They could've gotten their tickets from a live agent
at one of the windows, who presumably would make change. I think they
can even process normal credit cards.

Going to town I couldn't manage to find an elevator to the platform
level. I later found it in the Thalys station area. No signage.
Fortunately I didn't actually injure myself or anyone else getting my
bags down the escalator to the platform level.

Very true Paris subway got stairs all over the place. I especially
hate these little annoying down-flat-up arrangements in connecting
passages, which serve no visible purpose except to torture those with
rollaboard luggage. And automatic doors that clamp hard on your
rollaboard if you drag it after you, and then you need to wait for
someone to come up from the other side to get the doors to open again.

In the city it was easier to go up with the bags than at the airport.
But not fun.

Fair enough. Every time I travel with luggage, I just grab a cab.
Public transit is fine, I suppose, if you have no bags or really
need to save a few bucks, but nothing beats door-to-door for speed
and convenience.

"Frank F. Matthews" wrote:

Vitaly Shmatikov wrote:

Far be it from me to defend anything French, but what's so bad about
RER service to CDG?

There are ticket machines but they don't really want to sell
tickets. Despite the several credit card stickers on the machines they
were rejecting cards from around the world and accepting none.

I used a North American credit card in one of the machines to buy an RER
ticket on one of my trips from CDG. Not all machines accept them, you
have to read the labels on the machine. The ticket booth does accept
them, so there really isn't a major problem.

Beyond that they will not accept euro notes so travelers were
scurrying around the station area trying to find something to buy
to get the six euros per person they needed to get a ticket.

There is a ticket booth that accepts both cash and credit cards. Nobody
in line when I got there, and the person even spoke English.

Even the locals said that they never try to get tickets at CDG.
They only go on RT tickets.

The manned ticket booth couldn't have been easier.

"Frank F. Matthews" wrote:

By and large the best choice is usually a mini van service.

I've ridden minivans that have been no fun. They wander from hotel to
hotel dropping people off, and if you are at the end of the chain, the
ride can be quite long and uncomfortable. One place I stayed required me
to catch the van at 4:30 in the morning for a 7 AM flight, and the
airport was only 30 minutes away.

You also can be a victim of traffic jams in rush hour, meaning they can
be unreliable, in comparison to rail transit, which has fairly
predictable journey times.

Miguel Cruz wrote:

The Metro in Mexico City?

Does the Metro serve the new airport terminal in Mexico City?

Their problem may be signage. There is no clear ticket window for the
RER. There is an information booth way off to the left. There are
ticket windows in the Thalys section ahead but no one appeared to be
going there for RER. There were 50-60 customers wandering around trying
to get change for the machines who would have liked some indication of a
ticket window. Just out of curiosity where is this window? FFM

Vitaly Shmatikov wrote:
In article ,
Frank F. Matthews wrote:

Far be it from me to defend anything French, but what's so bad about
RER service to CDG?

Getting to the terminal is as you say a moderate walk. You can even
find the elevator to move your bags to the ticket level. Then the fun
begins. There are ticket machines but they don't really want to sell
tickets. Despite the several credit card stickers on the machines they
were rejecting cards from around the world and accepting none.


You have a point. RER ticket machines are exceptionally idiotic.
They have VISA stickers, but I think they only accept home-brewed
French cards with chips or some such nonsense in them. I basically
stopped using the machines, and always buy my tickets from the window.


Beyond
that they will not accept euro notes so travelers were scurrying around
the station area trying to find something to buy to get the six euros
per person they needed to get a ticket.


That's strange. They could've gotten their tickets from a live agent
at one of the windows, who presumably would make change. I think they
can even process normal credit cards.


Going to town I couldn't manage to find an elevator to the platform
level. I later found it in the Thalys station area. No signage.
Fortunately I didn't actually injure myself or anyone else getting my
bags down the escalator to the platform level.


Very true Paris subway got stairs all over the place. I especially
hate these little annoying down-flat-up arrangements in connecting
passages, which serve no visible purpose except to torture those with
rollaboard luggage. And automatic doors that clamp hard on your
rollaboard if you drag it after you, and then you need to wait for
someone to come up from the other side to get the doors to open again.


In the city it was easier to go up with the bags than at the airport.
But not fun.

Fair enough. Every time I travel with luggage, I just grab a cab.
Public transit is fine, I suppose, if you have no bags or really
need to save a few bucks, but nothing beats door-to-door for speed
and convenience.

That was my point in an earlier post. RER will work for airport
employees and business travelers with little or no luggage but folks
visiting for a couple of weeks may well want a mini bus service. I
can't quite justify a taxi to downtown. For my own amusement I've
occasionally taken public transport home here from the airport. I
wouldn't do it with much luggage though. FFM

James Robinson wrote:
Miguel Cruz wrote:
The Metro in Mexico City?

Does the Metro serve the new airport terminal in Mexico City?

Assuming we're talking about the same thing (the quite nice airport that I
went through most recently this January), then yes.

The airport is sort of long and the Metro station is off at one end rather
than in the middle, but after a long flight it's nice to stretch the legs
and get the blood flowing again.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu