Airliners.net

Does anyone know any examples of actual surface transfers for any itinerary?

Many times when I search for flights (on Kayak or directly on airline website) I'll be told to do a surface transfer between LGA and JFK or DCA and IAD or LGW and LHR. The systems knows the minimum legal transfer time for each surface transfer just as with each in-airport transfer.

Also quite some surface transfers on Air France between Charles de Gaulle and Orly. This is often the case with cities that have multiple airports.

Only surface transfer I've ever done myself was from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang. Free shuttle bus between the two airports, very convenient.

LGA/JFK seems to be a thing on AA. I did it once on an ATL-LGA/JFK-LHR and will say I wouldn't do it again. Taking a cab was pricey (this as pre-Uber) and it really was hectic to have to deal with your bags, the cab and having to re-clear security. In that situation it saved us ~$200 R/T total for 2 people versus connecting in ORD, BA (ATL-LHR) had crazy taxes so that was ~$400 more R/T per person!

Also, happens a lot between EZE and AEP on international to domestic itineraries. Would imagine that the same is true for Sao Paulo and maybe Tehran.

Who wants a curveball?

I've been on JFK-TLV/SDV-ETH. That was a pain, since aside from the fact that SDV is a pain, crossing Tel Aviv with bags is nasty

I've heard of people doing MDW-ORD transfers (usually so they can fly SW to MDW on a domestic leg and a major carrier for an international leg at ORD).

The public transit option is slow (2 hrs) but viable (only 1 transfer). The cab/uber ride is only 45 min as well.

If you're talking about connections at multi-airport metro areas then there are plenty of examples where a single itinerary contains such a transfer. AA at LGA/JFK in particular comes to mind although they have added 1 or 2 dailies into JFK from a lot of cities to avoid this.

I seem to remember CO selling bus transfers out of EWR to smaller close-by destinations. The bus trip had a flight number and everything. Don't know if UA still does this.

RamblinMan wrote:

I seem to remember CO selling bus transfers out of EWR to smaller close-by destinations. The bus trip had a flight number and everything. Don't know if UA still does this.

I know KLM does this, they got a bus service between Amsterdam Airport (their base) and the airports of Eindhoven and Maastricht. This bus does have a flight number. It's mostly used to haul passengers from the south of the Netherlands to Amsterdam, but could be used the other way around. It's valid for passengers flying KLM or one of their partner airlines and one of those partners is Transavia which does fly out of Eindhoven.

KLM also has bus services to several other towns in the Netherlands, but those are not airports.

Then of course there's also the Thalys, the high speed train between Amsterdam and Paris. This train also has a flight number. People from the Netherlands often use it to check-in at Brussels for their flight out of Amsterdam as this seems to be cheaper. Something to do with taxes, the difference between departing from Amsterdam and transfering in Amsterdam. But the Thalys is also used for ground transfers between Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle, it stops at both airports.

When I saw the topic title, I was thinking of airside surface transports....
Best one ever must be SVO terminal E to terminal C.....

Great airside tour.

RamblinMan wrote:

I seem to remember CO selling bus transfers out of EWR to smaller close-by destinations. The bus trip had a flight number and everything. Don't know if UA still does this.

They had a codeshare with Amtrak out of EWR, too. Same deal, the train had a "flight" number and you could earn miles for your train trip.

Happens all the time in Seoul and works fine.

Country with half a brain + forward planning = no trouble.

MANMatthew wrote:

Happens all the time in Seoul and works fine.

Country with half a brain + forward planning = no trouble.

Traffic does not care who has a brain or half a brain (LGA~JFK in NYC).

masgniw wrote:

I've heard of people doing MDW-ORD transfers (usually so they can fly SW to MDW on a domestic leg and a major carrier for an international leg at ORD).

The public transit option is slow (2 hrs) but viable (only 1 transfer). The cab/uber ride is only 45 min as well.

I did this last year to take advantage of a cheap ticket to Asia departing from ORD along with some dirt cheap WN fares. On the way out we transferred from MDW-ORD on the L as I had scheduled a long cushion between the flights. On the way back the flight to ORD was delayed so ended up having to take Uber over to MDW. Ironically, the Uber fare ($57.03) ended up costing more than the WN ticket for MDW-HOU.

Back in the DFW-LGW days, I frequently had ongoing flights out of LHR. BA would provide a bus transfer between airports.

I believe plenty of passengers transfer LHR <> LGW. Whilst it is doable, it is not exactly easy, with there being no direct train services between the two airports. For example, to go from LHR to LGW, you would need to get the Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect to Paddington, then get the underground to either Farrington or Victoria, then get another train to Gatters. Three trains, with luggage? Thanks, but no thanks, particularly when you factor in the very expensive UK train fares - a quick search for travel next week shows fares around the £70 mark. Yikes.

A better bet (cheaper, potentially easier) is a direct National Express bus service between the airports, but then you are at the mercy of the M25 motorway, which can be very unpredictable.

Personally I would never do it - but, as I said, plenty of people do. They must be hardier travellers than I!

vhtje wrote:

I believe plenty of passengers transfer LHR <> LGW. Whilst it is doable, it is not exactly easy, with there being no direct train services between the two airports. [...]

I tried that once (National Express coach) and did not really enjoy it. Before I moved to my current location, my local airport at the time only had service to LGW, which meant that BA would seldom be an option for longhaul trips if an airport change was involved.

vhtje wrote:

I believe plenty of passengers transfer LHR <> LGW. For example, to go from LHR to LGW, you would need to get the Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect to Paddington, then get the underground to either Farrington or Victoria, then get another train to Gatters. Three trains, with luggage? Thanks, but no thanks, particularly when you factor in the very expensive UK train fares - a quick search for travel next week shows fares around the £70 mark. Yikes.

I could be wrong, but I think the point of the thread was an enquiry about transfers that are included as part of your overall flight itinerary, organised & paid for by the airline or travel agency.
As regards LHR /LGW, I recall a helicopter link service back in the 1980's i.e. before the M25 existed. It featured a Sikorsky S-61,
Ah yes, here it is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airlink_( ... le_service)

But now I'm guilty of deviating from the thread title, because that isn't a "surface" transfer.

When I scout out flights to Asia I've had a few surface (train) options pop up during booking. Mostly talking about China Eastern Airlines.

When I scout out flights to Asia I've had a few surface (train) options pop up during booking. Mostly talking about China Eastern Airlines.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

RamblinMan wrote:

I seem to remember CO selling bus transfers out of EWR to smaller close-by destinations. The bus trip had a flight number and everything. Don't know if UA still does this.

I know KLM does this, they got a bus service between Amsterdam Airport (their base) and the airports of Eindhoven and Maastricht. This bus does have a flight number. It's mostly used to haul passengers from the south of the Netherlands to Amsterdam, but could be used the other way around. It's valid for passengers flying KLM or one of their partner airlines and one of those partners is Transavia which does fly out of Eindhoven.

KLM also has bus services to several other towns in the Netherlands, but those are not airports.

This is a pretty useful service actually. If you live in Maastricht or Eindhoven (both of which far away from AMS), you can call KLM to change your reservation to add the bus for free, and then it'll effectively change your itinerary to match. I.e., if you misconnect due to the bus, they'll rebook you as if the reason for misconnecting was a delayed flight. So it shifts the liability for being at the airport too late to KL.

Then of course there's also the Thalys, the high speed train between Amsterdam and Paris. This train also has a flight number. People from the Netherlands often use it to check-in at Brussels for their flight out of Amsterdam as this seems to be cheaper. Something to do with taxes, the difference between departing from Amsterdam and transfering in Amsterdam.

No that has nothing to do with taxes. It makes some itineraries cheaper because it turns a non-stop into a connecting flight which KL might have different pricing on. The same as when some flights from DUS through AMS are cheaper than a non-stop from AMS, for instance, except that one sector is done by Thalys instead of by plane which makes it a little easier to do if you're from the Netherlands looking to save a few bucks. It doesn't work on all routes though; some just become more expensive.

I should add that for most tickets where it does work out cheaper, in Y the difference isn't really that great (and even less so if you consider that you must make your way to Antwerp or Brussels first, especially if you don't live near the southern border), so it's not easily worth it. But, I have successfully used this tactic in J and that saved me easily more than enough money to make a few-hours detour through Antwerp in the early morning worth it; saved just over half the ticket price.

CyBeRino wrote:

This is a pretty useful service actually. If you live in Maastricht or Eindhoven (both of which far away from AMS), you can call KLM to change your reservation to add the bus for free, and then it'll effectively change your itinerary to match. I.e., if you misconnect due to the bus, they'll rebook you as if the reason for misconnecting was a delayed flight. So it shifts the liability for being at the airport too late to KL.

True, but as said it also works the other way around. Imagine you live near Amsterdam and you got a Transavia flight out of Eindhoven, you can use the same bus to get to Eindhoven. Like for example Transavia only flies to Copenhagen from Eindhoven and not from Amsterdam. Sure there are flights to Copenhagen from Amsterdam, but not on Transavia. This is usually the cheapest option between Amsterdam and Copenhagen, with a transfer in Eindhoven.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Also quite some surface transfers on Air France between Charles de Gaulle and Orly. This is often the case with cities that have multiple airports.

Only surface transfer I've ever done myself was from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang. Free shuttle bus between the two airports, very convenient.

Me too. It was on separate tickets though. The shuttle bus was also FREE (IIRC) which was awesome. But since it's super unpredictable Bangkok traffic, you are forced to leave at least 3 hours or else you may end up missing something.

I've almost done EWR to JFK which I'm glad I didn't do. Jesus that would be a pain in the ass. I've also seen them advertised between HND and NRT. I can't imagine that one. For me I'd rather (in almost all cases) pay a bit more on an international itinerary to connect through the same airport.

-IR

All, thank you!