RustyC
Jan 9, 09, 2:50 am
Just finished a nice single-day trip to FLL from ATL. Have written before about flying Spirit, but this time I tried raising the bar a bit on being cheap and am happy to say it worked out.
Airfare deal was on one of their many sales. This was an "ocho" sale ($8 each way), and taxes add $21, making the total $37.
From ATL it's possible to do a same-day turnaround and get 10 hours or so in FLL because of the flight schedules. Had booked the early flight out (arriving FLL about 9 a.m.) and the evening flight back (leaving FLL 8:20 p.m. arriving ATL 10:16 p.m.).
Usually Priceline can come through with a rental car for a $12-13 bid and $26 or so all-in (taxes in FLL are pretty bad), but this time it wasn't working out. They wanted $30++ or so (low $40s a-i) and wouldn't budge, probably because of the national championship game in Miami the next night causing a rise in demand. Rates on published-rate sites were mid $50s++. Pay more for the car than the airfare?! I really resisted the notion.
So, after 6 or 7 rounds of failed bids I decided, with some reservations, to try the trip on 100% public transit. Did some research on the website for the bus system (Broward County Transit) and printed out the applicable bus schedules.
Spirit was right on schedule for the trip down (first flight of the day), and the plane was only about two-thirds full. Was nice to not have the middle seat occupied, especially given their knee-crunching seat pitches.
I carried a tote bag with only the most basic stuff, including a small umbrella and the printed schedules and boarding passes. Catching the bus at the airport was pretty easy, and service on the #1 route was about every 15 minutes. Took it northbound to the transit hub in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, a trip that took about 25 minutes. The system doesn't use transfers, but you can get an all-day pass for unlimited rides from any bus for $3, which helps tremendously.
The transit hub was a little disappointing, having a downscale feel to it that was reinforced by lots of people just standing around in the vicinity. Also pretty drab. But many bus routes fed into it. The #22 was a useful one westbound, getting to both Broward Mall and Sawgrass Mills and a number of points in between. But probably the one of greatest utility for visitors had to be the #11, going out Las Olas and to the beach.
Stopped & ate lunch in the Las Olas area, spending some of the rental car savings at the Cheesecake Factory. Was my first-ever visit to one of those. They seem to try hard at everything and give big portions, but I don't think I found the signature dish with the angel-hair pasta and shrimp. A nearby crepe place seemed to be drawing a big crowd.
Then it was a straight shot out to the beach, which is usually good for the people-watching and general atmosphere. Weather was very nice. Older places like the Elbo Room or Dirty Blondes, or newer ones like those in Beach Place, all provided good perches for the people-watching. Not only the beachgoing crowd but also a surprising number of 50-something midlife crisis guys in super-expensive cars heading down A1A. Around 5 p.m. a nasty squall blew in (typical of summer but I guess it can also happen in winter). Also lots of noisy Gator fans out and about, and a few outnumbered Oklahoma ones.
Some other bus routes like the #10 and #40 could have been used to get to other useful spots, but it was nice enough at the beach to just stay there. The #11/#1 connection back to the airport around 6 p.m. worked smoothly, and Spirit was only 30 minutes late on the evening flight (a good night for them). I used airport parking in ATL out of not wanting to risk Spirit being really late and getting to the airport after MARTA trains stop running.
And so the costs: $7.50 for airport parking, $37 for the round-trip airfare, $0 for bags or assigned seats, and $3 for the bus pass in FLL, plus anything spent on food, drink or other discretionary activities, totaling $47.50 base cost all-in. A rock-rock-bottom substituting public transit in ATL and on one of the less-frequent Spirit $1 sales might total $3.50 + $23 + $3 for a day of getting around there.
All in all, the buses worked out well. You get a different view on a trip like that than with a rental car, but it's also easier to limit your focus and not try to do everything. (As background, I had probably been to FLL and the area some 11-12 times before, though always with car rents). I have cars booked for upcoming FLL trips (thanks in part to Alamo's $10/day weekend-rate deal if you can keep the car over a Saturday night). But it's nice to know some kinds of trips are do-able even without the car. That could come in handy when gas goes back to $4 and/or the car companies get too greedy with the rates.
Airfare deal was on one of their many sales. This was an "ocho" sale ($8 each way), and taxes add $21, making the total $37.
From ATL it's possible to do a same-day turnaround and get 10 hours or so in FLL because of the flight schedules. Had booked the early flight out (arriving FLL about 9 a.m.) and the evening flight back (leaving FLL 8:20 p.m. arriving ATL 10:16 p.m.).
Usually Priceline can come through with a rental car for a $12-13 bid and $26 or so all-in (taxes in FLL are pretty bad), but this time it wasn't working out. They wanted $30++ or so (low $40s a-i) and wouldn't budge, probably because of the national championship game in Miami the next night causing a rise in demand. Rates on published-rate sites were mid $50s++. Pay more for the car than the airfare?! I really resisted the notion.
So, after 6 or 7 rounds of failed bids I decided, with some reservations, to try the trip on 100% public transit. Did some research on the website for the bus system (Broward County Transit) and printed out the applicable bus schedules.
Spirit was right on schedule for the trip down (first flight of the day), and the plane was only about two-thirds full. Was nice to not have the middle seat occupied, especially given their knee-crunching seat pitches.
I carried a tote bag with only the most basic stuff, including a small umbrella and the printed schedules and boarding passes. Catching the bus at the airport was pretty easy, and service on the #1 route was about every 15 minutes. Took it northbound to the transit hub in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, a trip that took about 25 minutes. The system doesn't use transfers, but you can get an all-day pass for unlimited rides from any bus for $3, which helps tremendously.
The transit hub was a little disappointing, having a downscale feel to it that was reinforced by lots of people just standing around in the vicinity. Also pretty drab. But many bus routes fed into it. The #22 was a useful one westbound, getting to both Broward Mall and Sawgrass Mills and a number of points in between. But probably the one of greatest utility for visitors had to be the #11, going out Las Olas and to the beach.
Stopped & ate lunch in the Las Olas area, spending some of the rental car savings at the Cheesecake Factory. Was my first-ever visit to one of those. They seem to try hard at everything and give big portions, but I don't think I found the signature dish with the angel-hair pasta and shrimp. A nearby crepe place seemed to be drawing a big crowd.
Then it was a straight shot out to the beach, which is usually good for the people-watching and general atmosphere. Weather was very nice. Older places like the Elbo Room or Dirty Blondes, or newer ones like those in Beach Place, all provided good perches for the people-watching. Not only the beachgoing crowd but also a surprising number of 50-something midlife crisis guys in super-expensive cars heading down A1A. Around 5 p.m. a nasty squall blew in (typical of summer but I guess it can also happen in winter). Also lots of noisy Gator fans out and about, and a few outnumbered Oklahoma ones.
Some other bus routes like the #10 and #40 could have been used to get to other useful spots, but it was nice enough at the beach to just stay there. The #11/#1 connection back to the airport around 6 p.m. worked smoothly, and Spirit was only 30 minutes late on the evening flight (a good night for them). I used airport parking in ATL out of not wanting to risk Spirit being really late and getting to the airport after MARTA trains stop running.
And so the costs: $7.50 for airport parking, $37 for the round-trip airfare, $0 for bags or assigned seats, and $3 for the bus pass in FLL, plus anything spent on food, drink or other discretionary activities, totaling $47.50 base cost all-in. A rock-rock-bottom substituting public transit in ATL and on one of the less-frequent Spirit $1 sales might total $3.50 + $23 + $3 for a day of getting around there.
All in all, the buses worked out well. You get a different view on a trip like that than with a rental car, but it's also easier to limit your focus and not try to do everything. (As background, I had probably been to FLL and the area some 11-12 times before, though always with car rents). I have cars booked for upcoming FLL trips (thanks in part to Alamo's $10/day weekend-rate deal if you can keep the car over a Saturday night). But it's nice to know some kinds of trips are do-able even without the car. That could come in handy when gas goes back to $4 and/or the car companies get too greedy with the rates.