Location: Yellowknife, NWT, Canada; UA Premier; AS MVP; Hilton Silver
Posts: 1,302
Took an unmarked minibus in Moshi, Tanzania, from the central city where the longer distance bus from Arusha arrived to an outlying area. Cost: 100 shillings, about 15 cents.
I used to live about a five minute walk from a Hilton with a free shuttle to the airport... I was the shuttle driver's favorite because I always tipped well.
Location: exUA1K, UA MM, lifetime UA1P, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,885
After my pre-reserved taxi never showed up to take us from a hotel to the BUD airport early in the morning in May Day (holiday), I was getting quite woried about making our LH flight to connect in FRA.
Then, in the lobby of the hotel, a guest is checking out with an easilly recognizable Star Alliance Priority tag on his rollaboard bag. As soon as he finished his business, I politely asked if he was headed to the airport and he quickly agreed to give us a FREE ride there, provided we didn't mind a stop at the Shell station near BUD.
The man was GREAT, he even worked a few years at San Jose where I have done countless weeks on implementations.
He insisted an taking NOTHING for the ride. And we made our LH flight that connected to our award F (UD) flight back home.
A few come to mind: Walking 40 min. (fast pace) every night back to our hotel from city center in Rome w/ stroller after subway closed for evening.
Eurolines bus from Brussels to Budapest -- 18 hrs. each way. Stuck in last row squeezed in between two people.
Traveled from Louisiana to Baltimore w/ family of 4 to buy a new car ($ 2000 cheaper there). Then took city bus for 50 cents each w/ baby and toddler, 2 strollers, 2 big suitcases, 2 carry-ons; and carseat. Then walked rest of way w/ above stuff to the hotel.
On a BDA-BOS(overnight)-RDU(stopover)-x/BOS-BDA trip I had a change of plans and needed to be in EWR before I hit RDU. Change fee was $150, but I found a $90 one-way ticket RDU-CVG-EWR that was valid only for a flight that happened to leave 45 minutes after I was supposed to arrive in RDU in the first place.
So saved $60 flying BOS-RDU-CVG-EWR instead of BOS-EWR.
Pretended I was asleep on the train to avoid showing the conductor my multi-day (good for any 5 days travel in 6th months) ticket... and that was this year LOL.
Programs: Membership has its benefits, or so I am told
Posts: 167
I met a guy on line (who hasn't) we chatted and exchanged emails for months and he decided he wanted to meet me, and I didn't have the miles or money to do it...and agreeing that there were no lurid strings attached, he western unioned me the money for the ticket TUS - BRU (and I got the miles for it too).
We had a nice visit, but he turned out to be a bit of a jerk, and I need not have worried about any lurid strings - he was Definitely NOT interested. So when we said good bye, I figured it was forever. I had another week to go before I headed home (hadn't told him my return date), so I did some tooling around Belgium on my own. In Bruges (great movie) one day, I stopped into an internet cafe and found a screaming deal on the french SNCF web site for a ticket from Brussels to Paris for $12 USD. I clicked to purchase, but the cafe wouldn't let me print anything out...no worries, i thought. I will print it at the station....but when I got to the train station in Brussels, I realized I had clicked FRANCE when the website asked "country of purchase" and no amount of tears and really good begging IN FRENCH would alter the fact that in order to USE the $12 ticket, I would have to get to France to pick it up. By then, tickets directly to Paris were a lot higher....so I sucked it up, and called the guy...he worked for the Belgium version of SNCF, and he put me on the TGV, in first class, to Paris.
So $12 was the financial cost...the damage done to my psyche for having to call him again was probably more costly!! Hmmm I never DID hear from him after I sent him a thank you note.....
__________________ Those who would give up essential liberty,
To purchase a little temporary safety,
Deserve neither liberty or safety. - Benjamin Franklin
I've always thought the $5 surcharge on the JFK Airtrain was a scam... it cost $2 billion dollars to build and it saves only five minutes compared to the free shuttle bus that used to be provided from the Howard Beach subway station. What annoys me most is if you are heading to the airport, there is no way to exit the station without paying it. It is free to ride within the airport; the charge is only applied to people who take public transport, who are least likely to afford it, including airport employees.
Last week, in order to get around the $5 (partly on principal, but also b/c it worked better for me) I took the Airtrain to Howard Beach, got off and purchased a Metrocard from the vending machine, grabbed a copy of the subway map, got back on the Airtrain to Terminal 4 and waited outside for the city bus. The Q10 and the B15 take you to the "A" and "3" subway stations, respectively, about 20 minutes away.
In 2003 all the major American airlines had a promotion that gave a free ticket for anywhere on their routes if one purchased 2 tickets in 4 months NYC-FLORIDA or NYC-California.
I was leaving from NYC to Brazil. I implemented this plan into my itinerary( a quick week-end jaunt(NYV -FT LAUDERDALE0 return)and then NYC-Miami return again(caught a cheaper flight from Miami-Rio)That gave me the 2 trips needed.
I used my free trip to go to Mumbai India the following year.
'Downeaster' to Boston on Tue, Wed & Thu Senior $ 20 RT and BOLT bus Boston-NYC $ 15 RT. Stayed one week with relatives and used $ 1.00 Senior Bus & subway rides. Great trip, and I am seventytwo
