What is the cheapest thing you have done to save on transportation?
Sep 16, 2008, 12:55 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Northern Nevada
Programs: DL,EK
Posts: 1,652
I paid $40 to take a bus from Tbilisi to Bucharest. Left Tbilisi at noon, arrived at the Turkish border at about 21:00 (terrible roads), left the border at about 4am, arrived in Istanbul at 2am, left Istanbul at 7am, arrived Bucharest the next day at 6am, then hopped on a train to Budapest ($15).
Total time from Tbilisi to Budapest: apx. 83 hours
Total cost: $55
Night 1 spent at the Georgian/Turkish border.
Night 2 spent at some unknown bus office near the Istanbul Otogar.
Night 3 spent on a barge at the Bulgaria/Romania border on the Danube.
Night 4 spent zonked out in a Budapest hotel.
Total time from Tbilisi to Budapest: apx. 83 hours
Total cost: $55
Night 1 spent at the Georgian/Turkish border.
Night 2 spent at some unknown bus office near the Istanbul Otogar.
Night 3 spent on a barge at the Bulgaria/Romania border on the Danube.
Night 4 spent zonked out in a Budapest hotel.
Sep 16, 2008, 1:32 pm
#19
Suspended
Join Date: May 2003
Location: NYC
Programs: United 1K, HHonors Gold, MR Gold
Posts: 1,628
Having misplaced my purse on a rather wild overnight trip from Vancouver to Victoria (to celebrate a friend's birthday, in college), I was dropped off at the ferry terminal to meet my friend (who had got herself lost during the night) for a ride back to Vancouver. No friend, no ride, no $. I was supposed to be back at work that morning. I talked the ticket girl into a) letting me on the ferry for free; and b) calling my employer and making up an excuse for why I wasn't coming into work. Once on the ferry, I needed to find a ride into the city. I wasn't exactly dressed like a nice young lady and had stayed up all night, so my first efforts to get a ride with a family weren't successful. The ticket girl had recommended that I try going down to the 2nd deck to get a ride with the truckers (not something I wanted to do unless I had to). It seemed, however, to be my only option. In fact, I got three offers quite quickly - and a very nice, fatherly sort of person drove me to within a block of my sister's house, where I was staying.
Total trip price: embarrrassment (and a kiss on the cheek for the nice trucker who drove me home)
Total trip price: embarrrassment (and a kiss on the cheek for the nice trucker who drove me home)
Last edited by Kate_Canuck; Sep 16, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Sep 17, 2008, 9:25 am
#22
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: YOW
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 171
When I was in eastern european countries, I lost my ISIC card and used my driver's license (in french) and pretended it's a student card. They couldn't read english or french so just assumed it was a valid card to avoid embarrassment! Lol!
Sep 21, 2008, 4:56 pm
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Programs: Frontier Gold, DL estranged 1MMer, Spirit VIP, CO/NW/UA/AA once gold/plat/comped gold now dust.
Posts: 38,138
Hmmm, lessee...
Manila: Strapped on the backpack and WALKED OUT OF THE AIRPORT to the street to get a taxi that'd use its meter. That cut the cost to Ermita from 600 pesos down to about 120.
Las Vegas and Honolulu: Two cities where I often take the city bus from the airport to the hotel, if I'm light enough on bags.
Long, long ago it also used to be possible to game the routing system if you lived in a hub city. Say WN had a $58 RT sale on a route like SDF-OMA. *Maybe* it'd get a match from a legacy carrier like DL with a connecting city like ATL. Buy the ticket, get boarding passes printed in advance, and use it to go RT from ATL to either of those cities (not checking bags or using skycaps). The days of being able to do that "throw-away ticketing" are LONG GONE, but OTOH the proliferation of LCCs you have now that you didn't have then has rendered much of the need unnecessary.
Manila: Strapped on the backpack and WALKED OUT OF THE AIRPORT to the street to get a taxi that'd use its meter. That cut the cost to Ermita from 600 pesos down to about 120.
Las Vegas and Honolulu: Two cities where I often take the city bus from the airport to the hotel, if I'm light enough on bags.
Long, long ago it also used to be possible to game the routing system if you lived in a hub city. Say WN had a $58 RT sale on a route like SDF-OMA. *Maybe* it'd get a match from a legacy carrier like DL with a connecting city like ATL. Buy the ticket, get boarding passes printed in advance, and use it to go RT from ATL to either of those cities (not checking bags or using skycaps). The days of being able to do that "throw-away ticketing" are LONG GONE, but OTOH the proliferation of LCCs you have now that you didn't have then has rendered much of the need unnecessary.
Sep 21, 2008, 7:39 pm
#25
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Jersey
Programs: Credit Cards
Posts: 3,009
instead of getting a hotel room for the night in Rochester, I stayed up most of the night first going to the Niagara Falls, Ontario checking out the Skylon, then grabbing a late dinner/early breakfast at some 24 hour joint... had to try the Rochester garbage plate... then went on standby for the first flight back to NYC. not sure if I saved any money but it was fun.
--Russ
--Russ
Sep 23, 2008, 9:23 am
#26
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: montreal
Posts: 305
I dunno about cheap, but certainly frugal (and a life-changing experience). I always took a taxi from the Phuket airport to the beach (usually Karon). Getting around at that point required a tuk-tuk that charged way too much for the service. I ended up walking instead of paying those road pirates. It was then I realized that Farangs were riding scooters. "Where did they get those?" I discovered a scooter rental shop and learned that the daily charge was less than a one-way trip with the tuk-tuk mafia.
I filled out the necessary paperwork to rent the bike and the girl handed me the key. "OK, how do you operate these things?" I've ridden bicycles all my life and looked down on anything with a motor, but I was desperate. She showed me how to start it up, apply gas and brake. Ninety seconds later I was scooting down the road grinning like a fool.
It was not all fun, of course. I discovered a big difference between motor bikes and real bikes. When you get in trouble on a bike, you hang on to the handle bars to control it. On the moto you gotta let go (the moto popped out from under me once and I drove the rear wheel through a potted garden before I realized I was still giving it the gas!).
When I arrive at the airport now, I hike two kilometers down the road to a local motorcycle rental shop and eschew taxis and tuk-tuks on the island.
I filled out the necessary paperwork to rent the bike and the girl handed me the key. "OK, how do you operate these things?" I've ridden bicycles all my life and looked down on anything with a motor, but I was desperate. She showed me how to start it up, apply gas and brake. Ninety seconds later I was scooting down the road grinning like a fool.
It was not all fun, of course. I discovered a big difference between motor bikes and real bikes. When you get in trouble on a bike, you hang on to the handle bars to control it. On the moto you gotta let go (the moto popped out from under me once and I drove the rear wheel through a potted garden before I realized I was still giving it the gas!).
When I arrive at the airport now, I hike two kilometers down the road to a local motorcycle rental shop and eschew taxis and tuk-tuks on the island.
Sep 23, 2008, 9:44 am
#27
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Bklyn, NY. ex-UA 1P, ex-US pref, ex-CO plat, ex-DL sil, ex-HH dmnd. Presently Free Agent
Posts: 391
The absolutely cheapest trip I have ever done was take my family of four from our home in Brooklyn to Boston for free
We used our commuter cards to get to Penn Sta, then took Megabus RT for free Total cost for four = $0
Similarly a day trip to PHL on Megabus $8.50 for four tickets
A few years ago three R/T tix on the Adirondack NYC- Montreal $57.50 each. Stayed at the Hilton across from the train station on points. No hotel or cab fare
We used our commuter cards to get to Penn Sta, then took Megabus RT for free Total cost for four = $0
Similarly a day trip to PHL on Megabus $8.50 for four tickets
A few years ago three R/T tix on the Adirondack NYC- Montreal $57.50 each. Stayed at the Hilton across from the train station on points. No hotel or cab fare
Last edited by laguardiaguy; Sep 23, 2008 at 9:51 am
Sep 23, 2008, 9:14 pm
#28
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: HYX
Programs: ~IHG(p)/BW~Nat'l.Exec~ ~NW(SE)~ ~Cessna~ NASM.do-07 ~AAAF.do-05/06/07/08/09
Posts: 1,529
Droped into RNO & found our downtown hotel didn't offer a shuttle bus ~ but the place next-door did .. free.
City busses are OK in LAS .. and AUA.
/.
City busses are OK in LAS .. and AUA.
/.
Sep 23, 2008, 9:42 pm
#29
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Falls Church, VA
Programs: SPG gold, UA premier associate
Posts: 4
Arrived at ALB at 3:30 a.m on SW flight that was way late. Rental car desks closed and no cabs in sight. So rather than calling relatives to pick me up, I talked the SW pilot into giving me a lift.
Oct 2, 2008, 1:56 pm
#30
Join Date: May 2007
Location: YOW
Posts: 2,351
I slept at AKL on my way back to LA on the United C error. My flight from MEL came in at midnight and then my flight to SYD left at 7 or so so there was no real time to get to a hotel.
The airport wasn't quite as nice as the Westins in AKL and MEL...
The airport wasn't quite as nice as the Westins in AKL and MEL...