A warning about Paris Airport Shuttle transfers

Kkuba on 04/08/2011 - 03:54

So this is a bit of a long shot, but this maybe is more so to vent some anger, than to really benefit anyone. It's along story, so I apologise in advance.

So if you are ever flying out of Paris with a budget airline (which I would guess a good majority of readers of this forum would chose to do) you will probably fly out of Beauvais Airport, about 90km out of the city. Some sort of transfer is needed.

If you search google, depending on your search terms, this will be the first site that comes up.

http://beauvais.airport-shuttle.com/?gclid=CJK6_7LUs6oCFZRc4…

This is a door to door service, so we decided to take this service, even though it was a bit more expensive, just to save the hassle of catching the trains and busses with all our luggage etc etc.

So we booked it the day before for our flight that was leaving 14:10, with credit card details and everything.

The website said that we should be ready to go between 3 and 4 hours before our flight departure.

A confirmation email was sent saying that the car will be coming past the hotel at 10:40, 3.5 hours before departure, perfect, sounds good, plenty of time for breakfast and then to pack afterwards.

The next morning we were down for breakfast in the dining area, 9:15, the receptionist comes up to tell us that the company called, and the van will be coming past in 15 minutes…

So anyway, we finish breakfast as fast as we can, run upstairs, pack, I notice out the window of my room that the driver has arrived around 9:35, so I go down to speak to him, he does not speak much English, but I tell him that this is not fair and that we are still packing (I do the motion) and he nods. So I go back upstairs.

Come back down 10-15 minutes later, walk outside, he is nowhere to be seen, the manager of the hotel is in the foyer, and he goes outside to search for the driver for me, he cannot find him. We agree that perhaps he had gone to pick up other passengers and will come back.

10 minutes pass. The manager suggests calling the depot, to ask where the driver is. Luckily their website provides this phone number. After a call by reception and a call back from the depot.

They say there is a small problem. The driver is not coming back.

FML

Does anyone else think this is unreasonable, or am I expecting too much?

General Discussion

Comments

  • Tal_Shiar on 04/08/2011 - 04:32
    +2

    i could question certain points about your post, but ill just ask you, why did you leave it so late to pack? everytime i travel, anything that isnt travelling and staying on me, is packed the night before

    • Kkuba on 04/08/2011 - 04:47
      -1

      I always finish packing the same day. I will usually organise my stuff the night before but not actually pack it and zip up the bag.

      Just because of things like toiletries, pajamas (boxer short whatever you use) and other things need to be used over night and clothes that I took off just before bed etc, and particularly when I am backpacking and rely heavily on compression straps, there is no point compression strapping if i need to open it again in the morning to add more stuff.

      To add to that I have a lot of stuff that is "travelling and staying on me" this takes a while to pack and make sure nothing was left behind (although sometimes this still happens :( )

      • Kkuba on 05/08/2011 - 02:01

        Seems to be some hate towards this packing in the morning

        To add to this, on several overseas trips, even to south east asia, where you come to expect things to not be on time, my friends and I have always packed the same day (No one that I have traveled with, packs their bags the night before). Usually because we come home very drunk the night before… And until now there have been no problems with this.

        In the end there was no problem, because we made our flight with plan B, but there would have been a bit less stress if the driver had just said in the first place that he cannot take us.

  • neil on 04/08/2011 - 09:00

    Definitely unreasonable. It said 10:40 and it came at 9:40. Did you get a refund?

    • Kkuba on 05/08/2011 - 01:47

      The credit card was only taken as assurance and the payment was to the driver, so unless they charged it afterwards, then we never paid anyway (not my creit card either, so have not been able to check)

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 04/08/2011 - 09:37

    Another unhappy Aussie travelled story lol. Should of spent a tiny bit more and flown out of CDG. Train takes you straight there. Only the cheapskate airlines fly from Beauvais. Why oh why buy a cheapskate air fare and then pay extra for a transfer?? defeats the purpose.
    There is a regular bus service to Beauvais anyways. If this is the only issue you had on your trip you should count yourself lucky. Harden up princess.

    • Kkuba on 05/08/2011 - 01:45

      Not the only issue, b ut by far the most astounding (in my eyes anyway)

      The part about leaving and not saying anything that is….

      Coming an hour early is fine, coming an hour early with 15 minutes notice is a bit much… What if he had gone out for a long breakfast???

      Luckily we didn't but then, as I said, leaving without a word, to me OR the receptionist, who was right there when I approached him to inform him that I was still packing….

      Also: why fly cheapskate airlines? to be honest, I did not buy the tickets so I had no say, but I probably would have done the same. to get to the airport (Beauvais) it costs 1.70 EUR on the metro (which you would pay to get to any other airport) and 15 EUR on the shuttle bus

      So unless the flight difference is less than 15 EUR, which I imagine Full Service VS Cheapskate it would not be… then it does make it worthwile.

      And I should mention the shuttle bus was very comfy and cushy, very impressed

  • joannatan on 04/08/2011 - 15:01
    +2

    remember u are in france, different culture, we might think 1 hr is too early, but some country has different custom. at least u learn something new and we also learn be prepare earlier is better than the last minutes. normally before i went down for my breakfast, i clean up my room first. i have bad experience before when i was in singapore, because rushing to pack my stuff, i forgot to carry my new camera, and luckily the hotel staff was honest, i called the hotel when i arrived in the airport and they keep it for me to pick up again.

    • Tal_Shiar on 04/08/2011 - 15:44
      +1

      Indeed, I'm told sticking your index finger up meaning 1 item, in France can be interpreted as 2 as they count the thumb too lol

  • Natt on 04/08/2011 - 22:59

    First rule of travelling imho is expect things to go wrong, and if they do not you got lucky!

    Your bags should have been packed the night before and you should have been all ready to go before breakfast.

    And had a back-up plan should the bus not arrive

    I do not know how critical your flight was, but if its a flight you had to be on, its essential to be paranoid.

    I have made a few misdjudgements and have learnt the hard way - I allowed 3.5 hours for a Luton plane change and it was almost not enough

    travel can be painful - but its worth it

    • joannatan on 04/08/2011 - 23:06

      take account the traffic jam if you travel by road.

    • Kkuba on 05/08/2011 - 01:50

      In the end, I should mention that because of an excellent metro system we made it on time to the shuttle bus (a big coach thing) and made our flight with plenty of time to spare at the airport.

      so we did have a back up plan, and it worked and made the flight…

      So overall, we were not too disappointed, just a bit annoyed with the driver's behaviour

  • krushgroove on 04/08/2011 - 23:48
    +2

    I think you should just be happy you're in Paris in the first place. A lot of people would kill to be in your shoes…..dodgy shuttle service or not.

  • retiredfeline on 05/08/2011 - 02:13
    +2

    A couple of comments from me:

    1. You would have been better posting this in a travel forum about France or at least Europe where it might have warned travellers about this company. Unless you just wanted to vent.

    2. To those people who commented yeah what did you expect, you should have prepared better, etc: That's not the point. The question was simply whether this company was derelict in service and I say it was. It's like ss180 says a car repair shop made a bad repair and you comment, well you should have bought a Volvo, you should have kept a pushbike handy, or whatever. But ss180 I think this is what you get for posting here; see point 1.

    • Kkuba on 05/08/2011 - 02:44

      I wish I could plus this ten times, very few people seemed to have understood this

      • Natt on 05/08/2011 - 08:54

        Greenpossums suggestions are good :)

        I do understand what you are saying, but I guess because of my travel experiences I don't think anything of a shuttle bus turning up 1.5 hours early (if that makes sense)

        But yes the travellers forums are a good idea

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join