Friday 8 August 2008

Airport transport - pre-book for price and convenience

The date is coming close and some of you will soon be flying to Vienna - like the bride!

If you arrive at Vienna airport you have two main options:
1. Airport train to the city center
2. Taxi

or a combination of the two.
....and there would also be a bus (which I have never used).

ad 1. CAT = City Airport Train
This is a very convenient way to go to the city center.
The latest offer now includes a combined ticket train and afterward taxi from the train station in the city center to the final location. That seems to be a good value for the price.

CAT is convenient, clean and takes only 16 minutes to the center. It goes approx. every 30 minutes.

Especially for going back to the airport it is great if you are flying Austrian Airlines. It allows you to check your luggage in at the city center train station (between 24 hours and ~1.5 hours before the flight).

One person city train ticket would be EUR 8,- or a combination train/taxi for 4 people would be from EUR 24,-.

Here is the link: http://www.cityairporttrain.com/flashon/

I would recommend taking the train/taxi combination because the walking distance to hotels 'Am Stephansplatz' or 'De France' is too long to walk with luggage (for me at least, 10 min, or 20 min approx). With the U-Bahn (Vienna tube), you would have to take 2 different ones.

ad 2. Taxi
The other option is pre-booking a taxi only. The cost is EUR 27 (for up to 3 people).
For Emma and Rob is more like EUR 29 because they are staying in the 13th district.

Here is one of the providers of the taxi airport service providers:
http://www.airportservice.at/airport.htm

If you don't pre-book and take a taxi in front of the airport to the city center, prices will be only a bit higher, approx. EUR 33,-, not double or so.

The Xis approach would be:
Arriving...... pre-booking a taxi if I am with one or more other people.
Leaving ...... taking the CAT if I fly Austrian Airlines, I check my luggage in at Wien Mitte in the morning, have time without luggage for the rest of the day, take only one hour before the flight the CAT and arrive convenient at the airport. If not flying with Austrian you can still use the CAT but without the ability to check in your luggage or get your boarding pass.


PS: Vienna Airport is called 'Schwechat' and is the only airport in the city.

No comments: