<p>Which airport is closest to Rice? Hobby or Bush Intercontinental? (which one do you recommend flying into?)</p>
<p>Hobby is closer and smaller and easier to navigate; not to mention the security line moves MUCH faster.</p>
<p>Can you please explain how the shuttle system works? I am going to be flying there and the lady said I can take a shuttle from Hobby to Rice. I have honestly never ridden on a bus before (besides school bus) and I don't really know what to expect, especially since I will be out of town.</p>
<p>My daughter has used Super Shuttle. You just go to Welcome</a> to SuperShuttle.com and enter information about when you'll be arriving and where (which airport) and where you're going. You have to pay in advance by credit card. As I remember, it's about $25 each way. You can set up your return trip at the same time. At Hobby Airport, you go to the Super Shuttle desk, near baggage claim and give them your name and they send you out to the waiting bus. From Rice back to the airport, you just need to tell them where at Rice you'll be (there's a comment section where you can be specific about this, such as which Rice entrance to take) and provide a phone number in case they can't find you. It's worked well for my daughter.</p>
<p>I can't find a flight that fits my schedule and flies into Hobby. Is it an extreme inconvenience to fly into Bush? I too am flying alone so I want to minimize any difficulty of my travels!</p>
<p>It's doable from Bush, just try to avoid arriving or departing during rush hour (or build a lot of extra time in your schedule).</p>
<p>My S has used Super Shuttle from Hobby to Rice with no problems, but last Christmas break he scheduled a pickup at his dorm to take him to Hobby and the shuttle never showed up. He called them at least 3 times asking where they were and every time they promised to be there "soon" but they never showed. He nearly missed his flight after finally calling a taxi to get him to the airport -- at rush hour with less than an hour till takeoff :eek:. I called Super Shuttle to get a refund and they were unapologetic. They acted like this was not an uncommon occurrence. I'll never trust them again when there's a deadline involved. Now he calls Towne</a> Car Houston and schedules a Towne Car to pick him up when he has to go to the airport. So far, so good.</p>
<p>Sugarplum54, it's not difficult to get transportation from Bush Airport. They have Super Shuttle, too (for about half the price of a taxi). It's just a much longer drive and much worse at rush hour.</p>
<p>(crossposted with blackeyedsusan!)</p>
<p>thank you Berkeley Mom, I had no idea. I would have probably been lost. Thank you so much. Is that the only one that they have though? I mean that's an extra $50 I was not expecting to spend (I have to pay for the trip myself). Or, do you know of any coupons or discount codes? Or what about the main rail, does it run from Hobby to Rice?</p>
<p>I think there are some Metro buses that run out there, but you'd have to plan well in advance, and it may well end up being more trouble than its worth ($1 for the bus), since it'll take so long. Metrorail (the train system) does not run out that far, so buses would be your only option as far as public transportation.</p>
<p>Patsmom - </p>
<p>How does Town Car Houston compare with the price of a taxi? S goes back and forth to Hobby. If he can't get a ride from a friend, he takes a taxi. </p>
<p>For those of you traveling in and out of the NYC area, Jet Blue is great and flies between Kennedy and Hobby 2-3 times a day. S loves the extra leg room and free SAT TV.</p>
<p>Baystate, the fare for Towne Car is the same as that for a taxi plus a 10% surcharge. I think the taxi fare runs in the neighborhood of $25, so an additional $2.50 is a small price to pay for the extra peace of mind, I think.</p>
<p>PatsMom--thanks for the Towne Car information. The problem you ran into with Super Shuttle is a bit disturbing. My daughter has only used Super Shuttle a few times, and it's worked smoothly, but it's good to know there are other options.</p>
<p>Pyles--I don't know of any discounts for Super Shuttle. Unfortunately, it is an extra expense. You could look into taking public transportation (a bus), but as has already been mentioned here, that could take a lot of planning, and extra time. You could do a little research on it here, though: METRO</a> Trip Planning - Houston, Texas. Have a good trip!</p>
<p>Thanks Patsmom. We'll check it out.</p>
<p>So it looks like I'll have to fly into Bush. My flight will be getting in around 2:45 on a weekday, so will I be hitting rush hour traffic to get to Rice (I don't know when rush hour traffic gets really bad in Houston?!)? I need to get to the admissions office by 5pm and I really do not have a lot of money to spend to get from the airport to Rice (I'll probably use one of the car services you mentioned)... Any thoughts? Will I get there in time? Will I have to pay astronomical amounts of money?!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your help!</p>
<p>Sugar ... pack light to avoid having to wait for luggage @ the busy carrousels, ie. carry-on luggage, schedule Towne Car for pick-up @ Bush & pray your flight isn't delayed. If it is, it is; not your fault, nothing you can do about it. If you leave the curb by 3:30 (& you will probably be off before that), despite traffic (yes, Houston has traffic!), you should be at Rice by 5pm. Make sure you have a contact # for whomever you will be meeting ... just in case for worst case scenario. Sit back & relax, once you're in whatever transport you are taking, you can't do anything and worrying won't help get you there any quicker. Anything will be taken care of once you realize you are in the right place, Rice. Great school!</p>
<p>sugarplum -- it shouldn't be a problem that time of day. If you take a taxi, it probably will take less than 40 minutes to get to Rice. Just travel with a carry-on and take a taxi directly to Rice. As to how much it will cost, here's a link to Yellow Cab, which has a fare calculator. Yellow</a> Cab Houston taxi service</p>
<p>Here is something I have in my notes that someone posted on getting to Rice from the airport. This is how I plan on getting to campus but I have not made the trip myself so if anyone has used the bus and wants to tell us all how bad it is going to be let us know:</p>
<p>... From Hobby you can take bus 73 to the Fannin South Station (or the TMC transit center, but it's quicker to get off when it reaches Fannin) where you can board the light rail to the Houston Zoo or Rice University Station depending where you're headed on campus. (Houston Zoo for south colleges, Rice U station for north) Total cost without a U-pass is less than $2. It takes an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>You definitely can take the bus followed by the rail to get from Hobby to Rice, but you should be advised that the bus is not often very punctual, and if this will stress you out you might want to avoid it. I'd say an hour to 1 hour 15 minutes is probably about right - but realize it's 12 miles! So it takes a long time. What I would consider doing is taking the super shuttle to and from the marriott medical center, then either walking or taking the rail to campus. It's much cheaper than a cab, but more reliable than the bus.</p>
<p>Also, I have used super shuttle several times, and never had them stand me up (although they have occassionally been a little late, they usually schedule the pick up early enough to make this a non issue).</p>
<p>DD takes the Supershuttle whenever she can't get someone to take her to the airport. She has never had a problem with them for time, just came to the wrong entrance of campus once for the pickup. Be aware it can take a while, too, since they make multiple stops. That could impact the trip in from the airport since you have a tight schedule to get to campus. When they pick you up it is usually about 4 hours before flight time, though. So depending on when your flight is it could be pretty early in the AM. You do not have to go round trip, though. </p>
<p>So if you are worried about the time when landing get a cab. Then you can save some money with the shuttle on the return. However, neither is going to be cheap coming from Bush.</p>
<p>She has never tried any public transportation.</p>
<p>I went with my dad who picked me up from the airport- It was hell getting on 59 because it was lunch time traffic and plus we missed the exit TWICE. The only thing i would suggest is know where to park- my dad took me to the medical center to get Subway and the only available parking was garage-paid and when we went it, you have to park nose out for the parking attendees on the roof and well lets say .. its difficult cause theirs a billion poles. I bet you can take the LightRail (i think thats what its called. Its the train system that runs through the Texas Medical Center where Rice students use their Q-Card on)</p>
<p>EDIT: Make sure you come through Hobby- It's way less confusing and really cheap if you fly through SouthWest</p>