<p>Fares out of Atlanta Airport seem to be generally much lower than out of Birmingham Airport. Has anyone combined the Airport Shuttle with Megabus ( [megabus.com</a> | Now serving over 20 million bus customers in North America](<a href=“http://us.megabus.com/Default.aspx]megabus.com”>http://us.megabus.com/Default.aspx) ) rides from Birmingam to Atlanta to do this? Granted this requires a transfer at Birmingam from the airport to the Megabus stop and in Atlanta from MARTA center to the ATL airport. But this seems fairly doable for college students. Or this too crazy a thing to do?</p>
<p>What is the back up plan when your fellow room mommy drops you off at the bus station 20 minutes prior to scheduled bus departure and the Megabus does not arrive for more than 2 1/2 hours due to mechanical difficulties? And you have to wait outside in the cold with people of questionable character? And when you finally decide you NEED to use the restroom or else and then come out to find that the bus has come in the 120 seconds you were in the restroom and that had you taken 60 more seconds, you would have missed said Megabus?</p>
<p>Oh wait, that was NRDMOM.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t chance it.</p>
<p>I fashioned a shiv from my water bottle.
I passed out cookies when the crowd got irritable.
I texted assorted emoticons to 2012Mom.</p>
<p>I would recommend it only to the very brave who had a relative in Atlanta for back-up. I would do it again. 2012Mom is fun.</p>
<p>How much cheaper are the Atlanta flights? How much are the shuttles from B’ham to Atlanta? Then wouldn’t you also need the shuttle from B’ham to Ttown? Unless the savings are substantial, it may not be the best thing to do.</p>
<p>Just realized that the ACR Express from U of Alabama goes all the way to the Amtrak Station in Birmingham. It is the very next stop after the BHM airport. Takes only 15 more minutes. The Mega Bus stop is 0.1 miles ( 1 block? ) from the station. The Amtrak station must provide shelter and have bathrooms I suppose. Hopefully there will be no need to pass out cookies. </p>
<p>Mega Bus fares are EXTREMELY cheap if bought in advance. But I have never traveled on those buses so far. In Atlanta there are frequent trains that go straight from Civic center to the airport in 18 minutes and the train fare is only $2.50.</p>
<p>The only downside I see is having to deal with Mega Bus breakdowns ( Is that a frequent occurrence? ) and additional travel time. Hopefully the non-stop flight from Atlanta to the final destination may make up for some of the extra time. If two or more students decide to do this, they will have both safety and company in each other. </p>
<p>But I agree. This may not work out for every one.</p>
<p>QuietThinker, seriously, the only way I personally would even consider this if you were to have a LONG delay (many hours) between the scheduled time you arrive in Atlanta and the time your flight departs.</p>
<p>Megabus has a fairly poor on-time record. When NRDMOM’s bus was going to be very late, the communication received that the bus was going to be late was an email that was sent 45 minutes past the scheduled bus departure time. Email said bus delayed 60 - 90 minutes. When after it was 2 hours late we tried to call for a revised time, no one could tell us when the bus might be there. If your bus is late, you have to wait outside on the sidewalk (as most buses do not arrive/depart in/from a station, just a place on the sidewalk where they drop off) and can’t leave for food, bathroom etc because you have no way of knowing when the bus will actually arrive if it’s late.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to figure the “all day logistics”. </p>
<p>Since most plane travel these days aren’t non-stop, that 2-leg experience alone can be a 6-8+ hour ordeal (depending on where you’re coming from). Then if you have to take a shuttle from ATL to B’ham, that’s more time. Then add in the shuttle from B’ham to Ttown. </p>
<p>When flying against the time change, it can mean a lot of transportation changes (with luggage) within a time-shortened day.</p>
<p>i think that sounds risky and would likely take almost as long as driving home for most people.</p>
<p>QuietThinker…another option is for your student to try and find other students that live in the Atlanta Metro area. They could share a ride to Atlanta and if the airport is way to far out of the way, there are enough MARTA stations around where your kid could be dropped off. MARTA go to the airport and the station is inside the airport so that would be easy.</p>
<p>There are a lot of students from the Atlanta area (including my son, starting this August) that go to UA.</p>
<p>Twomutts, That is a great suggestion. Are there many kids with their own cars from the Atlanta area studying at Alabama? </p>
<p>I am more than willing to buy tickets for my D to fly to/out of Birmingham airport.</p>
<p>For a moment I went back to my younger days where I used to toy with different permutations and combinations of methods of travel from point A to point B in different parts of the world. I need to remind myself that I can travel on almost any mode of transport, but need to be careful when making travel arrangements for my D. My wife would have shot down my plan for my D involving 2 buses and a train to reach the ATL airport any way.</p>
<p>I think most schools have a ride share board where you could get a ride to ATL. If something happened, there is always the thread “In loco parentis” on the Parent Forum.</p>
<p>From what I have heard there are quite a few from Atlanta with their own cars.</p>
<p>I’ve traveled a couple times on the Megabus, and my son travels 7 hours to/from another school about 3 to 4 times a year. On his trips, they only stop once for a 30 minute break for the driver, otherwise it is a good method of transportation for college kids, However, my son catches the bus about 2 miles from his university (a bus ride away) and is always picked up by us on the other end (and visa versa). Would I trust taking the Megabus to catch a plane or another bus - definitely No. The bus has been late several times, and where they drop off/pick up usually aren’t in the best locations and sometimes not very clearly marked. Even though son is now 20, we always make a reservation for him so that on the university end he is leaving or coming home in the daylight, mostly for safety reasons. OP I don’t think the amount of money you would save flying into Atlanta instead of Birmingham would be worth the time or worry (unless you got picked up/dropped off directly at the airport.)</p>
<p>*
I am more than willing to buy tickets for my D to fly to/out of Birmingham airport.</p>
<p>My wife would have shot down my plan for my D involving 2 buses and a train to reach the ATL airport any way.*</p>
<p>I think it’s best to plan on using BHM airport. The idea of arranging a shared car ride with an ATL student could be risky because you’re buying your plane tix many months in advance. A student who agrees to carpool 4 months earlier may shock you later with a change of plans.</p>
<p>I flew into Atlanta on my last trip to T-Town because I got the bargain price of $200 RT (vs. $450 or so into Birmingham.) </p>
<p>I ended up losing nearly a day on both ends of the short trip because of drive time to and from Atlanta plus the additional time required flying out of ATL (traffic, earlier arrival time, longer security lines, car rental distance, etc.) </p>
<p>Not to mention the safety issues - we had to leave T-Town the night before our early flight. I commented to my daughter that it was like driving into Detroit at night (we’re from Michigan) - which no one in their right mind would do - given other options. Probably not my smartest decision.</p>
<p>It was an interesting experience, but I wouldn’t do it again - unless it was my only option.</p>
<p>I agree that is best to fly to/out BHM.</p>
<p>My DD has used Megabus several times ( St. Louis- Memphis route) and her experience is good (80%-85% on time) , however once the Megabus was delayed a couple of hours and arrived with almost 2 hours delay. This was not a huge problem for us because we live just one hour from Memphis and we can be at the stop anytime to pick her up.</p>
<p>Yes, some of the bus stop are not in great areas, including Memphis. I would not want to wait by myself there. Other stops, like St. Louis are in safe locations. I cannot comment on BHM.</p>
<p>I am considering the Megabus for DS for Spring break, since he does not have a ride to the Memphis area as of yet, and the logistics can be a nightmare. </p>
<p>I have emailed UA transportation to ask if they can add stops (to Greyhound bust station in T-town and BHM and to the BHM Megabus stop) to the Airport shuttle route with no response. I suggested that the stops could be optional and that the shuttle could stop there only if a ticket is sold, this should not add much time to the shuttle route.</p>
<p>DS is the type of person that does not want to “bother” other students and hates to ask for a ride. He does post on the UA Zimride board and thus far he has never gotten a ride from that source.</p>
<p>I keep an eye on the Rolltide Share Ride Facebook page and there is a good amount of offer for rides to and from BHM, but very seldom to/from longer distance rides. So far DS has found one ride via the Facebook page.</p>
<p>We have learned the hard way that sometimes students plan change and we had to make the 5 hours trip to T-town to pick up DS and turn around the same day, for a 10 hour total trip, which it seems we will have to do again for Spring break.</p>
<p>So far the most helpful place to find a ride for DS has been this forum. Many thanks to the parents and students who have given DS rides!</p>
<p>Is UA airport shuttle different than the ACR express whose schedule is given below ?</p>
<p>[ACR</a> EXPRESS | ACR Coach](<a href=“http://acrcoach.com/tickets/acr-express/]ACR”>http://acrcoach.com/tickets/acr-express/) </p>
<p>As you can see on the bottom of the page the final stop for the ACR Coach is the Amtrak station at Birmingham. The Megabus starts from there ( or 0.1 miles from there ).</p>
<p>Going back to the original question if your flight from Atlanta is in the evening, taking the Megabus should work, especially since the Megabus bus portion of the travel is around noon. Similarly if you fly into Atlanta sufficiently early in the morning you should be able to catch the Megabus back to Birmingham from Atlanta. </p>
<p>Having said all that if my D is going alone I would prefer that she fly into/out of BHM based on the advice of other parents.</p>
<p>I researched the ACR express last year and found that is very unreliable if operational at all. Last time I checked with them they were operating just once a day and not every day.</p>
<p>I’m somewhat surprised that the ACR express is still running as their website was down when I checked a couple of months ago.</p>
<p>I would not recommend flying out of Atlanta unless one has a car. Keep in mind that any cost saving from flying out of Atlanta is eaten up by increased travel time. Catching a bus form Birmingham to get to Atlanta makes things even more difficult. Buses can break down; when I was taking UA’s airport shuttle last December, we watched as a Greyhound Bus passed us and then we passed it a couple miles later as it was broke down on the side of the road.</p>
<p>I have found that I occasionally save money on airfare by flying to Nashville, via Atlanta, first and then booking a fight out of there on the same ticket (one saves ~$20 in tax each way by booking the tickets together versus separately). I’ve been seeing more people doing this as Travelocity and Google Flights will show these options, which are often $50-100 cheaper each way during peak travel periods.</p>
<p>I have to believe there are a large number of kids from the Atlanta area with cars. When the last honor roll came out there were I believe 10 or 12 girls from our town that were on it. no boys though… and we are just one town . However the problem would be finding them.</p>