Airport Transportation

I think that’s very thoughtful of you to offer them transporting. The only logistical issue I see is that your guests can’t really control their arrival time, that’s up to their flight. There could be delays from traffic, bad weather, malfunctions, etc. So you could tell them what time the shuttle plans to leave, but then those that are delayed would be stuck with no way to their hotel.

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Yeah good point. I was thinking of doing a several hour time slot and possibly have the shuttle run twice. I'd look at flights from where guests are coming from to get approximate arrival times.

I would just try to do an Uber code where they can enter it in the app and it’ll bill you or if you don’t want to pay for the ENTIRE ride, you can pay like $10, $20, etc of it.


https://www.uber.com/us/en/about/vouchers/events/

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I don't want to make my guests take Ubers. They'd be super expensive, even if I'm offsetting some of the cost.

How many guests will be in this position? Hiring a large shuttle for a 2 hour trip could easily cost well over $1000. If it's not too many people, it might be more cost effective to help offset the cost of taxis. If money is no object and you have a lot of people flying in, then you could have the shuttle make multiple trips to accommodate these guests, as I'd imagine that people will be arriving at different times. Keep in mind that you'd also want to coordinate for the shuttle back to the airport for the trip home.

It's nice that you want to offer something though. My husband and I were once in this position where we had to attend a family member's destination wedding that was located over an hour from the nearest airport. We had to rent a car and it was super annoying and expensive. Many of our family members still complain about it to this day.

One other thing to note is that depending on what state you're in, your guests might be able to rent cars even without a US driver's license. In addition, getting an IDP (International driver's permit) is a very easy process. We had to get one for our honeymoon and it took 15 minutes and only cost $20. While it's annoying and costly to have to rent a car in addition to flying in for a destination wedding, it is still an option.

How many people are you talking? Does the airport not have rental cars? That is very common for guests to use. If not, they will hire Ubers. It is not your responsibility to cover their transportation costs. It’s also unrealistic to arrange everyone’s flights to arrive at the same time. Let them figure it out on their own. They already seen that the wedding is not in the same location as the airport, as is also common.

Why dont they rent a car? How are you going to handle their needs while in town? You are going to be too busy to chauffeur them around. I would suggest they rent a car.

I know it's not my responsibility to arrange for transportation. I want as a courtesy to guests who are coming in from far away. My location is isolated from transit to other metropolitan areas, but once there guests can use local public transit. Taxis would cost hundreds of dollars per ride. Renting a car for the weekend would also be incredibly expensive, and rentals often have mile limits that guests may exceed. Of course money is a concern, but I also want guests to actually be able to attend. As for coordinating times, I've been on arranged shuttles where guests were told to meet at a certain location between certain times and it worked out. I'm looking for suggestions for a more convenient way to get people from the airport to the hotel than a shuttle.

This may be too crazy, but would your guests be interested in an airport hotel, so they're not met with additional driving time? The shuttle can pick them up once at the hotel, and then drop them off after the reception? This may be quite costly for you though, but easier for your guests if they must drive on dark, desolate roads. Certainly your guests may ask you why you didn't choose that hotel for your location instead.

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I think this is the best bet if you're looking to provide transportation. Hotels have shuttles that run around the clock to/ from airports so guests' arrival times won't matter, and they'd be covered for the ride back to the airport as well at the end of the weekend regardless of their departure time. Then you'd only have to arrange a shuttle from the hotel to the venue and back, and you'll have much more control over the time the shuttle would have to arrive. If there's multiple airport hotels, direct guests to the one the shuttle would be picking up and encourage guests to either book there or nearby if they'd like to take advantage of the shuttle.

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That's an interesting idea! Guests would miss welcome drinks and the farewell brunch, but I could definitely give them the option of an airport hotel and a venue shuttle.

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Thanks! I might ask guests what they prefer.

How about having them arrive a day early and ask them to stay at a hotel.

Have a shuttle pick them up the next day?

Having flown internally many times, it is next to impossible to have flights scheduled within a certain time frame.