Comments on: Travel Tip Tuesday: Saving €uros in Italy Series, Transportation http://my-bellavita.com/2009/09/29/save-money-transportation-italy/ Living and Traveling in Calabria, Italy Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:19:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: saretta http://my-bellavita.com/2009/09/29/save-money-transportation-italy/comment-page-1/#comment-9318 saretta Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:38:39 +0000 http://my-bellavita.com/?p=2889#comment-9318 Easy to get from one place to another? Ha! That's a good laugh. My only advice is rent a car, rent a car, rent a car! <strong><em>Ha ha ha ha ha .... DITTO!</em></strong> Easy to get from one place to another? Ha! That’s a good laugh. My only advice is rent a car, rent a car, rent a car!

Ha ha ha ha ha …. DITTO!

]]> By: Linda @ Ice Tea For Me http://my-bellavita.com/2009/09/29/save-money-transportation-italy/comment-page-1/#comment-9315 Linda @ Ice Tea For Me Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:36:54 +0000 http://my-bellavita.com/?p=2889#comment-9315 Cherrye, great tips. I know when we make reservations and travel plans so far in advance we don't always know or take into consideration details that can affect the cost/comfort of our transportation. Here's a personal experience: One month before my trip to Italy last May I purchased a 1-way low cost ticket from Naples to Venice for 44E, flight was 90 minutes. I thought this was the quickest and cheapest way to go. Here's what I didn't take into consideration: 1. Will luggage be overweight & incur charges? Since I'm not a light traveler & this flight was at the end of my travels when I'd be laden down with purchases, I ended up paying an extra 80E. 2. Cost of getting to the airport – since most airports are a distance from the city center you need to add in the transportation cost of getting to/from the airport. In my case 20E-To & 23E-From. Trains usually stop in or close to city centers. 3. Time – If you fly you need to add up all the extra time. Getting to the airport 1 to 1 ½ hours before the flight, waiting in lines & for luggage, etc. With a train, boarding within 30 mins. of departure is fine. I ended up taking a slow water taxi that took 1 hr. to get from airport to Venice as I did not want to go from airport to bus or train to vaporetto. 4. Stress – at times flying is less stressful, other times it’s not. In my case even though I paid over weight charges my luggage was still very heavy and my carry-on backpack was very heavy. Fortunately they didn’t measure or weigh my carry-on or I’m sure I would have been charged. Taking Trenitalia ES train from Naples to Venice would have cost me 114E 1st class, 6 hrs. in length and dropped me right next to a vaporetto. I would not have waited in a crowded, noisy, & uncomfortable airport but sat and been able to read, work on my computer, sleep, or gaze out the window while relaxing. Flying got me to Venice about 45 minutes before the train would have but I can honestly say the train would have been more relaxing. Moral of the story: try and take everything into consideration when choosing a form of transportation. Initial cost isn’t the only factor. Sorry this is so long… <strong><em>Thank you so much for sharing your story, Linda. You are so right, many people don't factor everything in or read the "fine print" regarding transportation. There is a good morale here!! :-)</em></strong> .-= Linda @ Ice Tea For Me´s last blog ..<a href="http://iceteaforme.blogspot.com/2009/09/swine-flu-paranoia.html" rel="nofollow">swine flu paranoia...</a> =-. Cherrye, great tips. I know when we make reservations and travel plans so far in advance we don’t always know or take into consideration details that can affect the cost/comfort of our transportation. Here’s a personal experience:

One month before my trip to Italy last May I purchased a 1-way low cost ticket from Naples to Venice for 44E, flight was 90 minutes. I thought this was the quickest and cheapest way to go. Here’s what I didn’t take into consideration:

1. Will luggage be overweight & incur charges? Since I’m not a light traveler & this flight was at the end of my travels when I’d be laden down with purchases, I ended up paying an extra 80E.
2. Cost of getting to the airport – since most airports are a distance from the city center you need to add in the transportation cost of getting to/from the airport. In my case 20E-To & 23E-From. Trains usually stop in or close to city centers.
3. Time – If you fly you need to add up all the extra time. Getting to the airport 1 to 1 ½ hours before the flight, waiting in lines & for luggage, etc. With a train, boarding within 30 mins. of departure is fine. I ended up taking a slow water taxi that took 1 hr. to get from airport to Venice as I did not want to go from airport to bus or train to vaporetto.
4. Stress – at times flying is less stressful, other times it’s not. In my case even though I paid over weight charges my luggage was still very heavy and my carry-on backpack was very heavy. Fortunately they didn’t measure or weigh my carry-on or I’m sure I would have been charged.

Taking Trenitalia ES train from Naples to Venice would have cost me 114E 1st class, 6 hrs. in length and dropped me right next to a vaporetto. I would not have waited in a crowded, noisy, & uncomfortable airport but sat and been able to read, work on my computer, sleep, or gaze out the window while relaxing. Flying got me to Venice about 45 minutes before the train would have but I can honestly say the train would have been more relaxing.

Moral of the story: try and take everything into consideration when choosing a form of transportation. Initial cost isn’t the only factor.

Sorry this is so long…

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Linda. You are so right, many people don’t factor everything in or read the “fine print” regarding transportation. There is a good morale here!! :-)

Linda @ Ice Tea For Me´s last blog ..swine flu paranoia… My ComLuv Profile

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