 Poster: A snowHead
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Hey,
I want to book transportation with either ben's bus or alpybus (it seems like the consensus around the forum is the ben's bus is perhaps more commonly used, or at least more commonly recommended).
Was wondering about how much time should I realistically set aside for the transportation as to avoid missing my flights.
Well, first of all, on the way from Geneva to the ski resort, will a 90 minute interval between the expected time of landing and the bus departure do the trick? Or is it a bit on the edge, meaning I should go with a 180 minute interval, just in case. I will have a checked bag.
On the way back, there is a bus that departs Tignes at 12:10 with an expected arrival time of 16:40 on ben's bus. They state that this takes into account an expected possibility of traffic. My flight departs at 19:10 so it should be fine, question is how common are delays?
If it changes anything, my flight is planned for early/mid January.
Of course my highest priority is to avoid missing any of my flights. That being said, I don't wanna be overly cautious, both because it would suck a bit to wait 3 hours in the airport in addition to the actual travel itself which is quite long (adding my flights in), and because I would love to sneak in 2 hours of skiing on the last day haha.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Hakko, Bens Bus are a professional bunch and if you put flight times in it will give recommended times. As for the specifics you have given 90mins at GVA should be fine, less if you are coming from a Schengen country.
Bens do have some flexibility in their system, after all flights are delayed all the time and they are good at juggling!
For the return 4 and a half hours seems reasonable for Saturday afternoon in mid Jan.
Ben has been around for a lot longer than Alpy and stick to their schedule. Alpy seem a bit more ‘flexible’ and don’t confirm until the day before.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I've been left stranded by Bens Bus after our flight was around 15 mins late.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@russ_e, surely you booked a transfer too close to the scheduled flight arrival time then?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Hakko,
What days of the week are you looking at?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Hakko, if you arriving from the uk on a busy weekend, or just as an Emirates 777 is deplaning, passport control can take over 90 minutes (chums lost their Swisstours* bus a few weeks ago for that reason *super cheap but no changes)
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If you book Ben's Bus Plus which costs just a little bit extra, they will give you priority on the later buses if there is a delay.
I had a ninety minute wait at Geneva along with many others in baggage reclaim waiting for my skis last season and they got me on a later transfer.
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@richjp,
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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When I've used Bens bus they have been fine for getting the bus ie have always been picked up in both directions, but the actual set up at Geneva last year was awful in a not particularly high season week the bus was apparently there but could not 'dock' to pick up passengers for hours. Stuck at the airport for about 4 hours after we landed till we could leave.
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| Kenzie wrote: |
@Hakko,
What days of the week are you looking at? |
I'm both arriving and leaving on a Saturday
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Hakko, be prepared for a long wait at passport control if you only have a uk passport
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @Hakko, be prepared for a long wait at passport control if you only have a uk passport |
I do have an EU passport, and I'm not a Brit so trust me when I say it would SUCK and cost a pretty penny if I missed my flight.
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I'm also looking at taking Ben's bus or another option (if you can recommend) on the Saturday before XMAS. Coming in into Geneva from the states via CDG. I'm guessing I won't go through passport control at Geneva but at CDG? What sort of wait can expect between landing and getting my bags?
Any thoughts on Snow Drone shared transfer compared to Ben's Bus? Seem to have similar departure times.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Hakko, cool, should be fine then.
@stevesie, Welcome to snowHeads 
Yeah, CDG passport control (which can be slow) then Air France domestic to Geneva French sector.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@stevesie, Snowdrone is a more personal service in 8 seaters, which are quicker than coaches, but it is very good and they book up quickly. Therefore it’s a bit more expensive than Ben’s but there is a Snowheads discount code on the front page of the Tignes thread.
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Poster: A snowHead
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+1 for Snowdrone.
Just booked my first journey of the season with them for opening weekend 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| jirac18 wrote: |
| @russ_e, surely you booked a transfer too close to the scheduled flight arrival time then? |
It was the last transfer of the day and the driver had decided to just go. From memory I think we got through security to the meeting point with about a minute spare. We presume the bus was full due to other late arrivals.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I've also been left stranded at Grenoble airport by Ben's bus with the flight landing 10-15mins late.
I had emailed them beforehand to check this transfer would be OK (it was the only one) and they said they would keep an eye on flight times and wait a short period if need be, clearly not.
Ended up having to get an expensive taxi from the airport to the bus station and then a public bus to Briancon. Not the end of the world but could have done without the stress.
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