Airport Transport - Friend or Foe?

Hi there budget travelers.

Welcome to another exciting post.

Today I'll be discussing getting to and from the airport.

I'll be sticking to four cities that I've had recent experience with, and one that I'm yet to discover.

Firstly my home city of Perth. The only way to describe the budget transport options getting to and from Perth international airport - zero, zilch, none. The only option, besides expensive taxis, is to take the privately operated Hotel Shuttle Buses. I believe these cost about AUS$20 each way.

Come on Perth, get with the rest of the world and provide public transport to the international airport!

Secondly, somewhere I travel a couple of times a year, Sydney. Although Sydney now has a train link to both the domestic and international airports, the trains they operate are horrible, and the journey is quite expensive by international standards. But still an improvement on Perth.

Next up is Hong Kong. Now the Chinese have learnt a thing or two about customer service over the years. The Hong Kong airport train is both cheap and convenient. And it also has the added service of providing airline check in facilities at the city train stations. So you can walk on to the train without carrying all your checked baggage with you. That's nice!

The fourth city that I've had the pleasure of taking airport public transport is Singapore. Now if you thought Hong Kong was cheap, you should check this out! I think it costs about SING$3 to get to the city. Although not as "express" as the Hong Kong airport train, the Singapore trip is of similar duration and offers the same kind of convenient access.

Singapore and Hong Kong show the world how airport transfers should be!

Finally I'd like to mention Kuala Lumpur, somewhere I feel that I'll be visiting eventually if AirAsia keeps their fares so low. From the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, there are a multitude of low cost buses available to take you to the city, or to the main international terminal to link in with the train system.