Transportation to Airport - Thanksgiving

XC09 · 08-12-2009, 07:02 PM

Do either Charlotte or Atlanta offer any type of shuttle service to/from the airport? Flying out of Greenville/Spartanburg is just cost-prohibitive, although much closer.

Mookie1969 · 08-12-2009, 08:16 PM

I believe it costs $130 to Charlotte airport from Clemson (one way).

pierre0913 · 08-12-2009, 08:23 PM

There is an airport shuttle that Clemson sponsors that leaves from the university to the Charlotte and Atlanta airports. However, it's really expensive. Here are the prices for the shuttle:
Greenville/Spartenburg Airport: $45/each way
Charlotte and Atlanta Airport: $130/each way

Other ways of getting to the airports
-The CAT bus goes to Anderson (Monday-Friday) and from Anderson you can take Greyhound to downtown Atlanta and take the subway to the airport from there.
Leaves Anderson at 9:00 AM and 6:30 PM, Arrives Atlanta at 12:05 PM and 9:20 PM respectively
Leaves Atlanta at 8:10 AM and 3:40 PM, arrives Anderson at 11:10 AM and 6:45 PM
Fare: around $30 (non refundable), $40 refundable

-Take the early morning Amtrak train to downtown Atlanta and from downtown Atlanta, you can take the Atlanta subway to the airport
Cost: around $30/each way (have to reserve a few days in advance, also there is no ticket pickup at the Clemson station so you will have to make sure the tickets get mailed to you)
Train leaves Clemson at 5:39 AM, arrives Atlanta at 8:13 AM, shouldn't be that much longer by the subway to the airport.
Train leaves Atlanta (on the way back) at 8:21 PM and arrives Clemson at 10:33 PM

-Get a ride from a friend heading in the Charlotte/Atlanta direction.

There are Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains to Charlotte but since Charlotte's public transportation system is basically nonexistent, you would need to take a taxi to get from downtown to the airport.

I'm either going to take the train all the way from Clemson to Boston (that's what I did for orientation and it worked out perfectly) or go to Atlanta and fly from there

pierre0913 · 08-12-2009, 08:32 PM

I just realized this but the Clemson to Anderson CAT bus service stops service after 6:00 PM so it wouldn't make a lot of sense to take a Greyhound bus back unless you can get a ride from someone or walk 7 miles back into Clemson

deedles · 08-13-2009, 08:09 AM

Thanks for this, pierre.

Transportation is a big concern with Clemson.

I'm considering the Amtrak from NYC for her fall visit. Did you reserve a sleeper or just coach? Did the conductor help you out with making sure you were awake to get off the train? Was it weird arriving at 5:30am? What did you do until the world awoke?

pierre0913 · 08-13-2009, 09:17 AM

I reserved just a coach seat (sleepers can double/triple the coach seat price) but the seat's were ok, they reclined a bit and there was a foot rest so you could sleep if you wanted to. The conductor would put a slip of paper above your seat so that they would know when you needed to get off. I was woken up 1-2 stops before Clemson at around Greenville or Spartenburg and the conductor walked by a few times afterwards with reminders that I needed to get off the train so that worked very well. It was slightly weird arriving at 5:30 as the town is basically deserted at that hour of the day and I only slept 6 hours last night (but us teenagers can survive on that kind of sleep haha) but I walked over to McDonalds and got some breakfast, sat there for 45 minutes or so and then walked over to the Clemson campus (about a 15-25 minute walk) and used the wireless internet there until orientation started at 8.

Another thing to consider (for everyone) is to get a Student Advantage Card. It costs $50 for 4 years (I think?) and the card will get you a 10-15% discount on fares on Greyhound and Amtrak.

XC09 · 08-13-2009, 12:50 PM

Thanks everyone! I finalized Thanksgiving air reservations last night - $160 round trip Clemson/Baltimore -- Travelocity. I called the shuttle service that was mentioned. They said that the fare actually can change depending on # of students that need transportation to the airport. They said it was $130 for 1 student, $60 for each thereafter - then they divide that amount by # of students to figure the actual fare. Not bad. We look forward to seeing her home in November.

BobbyCT · 08-14-2009, 12:03 PM

pierre, how long does it take on Amtrak to get from Boston to Clemson? My D is interested in Clemson but the travel is difficult from Connecticut. Flights to Greenville are expensive and sporadic and the ground travel cost from either Charlotte or Atlanta to Clemson is almost the same as the air fare. For us to get to Clemson we have the 2 hour drive to LaGuardia or JFK, 2 hours to Charlotte and another 2 hours of ground transportation. If I counted in having to get to the airport 2 hours in advance, it is 8 hours travel time. Also, what is Amtrak charging these days?

pierre0913 · 08-14-2009, 09:47 PM

I left Boston at 7 in the morning (you can probably leave a little later, I was just afraid of missing my connection but the train was relatively on time), got to Washington DC around 3:30 PM (check the website for exact times, I don't really remember), went and got dinner and then got on the train to Clemson at 7 PM (the train was late an hour for some reason). Despite, the fact the train was late, I got to Clemson 5 minutes early at 5:30 AM the next morning haha, I'll be doing this during breaks and I really don't mind but it's something to think about since it's such a long time (and don't plan on getting much sleep).

It cost me $130/each way to go from Boston to Clemson by train, the same cost as the airport shuttle from Clemson to Charlotte

Montegut · 10-12-2009, 04:27 PM

Is the airport shuttle from Clemson to Charlotte only available for holidays or is there one available anytime?

If son were to need to come home for an emergency or special occasion, is there a shuttle one can take from the university to either the Charlotte airport or the GSP airport?

Not worrying about the cost right now, just the time factor.

Also looked into Greyhound, but couldn't find a Clemson stop, only an Anderson stop.

I've seen the notes about the CAT system, but that may not run during the hours needed.

I know the DC area has the Blue Shuttle, which we've used for college trips. Is there something similar in the South Carolina/North Carolina area?

With the research triangle nearby and Clemson being a major university, I've got to believe there are easier ways out there to get to Clemson from the Charlotte or GSP airport anytime of year. Professional conferences don't just occur during the holidays.

Also, do y'all have a fall break or a spring break that the campus provides shuttles to airports for?

pierre0913 · 10-12-2009, 08:07 PM

As far as I understand it, the shuttle service is run by a private company and you can request a shuttle service whenever you want to get to the airports, not just during breaks. If you would like more information, I know that mookie1969 (2nd post in this thread)'s son took the shuttle to Charlotte for fall break so you could ask her about her son's experience.

You are correct, the Greyhound stop is in Anderson but the CAT bus only goes to Anderson between 6:20 AM to 6:20 PM.

I'm pretty sure the only way to get in and out of Clemson is either through the 3 airports (GSP, Atlanta, Charlotte), Greyhound and Amtrak. Transportation options in the south (especially in the rural areas) aren't abundant. Also, the research triangle is 4 hours away from Clemson so I don't think I would consider that too close.