The airport is a 45 minute drive from our apartment.
From Traveller A and B’s gates at the airport to our apartment it’s about an hour and a half on the Metrolink (train.)
Person A lands at about 3:00, person B at about 5:00.
Situation 1:
We leave the house around 2:00 and get back around 6:30.
Situation 2:
Person A takes the Metrolink and gets to our station (5 minutes from our apt.)around 4:30. Person 2 does the same and everyone’s ready for supper around 6:30. (In both cases, we pick them up and bring them back to the apartment.)
Situation 3: Person A waits for Person B, they both hop on the Metrolink and we pick them up at the station around 6:30
Situation 1 involves (obviously) 4 hours of our time. Situations 2 and 3 involve 10-20 minutes of our time, but adds a half an hour to the Travellers’ times.
My husband and I have opposing views. One of us thinks it’s rude to have the travellers take the train from the airport; the other thinks that it’s merely the most covenient option all around and which will inconvenience everyone the least.
Which scenario would you choose and would your choice change depending on whether you were us or our guests? We will accept and act on the responses
here. They are arriving Saturday, so I’ll check the final responses then. Thanks! Hope wading through this wasn’t too annoying!
To me it would depend on who they are. If it was an older parent or grandparent, we’d go get them. If they had young children, we’d probably get them. If it was young, able bodied, energetic siblings or friends, then fuck 'em. Let 'em ride the train. Different people have different requirements.
Depends upon the visitors. I’ve made all friends who come visit me take the bus into town (takes about an hour), but family gets picked up at the airport.
Nobody’s had a problem with that. But I’ve never had anyone wait for someone else, so if the visitors aren’t that close, I’d go with no. 2.
I’m all for letting them ride the train. If I were your guest, I wouldn’t want you sitting around waiting for me, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want someone else who just got off their own flight to have to sit around the airport waiting for me. What if the second flight got delayed?
Seriously, the train is the best option for everyone involved, not just you.
If I want to impress them with how nice I am, I’d go pick them up. If they are traveling with lots of baggage, with kids, are elderly or infirm, in the US/ a big city for the first time, I’d go pick them up. If I am doing them a favor, say, college kids staying with me while they job hunt in my area, then I’d suggest the train.
Ask them what they prefer. Assuming they are reasonable people, you should be able to lay out the options and let them decide what is best. There is also the issue of cost? How expensive is the Metrolink? Is it a regional train? Commuter train? Similar to regular public transit? It might not be worth it if it costs too much (especially with luggage -some trains restrict what you can bring on)
If they’re getting in around the evening rush hour, it won’t be a pleasant train ride, especially all the way from the airport to Belleville or wherever on the East Side you live. Also be aware of how often the trains run. (For mnemosyne, the Metrolink is the St. Louis equivalent of the Metro.)
Are they used to public transit? Are they going to be freaked out if they’re asked for change, or if someone starts up a conversation about how the government is listening to their thoughts, or if the train car smells like piss?
My inclination would be to go pick them up, but that’s just how our family has operated.
Unless they’re traveling with huge amounts of luggage, I think it’s fine to have them take the train. I would, however, offer to reimburse them for the fare (or, if there’s time, send their tickets in the mail so they don’t have to pay the extra $1.50 Metrolink tacks on if you’re traveling from the airport).
How are they related to you? If they were my brother or sister I would pick them up. Yes it makes for a long sucky day. but that’s what families do for one another. If it were me flying in first I would insist on waiting for the second flight to come in so you would not have to make two trips.
I’ve been the train rider – in DC – and it worked fine. Hopped on the Metro at the airport, got off at the end (for the life of me I can’t remember which station, but it doesn’t matter) and was picked up. And this was to visit my parents. I wouldn’t expect them to drive in and pick me up when the train is so much easier. The Metro system is pretty easy to navigate, and I was somewhat familiar with it from previous experience, but even without that I could have managed fine.
I’d say check with them, but barring something I don’t know about the Metrolink, I’d say the train would be the easiest and most convienient way for all of you.
ETA: If it was me and my brother flying in, we’d meet at the airport and take the train.
See, I think that if you’re going to ask a guest to take the train, that should be mentioned before they buy the ticket, since it might affect their overall travel plans. (It is, after all, an extra leg onto their trip where they have to watch signs and wrangle bags). And most adults who travel know that some sort of airport transit is usually available in major cities, if they haven’t asked yet it’s probably more about personal comfort and less that the idea just never crossed their mind. So in absence of other information I say Situation #1, but if either guest asks about a cab or train then I wouldn’t insist on getting them with the car.
If these are people needing a couch to sleep on, rather than guests here just to see me, then I’d say public transit is a given.
They’re my husband’s kids and he’s definitely going to pick them up, so I guess it’s a moot point. (He thought the train thing was rude, if you hadn’t figured it out.)
Luckily for me I’d paved the way for myself by “volunteering” to stay home and do last-minute cleaning and meal prep; honestly, he only sees them a couple of times a year and it’s always with other people around, so I figured this would be a great chance for them to visit as a family.
Both of them would be fine taking the Metrolink. I use it all of the time to get to the airport or downtown St. Louis. It is a bit more expensive from than to the airport (total racket, but that’s another story.) We would totally have reimbursed them.
Anyway, he just go SO defensive about it being rude that I just had to run it past you guys.
If they are flying in from overseas, coming to Montreal for the first time, or if it’s convenient to do so, I’ll pick them up. It’s a nice gesture and you can’t expect someone to navigate the idiotic transit connections to the airport by themself.
