SuperShuttle Baltimore

Over the past 3 years, I've used the Super Shuttle's airport transportation service to BWI at least 4 times each way (to and from my home). I have used both their share a ride service and their private car service. As I promised in one of my earlier blog entries, here is my review/opinion of them. A reminder, all opinions of their service stated here are my own. I haven't received any kind of remuneration from Super Shuttle. I don't claim to know all the circumstances of the some of the incidents that happened and, any incidents I mention here may not happen to you.

I forget exactly when I first used Super Shuttle's service in Baltimore though I'm pretty sure it was so I could catch a flight from BWI to Detroit Metropolitan (DTW). I usually fly to Michigan to visit my Dad and step-mom at least once a year and BWI is the closest airport to where I live. Comparing the cost of long-term parking vice using Super Shuttle's share a ride service, I found that for trips that are longer than 5 days, it was better to use Super Shuttle's service.

I have had some mis-adventures with Super Shuttle. Some of the mis-adventures were their fault and some were mine. One mis-adventure that was their's was when I was travelling home for Christmas. I arranged for the shuttle to pick me up at 0430 a.m. on the 23rd I believe. At 0430, there wasn't any driver. I waited another half an hour and then called them. They assured me the driver was on his way. 0530 still no driver, 0545 still no driver, 0600 I call again and they said they didn't know where the driver is. Great! They subsequently sent another driver. The second driver did show up and got me to the airport at 0630. Unfortunately, my plane was due to leave at 0705 and because of that, I couldn't check my bags in at the curb. I had to check-in at the check-in counter. By the time I got to the check-in counter, my flight was pulling out of the gate. I ended up getting to fly stand-by all the way home which was a bit nerve wracking.

To be fair to Super Shuttle, I will tell about one time where it was my fault concerning their service. I had made reservations to do a holiday in Iceland. I arranged to have Super Shuttle to pick me up at 6 p.m. to take me to BWI. I waited until 6:45 when I decided to call them. Thankfully, I showed the good sense to not say they were to blame right off the bat i.e. I hadn't forgotten the Christmas fiasco. I said I was checking on my reservations with them. To my horror, I found out I'd made the reservations for the wrong day and it was too late to get them to pick me up that day. I ended up driving into BWI and parking at their short term parking. I didn't have time to find their long term parking. My flight was going to leave in 90 minutes. I made my flight and had further mis-adventures in Iceland. I also had to pay the short parking folks $94! OUCH!!!!!!

As you can see, I've had some interesting mis-adventures with Super Shuttle. Because of these misadventures, I am a little paranoid when I use them. Recently, I got to use them on December 20th to get to BWI and yesterday when I returned to Maryland. I ended up having another mis-adventure with them on the 20th. I triple checked to make sure I put the right date on my reservations with Super Shuttle. I made my reservation for them to pick me up between 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. (You give them a 15 minute window when you want to be picked up.) My flight left at 5:05 and it takes 20 minutes from where I live to get to BWI. If I left at 2:30, I'd have over 2 hours to kill at BWI. I was not to be so lucky.

To my delight, at 1:58 p.m. the Super Shuttle driver called me and told me he would arrive at 2:30. That was within their time window so I said fine. I made sure I was outside waiting for him at 2:15. 2:30 shows up and there isn't any driver. 2:45 shows up and there isn't any driver. My step-mom Kay calls and asks if I'm at the airport. I have to tell her I'm not but I assure her I'll make it one way or the other. My back-up plan is to drive out to BWI, park in the long term parking (I knew where it was now, I made sure I found out after the Iceland fiasco.), and take their shuttle service to the airport. If you're wondering why my step-mom was a little anxious about me making it to the airport, it's because I'm the one who had all the information on the limo service we planned to use from Indianapolis International to the Downtown Indianapolis Radisson hotel, the hotel reservations were in my name, and so were the tickets to the Lord of the Rings film exhibition. I think you can understand why she was a little anxious. She wasn't the only one.

As the driver had called me on my cell phone, I had his phone number and called him. He assured me he would be picking me up soon. To my relief, he showed up at 3:05 p.m. and we drove straight to BWI. We made it in time and I was able to catch my flight with no problems.

Super Shuttle also has a service where a private car can pick you up. This service is triple what the share a ride van service is because you're the driver's only passenger. I used this service when I flew out of BWI to Dallas on what would be the beginning of my Globus tour of Australia. That time, there weren't any mishaps with Super Shuttle and I arrived at BWI right on schedule.

In regards to taking Super Shuttle from BWI to where I live, I've never had any problems there. They've always been prompt. I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes. I would definitely recommend taking them from BWI.

Overall, I'd say Super Shuttle has a nice service in Baltimore. I'd give yourself about 3 hours with them if you are going to the airport. That'll give you plenty of leeway if you have a mis-adventure with them. You shouldn't have any problems with them getting back home from the airport. Price wise, I think they're share a ride service is cheaper then a taxi and I know it's cheaper then a limo service. Remember, their private car service is more expensive but you don't have to worry about waiting for them while they pick-up other passengers. Depending on how important your trip is, it could be worth the extra cost. I felt it was on my $5,800 trip to Australia. The Baltimore Super Shuttle website is: http://supershuttle.com/htm/cities/bwi.htm. One last note, as I remember, they give frequent flier miles for the Frontier and America West programs.