Halifax Airporter

My experience was always pleasant with the Airporter bus. I’ve taken into Halifax several times, as well as back to the Airport and it’s always been on time. At $ 19.50 one-​way, the price is kinda steep. But often times when I travel to Halifax, I’m travelling alone and taking a cab just isn’t worth it.
On my most recent trip to Halifax at the end of October I went to the website
to confirm the schedule and it said «Unfortunately we had to close our service on Oct.15^th». No!!! I’m not sure if this is a permanent closure or just seasonal for the winter.
I looked up the MetroX bus service to take it instead. It’s only $ 3.25 but stops a lot more, takes longer, and only has one stop in Halifax. Awww.

I just had the WORST customer service with the Airporter I have ever experience with a company before. Here’s my story:
On Wednesday August 29^th I returned to Halifax after a two week trip to the UK. I arrived at Stanfield International Airport, which as most people say is way too far from Halifax to be convenient. There aren’t very many ways to travel from the airport to Halifax if you don’t have a car or a very nice friend with a car but the Airporter is one or the more reasonably priced ones.
I bought my ticket and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the shuttle arrived. And here’s where the problems started. The driver usually loads the luggage in the back, it’s a bit of a jump from the ground to the back of the shuttle so he climbed up and I rolled my suitcase over to him, pushing in the retractable handle before I stood back. The driver then proceeded to put the handle out again and use it to haul the suitcase up into the back of the shuttle. I could see right away that this was not the correct way of handling my luggage, that handle is not built to take the full weight of the luggage in that way, that’s what the smaller handles on each side are for. But before I could say anything the handle broke and my suitcase was on the ground. I think the driver was a bit shocked and embarrassed. He didn’t mean to break my luggage but it happened and he didn’t really know what to do. He muttered a couple excuses and then proceeded to load my suitcase into the shuttle the proper way, using the side handles.
At this point I was pretty upset. This was my only suitcase and not having much money right now I have no means of replacing it. I stalked off into the shuttle, not wanting to say anything I’d regret. The driver finished loading up other people’s luggage and then we took off. When we got to my stop the driver then offered to take me right to my front door since it was going to be near impossible to walk the rest of the way home with my broken suitcase. He was very apologetic about the situation. I want to make it clear that my aim here is not to get the driver in trouble, besides the initial issue of breaking my suitcase he is not to blame fully for my problems with this company.
Immediately after I got home I wrote a very standard and polite email to the company, recounting the incident, asking about a replacement policy and asking that they get back to me as soon as possible. When I hadn’t heard anything by Friday I called in and received the worst customer service I have ever experienced.
I was transferred by the woman who answered the phone to a man who was not identified by name or position. I told him that I had written in about my issue and had yet to receive a response. He told me that he had read my email, his tone indicated that he had no plan to respond to my request for information. Immediately I knew this was going nowhere, the man already sounded rude and defensive. Still I continued, explaining what had happened. He informed me that because the driver did not maliciously cause damage to my suitcase the company was not responsible. He equated my issue to luggage being broken from being bounced around in the back of the shuttle. I told him that, no my luggage was not maliciously broken but it was damaged by improper handling and conduct and not just a simple accident. He continued to tell me the company was not responsible when I tried to reason with him and within five minutes of the conversation starting brushed me off by saying they were not in the business of fixing luggage and that «this conversation is over.»
I don’t feel my request was unreasonable, if your luggage is damaged by improper handling by an employee then the company is at fault and should provide some sort of compensation. Just because you’re not in the business of fixing luggage doesn’t mean you’re not accountable for the damage you cause. The company is responsible for getting passengers to and from the airport in one piece and because of the nature of that kind of travel the responsibility should cover passenger’s luggage as well. The situation is comparable to airlines, who are also in the business of transporting passengers and who will provide compensation for the items they damage in transit.
At this point it’s not even the broken luggage that really upsets me but mainly the way I was treated. Not once did I receive an apology or even a kind tone of voice. He talked me to me like a parent reprimanding a child and made me feel completely helpless and awful about my issue. That’s not how a company should be treating their customers, but the Airporter gets away with it because of little competition. I want them to be held accountable for their actions and to know that they cannot continue treating people this way

Getting to and from the Halifax airport kind of sucks. Cabs cost 55 bucks (and are surprisingly hard to come by) and the airporter does not run frequently enough. However, this is the only cost efficient option to get to and from the airport if you aren’t lucky enough to have someone drive you.
In my experience, the bus came as scheduled (but I had to wait 30+ mins for the scheduled bus). The driver was really nice and since I was the last to be dropped off, he took me to my door!
FYI: If you arrive after midnight, you’re out of luck. The airporter isn’t running. And you are actually out of luck, last time i flew into halifax it took me 30 mins to get a cab at 1am in the middle of winter.
PS. Did you know the airport is so far from the city because they thought the location would have less fog?

$ 36 for a round trip from the airport to a stop convenient to our location in Dartmouth? Sweet! The driver was pleasant enough, and hoisted our luggage on board for us. On the way back out of town, we called for a 5:30 pickup — they got there at 5:29. Again, a courteous driver who dealt with our luggage.
What’s not to like? I’ll use this service again, next time we’re in town.

Called for an 8:30am pickup.
Wasn’t told that there was an unscheduled regular pick up at 8:20.
Missed the bus since I came down to the lobby at 8:25.
Had to take a $ 55 cab instead.
They did end up refunding my ticket but it was still a pain in the butt and cost me twice the price!
Unfortunately it’s the only shuttle from the airport (which I agree is way way way too far away from Halifax) so it leaves the customer stuck to deal with a below-​average-​service type of business…

Having been an airline employee for 2 years, and not owning a car, the airporter became my ’40 foot limo’ to and from work a between 1 and 3 times a week.
I saw first hand how difficult it was for them to maintain their schedules sometimes due to unpredictable flow (no real pre-​booking). Sometimes it was annoying getting to the airport or home later than predicted, but the drivers were always trying. As a 20s women, in a uniform, dragging a suitcase, they were often concerned about my safety, and would offer to drop me on my street in lieu of the closest hotel after they had finished their route or wait until a cab got there to take me the rest of the way.
In summary, it’s a bus, it sucks complying to their times, but you save a bundle. Just look at it as paying yourself 30 bucks for that extra hour you sit on the bus instead of taking a cab.

The people who decided that Halifax’s airport should be more than 30 km away from downtown must have been fools, taxi lobbyists, or foolish taxi lobbyists. Pearson is closer to downtown Toronto than YHZ to downtown Halifax.
Because of that, getting to the airport takes forever and is very expensive. The Airporter seems to be the only (close to) affordable choice. (There is another shuttle bus that I’ve seen in Halifax a few times but it seems to work by pre-​booking rather than on a schedule, and I don’t know any further details about it.)
The Airporter uses Ford-​based turtle-​top minibuses by Terra Transit, a U.S. company (which is why the speedometers are in mph and which is why the sign inside the bus refers to the «Federal Highway Administration»). The ride quality is very poor. These buses will make you seasick. For some reason the buses are white on the sides and don’t have any large signage except at the rear. The buses are old and not very clean.
My recent experience with the Airporter was typical for its quality of service: a few minutes before the scheduled departure from the airport, TWO drivers were hanging around near the Airporter booth. But neither of them seemed to care that the bus was supposed to leave in a few minutes, they wasted time over time chatting away. In the end the bus left 17 minutes late. Not because the schedule is so tight, but simply because the people who operate it don’t care — and they get away with it because there is no competition and because most people in Halifax are not really used to good-​quality services.
I sometimes use the Airporter since it is about two thirds less expensive than a taxi ($ 19.50 one-​way or $ 36 return as opposed to $ 53 plus tip for a taxi). But it takes about an hour to get from the Public Gardens (the badly signed Airporter stop is on the north side of Spring Garden Road, approximately at Martello Street) to the airport or the other way around, twice as long as with a taxi. And the ride quality, as already mentioned, is really really poor.
You can check the schedule of the Airporter at

«NOOOOOOOO!» I yelled as the Halifax Airporter left me behind at the Airport on a chilly February morning. I had just finished purchasing my ticket at the booth at the very end of the terminal to hop on what I thought would be the 4:45am bus. By the time I got outside with all my luggage and started to make my way to where the Airporter was parked I witnessed it suddenly take off.
I was left at the terminal to wait another hour for the next shuttle to leave and I couldn’t help but think how awful I would be as an amazing race contestant. This was a pretty simple transaction, I paid 21 dollars for the ticket, and eventually gave it to the shuttle driver and told him my drop off. Automatic stops on every run are: The Westin, Public Gardens, Holiday Inn Select, Citadel Halifax, Delta Halifax, Marriot Harbour Front, Holiday Inn Harbourview, Courtyard Marriot, Four Points, Prince George and Delta Barrington. Runs begin at 4:45am and run approximately every hour until 12:30am both to and from the city, the complete schedule is available on the website.
Despite my first encounter with the Airporter the trip itself was fine. It was annoying to wait for stops and would have been much quicker to take a taxi, but the Airporter is about $ 30 cheaper than taxi fare downtown (trust me I checked out all the options). Another plus is that you don’t have to make awkward conversation with taxi drivers for an hour at 4:45am.
Hot Hint: Children under 10 ride free when accompanied by an adult.

I’ve used the Airporter on a few occasions to see my father arrive home from the Middle East. It’s the cheapest and best way to get to the airport without owning a vehicle or hitching a ride from your best friend.
The ride is relatively comfortable and fast considering it stops at a number of locations before finally exiting the city. It’s 21 dollars which is much cheaper than a cab, but it does take a little longer. If you’re running late for a flight then you might want to bite the bullet and take a cab, but if you’ve got some time the Airporter is probably the way to go.
Note that the Airporter will only stop at certain hotels. Others will get a stop if you call and make a reservation. be sure to check out their web site to see if the hotel you’re at is a regular stop, a «reservation» stop, or not stopped at.

I recently found out that the ‘Airporter’ no longer stops at the Lord Nelson for pick up. Instead, you have to cross the street to the Spring Garden/​Martello St. juncture of the Halifax public gardens. The bus stops on the park side of the street.
*Be sure to get there at least 5 minutes early. The stipulated schedule does not indicate when the bus will pull up but rather when it leaves the stop.

If I have a choice to take a cab or use ANY OTHER option in Halifax, I will choose the other option, simply because I really don’t enjoy being trapped in an enclosed space and forced to listen to the opinions of whoever happens to be driving said taxi. So the Airporter is a lovely option, where you can sit quietly with your own thoughts on the half-​hour ride to the airport from town.
The bus stops at a long list of hotels in Halifax and Dartmouth before hitting the highway, so if you want to avoid the full milk run, I recommend getting on at one of the later stops, like the Holiday Inn in Dartmouth. Note that if you want to board the bus at the Lord Nelson hotel, you have to make a reservation with the bus service (it won’t stop there automatically). Some other hotels that are not on the regular run can be booked in advance as well.