On Monday I posted about Asiana’s new shuttle service between San Diego and LAX as of April 1, 2014. Originally I thought this was added as a way to compete with Japan Airlines, which has nonstop 787 service to Asia out of San Diego.
However, it appears as if Asiana may just be trying to add more options for passengers, because yesterday Asiana announced a similar complimentary shuttle service for passengers flying Asiana out of Chicago O’Hare.
Shuttle service is available to the following destinations for passengers arriving or departing on Asiana’s flights OZ 235/236:
- Urbana Champaign, Illinois
- Purdue Univ. (west Lafayette, IN)
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The website is hilariously cheesy, between the design, the pictures, and the text. Here are the full terms for the Asiana shuttle service:
1. Reservation must be made at least 5 days in advance otherwise not guaranteed.
2. You may request ride to/from your home instead of station for $15 oneway surcharge.
3. We do not supply baby/child seat, you must supply your own.
4. If you want cancel or change your reservation, you must do so 3 days in advance.
5. Reconfirm mail will be sent 3 day before you leave with drivers name and phone #
6. Even you are Asiana ticket holder , $40 will be collected by driver without reservation
7. Mileage award ticket holders can use shuttle with proper reservation.
8. Baggage policy is same as Asiana Airline’s, we charge $25 per extra baggages
9. Driver’s tip is not mandatory but he will be appreciated for your tips.
And who said Google Translate wasn’t useful?! 😉
It seems like the type of shuttle will vary based on demand, with the following general options:
So you could get anything from a minivan to a 42 passenger bus, to anything inbetween.
Anyway, kudos to Asiana for adding this, it’s a very nice option for passengers not originating in Chicago “proper.” And I imagine it’s not cheap to add this service either.
Good luck to them. I had experience offering a similar service at Dusseldorf for Ghanaian passengers traveling onward to Amsterdam, Brussels and Hamburg. It was a huge issue every week when people showed up without reservations and we had to scramble around finding larger or additional buses for them. Also, when inbound buses get stuck in traffic or break down you have to treat these as misconnects. Finally, it completely screws up your airport presentation...
Good luck to them. I had experience offering a similar service at Dusseldorf for Ghanaian passengers traveling onward to Amsterdam, Brussels and Hamburg. It was a huge issue every week when people showed up without reservations and we had to scramble around finding larger or additional buses for them. Also, when inbound buses get stuck in traffic or break down you have to treat these as misconnects. Finally, it completely screws up your airport presentation profile to have a huge number of people show up at the same time en masse. A great service no doubt that will draw business, but a nightmare to run logistically!
That's a game changer. I used to study in Urbana-Champaign. If I were still in Urbana-Champaign I'd be much more tempted to fly OZ to minimise the hassle and the wait time, given the long international passport immigration queues in the US at just about every major international US airport, and having to factor the wait time in when booking the shuttle back to UC (after all, who wouldn't prefer a linked reservation?)
Brilliant move targeting Korean students in the mid-west.
Flew Delta DTW->ICN last August and (judging from the # of Michigan hats/shirts/jackets worn on the plane I think there were at least 100 parents who were coming home after dropping off their freshmen children in Ann Arbor.
Need to find a reason to go back to Korea asap. Such a wonderful country.
Hmm...feeding Asian college students to large Midwest Engineering schools. Purdue, Urbana, Madison you get the idea. It's been noted that at times PVG-DTW on DL is full of college students heading to Michigan(Ann Arbor) or Notre Dame.
Given the shameful ground transportation options in this country, this is a welcome move by Asiana.
I'm more interested in the karaoke options on the limo bus and the 42-passenger bus...
OZ was cut off by AA/UA on interline agreements, hence they cannot connect passengers to their destinations anymore. This is the simple reason why they are adding these shuttles (either this or losing passengers).
Boiler Up!
Recent Purdue Grad of May 2013.
My guess is this is just so that recently-demoted pilots (on the ICN-SFO route) can be repurposed as shuttle drivers.
Wow, my alma mater, my current residence, and my hometown. I guess I need to book an OZ flight to/from ORD, haha. This seems to be intended for Korean travelers going to relatively close by University locations, but it presumably works for anyone on those flights. Interesting, and certainly a nice perk. Hail Purdue!