Bell Travel Bus From Bkk Airport: Price Increase

[wpcoe]

I think it's still a bargain, considering it includes door-to-door mini-van delivery to/from hotels and condos in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Heck, I pay B150 just to go less than 1km from Tesco to my condo in Jomtien. I think it's over B200 for a taxi from Jomtien to the bus station on Pattaya Nua road.

[Kerryd]

I think it's still a bargain, considering it includes door-to-door mini-van delivery to/from hotels and condos in Pattaya and Jomtien.

I agree. I use Bell every time (unless I arrive at an odd hours, which doesn't seem to happen often these days). Pick me up at my apartment on the way to the airport and drop me off at the same on my way back. 200 baht ? I think I can handle it !

I've chartered a taxi to get to/from the bus station and paid as much as Bell charged to go to/from that airport. There are other options to get to/from the airport, but by the time you get to the bus station, then ride the long route to another bus station, then another bus to the airport, you've spent much more time and probably just as much money.

I'd rather see a small price hike than to see them shut down their service.

[jonaz]

I think it's still a bargain, considering it includes door-to-door mini-van delivery to/from hotels and condos in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Heck, I pay B150 just to go less than 1km from Tesco to my condo in Jomtien. I think it's over B200 for a taxi from Jomtien to the bus station on Pattaya Nua road.

Yes I paid 200 Baht just the other day for the service. It is indeed a bargain!

It took 1hr 30 mins to get to Pattaya and then another 25 minutes to get dropped of by the minibus taxi at my hotel (I was just unlucky that my hotel was the last drop off or it would have been much less than 25 minutes.)

The bus is really comfortable too. It's air conditioned with black eather seats that recline back quite a way so you can get 40 winks if you like. They even give you a complimentary bottle of water!

[OZEMADE]

I think it's still a bargain, considering it includes door-to-door mini-van delivery to/from hotels and condos in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Heck, I pay B150 just to go less than 1km from Tesco to my condo in Jomtien. I think it's over B200 for a taxi from Jomtien to the bus station on Pattaya Nua road.

Yes I paid 200 Baht just the other day for the service. It is indeed a bargain!

It took 1hr 30 mins to get to Pattaya and then another 25 minutes to get dropped of by the minibus taxi at my hotel (I was just unlucky that my hotel was the last drop off or it would have been much less than 25 minutes.)

The bus is really comfortable too. It's air conditioned with black eather seats that recline back quite a way so you can get 40 winks if you like. They even give you a complimentary bottle of water!

You could get a Taxi, pay between B1000 & B1200 then put the toll on top, be driven to the Airport with a maniac in 45minutes. Your choice I'll take Bells.

[miksguevara]

I think it's still a bargain, considering it includes door-to-door mini-van delivery to/from hotels and condos in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Heck, I pay B150 just to go less than 1km from Tesco to my condo in Jomtien. I think it's over B200 for a taxi from Jomtien to the bus station on Pattaya Nua road.

Yes I paid 200 Baht just the other day for the service. It is indeed a bargain!

It took 1hr 30 mins to get to Pattaya and then another 25 minutes to get dropped of by the minibus taxi at my hotel (I was just unlucky that my hotel was the last drop off or it would have been much less than 25 minutes.)

The bus is really comfortable too. It's air conditioned with black eather seats that recline back quite a way so you can get 40 winks if you like. They even give you a complimentary bottle of water!

You could get a Taxi, pay between B1000 & B1200 then put the toll on top, be driven to the Airport with a maniac in 45minutes. Your choice I'll take Bells.

any chance of PM ing their details to me ..or posting them here?

[JimSiam]

here you go

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I think it's still a bargain, considering it includes door-to-door mini-van delivery to/from hotels and condos in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Heck, I pay B150 just to go less than 1km from Tesco to my condo in Jomtien. I think it's over B200 for a taxi from Jomtien to the bus station on Pattaya Nua road.

Yes I paid 200 Baht just the other day for the service. It is indeed a bargain!

It took 1hr 30 mins to get to Pattaya and then another 25 minutes to get dropped of by the minibus taxi at my hotel (I was just unlucky that my hotel was the last drop off or it would have been much less than 25 minutes.)

The bus is really comfortable too. It's air conditioned with black eather seats that recline back quite a way so you can get 40 winks if you like. They even give you a complimentary bottle of water!

You could get a Taxi, pay between B1000 & B1200 then put the toll on top, be driven to the Airport with a maniac in 45minutes. Your choice I'll take Bells.

any chance of PM ing their details to me ..or posting them here?

Their email address is all that you need: rrc_bus at hotmail dot com

They will reply promptly with all of the details necessary.

[thaitot]

This is a great service .I have used them many times.

I hope it only continues.

[wpcoe]

FYI, Bell Travel also operates buses from Pattaya into Bangkok, dropping off/picking up at hotels, although there is another transfer to a minivan between the hotel and a Bangkok bus station, so the routine is something like: minivan to bus to minivan. (The big bus bypasses the airport: nonstop between Pattaya Nua bus station and a bus station off Bangna-Trat highway in Bangkok.)

When the fare Pattaya-Suvarnabhumi was B150, the fare Pattaya-Bangkok was B300, but I don't know how much it might have increased.

[tropo]

You could get a Taxi, pay between B1000 & B1200 then put the toll on top, be driven to the Airport with a maniac in 45minutes. Your choice I'll take Bells.

I can get a brand new car driven carefully by the owner for only 800 baht plus 60 for tolls. 1000 including tolls on the way back to Pattaya. I've even had to ask some drivers to please speed up!

I pay for 2 if I take the bus, so it's no longer really worth it to take the bus to save only 460 considering I have to coordinate with the bus timetable and then wait at the bus station, and then also wait longer for my flight.

Edited December 15, 2008 by tropo

[samuibeachcomber]

You could get a Taxi, pay between B1000 & B1200 then put the toll on top, be driven to the Airport with a maniac in 45minutes. Your choice I'll take Bells.

I can get a brand new car driven carefully by the owner for only 800 baht plus 60 for tolls. 1000 including tolls on the way back to Pattaya. I've even had to ask some drivers to please speed up!

I pay for 2 if I take the bus, so it's no longer really worth it to take the bus to save only 460 considering I have to coordinate with the bus timetable and then wait at the bus station, and then also wait longer for my flight.

sure but for the single traveller good value,have used them many times great service and pleasant staff,good to see so many positive replies.

[torrenova]

Tried to use them but they would not pick up from my house off Sukhumvit and suggested I go to a hotel in town or the bus station. I just got a taxi.

[Kerryd]

That's always been my experience with Bell, that they (generally) prefer to pick up/drop off at a hotel. Fortunately for me, there is a hotel across the street from my apartment so it hasn't been a problem. I've heard of some exceptions, where people have been picked up or dropped off at their residence, but not too often.

The problem with picking individuals up at their homes is that too many of them don't know the proper Thai address, or how to convey that address to someone that speaks mostly Thai.

The drivers would be spending hours driving around trying to find people. If they only had to worry about finding one person (i.e. like a taxi would), it might be different. But when they have to pick up 5-6 or more and get them back to the station in time to catch the big bus, they don't have time to be driving up and down every soi, looking for people that don't know the difference between soi 15 - #2 Road and soi 15 - Sukhumvit or soi 15 - Soi Bhukhao.

I've seen before (not in Thailand) where you try picking people up at their residence, and rarely are they ever ready to go. Many it seems prefer to wait until the bus/taxi arrives, then start getting dressed, last minute packing, turning off lights and such.

Of course, if you wait 5-10 minutes, they're still not ready to go, and you leave, they'd be howling at the top of their lungs about the crappy service. It would never be their fault for not being prepared.

For those that aren't close to a hotel, perhaps it would be possible to identify a significant feature or nearby business that would be easy for the driver(s) to find ? Something close enough that at worst you only have a minute or two walk to get to ?

I've taken a taxi to/from the bus station as well, instead of using the mini-van service. Sometimes it was just more convenient. Even the cost of chartering a taxi to/from the bus station, added to the price of getting to/from the airport, still makes it a cheaper option.

[tropo]

That's always been my experience with Bell, that they (generally) prefer to pick up/drop off at a hotel. Fortunately for me, there is a hotel across the street from my apartment so it hasn't been a problem. I've heard of some exceptions, where people have been picked up or dropped off at their residence, but not too often.

The problem with picking individuals up at their homes is that too many of them don't know the proper Thai address, or how to convey that address to someone that speaks mostly Thai.

The drivers would be spending hours driving around trying to find people. If they only had to worry about finding one person (i.e. like a taxi would), it might be different. But when they have to pick up 5-6 or more and get them back to the station in time to catch the big bus, they don't have time to be driving up and down every soi, looking for people that don't know the difference between soi 15 - #2 Road and soi 15 - Sukhumvit or soi 15 - Soi Bhukhao.

I've seen before (not in Thailand) where you try picking people up at their residence, and rarely are they ever ready to go. Many it seems prefer to wait until the bus/taxi arrives, then start getting dressed, last minute packing, turning off lights and such.

Of course, if you wait 5-10 minutes, they're still not ready to go, and you leave, they'd be howling at the top of their lungs about the crappy service. It would never be their fault for not being prepared.

For those that aren't close to a hotel, perhaps it would be possible to identify a significant feature or nearby business that would be easy for the driver(s) to find ? Something close enough that at worst you only have a minute or two walk to get to ?

I've taken a taxi to/from the bus station as well, instead of using the mini-van service. Sometimes it was just more convenient. Even the cost of chartering a taxi to/from the bus station, added to the price of getting to/from the airport, still makes it a cheaper option.

Overall it just adds a lot of bother to the journey, including waiting around for the bus and minivan transport to the bus station.

Apart from that, due to the sparse timetable, even if people are lucky to be flying out during the day when they operate, it means that most often people will have to get to the airport earlier than if they'd taken a private card to coordinate with the flight.

I find that most of my flights are either too early or too late for the bus anyway, so there is no decision to make.

[xminator]

The bus service is great. I acutally felt safer and prefered it to the taxi-rally-ride. I did however not enjoy the mini-van trip from Pattaya to Jomtien, and made it very clear to my wife that next time we will use some extra baht and get our own car to Jomtien. The van was driven by a lunitic and I had a feeling I was participating in "how many students can you get into a VW Beetle"-contest.

[torrenova]

Overall it just adds a lot of bother to the journey, including waiting around for the bus and minivan transport to the bus station.

Apart from that, due to the sparse timetable, even if people are lucky to be flying out during the day when they operate, it means that most often people will have to get to the airport earlier than if they'd taken a private card to coordinate with the flight.

I find that most of my flights are either too early or too late for the bus anyway, so there is no decision to make.

I have the same thoughts exactly. I lived about 1.5km up Soi Khaotalo from Sukhumvit but they would not pick up even though I reckon I could have gotten the drop off ok. A taxi to the bus station (not motorbike) would be about Bt250 each way, so with the other Bt200 or so, you're going to save Bt300-500. Not worth it to me but for guys coming whose flights fit and who don't know taxi people, they could save over Bt1000 compared to the robbers at the airport.

[Tolley]

Yeah i will take a private car because even thou it sounds like a good service it isn't worth that extra inconvenience for a saving of 1000 baht.

But if you are on a strict budget it does sound okay.

[freo]

You could get a Taxi, pay between B1000 & B1200 then put the toll on top, be driven to the Airport with a maniac in 45minutes. Your choice I'll take Bells.

I can get a brand new car driven carefully by the owner for only 800 baht plus 60 for tolls. 1000 including tolls on the way back to Pattaya. I've even had to ask some drivers to please speed up!

I pay for 2 if I take the bus, so it's no longer really worth it to take the bus to save only 460 considering I have to coordinate with the bus timetable and then wait at the bus station, and then also wait longer for my flight.

Tropo

Could you give me the contact details of the Taxi's you use?

After booking a Taxi and being assured that our Taxi will be the same as the photo in the window we usually end up with a clapped out bomb with no seatbelts driven by a maniac driver with a death wish!

[tropo]

Tropo

Could you give me the contact details of the Taxi's you use?

After booking a Taxi and being assured that our Taxi will be the same as the photo in the window we usually end up with a clapped out bomb with no seatbelts driven by a maniac driver with a death wish!

I wondered when someone was going to ask. I've experienced the 'shitbox with kamikaze driver' deal before myself.

Go to Cambodia Inter on Soi Buakhao (26/5 - if that helps) and book (and pay) your transport with Nisan, the owner. I always book my return trip at the same time (up to you if you want to pay for that, or just pay the driver later) and they're always at the airport waiting for me...with a nice car and a good (owner) driver.

800+ 60 (tolls) up

1000 (tolls included) back

I usually pay both ways when I book, in fact I'm about to head down there and book today.

Telephone: 038 723060

Edited December 17, 2008 by tropo

[yiiim2]

I have used Bell's bus service both to and from the airport to Pattaya and also to and from Bangkok hotels to Pattaya and have never had any problems.

They now have a website www.belltravelservice.com which has all the fares and timetables and if you register fr the site you can make booking online.

Their email address is now [email protected].

[raro]

I have used Bell's bus service both to and from the airport to Pattaya and also to and from Bangkok hotels to Pattaya and have never had any problems.

They now have a website www.belltravelservice.com which has all the fares and timetables and if you register fr the site you can make booking online.

Their email address is now [email protected].

Since we are discussing the same issue in three different threads, I close this one. Please continue here: link