Stephen Farrow wrote:
David of Broadway wrote:
Stephen Farrow wrote:
David of Broadway wrote:
Stephen Farrow wrote:
Arthur Figgis wrote:

I found Budapest airport a bit rude, as the transport information
desk
would only sell transport+museum passes to us phrasebook-wielding
tourists, but not the equivalent of a travel card, even though we
knew
what to ask for. They just don't sell 'em. There was some sort of
ticket machine, but it was OOU.

At one point, at LaGuardia airport in New York, it was possible to
buy an MTA "fun pass" (day pass) only from *one* newsstand - which
was helpfully located on the departures level, rather than in
arrivals. I've no idea whether or not this is still the case.

When was this? I doubt it's still the case, although I don't know
for sure.

About three years ago.

I'm surprised, then.

In any case, I was last at LGA in early 2004, but, having just been
assaulted on the M60 bus, I was more interested in obtaining ice than
in obtaining a MetroCard. (Really. My luggage brushed against
somebody's leg and he took out his aggression on my eye.)

But ever since the price jumped from $4 to $7, the Fun Pass has been
an incredibly bad deal for nearly everyone. What most people want
is a $10 pay-per-ride MetroCard; longer-term tourists might opt for
a $24 7-day unlimited MetroCard.

Which is what I've done every time since. That trip, though, I needed
a one-day pass - I was arriving in the morning (from Toronto),
meeting a friend in Midtown, heading over to Lincoln Center to do
some research at the Performing Arts Library, then heading to Penn
Station in the evening to catch a train out to Hofstra University,
where I was going to a conference. And, of course, I arrived without
exact change for the bus, and a cab to Manhattan was beyond my
graduate student budget. It was only by asking around in the terminal
that I got directed to the one newsstand that sold the Fun Pass.

If you remember, did you pay $4 or $7 for the Fun Pass? (The price
changed in 2003 -- May, I think it was.)

$4. This was March 2003. When I've been since, I've arrived at Newark
(often despite booking a flight to LaGuardia. I seem to encounter a
*lot* of flight cancellations when travelling to New York).

Ah, in that case you got a good deal.

Of course, the *real* challenge to a tourist would be figuring out bus
fares etc somewhere like Manchester, where there's a deregulated bus
service, multiple operators (sometimes on the same route), and no
standard overall fare structure.

Or Cambridge. I boarded a Cambridge Blue bus and the driver offered to
sell me a single for 1.00 or a return for £1.70. Since I knew I had to
get back, I bought the return.

For my return trip, I noticed that Cambridge Blue had shut down for the
evening, so I boarded a Stagecoach bus, and the driver laughed at me
when I showed him my ticket. And then he seemed annoyed when I pulled
out a £20 note to buy a Stagecoach ticket (as if I should have made sure
to hold onto enough change to buy a bus ticket that I had no idea I'd
have to buy).

Having just come from London, with its fare integration, on a National
Rail ticket that I was told would be accepted on either First Capital
Connect from King's Cross or on 'one' from Liverpool Street, this caught
me by surprise. But apparently it's London and National Rail that are
the exception, not the rule.
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY, USA