Auckland Airport to city by bus & train

[SeatBackForward]

It's unusual to wait 35 minutes for a train from Puhinui to Britomart - I think you got unlucky

You can buy a AT HOP card and load some money onto it at a couple of the airport newsagents. It's pretty easy.

at the Intl terminal?

OK just read the AKL official website, they suggest it's only a 10min walk, which is fine,

 

[Bundy Bear]

Good this thread got a bump, might consider the train to bus option

 

[SeatBackForward]

It also looks like the SkyDrive bus is back? Bookings can be made online from here: FAQ — SkyDrive

NZD$17 each way.

Edit: how confusing. SkyBus was the one that stopped their services, not SkyDrive.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

The new direct bus service goes directly to sky city - no other stops. It also requires pre-booking although I assume at quiet times you could just book immediately after your flight lands and still get the next bus.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Train to airport bus is isn’t coming up on apple maps

I am 500 metres from Britomart station

 

[Mattg]

Train to airport bus is isn’t coming up on apple maps

I am 500 metres from Britomart station



View attachment 318376

It doesn't. You just have to "know" about it.

A bit like how the bus/train combo doesn't come up on Google Maps for trips from the city to Melbourne Airport.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Now on bus to airport

There are escalators not just steps and best to get off back train
Bus platform A first and well sign posted

 

[Bundy Bear]

5 minute connection at Puhinui from train to bus so took just on an hour

Note the main Southern line is closed, trains go via the eastern line.



Messages on bus for domestic then international, message on train to advise airport bus connection.

Platform 2 at Britomart so down 2 lots of escalators then left.

Use www.at.govt.nz to plan your journey.

 

[clifford]

I'm glad I don't have to go through this kind of rigmarole to get to LHR from pretty well anywhere in London.

Or even SYD from Sydney (let's not mention the cost).

 

[moa999]

Maybe a mod could change the title to remove price and make it bus/train, given that was a special.
@admin

Should also add that 380 Bus in the other direction also goes to Onehunga which has the Onehunga Line station.. this used to go to Britomart but with current construction only goes to Newmarket.

The Mangere Bridge has reportedly been designed to allow this line to continue to the airport one day.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Maybe a mod could change the title to remove price and make it bus/train, given that was a special.
@admin

Half price public transport fares are extended to 30 June 2023. With an election in October there is a high chance of a further extension.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

To bump this thread, the 50%fare concession due to covid (known as 50% concession) has stopped.
Not only for AKL, but for all public transport in NZ.
So, its peak or off peak only now.

 

[clifford]

To bump this thread, the 50%fare concession due to covid (known as 50% concession) has stopped.
Not only for AKL, but for all public transport in NZ.
So, its peak or off peak only now.

That's fair enough, I guess.

But why anyone in their right mind (apart from train spotters and the destitute) would take the public bus/train option from AKL to the city is beyond me.

I did the AKL-city round trip last week on the Ritchies coach service, half an hour each way at a total cost of NZ$25 for seniors. Good value compared with SYD, MEL and BNE (not to mention HBA, DRW and CNS).

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Nzd$5.80peak/$5.22off peak on the AT Hop, vs $16 for Skydrive, for which you have to make a booking, and that booking needs a estimated time of pickup, or $55 (return), or $30 one way, I think, for Supershuttle.
If coming into AKL airport in the morning, after peak, and you have nothing for that first day, and have an AT Hop card, the Air bus from the airport and then train to Britomart is the cheapest.
I will try the Ritchies Skydrive going to AKL airport though, would be like the former Skybus, but they do use the Watervale tunnel, which is faster than Onehunga/Otahuhu bridge way.
Thu 13 Jul, I will be using up the bal of my AT Hop card, they are getting rid of all the individual fare cards over NZ, and use credit/debit cards, but this will have a lot of int fees if your card is not an NZ (bank) issued.
Unless you have a no forex trans fee Aust visa/mastercard credit card.
===
Just made my first Ritchies/Skydrive booking, quite an easy process.
Hope that the path way from AKL dom to AKL int terminal is now open and walkable, or that the bus driver will drop me off at the int terminal, made a "blue", picked AKL dom instead of AKL int terminal.
Oops.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

To bump this thread, the 50%fare concession due to covid (known as 50% concession) has stopped.
Not only for AKL, but for all public transport in NZ.
So, its peak or off peak only now.

Not quite. There are now half price fares for kids. Some regions weren't ready for this so for example half price fares for all will continue to apply in Wellington until an unspecified date in August.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Skydive gets my rides now.
Supershuttle OK if Skydrive not running.
Only 1 pickup point, better than Supershuttle, for day pickups.
Skydrive has limited pickup times, and you have to walk from Auckland city hotels to the back of Skycity.
Driver allowed me onto earlier bus.
Have used the Puhinui option to come into Auckland.

 

[serfty]

Half price public transport fares are extended to 30 June 2023. With an election in October there is a high chance of a further extension.

Has this been extended?

I have a day to kill in Auckland tomorrow.

Sadly my pre COVID ATHOP card seems to have expired.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Probably finished by now. Wellington returned to normal fares 1 September.

Officially supposed to be 1 July but transport operators weren't ready for some late announced changes (not relevant to most on aff).

 

[serfty]

I have a day to kill in Auckland tomorrow.

In the end, I didn't leave the Airport Precinct - had a Website issue that needed rectification (who develops in purl?!!) and by the time that was sorted it was midday. Considered going into town but, nup. Been there many times over the last 25 years. Took a stroll past the construction works - at least two new hotels it appears - to the shopping strip and bought a light brunch. Walked back through domestic to international - that got the steps up.

I am due back in late November - see what happens then ...

 

[Sprucegoose]

In the end, I didn't leave the Airport Precinct - had a Website issue that needed rectification (who develops in purl?!!) and by the time that was sorted it was midday. Considered going into town but, nup. Been there many times over the last 25 years. Took a stroll past the construction works - at least two new hotels it appears - to the shopping strip and bought a light brunch. Walked back through domestic to international - that got the steps up.

I am due back in late November - see what happens then ...

The Novotel at the Airport is disappointing, however clearly commands an inconvenient premium given its proximity. I hope the new Hotels (Pullman and ?) will supply some competition. However, from my own knowledge and some media reports that the country has descended into a somnambulistic Middle Earth fantasy-dwelling shambles (which may be unfair and a stretch too far) - I have not yet identified any competitive business practices to date, and especially with the Auckland Airport operator who seems to exist well in a one sheriff town.

Whatever they are forecasting as completion dates for functional airport infrastructure improvements, I would advise adding 18-24 months as a minimum.

The bus to the CBD is impractical for most people with time constraints. At least you dont need to drive through the suburbs anymore to get to the CBD. Most standard Uber's would be unregistrable in other countries, and my current experience is a good corporate taxi would be a worthwhile alternative.