Davis Airporter - Davis Wiki

Phone

(530)756-6715

800-565-5153

Website

http://www.davisairporter.com

Email

<shuttle AT davisairporter DOT com>

The Davis Airporter is a door-to-door shuttle service that drives people to and from the Sacramento (SMF) and San Francisco (SFO) airports. For SFO, they operate throughout the Sacramento region. Service to Sacramento International Airport is limited to Yolo and Solano counties. They pick you up and drop you off at your door. Basically, it's a cheaper alternative to a taxi. For one person it's $23 to SMF and $85 to SFO. Reservations should be made in advance: they ask for 1 day advance for SMF and 5 days advance for SFO. (They finalize every day's schedule the afternoon before, so "1 day in advance" is better understood as 36 hours.)

See their web site for rates and reservation requests. They now take credit card payments in their vans, so they no longer run a pre-verification on your card.

For an honest rundown on the operation, including good advice, refer to the long-winded entry from AirporterDriverPete, who has worked there for sixteen years. It's in the "2005-2007" section— see link here).

If you are going between Davis and SMF, a much cheaper alternative is to take Yolobus — undergrads can ride for free, but for everyone else it's $2.00. You are restricted on how much luggage you can take, however. Allow at least an hour, preferably two.

Davis Business License- on file.
Sac Airport Permits- Yes
Yolo County Business License- As of Mar. 31, 2010 License #3616
Need a ride? See the Taxi Services entry!

How was your ride?

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2011-03-18 20:39:53 I have truly had it with this Company! My husband is flying in to SFO & I called to book a ride home. They said someone had already booked a ride home a 9:30 P.M> Two hours AFTER My husbands flight arrives. They want him to wait 2 HOURS for a shuttle!!! We live in Woodland Out in Wild wings &it has often taken 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours for my husband to get home. because the Davis Airporter puts Davis residents as a priority ALWAYS. They do not run enough shuttles & even oif it would be quicker to get off at the esparto exit & drop someone off & soot down 95 or 98 to be in davis in 20 minutes & then swing back up Poline to get back to 80 toward the Airport I have been told {at first} {it was the drivers discretion} Then I was told davis residents have priority always. Yea for davis residents! In the future I will arrange for rides, reschedule our flights for convenience & BOYCOTT THE DAVIS AIRPORTER!!!!!!!!!!BOYCOTT THE DAVIS AIRPORTER. THEY DO NOT PUT ANY CONSUMERS FIRST WITH THERE HIGH PRICES & LOUSY SERVICE. —ruthschreiber

If they can't do a pick up when you want, you could check about Bart from the airport and the Amtrak to Davis. (Sorry it only goes to Davis.) It would be cheaper. I doubt that there's a cheaper shuttle. It is kind of late for Amtrak though. —BruceHansen

2011-03-23 20:16:06 To ruthschreiber: If you are trying to make your SFO reservation less than a week in advance, we need to look at what's already scheduled and advise you accordingly. The reservation taker did the right thing by informing you that if you choose to make the reservation, there might be a 2-hour wait for your husband. Imagine if we just said, "OK, we'll pick him up", without mentioning the possible wait! If you or your husband aren't up for the wait, you probably shouldn't make the reservation. In your case, if your husband is in a hurry to get home, I would advise calling a local cab company ahead of time, such as Village Cab, they are reliable. We charge alot less because of the shared-ride model, but there are other options available, including the BART/Amtrak one mentioned by BruceHansen above. Also, yes—from SFO we do stop in Davis first, period. Drivers are not given discretion on this. And the reverse is also true—from Sacramento Airport, we stop in Woodland before Davis. AirporterDriverPete —AirporterDriverPete

—Correction, 5/7/11—I just re-read your post and I see you're in Wild Wings, which is 5 miles west of Road 98. Road 98 itself is considered far west Woodland, as you know. Based on Google Maps, it's 1 hr. and 46 minutes estimated to Wildwings from SFO, while it's 1 hr. and 39 minutes to Davis from SFO. Yes, you're west of Davis, but you're also very north of Davis. Put it this way: From the 505 offramp to Wildwings is 31 minutes. From the 505 off-ramp to Davis is 20. But I was incorrect about the order of dropoff from Sacramento Airport—If you live in Wildwings, we will stop in Davis first. While almost identical in distance to the Sac Airport as Davis, it actually takes longer to get to Wildwings than it does to Davis. When folks from Wildwings make smf reservations with us, we do let them know ahead of time that if they're going to the airport, they may have to stop in Davis first, same if they're coming home from the Airport. Going from smf to Davis, stopping in Wildwings makes it a 1-hour drive to Davis, which is where the bulk of our customers are. Needless to say, Wildwings is a TINY community, and it would not be good for our business to give Wildwings precedence. But for the rest of Woodland, they do get dropped off before Davis, and on the way to the Airport, they get picked up after Davis. Sorry I misread your original post!

2011-04-19 20:49:15 I made reservations with SuperShuttle to be picked up at 4am. The dispatch called at 4:05 and said they were on their way and they did not show up for another 45 minutes. While I was on the curb waiting a driver from Davis Airporter drove by and asked if I was waiting for him and I told him my situation. He so nicely told me that he had to pick up someone around the corner but that he would swing back by to get me if I was still there on his return. I thought this was exceptionally sweet and next time I will book with Davis Airporter. —JenTX

2011-05-26 15:19:32 I was on a late flight coming in to SMF from Chicago, and didn't remember to book until the afternoon of... but they were immediately able to schedule me, but also warned me that I might have to wait 20 minutes for another passenger. I had no problems with that. The plate actually got in 20 minutes early... I called them, the shuttle showed up immediately, and they were able to take me immediately without waiting. Very convenient, two thumbs up. —ChonT

2011-06-21 22:48:09 I've had consistently good experiences with Davis Airporter. On my last trip I almost used Super Shuttle because of all the negative comments here, but I think it must be true that people are more likely to comment on bad service than good. Not only did everything go exactly as promised, my return flight was delayed 2 hours - arriving in Sac around midnight - and a shuttle was there waiting for me when I got off the plane. —GloriaVanderbilt

6/22/11 Gloria, thank you! Every time I have a passenger say, "you guys are always so reliable", I think of the complaints I've read here, and say to them, "you mean we've never screwed up once?" (And these are folks who have been using us for well over ten years). Usually, they say that no, things have always gone over without a hitch. Then others have that rare incident that was so rare in their dozens of trips with us that they say it's easily overlooked. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to put your good words up here. AirporterDriverPete

2011-06-24 21:58:09 The passenger's comment below somehow ended up on my personal Daviswiki page today, so I'm shoving it over here, where I think he/she wanted it. And thank you, Chris! AirporterDriverPete

"2011-06-24 18:04:33" I'm taking the time to Thank Davis Airporter. I flew into SFO yesterday from a messed up Delta flight only to find out that we had reserved the shuttle service a day late. Oops! I guess consumers screw up too! this is last thing you want to hear after flying across the country. Sorry Sir but you booked our service for tomorrow. Well thanks to Davis Air porter they rescheduled my ride and picked me up. That was only part of my positive experience. My driver was one in a million. It was clear he cares. It was the small things like remembering my name and everyone Else's in the Van. Asking if we were comfortable and following up with us during the ride. The traffic was horrible but our experienced driver new the short cuts. Yes, he was concerned about the time we had to spend in traffic making sure I was comfortable as he apologized for the traffic, very sincere. I cant say enough it has been a long time since I had met and spent time with such a guilty person wanting to please his customer. I would use the drivers name but I guess I was to jet lagged to remember. Thank you again for being there when I needed you. The service and the ride was very enjoyable after a hard day of travel. Too my driver, I hope you enjoy your new bike! ChrisLaManna

2011-08-23 07:46:54 One thing I find astonishing is that none of these Airport shuttle sites give any indication of the length of time for a journey. Here I am in the UK trying to plan a visit which will require me getting from the Marriott Residence Hotel in Sacramento to San Francisco Int airport and I have no idea at what time I should be expecting Davis (or other operator)to collect me from the Hotel. For example, if my flight for UK leaves at 5pm, so I need to be at SFO no later than 2pm ...what time would I need to be collected from the Sacramento Hotel? Advice gratefully accepted. Thanks. —JulianBishop

I don't represent this business, but it seems to me that the best thing would be to advise an airport shuttle or cab company what time that you need to be at the airport and they will advise you when you should be picked up. Perhaps the second best thing would be to tell them what time your flight is. —BruceHansen

To JulianBishop : If you call our office, they will ask you all the pertinant questions, such as your desired arrival time at SFO, your flight time, etc. And they will answer any question about travel time between locations. You can also email the office (shuttle@davisairporter.com), I know the phone call would be expensive, and our toll-free number doesn't work from overseas. Anyway, from Sacramento to SFO generally takes 90-120 minutes. However, we initially make the reservation from Sac to SFO assuming three hours of travel. This accounts for other potential pickups on the way, and for unpredictable traffic. That pickup time will usually stay the same, but they might move it a few minutes later the day before, if there aren't alot of pickups. Specifically, you want to arrive no later than 2pm, so our office would set you up for either a 10:30am or 11:00am pickup. UNLESS you are calling on short notice (fewer than five days advance), then you are subject to what is already on the schedule. On average, we have a van leaving every three hours or so, but every day is different. So, if you call three days before your pickup, the reservation taker will look to see what's on the schedule so far for that day. If there is already a pickup scheduled in Sacramento for, say, 9:30am, they will automatically schedule you at 9:00 or 9:15am to go with this previously booked pickup. If that's too early for you, just ask them when the next van is going out. If the next van is leaving Davis at 12:30pm, they would tell you that we have a 12:00noon pickup available, (Davis is 30 minutes west of Sac on the way to SFO) but that it might or might not get you to SFO by 2:00pm, and you would have to agree that we aren't responsible if you miss your flight. That's it in a nutshell! If you have any other questions, fire away. AirporterDriverPete

2011-08-26 20:20:17 My wife travels quite often with Davis airporter and her experiences have been great. The customer service has been very welcoming and professional. The last gentlemen was great and made my wife feel very comfortable. I was reading the comments and I felt that I need to tell our experiences. Thank you Davis Airporter!!

—jimdavidson

Thanks Jim. I picked up some folks from an apartment complex last year, and the manager was seeing them off after inspecting the place. His last words to them were, "If you have the time, put in a good word about us on Daviswiki!" and he handed them a piece of paper with the web address. It got me thinking, but I really can't bring myself to do that. BUT, it's encouraging that many new and long-time passengers of ours have decided to pick up that ball on their own! AirporterDriverPete

2011-08-27 01:16:20 DriverPete - thanks for the advice - really good to know approx timings for journeys and how the system works. Cheers. Julian —JulianBishop

2011-08-28 03:04:32 Another "daft" question...apparently Davis Airporter do not run a shuttle now between SMF and Downtown Sacramento...I have asked 3 people at the office via email for suggestions about how I could get from the Airport to the Residence by Marriott Hotel in Downtown, but have received no responses. Anyone got suggestions from their past experiences...I assume theere are taxis at the Airport I can just jump into with no prior booking required? Grateful for advice as ever. Thanks Julian. —JulianBishop

While the Davis Airporter is generally a better experience for Davis, there is also the Super Shuttle. They have the SMF airport shuttle monopoly and there is a taxi assoiciation with the cab monopoly. I suggest that after you disembark and have retrieved all your luggage, you go to the ground transportation past the luggage section if you're in the A Terminal and ask a waiting Super Shuttle van or possilbly a Davis Airporter van or some other random airport shuttle van and inquire about the itinerary. Monopoly taxis that are also there are immediately available for direct service, but they are more expensive for one person. There isn't a consolidated transportation area for the B Terminal, but you may be able to inquire there. It's about a 0.1-0.2 mile walk from the B Terminal to the transportation area before the A Terminal. Some of the hotels have free shuttle service. Perhaps yours has one and if so you could make a reservation with them. —BruceHansen

Hello again Julian. The Residence by Marriot is at 15th and L St, and the bus (Yolobus) from the airport stops at 13th and L. It's all of two dollars! Here's the link to the route: http://www.yolobus.com/routes/index.php/42A It's about a 25 minute ride. While the Yolobus is cheap, SuperShuttle will have you out of the airport within 15 minutes, and the fare would be around $15, much cheaper than a cab (~$40). They operate on a "walk-on" basis, and there are booths at both A and B terminal, though the booth at terminal B is small and easy to miss if you're not looking. The advice of BruceHansen above is also good—it's quite likely that the Marriot has a free shuttle service. The information booth is on floor #1. If Marriot does operate a free shuttle service, just ask the booth folks to direct you to the "Hotel Shuttles" sign. (it's different at each terminal). Good luck, AirporterDriverPete

2011-08-29 13:05:44 AirportDriverPete and BruceHansen - my thanks to you both for answering what must seeem like naive questions - you have both been a great help and I will make a note of all this ahead of my journey. My thanks again to you both. Julian —JulianBishop

You're welcome and I've been impressed with AirportDriverPete's thorough answers. There's probably plenty of people out there who haven't gathered the information and who haven't asked (as you have). —BruceHansen

You're welcome! To echo Bruce, I guarantee you that there are a bunch of folk who will read this and, as a result, not have to post their question :-) AirporterDriverPete

2011-08-31 06:24:10 AirportDriverPete and Bruce - thanks...glad to have possibly been some help to others. There is no Airport Shuttle run by the marriott by the way, so depending on how rich I am feeling, I may just jump in a cab and be done with it...at least that way I can get to my room fast and then head to deVeres Irish Pub for the evening...sausages & mash washed down by beer and malt whiskys are calling to me already!!! Julian —JulianBishop

2011-09-09 11:31:50 I was worried about getting a shuttle service to SMF last week, but since this company had pretty good reviews here and I'm impressed by AirporterDriverPete, I went ahead an scheduled a pickup. I called less than 48 hours before my flight, and I had to get picked up at 4:30 even though I didn't really need to be to the airport till 5:30/45, but that was fine, understandable. So I went outside my house at 4:20, and the shuttle showed up PROMPTLY at 4:30. The driver was VERY friendly and seemed happy to be doing his job. It was a great experience, I definitely recommend them. I will be using them again for my next trip! —ShaunaStewart

2011-09-13 20:45:20 More of a comment for the customers of the Davis Airporter: My family's phone number is very close to the Davis airporter's number (2 different digits). People have called our house at 3am to reserve a shuttle a few too many times. Please look at the number before you call a random number you think is it. :) —ChrisDietrich

>People have called our house at 3am to reserve a shuttle a few too many times.<

Hehe. People have also called our office at 3am to reserve a shuttle a few too many times ;-) AirporterDriverPete

2011-09-30 01:12:55 AirportDriver Pete...just to say I had a successful and efficient drive from the Marriott on Tuesday to San Francisco Airport...I'd booked it a little early and the traffic was fine so I got there in plenty of time...only to find that the flight was delayed by 1.5hours!! Never mind...a great service and I will use you guys again next time I am over...my thanks again to you and bruce for helpful information. All the best from Scotland. Julian. —JulianBishop

Hey Julian, glad it worked out. And thanks for following up! AirporterDriverPete

2012-01-30 10:34:31 I booked about 10 hours in advance for a pickup from SMF to Davis, which was my mistake. I had to wait over an hour for a shuttle. It was full, and I didn't get home until after 1 a.m. Super shuttle said that they could have taken me within 15 minutes without a reservation. I would have used their service, but Davis aiporter wouldn't give me a refund. I have been a long-time customer, but I'm not using them anymore. Even though I booked late, I expected better service from this company. —striker

2012-01-31 15:18:40 Striker, I'm sorry about your experience, but I'm unclear on a couple of things. When we take late add-on reservations, we make sure that the passenger knows two things. First, we stress that it's already inside our 24-hour cancellation window, so if the reservation is completed, you won't be able to cancel. This gives you the chance to opt out before committing. At the same time, we inform add-ons such as yourself whether there will be a wait for others before departing. From what you wrote, they probably told you that we were waiting on other folks who were coming in a half-hour or so after you, but it ended up being more. Of course, we'd like to know if they didn't tell you the above things, as it is policy. One hour is a long wait, even for someone who made a late reservation, so if you have any more details to add, please feel free. If I knew your confirmation #, or your name, I would gladly research what happened and speak to the manager if it looks like we messed up. I do this with any complaint that pops up here if it seems to have merit. Sorry again, it would be a shame to lose a previously satisfied costumer over one bad experience! And yes, Super Shuttle does operate strictly on a walk-on basis for the airport-to-home rides, and they can often get folks out in 15 minutes, but I would be wary when they say they would have done so. The vast bulk of their business is Sacramento, and I've had many passengers tell me how they had to drop others off in Sac before heading to Davis. They will take passengers straight to Davis when it's not too busy, but they aren't keen on it for obvious reasons. One last word, some advice: We accept walk-ons as well, as long as there's room on the departing van. So—if you need a ride on very short notice, don't make a reservation; just call our office when you arrive at the airport and see when our next van is leaving. This way, you haven't left a credit card number and are therefore also free to set up a ride with Super Shuttle if the wait for them looks to be shorter. If you choose to use the Davis Airporter, the reservation agent will still ask for your credit card number to hold the reservation, but this is after you've had a chance to explore your options. —AirporterDriverPete

2012-04-01 20:02:47 This report below from Danielychoi was put on the Daviswiki Super Shuttle page, but it completes my response to striker very well. I'm copying it to this page to make a point, not to slag Super Shuttle, as we share the same challenges. AirporterDriverPete

2012-03-26 00:44:54 I've taken Davis Airporter twice and never had any issues. This is my first time using SuperShuttle and it couldn't be going worse. Despite my making a reservation and prepaying, they apparently cannot provide rides on time for all their customers. A group of about 30 people, most with reservations, were waiting for rides, some for as long as 2 hours. Some gave up and took taxis. Many were understandably angry and upset. I've been here since 1045 pm. It is now 1245 am, and I am still waiting. I will avoid this company at all costs from now on. Danielychoi —

2012-05-13 18:59:14 Very disappointing! I was charged full fare for nothing. In this age of instant communication Davis Airporter could not possibly cancel my reservation with 22.5 hours notice. It seems they require 24 hours notice. So, if your plans change, as they often do when you travel, they are ever so sorry but they cannot POSSIBLY cancel your reservation. That is a great racket! I am one unhappy customer! And the average unhappy customer tells nine others. I am far above average and have already shared my frustration with many and will continue to do so. Any will never ever again use this service. You would be well advised to do the same. —jherdt

@ jherdt, while I personally don't like the 24-hour cancellation policy, we do make it clear to everyone who books with us before they commit. And we do accommodate if your travel plans change. If your flight was cancelled/delayed/whatever, we simply re-book your reservation at no cost to you, regardless if it is inbound or outbound. The manager is only concerned if someone cancels a reservation short of the 24-hour window, since it affects the operating costs of the company. (A day's schedule is put together the day before it comes to fruition.) Also, I don't know what time you called our office to cancel, but if you call on a weekday between 11:00am and 7:00pm, ask for the manager (Aida). She is much more likely to, and has more authority to make exceptions regarding our cancellation policy.
2012-05-14 14:17:14 Update for jherdt — I'm glad you used your real last name here, so we could find your reservation in the database. I showed the manager your post, and she has refunded your $23, as the 22.5 hours was "close enough". The reservation agent you spoke with also left a note. You should know that when he asked you for your reason for cancelling, he was trying to ascertain whether or not charging you was warranted. When you responded, "it's irrelevant", he just left it at that, whereas if he knew the reason, he would have called the manager for instructions (and she would not have charged you, as it turns out). So, advice to anyone cancelling: The reservation agents will almost always ask why you're cancelling, but it's not because they're being nosy :-)

2012-06-12 10:38:05 AVOID IT IF YOU CAN. Even Bart+Amtrack is better. This service usually involves waiting for a long time until they pick you up and waiting for other users at the airport. But the worst thing about it is the costumer service. —JuanRodriguezGonzalez

To JuanRodriguezGonzalez: Yes, the SFO service sometimes involves waiting for others—it is the nature of a shuttle service. You mention that the worst thing about us is our customer service. It would be helpful to everyone, including us, if you were more specific about your experience with our customer service. Thanks, AirporterDriverPete

2012-06-13 02:45:23 To AirporterDriverPete. To start with we need to communicate using the DavisWiki, instead of having your own e-mail address... Second, yesterday I called your service (from Spain, at a high cost) to ask for an invoice. Not only I never got the invoice but I was treated like a 5 year old kid. —JuanRodriguezGonzalez

The front page of their website says, "Email us at <shuttle AT davisairporter DOT com>." —CovertProfessor

Thanks CovertProfessor! And JuanRodriguezGonzalez, I believe I heard your call, as yesterday I heard one of our office workers (Melissa) explain how there won't be an invoice until the ride happens (I don't know how that stuff works, just what I remember hearing her say). She was speaking very slowly and extra clearly, which is our "default voice" for anyone with an accent. I can see how that could be interpreted as condescending, but I assure you she was just trying to make herself more easily understood. Other than that, her voice was calm and professional, in my opinion. I'm going to mention this to her, and I'm willing to bet that she'll tell me exactly what I'm typing here. — AirporterDriverPete

Your are right there is an e-mail address hidden in the main page, but I suggest you to add that also at the "contact" section. About my problems with Melissa (I assume it was her), it wasn't about the tone, and the fact is that she wasnt willing to help and I never got my invoice, which means that I will never be refounded by my employer and I will loose 90$.

To JuanRodriguezGonzalez, Something is wrong here. Is it just a receipt that you want? To be clear, if you have used our service, and need to show proof to your employer that you paid for it, I promise you that we will make that happen. If it is an invoice, that's another matter, but please explain anyway, I'm sure we can figure this out. Perhaps your use of the term "invoice" led Melissa to believe you were talking about something else. Generally, the only people dealing with invoices are companies or UC Davis departments that have an account with us, and make multiple reservations for many people over a short period of time. And those invoices are never seen by the passenger, just by the accounting departments of the company or UC Davis. (The passenger doesn't pay, he/she just signs a piece of paper that gets the Airporter paid.) So let me know what this is about. You can email me privately at carlorossi33@yahoo.com. Thanks, AirporterDriverPete

WARNING: If you are an international person who is thinking of using Davis Airporter for pickup at the SF Airport, and if you are not completely comfortable with speaking English — DO NOT USE THEM. As Juan above says, *even BART + Amtrak is better.* I've just called the Airporter line for the umpteenth time to explain that their directions to their pickup location are very confusing for foreigners. And as usual, there was no interest — there's no problem, it's the passengers' fault, they must not speak English well enough, etc. I've been telling them about this for the past 2-3 years, with still no improvement. And yes, believe it or not, many passengers arriving at SF Airport are not strong in their English; maybe a shuttle service would want to accommodate that. I just again had an international person arrive at my house yesterday who'd waited for *3 hours* at the airport to be picked up, and was exhausted by the whole experience. While waiting for her, I called the Airporter to find out what had happened, and was told that her flight had arrived 3 hours late; telling this person that the online status showed it only 15 min late was again of no interest — it was 3 hours. When the passenger arrived at my house, she told me the real story of having a terrible time locating them, missing them, and having to wait 3 hours for the next van (a story I've heard many times). I now offer to pick up people at the Concord BART station instead (no transfer), as a way to avoid this huge hassle, but unfortunately the visitor above turned me down because she thought the Airporter sounded so easy. IT'S NOT! If you want easy transport, hop onto the BART train right at the airport, transfer to a BART train to Richmond, and take Amtrak to Davis. It'll cost you ~$30. —stephthrasher

To stephthrasher, you are correct. I've talked this over with the manager many times, and she is concerned, as it causes EVERYONE more hassle than you know. And believe me, people who speak perfect English have trouble with it too. At some point, we will have directions to Courtyard G on our website in several languages, which the passenger can choose. But there is no way to make the directions clear in English to someone who doesn't speak it well. When someone is lost, we send the driver up (against the airport's policy of not leaving the van) to look for the person. If they speak well enough to tell us how old they are and what they're wearing, we'll find them. As for the website, we need translations in about ten languages, and maybe I'll take this one on myself. We have regulars who are fluent in various languages, perhaps I'll put them to work translating on the long ride to SFO. And I'll show the manager your post. —AirporterDriverPete

AirporterDriverPete, the website directions are a very good idea, but how long does that take? And as to it not being possible to make the directions clear to someone who doesn't speak English well, I disagree: I've explained to several different people on the phone line that a lot of the confusion seems to be about what level the van is on, and that therefore I suspect there's a discrepancy between how the Airporter person refers to the levels and either A. how the airport numbers them, or B. how the passenger is accustomed to them being numbered in their own country. I.e. different parts of the world have different conventions for where the numbering begins — whether on the ground floor or one or two levels above that. So I've pleaded with the phone people to make sure that at least their references to floor levels are consistent with how the airport numbers them. I even got the owner once to agree to look into it. But the problem continues, and this morning I had to talk to yet another dismissive and unapologetic phone person. And I still am annoyed at the person yesterday flatly insisting the problem was due to a 3-hour-late flight arrival, in spite of my puzzled response that the flight stats showed otherwise. I will continue even more strongly now (after yesterday's experience) to advise against using Davis Airporter until I see that anything has changed there. —stephthrasher

@stephthrasher: As for how long it takes, I would expect it within two months. If it doesn't happen, please follow up. There's alot on our plate, but this one is both cheap and helps the business. As for the pickup level confusion: When passengers get out of customs and enter the lobby, they see cars in front of them, and it does seem to them as though they're on the first floor. But your concern seems to be how the term "first floor" or "second floor" is perceived by someone from another country. SFO numbers them 1, 2 and 3. If we say, "turn right, walk down the hall and take the elevator to the first floor", there is room here for confusion. At the same time, we advise all passengers to use the information booth (there are two of them on the arrivals level) for directions to Courtyard G if they are having trouble. If the information booth people can't do it, with all the non-English speakers they get coming their way, I don't know who can. The solution is the multilingual website directions, no doubt. Regarding the late arrival, there are two possibilities: 1) Whoever you spoke to was referring to the time it took the passenger to call in, not the arrival time of the flight. (they were both three hours according to your account, so I'm thinking that's a possibility) or 2) The person you spoke to was indeed referring to the arrival time of the flight and one of us is wrong. If #2 was the case, and if you wish to follow up (I would), do two things: 1. Double-check with the airline that the flight did arrive at that time. The Cathay Pacific and Air China websites have problems in this area—inaccurate reports the day of the arrival, accurate thereafter. 2. If it did, call our office and ask to talk to Aida. Whoever was working that day will have left a note on the schedule for any pickup that had "gone wrong". This note will include the arrival time of the flight (as well as the original planned arrival time of the flight), and any other pertinent facts. They enter this info so that the manager (Aida) will know what she's talking about if and when someone has a complaint. It is not in their interest to enter a false arrival time. If you are willing to put the airline, flight number and date here (or email me at carlorossi3@lycos.com), I will gladly look into it and report back. AirporterDriverPete

AirporterDriverPete, what I meant was that I would think if DA were sufficiently concerned about this problem, they would have posted the directions already, even if only in English as a start. And I also think they would have checked on how floor numbers are designated at the airport, such as on the elevators. As I said, I've been calling about this problem over 2-3 years time. Thank you for the responses, but I will continue to advise against using Davis Airporter for pickup at SF. —stephthrasher

@stephthrasher: Fair enough for now. The undergrads are getting out this week, and we are completely slammed, so I'm not even going to bring it up again until Monday or Tuesday. But it will get done, and soon.

2012-06-13 16:28:25 Are there any discounts available for airline pilots? Also, what is a typical worst-case scenario regarding time driving to SFO? Anybody have experiences or information relating to this? —RickJames

@RickJames: Sorry, there are no discounts for pilots. The typical driving time (you're in Davis?) is 90-120 minutes. We allow 150 minutes when making the initial reservation, to allow for other possible pickups after you (we cover Dixon, Vacaville and Fairfield as well), and to allow for traffic. If you are the only pickup, we try move the pickup later if if doesn't interfere with any pickups the driver might have at the airport, or with his turnaround time if he/she is expected back for a run to smf. "Typical" worst-case scenario? 2 hours. Absolute worst-case scenario is 3. From SFO to Davis on a Friday afternoon, which is always bad, worst-case is 4 hours, usually 3. AirporterDriverPete

2012-07-30 22:15:26 Do yourself a favor and avoid the Davis airporter. My friend need to be picked up at the airport and I was leaving town so I booked a shuttle through this company to pick him up. When I called I was clear I wanted to pay for the shuttle in advance so my friend would not have to pay when he was picked up. They said no problem. I offered to give them my credit card over the phone, but that was too advanced so they e-mailed me a form to sign off on. I asked if I could sign off electronically and Roman said yes or I could fax it back. I got the document and no couldn't sign off electronically and no fax number was included. Called a third time got the fax number filled everything out faxed it back. Called Roman and the manager Aida and asked if they got it (they said they would call m when they got the fax and never did) and reminded them the shuttle needed to be paid for in advance so my friend did not have to pay.

Well, you guessed it. The Davis Airporter goes to pickup my friend and the driver demands payment. My friend said it was paid for in advance and the driver didn't believe him despite giving him a conformation number. Despite me going through several hoops to fax in paperwork to pay for the shuttle in advance and remind two separate employees to bill my card they didn't. This didnt happen a wek in advance, but w booked the day before he was to be picked up. I called the manager to ask for a refund and she was very rude and would not apologize or offer a refund.

I should have listened to the other comments here, but was too lazy. Do yourself a favor and book other arrangements if you need travel to the airport or investigate long term parking. It is faster and cheaper than the Davis Airporter! —stodd84

stodd84, a couple of things here: We indeed mishandled your prepayment request. No excuse here. However, Aida did apologize (using those exact two words), and said that we can fix it by sending your friend a refund check and running your credit card, as per your original request. You told her you don't want your card run, and that the ride should be free. First of all, your friends (there were two in the party, a $33 fare) had their driver waiting for them when they arrived. They were the only passengers on the van, so they went straight from the airport to their door. In other words, we provided good service in that respect. The fact that we botched the prepayment part of it is important, but not to the tune of a free ride for two people. I'll say right now that Aida would gladly offer a 5 or 10 dollar discount for the inconvenience, or offer you a discounted ride, should you choose to use the service yourself. As for the minutiae: when Roman said it could be done electronically, he meant that you can scan the signed form and email it back instead of faxing, if you wish. Evidently he heard "send off" instead of "signed off". Also, we did call you back as soon as we got the fax. You may want to check your messages.

Regarding your last remark, "Book other arrangements if you need travel to the airport or investigate long term parking. It is faster and cheaper than the Davis Airporter!" As your friends will confirm, our van was waiting there for them, and got them from the airport to their door in twenty minutes. Exactly which faster service are you referring to? AirporterDriverPete

2012-08-13 11:46:29 If you can help it, do NOT use this service. I had booked a round trip with the Davis Airporter shuttle for the San Francisco airport, from Davis. On the day I was expected to commute to the airport, the shuttle did not come. I called the dispatcher and was informed that my commute was booked for the same day of the next month! She then asked me if I wanted to cancel my return trip from the airport, 11 days later. I clearly told her NOT to cancel, that I needed my trip back. Yesterday, when I arrived at the airport after 39 hours in transit through three connections, I was informed that my request had been canceled!!!!! They offered me a ride back three hours later, when the shuttle was picking up other passengers. I had no choice but to take their offer. Interestingly, when the driver came pick me up, he also picked up six other passengers that had come together in the same flight. That got me wondering whether they simply bumped us (2 people) for the other six, who arrived three ours latter. This morning I called the manager, Aida, to request a refund for my trip back, which she refused. At no moment during our conversation did DavisAirporter take responsibility for their mistake, calling it a “misunderstanding”. I wanted a refund for the stress that the cancelation and the extra wait caused my son and I after 2 days in transit without sleep. This simple gesture would have cost them nothing, and kept me as a customer.
Use another service, take the Bart, drive yourself to the airport, rent a car, if you do not want to go thought what I have gone through.

—AlessandraChaves

@AlessandraChaves, other than apologies, I can't comment yet, as I don't know exactly what happened. But I can tell you that we do not do what you suggested (bumping you for the other six). Even if you were the only passenger, we would have a van there for you. I'll be talking to Aida about this tomorrow. Thanks, AirporterDriverPete
08/14 Update for AlessandraChaves: OK, as for the outbound trip, we still have your original email requesting a ride to SFO, and you did request August 29th, not July 29th. We can email your original request to you if you like. We also still have the response that we sent you confirming the date of August 29th. This is why we include all the info in the return email—if something is wrong, you'll notice it, as long as you read it. I talked to the gal who you spoke with on the 29th (Beatriz). She recalls that after you declined to go with our next driver to SFO, she asked if you still wanted to keep the return reservation, to which you replied that you didn't want to keep it since we're not bringing you out. I can understand your being flustered and stressed when you need to get to the airport and you don't have the ride you were expecting, and perhaps for that reason you don't recall telling Beatriz that you didn't want a return ride. But she remembers it quite well. As for using Bart, yes, that's a great option, and you were free to do that on your return when we told you that your wait for our next driver would be three hours.

I'm reminded as I type this of the old adage that "the customer is always right". Usually works well. But in this case, if we said, "Alessandra, you're right, booking it for the wrong month was our fault", it would be a lie. You are using a public forum to wrongly discredit us, so I have no problem saying that we do make mistakes, but this wasn't one of them. Again, if you need to see your original reservation request, please let us know. For anyone else reading this, regarding cancellations, one pitfall of our system is actually the opposite of the issue above: When a person cancels an outgoing reservation, the agent is supposed to ask if they want to cancel the return, if there is one. (They are made as separate reservations with different confirmation numbers). Every now and then, the agent forgets to ask about the return trip, so the return reservation stays there, and we send a van for someone who isn't going to show up. It's rare, but it happens, so if you're cancelling, and you had a round trip booked, take note if the agent doesn't ask you about the return reservation.

2012-08-14 15:04:33 I am having trouble finding out how to reply to a comment, but this is a reply to the reply to my complaint about the DavisAirporter. I have not blamed your company for the booking on the wrong month, and this is NOT the source of my complaint. That detail however was necessary to explaining what followed. Beatriz is lying about my having canceled my return reservation, however. I recall clearly when she asked whether I wanted to cancel my reservation, and my answer, which was a request for her to keep it. I have two witnesses who heard me clearly when I was speaking to her. What amazes me is that neither in my conversation with Aida, nor on this one, have I been given the benefit of a doubt. It is not that the customer is always right, but that the customer, to your company, is always wrong? See, I actually did get off the plane expecting your shuttle. If I had canceled my reservation, I would have made other arrangements, rather than chose to get stranded at the airport after two days in transit.

I feel sorry for your company’s unwillingness to contemplate my side of this story as the true one, your blind faith in your employee at the expense of a customer, and your unwillingness to mend the situation for the best of your business. One hundred and ten dollars is not that much for you, or for me, but waiving that after having caused us a great deal of distress would have been the right thing to do. It is a hard time for small businesses and yours, given your preset customer relations, will not fare for too long —AlessandraChaves

Alessandra, I helped out with indenting this to make it look like a reply. Click on your name here to check your userpage - you've got a message. Feel free to delete my reply here after you've seen it —TomGarberson

@AlessandraChaves: Perhaps you didn't intend to blame us for booking the wrong day, but the wording and exclamation mark make it appear that way to anyone reading it (see your first four sentences). As for the cancelled return: I do realize that you feel that Beatriz is lying, but I'll put it to you this way: When a cancellation is made, it isn't just hitting a button or typing in the word "cancel"; we have to actually make an effort and go to a separate part of the database and enter the details of the cancellation, including the words, in this case "cancelled by Beatriz". So the bottom line is, if she hadn't heard instructions to cancel, she would not have gone to the trouble. I have no doubt that you don't remember telling her to cancel. That seems clear now. When you called wondering where your outbound ride was, and when we told you that it was for next month, you did blame us. Beatriz told you that you could go out with our next driver, who would have gotten you to SFO in plenty of time, but you declined. Beatriz described you to me as "panicked" about missing your flight. Understandable, but it sounds like that's what caused you to tell her that you didn't want to return with us. As for blind faith in Beatriz, she has been here for five years. Her job is not in jeopardy. She readily admits errors, and has no reason to lie or make up conversations that never took place. And her memory is astounding. Finally, when you returned to find your reservation cancelled, you chose to wait three hours for us, and after we provided the service, you asked for a full refund. As you mention in your first post, you did have options other than waiting for three hours; Cab, Bart, Super Shuttle, rent a car...all viable options. Oh, and regarding the value of $110: Yes, that is a small thing in the big picture. We frequently give partial discounts, even when we were not at fault, just in the interest of customer relations. Very few rides are free. An example of that would be: Let's say you arrive at SFO expecting a ride. We inform you that it's booked for tomorrow. We then look at the online reservation requests and see that, indeed, you had requested the ride for today, and we entered the wrong day. Depending on how long you had to wait for us, the ride would be steeply discounted, or free.

I feel sorry that you cannot acknowledge your own mistakes and have chosen to completely disregard a customer's rightful complaint. One more proof that there is no such thing as customers' rights when it comes to services. This all makes me very sad, but the good news is, I can chose to tell my story to every acquaintance, every friend, every one I know. And I can also chose to never use your services again —AlessandraChaves

2012-08-14 14:42 Of course Alessandra, feel free to do those things, but your complaint was certainly not disregarded. It was taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. AirporterDriverPete

2012-09-03 22:16:13 I'm surprised by all the negative reviews. I've relied on Davis Airporter several times in the 2 years that I've lived in Davis and I've never had an issue. I've always found them to be reliable and professional. Maybe once last year they arrived a bit early to pick me up and I wasn't ready yet and ended up hopping around the place to get my stuff together while other passengers waited impatiently for me. That was embarrassing. But otherwise no complaints. —alife

2012-09-03 22:51:01 I am also surprised at the negative reviews. I have had a number of visiting friends and family take the Davis Airporter from SFO, and all have praised the service (prompt, courteous, clean vehicles, etc). I haven't needed the service myself but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to call on them if I did. —CovertProfessor

Thanks alife and CovertProfessor. alife, if your driver shows up early, don't let them rush you. And if passengers seem impatient when you get on the van, it means that your driver didn't inform them that they were running early for your pickup. So if you get on the van and people are giving you the eye, feel free to announce without guilt what time you were expecting us. No reason for you to bear the brunt of the situation, and it may also clue the driver into informing the other passengers what's going on the next time he/she is running that early. We do often show up early though. We generally allow the driver "loading time" between pickups, but if you're the fifth pickup and the previous four were all standing outside waiting and if all the lights are green, your driver might be quite a bit early (ten minutes or so). CovertProfessor, I think one of the reasons for the neg. reviews is that we do ALOT of volume, usually around 60 reservations per day, sometimes much more. Over the course of a week, that's alot of people, and, frankly, with those kind of numbers, the odds of an unsatisfied customer in the mix are high. And those are the ones who are more likely to vent in a forum such as this. Regardless, many thanks to both of you for taking the time to put in a good word. —AirporterDriverPete

2013-02-03 06:46:40 My flight to SFO arrived an hour late due to weather issues. This was not my fault or the airline's. When I arrived, I called Davis Airporter and they told me my shuttle had left without me and I'd have to wait more than 90 minutes for the next one. I protested that after a 7.5 hour flight I didn't want to wait at the airport another 90 minutes and that I'd find another way home. (I took BART and had a family member pick me up.) They said they would still charge me and the policy was in the confirmation email I was sent. I found the email, and it said no such thing. Here's the exact wording:

"We allow 30 minutes for passengers to claim luggage after arriving on a
domestic flight. For international flights, we allow passengers 1 hour to
clear customs and claim luggage. Passengers taking longer than the time we
allow may miss their shuttle and have to wait for the next available driver."

It says 30 minutes after ARRIVING—not "scheduled arrival." I called the Davis Airporter five minutes after landing, so I was definitely within the 30-minute window for a domestic flight. I understand they had other passengers and had to leave. But I think they should have either sent another driver for me—if they were monitoring the flight, the airline was very clear about when we'd land—or let me find another way home with no obligation. None of this was my fault. I didn't book at the last minute, I checked with them by phone the day before about my arrival at SFO, and no one ever said, either on the phone or in the email, that I'd be stuck this way if the flight was late. If they do charge my credit card, I plan to dispute the charge, and I suspect I'll win. The shuttle I scheduled left without me, and I shouldn't have to pay for a ride I never took.

The only reason I was willing to pay the steep $85 charge (not including tip) was that I wanted prompt service home after a long trip. If I have to wait 90 minutes at the airport for a shuttle and then it takes however long with all the other passengers being dropped off, I might as well take much cheaper public transportation—which was what I did, and I got home exactly 90 minutes after leaving SFO for the price of a $10 fare on BART.

The worst part was how rudely the office person treated me when I called. She just kept telling me the policy "was in the email," but as I just explained, that was not true. She not only showed no sympathy for my situation but actually lied to me about the content of the email. However, I had saved the message, so she's a proven liar (and she said it twice).

I have already posted about this on two other social media sites. I will never use Davis Airporter again, and I plan to tell all my friends and all my students (I'm a professor) what a terrible business this is with horrible customer service.

—DrLefty

@ DrLefty, I'd appreciate it if you could tell me what day and what time of day you arrived so that I know who you dealt with. She was correct in that our cancellation policy is [supposed to be] included in all email confirmations. We should still have it on file, so I can double check. You don't need to put your name here, your confirmation number will do. If the person you talked to mentioned charging your card, you were being treated as a cancellation, probably wrongly. It has always been our policy that if a passenger arrives late and misses our van and chooses to get a quicker ride, we wouldn't charge them. I mean, what if you were told that the wait would be six hours? Are you still supposed to be charged if you find a different ride? I hope not. Seems like a good way to lose customers. Anyway, if you could give me more info (day of the week, approx. time of day), it will make researching this easier, thanks, AirporterDriverPete

Update 2/6/13: *@ DrLefty Your card was never charged. I found the email we sent you (DF are your initials, just so you know I'm not making anything up), and the cancellation policy is indeed there, just after the part you quoted. It reads, "Also, we have a 24 hours cancellation policy. If you need to cancel your reservation with us, please call us at least 24 hours before your pick up time. If not, your credit card will be charged for the full amount." I just talked to the manager, and several things came out of this discussion: First, we are rewording the part about time allowed for baggage claiming. It will include the fact that the 30-minutes for domestic and one hour for internationals assumes that your flight is on time. As for the cancelling issue: If a flight is late, the only way we're going to charge anyone for cancelling is if their wait was going to be less than an hour *after getting their bags*. This last part is important, since you called just as you got off the plane. This is recommended when you're late. However, the 90-minute wait time you were given was including the 30 minutes that it would likely have taken you to get your bags. So, your real wait would have been ~60 minutes, and perhaps the person you talked to should have been more clear on that. Also, to be clear, since we sometimes pick up multiple parties on the same van, there is always the possibility of a short wait time, even if your plane is on time. We set the maximum wait at 45 minutes for those who made their reservation on time (as opposed to 15 minutes at the Sacramento Airport). If one SFO reservation is scheduled to arrive at 10:00 and another at 10:45, we will likely put them together (unless the 10:45 is an international arrival). As it happened, we had put a 12:15pm arrival with your 1:00pm arrival. Since you arrived at 2:04, we obviously couldn't make the 12:15pm passenger wait that long. But the point is that the other person was going to be waiting for you for 45 minutes, and this is sometimes the nature of the shuttle business. It seemed reasonable to assume that since your flight was over an hour late, you wouldn't be surprised at having to wait a bit. That "bit" was obviously not to your liking, and that's certainly understandable after such a long day traveling. —AirporterDriverPete