Does anyone know of creative ways of avoiding the ridiculously high fee?
Things I've thought of: There is a bus (well two, but I forget the other route number) route 400 that goes to the Airport, so catching a train to near one of the stops could avoid the fee.
I've heard if you take a station from close to the airport the fee is waived, but I couldn't find the thread. (Maybe I imagined it?)
If travelling with a friend, one person can go in a suitcase - two for the price of one…50% discount right there!
How does one call "shotgun" for this…
You are either the poor schmuck dragging the case or in the suitcase
struggling for air.
Ro-sham-bo.
And a snorkel.
If it's two or more people, catch a taxi to the airport from Redfern
Uber?
Yes you can ride the 400 bus. Board near Mascot or Banksia or Rockdale station or even the eastern suburbs Bondi junction and anywhere the bus stops. http://www.sydneybuses.info/routes then choose route 400 in the dragdown menu
or walk a few KM to the airport.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/04/is-it-worth-walking-to-…
http://www.traveller.com.au/secret-routes-the-cheapest-ways-…
The airport access fee is not applicable to any other station except Domestic and international airport
Your train ticket can be validated when you check in for your flight
out of curiosity, how much is the fee
$10 from memory. So like $17 Airport->City. Or walk 500m to Mascot and it's $5 or something.
Which terminal - Domestic or International
The train stop to get off at if you are going to train/walk is completely different
Mascot for Domestic
Wolli Creek for international
Also strategy will depend on where you are coming from. Bus maybe better if you access that route without too much effort.
Sometimes it's just not worth the effort to save a few dollars. Why not save your time and find savings elsewhere, like buying one less coffee a week for two months or withholding on impulse eneloops/SD cards/SSDs.
If you need to be somewhere and the most direct and fastest way happens to be a bit more expensive, why not just go for it? It's like someone living on the north shore detouring around the Anzac bridge instead of paying $3/4 across the harbour bridge, saving money yes - but at the expense of your time.
Get a new opal card, put $10 in it. Don't register it.
Use it as normal and leave $3.38 (or more) in it. Then use this card for your train trip to the airport. It'll go to minus value after tap off so just throw it away after the gates.
Even if you don't pre-use it, the train trip will cost you max $10 to the Airport and the card will go to minus figure. Throw away the card.
Is it possible to obtain one of the concession cards (if eligible), then unlink it, order another one and use the previous one to goto the Airport?
Any idea where the $3.38 figure comes from?
I dont understand the first question
$3.38 is the min amount allowed for adult opal to tap on during peak hours (less for concession and off peak). Once you tap on you can tap off regardless of the cost of the trip.
could you confirm if this trick still work in 2017?
@aec:
I haven't tried recently but it should still work. They haven't change anything regarding minimum tap on amount. If you're already in it should let you out.
@aec:
Standing by for update. Heading to Sydney site seeing for a week.
I also have a wait of 6 hrs at the airport…….
The trick only works when going to the airport. It's a different story if you're tapping on at the airport. Then you have to have the airport fee loaded on your card.
To my understanding the Concession cards only work as long as it's linked to an Opal account, which is digitally linked to your Uni Student admin account (When you initially get the card you should contact the uni and give them consent to create this link by signing a privacy waiver). When any of these links break, or you unenroll/not a full time student anymore, Concession opal cards automatically stops working.
I finally found the original thread: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/157427