[swrinfla]

It bothers me a whole lot that folks seem to have considerable difficulties differentiating between The Villages Shuttle and the Villages Airport Van.

They are two totally different services, with absolutely no connection, one to the other!

The Airport Van is a late-comer, trying very hard to offer competetive service, but, by many reports, failing. The Shuttle has been around much longer, offers much more comfortable vehicles and a very reliable service.

Yes, both have their faults. Indeed, I've been known to decide that I can do a much more acceptable job than either of them!

However, I am a firm believer that The Villages Shuttle [<TheVillagesTransportation.net>] will serve you best!

SWR

[tucson]

Originally Posted by karostay

My wife and I have been using the Villages Shuttle for all our arrivals and departures with no problems.It's a great service.
On this trip have decided to go with Villages Airport Van
Our main reason for doing so our last few trips due to flight schedules we would miss the airport shuttle departure by a few minutes thus have to wait an hour till the next shuttle. { I know an hour WOW }
From what i understand is with the Villages Airport Shuttle they schedule your pickup based on your arrival time.
That once you have your luggage just call they are waiting on site
then will proceed to the baggage claim area to pick you up.
I guess my question is has anyone used the Villages Airport Shuttle and have any concerns or issues about their service. Thank you

Do all the drivers (for most companies) charge 35. p.p.(one way) to the airport in Orlando?

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by tucson

Do all the drivers (for most companies) charge 35. p.p.(one way) to the airport in Orlando?

Villages airport van is $35 each way (tip extra/optional).

If you live in the southern end of the villages then the return home is better since you will be dropped off first. But northern end folks may wait for some time - I've heard as much as 1 hour once inside TV if the van is full.

But I've used them a few times with no complaints thus far.

[thekeithfan]

I have used them as well as Village Cab. They both take you to your home and the other thing is they don't charge you an extra $5.00 for golf clubs.

[trichard]

We have used the Villages Airport Van numerous times. Will pick you up and drop you off at your airlines' terminal door. Pickup is based upon your flight time and you are not subject to a schedule. Great door-to-door service.

[pooh]

We had no problem with them on our ride to the airport. We were picked up at the house and had a pleasant ride to Orlando. The problem was our trip home from the airport. We were flying in from the UK and it had been an extremely LONG day and a half. We weren't the only ones waiting over an hour for the van to arrive at our terminal...there were many tired passengers. After we were picked up it was back to the other terminal to pick up passengers we thought had already been boarded. The ride to TV was pleasant, but taking over an hour to drop off passengers was annoying because the driver insisted he knew the area better than the residents he had in the van. Tired people saw their house, but couldn't get to it because the driver insisted on going the way his map or Garmin routed. I'm sure this young man wasn't particularly familiar with TV and it's better to be dropping off than picking up where there is a deadline, BUT it's put them on my prefer not to use list. We landed at 8pm and didn't get home until close to 1AM, and we were not the last group to be ferried to our homes. Have flown often, used a number of shuttle services.....the trip home wasn't an experience enjoyed.

[lovesports]

Like The Villages Airport Van better. I have always had great experiences.

Once had delays with my flights and missed the last Villages shuttle for the night. That was in the days before The Village Van. Not a happy experience.
Plus back then you had to pay for your taxis to and from the shuttle. Prices were going higher and higher for the shuttle. The competition has brought them back down.

[Chopper]

The Villages Transportation Service (the shuttle) recently increased the number of round trips to/from Orlando International Airport to 14 times a day.

For going to the Orlando Airport, the first shuttle departs from Spanish Springs at 4:30 AM and Lake Sumter Landing AT 5:00 AM. The last shuttle departs from Spanish Springs at 9:00 PM and Lake Sumter Landing at 9:30 PM.

For coming to The Villages, the first shuttle departs from "Terminal B" at 7:00 AM and "Terminal A" at 7:15 AM. The last shuttle departs from "Terminal B" at 11:30 PM and "Terminal A" at 11:45 PM.

I don't think it can get much better than this.

[swimdawg]

If you have read some of my past posts on the Pros and Cons of TV Shuttle vs. Village Airport Van, you will see that I was fair and leaned toward TV Shuttle Service. However, I have changed my opinion.

I did have a negative experience with Village Airport Van. I went right to the "the top dog", the owner....and he not only talked to me on the telephone but also responded to me in a PM as Swimdawg. He did not know that the person who complained to him on the phone was Swimdawg.

This is part of his PM to me:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good afternoon Swimdawg,

I am the owner of the Village Airport Van. I frequently peruse the Talk of the Villages blog to see what the community is saying about our organization. We are always striving to improve our service, and I just wanted to touch on some of the points you brought up in a post recently, in which you compared the pros and cons of both our company and our competitor.

Firstly, I'd like to discuss the waiting area at the airport. Orlando International Airport provides benches for most parking spaces along level 1 (Ground Transportation). For some unknown reason, the spaces that we make use of (A45 and B49) are further from these benches than any other spaces. The spaces in fact have no designated benches assigned to them. Accordingly, we have contacted the director of Airport Ground Transportation, Paul Issler, to request that additional benches be furnished. We have gone as far as to offer funding for installation of said benches and have been notified by Mr. Issler that the matter is being looked into further. This request may first need approval from the Orlando International Airport Ground Transportation Committee, so we must wait for the airport to address this issue before we can move forward.

Secondly, you commented that our vans are not as clean or organized as our competitors. To that end, we have recently committed $65,000 to ensure that our vans are immaculate both inside and out. If you should ever feel that a van's level of cleanliness is subpar, we would encourage you to please notify our office of the same, either by phone or through the comment cards located in our vans. Your van should always be of the same level of cleanliness you'd expect it to be after driving it off the lot at a car dealership. Furthermore, in reference to the appearance of our drivers, we have recently invested upwards of $8,000 to equip all of our drivers with new uniforms.

Finally, in addition to always trying to improve the cleanliness of our vans, we also strive to provide the safest travel possible. To that end, we have invested $3,000 in new running boards, which are currently being installed on each and every van. Despite the medical-grade step stools that we provide, we have heard recently that various customers have experienced difficultly in boarding the van.

In closing, I hope that some of these details will help you understand the level of commitment we have to our customers. I do not exaggerate when I say that we always want to be faster, cheaper, and better than our competitors, and that we will work tirelessly to reach that goal. I encourage you to try our service again in the future, and to provide feedback on your trip through our comment cards (located in all vehicles). I cannot express how grateful I am for customers such as yourself - your feedback is invaluable and is the most important tool to helping us become the most affordable, fastest, and best airport transportation service in The Villages.

I'd like to thank you once again for your comments and hope to hear back from you soon!

Village Airport Van
www.VillageAirportVan.com
(352)-241-2000

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have to hand it to him. He really did what he said in this PM. The vans are very clean and the drivers are cautious, attentive, well-dressed, clean and very professional. The last driver even offered us bottled water which I thought was a nice touch.

It is so nice to be picked up at my home in Swimdawg South and be taken to the airport without having to transfer via cab as I did with TV Shuttle. The wait time has been much less using Village Airport Van. Now my vote goes to Village Airport Van!

Incidentally, Village Airport Van has 24/7 door-to-door service and every 10th trip if free. The price was the same with both services.....but I did have to pay $5. extra using TV Shuttle for the cab ride to/from the Shuttle Waiting Area.

YES TO VILLAGE AIRPORT VAN!
...And I will update as time goes on. I travel a lot......zipping back and forth from Western New York to TV.

[trapperjohn]

This may be a dumb question in light of the discussion thread, but....
My wife and I are planning on coming down for a lifestyle visit next month. Should we consider taking the shuttle or van from the airport instead of renting a car? We plan to fly in, see TV, and leave. We're not planning on driving anywhere except to and from the airport.

[pooh]

Originally Posted by trapperjohn

This may be a dumb question in light of the discussion thread, but....
My wife and I are planning on coming down for a lifestyle visit next month. Should we consider taking the shuttle or van from the airport instead of renting a car? We plan to fly in, see TV, and leave. We're not planning on driving anywhere except to and from the airport.

If you're planning to see The Villages, will you have a golf cart to drive around in? The place is HUGE, about 12 to 15 miles from one end to the other.
The shuttle is fine, the van is fine, but you do have to make reservations for either. (I didn't care for my return trip to The Villages by the van, but not all have had bad experiences using the van.)
Come, have fun, and I can guarantee you, you'll be back!O

[tucson]

Originally Posted by SyrNancy

We discovered that Enterprise rental cars keep their rate at $75, and since we had 2 people needing a ride, it was basically the same price as the van or shuttle. Our total was $85 as we let them pay for the gas. Enterprise will pick you up at house and take to Lake Sumter where their office is located to get the car, if you need. By using the rental car, we could leave when we wanted.
We are new to TV, and haven't tried the van or shuttle, but have friends who have used the van and had good experiences.

Do you know if Enterprise lets you drop off a rental at MCO if you pick it up in T.V.?

[Jim 9922]

Originally Posted by trapperjohn

This may be a dumb question in light of the discussion thread, but....
My wife and I are planning on coming down for a lifestyle visit next month. Should we consider taking the shuttle or van from the airport instead of renting a car? We plan to fly in, see TV, and leave. We're not planning on driving anywhere except to and from the airport.

I'd suggest the Villages Transportation Shuttle. Pickups at the airport every hour and arrive in a large safe bus-like vehicle. Get assigned a Villages sales agent ahead of time. Talk to the person ahead with the info as to your arrival. The good agents meet their prospects at the shuttle. If the person won't, demand a different one.
Depending on the number of days you spend here , the free golf cart should do you fine. If you want to tour off the reservation for a day, rent a car in TV for a day. Probably cheaper in the long run. You should also hook up with an independent realtor, such as Executive Realty. That person should also offer to pick you up at the shuttle terminal. Just ask them. The good agents go out of their way in trying to make a sale.
A good realtor will probably give you a brief tour off the reservation too, if you ask.
Have a good visit.

[thekeithfan]

Originally Posted by Chopper

The Villages Transportation Service (the shuttle) recently increased the number of round trips to/from Orlando International Airport to 14 times a day.

For going to the Orlando Airport, the first shuttle departs from Spanish Springs at 4:30 AM and Lake Sumter Landing AT 5:00 AM. The last shuttle departs from Spanish Springs at 9:00 PM and Lake Sumter Landing at 9:30 PM.

For coming to The Villages, the first shuttle departs from "Terminal B" at 7:00 AM and "Terminal A" at 7:15 AM. The last shuttle departs from "Terminal B" at 11:30 PM and "Terminal A" at 11:45 PM.

I don't think it can get much better than this.

Well it does get better than this all the other transportation companies will pick you up or deliver you at these times and all other times, are cheaper, and don't "charge" for clubs. And you don't have to get over to the bus station, they pick you up at home!!

[Biker Dog]

Originally Posted by tucson

Do you know if Enterprise lets you drop off a rental at MCO if you pick it up in T.V.?

Yes they do/