Denver station to airport

[Neens9_3/4]

I'm trying to get out to Florida the 1st of July. I would take the train out there but don't have the time. I was looking at plane tickets. There is one that leaves at midnight out of Denver. I know the CZ gets into Denver around 6:30. Is it easy to get from the train station to the airport? What is the cost? Is this just a bad idea because of delays? I'm in grand junction and the flights are about 200$ more than in Denver. Any help would be great thanks!

 

[Rail Freak]

I'm from the Tampa area & fly to & from Denver often. I also travel thru Denver on Amtrak often.

The airport is a $50+ ride by cab , but I would worry about delays. The 1st idea that pops in my mind is to take Amtrak to Denver stay at the LaQuinta Inn Central (&10 cab ride) then the next morning take a Super Shuttle ($20) to the airport the next morning.

 

[jis]

In Denver very often it is cheaper to rent a car at the airport and drop it off downtown, or Fort Collins or wherever you are going. Of course if you are going to Fort Collins it may as well be a batter idea to just keep the car for the duration.

 

[PRR 60]

It's a bad idea. A late eastbound Zephyr could cost you your flight.

The train fare would be about $50, the station to airport transfer would be another $11 (bus) to $60 (cab including tip). Count those costs against the extra $200 cost for the Grand Junction - Denver leg by air. Take the low stress route. Fly out of Grand Junction, land right at DEN, walk to your connecting flight and head to Florida. If something goes wrong, your airline has to make it right. If Amtrak is late getting you to Denver and you miss your flight, it's your headache.

 

[jis]

It's a bad idea. A late eastbound Zephyr could cost you your flight.

The train fare would be about $50, the station to airport transfer would be another $11 (bus) to $60 (cab including tip). Count those costs against the extra $200 cost for the Grand Junction - Denver leg by air. Take the low stress route. Fly out of Grand Junction, land right at DEN, walk to your connecting flight and head to Florida. If something goes wrong, your airline has to make it right. If Amtrak is late getting you to Denver and you miss your flight, it's your headache.

Yeah, when I have to make an air connection from Amtrak LD I usually either give it a wide berth of 6 to 8 hours if using a nonrefundable ticket on air, or if that is impossible I spring for the higher cost refundable/changeable ticket, which I can then tweak as needed as the train progresses towards my transfer destination.

 

[BoulderCO]

Transport from Union Station in Denver to DIA (airport) is convenient, easy, and inexpensive. Go to RTD-denver.com to look at the details, but busses leave from Union Station to the airport at least once hourly during the timeframe you are interested in. Cost is probably less than $10 adult and $5 senior, but check the website for details. Transit time is about 35 minutes.

The biggest risk you have is the actual arrival time of Amtrak into Denver. You will need to assess your own comfort zone for that ;>)

 

[Neens9_3/4]

Thank you all. Very helpful! I was thinking it would be kind of risky.

 

[neroden]

I'm trying to get out to Florida the 1st of July. I would take the train out there but don't have the time. I was looking at plane tickets. There is one that leaves at midnight out of Denver. I know the CZ gets into Denver around 6:30. Is it easy to get from the train station to the airport? What is the cost? Is this just a bad idea because of delays? I'm in grand junction and the flights are about 200$ more than in Denver. Any help would be great thanks!

There's a "SkyRide" bus which runs between Denver Airport and Denver Union Station. Specifically, the "AF" route.

http://www3.rtd-denver.com//schedules/getSchedule.action?routeType=9&routeId=AF

It runs hourly and takes 42 minutes.

So if have a flight at midnight, and you allow for two hours to trek through the Denver Airport (which is about right given how enormous it is), then you would want to catch the 8:40 bus to be there by 9:22.

The problem for you is that Grand Junction to Denver by the California Zephyr is pretty unreliable -- the train could be hours late coming in from Utah. Greyhound, which also runs from Grand Junction to Denver, is no better; its eastbound buses originate in Las Vegas.

I checked amtrakdelays.onlineschedulingsoftware.com. If you'd tried this each day in the last four weeks, you would have missed the 8:40 PM bus once in the last 4 weeks. You would still have caught the 9:40 bus, made it to the airport at 10:22, and had an hour and a half to get to the airplane.

Given that record, I would probably risk it. But then I hate flying.