I've booked a bus from Canberra to Jindabyne on June 9th. Greyhound direct service to Thredbo doesn't start until the official snow season, and I can't seem to find any shared shuttles. The cheapest private transfer from Jindabyne to my accommodation in Thredbo I've found is $135. Are there any suggestions for cheaper alternatives, or is $135 the best I can hope for?
Getting from Jindabyne to Thredbo
- Thread starter Agnieszka
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This would have been an interesting journey.I paid the $135 begrudgingly. Crazy journey. The driver wanted to turn back halfway due to the terrible weather and the idiots without snow chains blocking the road, but luckily, we made it in the end.
Thankfully, I have a direct bus to Canberra (Greyhound) on the way back, so I don't have to fork out another $135. A ridiculous price. He didn't even take me to the hotel. I had to lug my suitcase up about five flights of stairs from Thredbo Info Centre in the snow.
I reckon $135 is a reasonable charge for that service.
Nightmare conditions on the road, so risky with the numnuts in 2WD cars with no chains.
Internal roads to drop at the hotel (I’m assuming the Denman given you’re saying 5 flights of stairs) may well have been even more treacherous than the drive Jindy to Thredbo.
And while you had to haul your bag up stairs in the snow, you’d still be tucked up nice and warm in your room well before he got back to Jindy, being exposed to double the risk in having to do a return journey in those conditions.
Bus is great as a budget option.
But thats the point - risk/reward...
Fair weather payers are paying a premium so you can get a deal.
Imagine the surcharge if Uber was in town!
I don't know any where is the world that you would only pay $5 for 35km drive! (im guessing not even russia!)
Honestly, I've never seen prices anywhere else in the world for taxis like in Russia, although perhaps I was exaggerating ever so slightly. I should qualify that the prices were based on distance, so when I say $5, I mean going about 5km and getting stuck into a bad traffic jam.
It's ridiculous and outrageous. Only in Australia does this kind of unconscionable gouging get defended by the regulars as somehow reasonable.
And it's not just transport. The other day, someone got jumped on for daring to suggest that $5,000 for a few days accomodation in Jindabyne is a bit too expensive. It's pure snobbery.
Come on - that's not what was said at all.
I saw it the other way - I saw someone gloating at how lucky the got a deal months ago and the prices are now high. So lets start a thread complaining about high prices I didn't have to pay.
Exactly - that was my point 30mins in city traffic with no snow is different to 30mins on country roads UP HILL in a blizzard.Honestly, I've never seen prices anywhere else in the world for taxis like in Russia, although perhaps I was exaggerating ever so slightly. I should qualify that the prices were based on distance, so when I say $5, I mean going about 5km and getting stuck into a bad traffic jam.
well its not a 30 minute trip for the driver. they have to get back to where they picked you up. So thats one hour. And cost of running the vehicle is about $35 at $0.50/km for 70km. So driver is getting $100/hr.
And that's a fortune!!! What kind of job in Australia do you make $100 per hour?
How many trips do you think they can make a day? Its not like every hour of every day of the working year can be filled with this. There is opportunity cost.
If its such a good deal for the driver - perhaps you could give it a go yourself.
My ex used to bitch and moan about reasonable prices and then piss himself laughing telling me he got $250 for a 'call out' charge to flick a switch.
LOTS of people earn $100ph
Like I said, pure snobbery. You can't complain about the insane pricing to these people and expect to be understood. They firmly believe that only the rich and the well-to-do deserve to ski. Screw the unwashed masses earning under $100 an hour.
Get a 50km trip in a taxi and see how much that costs.
in 1986 or so, I caught a taxi from Canberra to Cooma, (after midnight!) it was $95.
Actually, as a final word on the matter, it’s cheaper than I remember. Yandex (Russia’s Uber) has prices listed at maximum 13 roubles per km (approx. 0.23 AUD). But as @derider says, no point trying to explain to you the insanity of these prices.Honestly, I've never seen prices anywhere else in the world for taxis like in Russia, although perhaps I was exaggerating ever so slightly. I should qualify that the prices were based on distance, so when I say $5, I mean going about 5km and getting stuck into a bad traffic jam.
The best thing is that you made it to Thredbo, at a time that it is at its magical best! When there is a foot of snow in the village, there is no where like it in Aus... Enjoy!$100 an hour?
Peasants. I thought we locked the riff raff out.
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As General Westmoreland said "If you've got 'em by the balls their hearts and minds will follow". In other news, newbie discovers that snowsports are expensive.
The 9th was nightmare conditions, given the conditions $135 was a bargain.
You could have hired a car and driven to Thredbo, but with the conditions even in a 4WD there was a good chance you'd end up off the road and have to tow the vehicle and then get a driver/taxi to take you to Thredbo AND catch a bus back.
As for comparing to $5 for a 30 minute drive in Russia - we do have minimum wages in Australia. You really want our drivers to be living in poverty earning $160/day income before expenses like maintenance and petrol working 16hrs a day just so you can have cheap private transport in an unsafe vehicle?
I totally agree- and the bull about not giving refunds: bad weather shut down all lifts, but no refund. A replacement day is no use when you are leaving.
