First, I was not shuttled around in what is pictured in first person's review. It was an ordinary van that holds 10 people tops. It was a nice clean van, and we were comfortable in our hour ride from Harlingen Airport to South Padre Island. The driver was very nice.
Now for my review. I will just give you my experience and you can decide for yourself if this the type of business you want for you.
We arrived in Harlingen and immediately noticed the South Padre Shuttle. We stepped up to talk to them and were told that they had 3 shuttles and that we would have to wait for 1 1/2 hours till they got back. That they had one shuttle there fixing to leave but that it was full. So we talked about Taxi service and they quickly told us that IF there is traffic on the Causeway we could end up spending $300 for a taxi. We never found out if it cost $300 to take a taxi to South Padre, because as my friend was walking away to check into Taxi's and car rentals, they all of sudden had room for us on their shuttle that was leaving at the moment. And we had to decide in that moment if we wanted a one way trip or a round trip, for them to pick us up on our return to the airport.
It was $15-20pp one way to South Padre Island and $40 round trip. We paid the $40pp Cash for four people and shuttled off to Padre.
Before we left they told us that the day before our pick up on the return they would call and give us a time. They estimated between 8-9AM but were not sure of the exact time. We also had to sign their form that said we understood their policy. Remember, we only had a few minutes to discuss this since they were sticking the four of us on a shuttle that would only hold 10 people and 7 people were already taking spots.
No problem with the shuttle getting us to South Padre.
The problem came with the phone call telling us that they would be picking us up at 7Am on our return day when we didn't have to be at the airport till noon for a 2pm flight. So I understand their policy helps and makes sure you do not miss your flight, but does anyone need 5 hours of sitting at an airport with not much to do? I think not. So my friend called and talked to the supervisor who said that in order for us to get a refund of our money we basically had to cancel within 48 hours, which was the day we got there. So with no hopes of a refund we checked into a taxi service on the island, called A-Taxi. It was $90 for four people to go the airport and they picked us up at 11AM. We made it to the airport in 45 minutes. Can't tell you if the Causeway had traffic because the taxi driver took a different route that had a speed limit of 55.
So before thinking that this shuttle may be your only option. Call A-Taxi in South Padre and see if they will pick you up for the time that is most convenient for your travels. South Padre Shuttle only runs on their time schedule and they do not cater to yours. Good luck on a refund if you do not like their pick up times, obviously you will not have 48 hours to cancel because of it.
They get minus 2 stars for not giving us a refund despite their policy. It's just the right thing to do. We paid cash so we have no way of refuting it. I should minus another star for them fibbing about the cab service, but maybe they were telling the truth about one person's really bad experience, who knows. read more
