Why not take each situation as it comes?

mrsconn23

Dear Prudence,
Please help put an end to an argument my husband and I have every time an out-of-town family member comes to visit. I feel if a person makes an effort to buy a plane ticket and visit us from out of town, we should be happy to pick him or her up from the airport regardless of the time of arrival. Husband feels it’s rude for a person to expect to be picked up, especially after 11 p.m. or during peak rush hour, and should use a car service or a cab to get to our house. (Note: He feels we, too, should do this and not expect family members and friends to pick us up from the airport when we arrive somewhere.)

—Shuttle Service

NOLABridesmaid

It is nice to pick up family from the airport if it's not crazy early or late. I agree it's a case by case situation.

MissKittyDanger

NOLABridesmaid said:

It is nice to pick up family from the airport if it's not crazy early or late. I agree it's a case by case situation.

This ^!

charlotte989875

Case by case, depending on how far from the airport they live and what time the flights arrive. 

My H would avoid riding with other people at all cost, and to that end never tells people when we're planning on arriving so that we can just get there on our own. 

CharmedPam

I'm always available to help someone out and save them some uber/lyft money, but yeah it would be case to case.  I'll always offer.

southernbelle0915

My H and I are the opposite - I think people should get to the house on their own, he thinks we should pick them up. 

We live almost an hour away from our airport. And that's when it's not rush hour and there's no construction. Not only that, but we have a 2 year old, so only 2 adult seat belts unless we uninstall our car seat, which is a PITA.

And it's about $20/day to rent an economy car from our airport, which is cheaper than paying for transport to/from our house if someone is only coming for a long weekend.

Really, visitors should just do that and not expect us to drive 4 hours and rearrange our cars just to pick them up/drop them off at the airport.

banana468

I'm going to call case by case on this.   It's situation / age / location dependent.

DH and I live at least an hour from the nearest airports.   We haven't been asked to pick anyone up from the airport.   Unless it was a paid for service or a coworker (who agreed to it by our superior) I've never had anyone drive me to or from the airport.   

Unless I felt that the person shouldn't be driving or had major funding limitations I'd assume that the person flying into the airport would also be arranging their own transportation FROM the airport.   

mrsconn23

southernbelle0915 said:

My H and I are the opposite - I think people should get to the house on their own, he thinks we should pick them up. 

We live almost an hour away from our airport. And that's when it's not rush hour and there's no construction. Not only that, but we have a 2 year old, so only 2 adult seat belts unless we uninstall our car seat, which is a PITA.

And it's about $20/day to rent an economy car from our airport, which is cheaper than paying for transport to/from our house if someone is only coming for a long weekend.

Really, visitors should just do that and not expect us to drive 4 hours and rearrange our cars just to pick them up/drop them off at the airport.

I feel you.  We used to live an hour away from the airport and picking people up sucked. 

We currently live about 20 min, give or take from the airport.  I'm much more inclined to pick someone up if it works for me.  But also, it's a pretty cheap uber ride to my house.  So I wouldn't feel bad telling someone to find their own way. 

ei34

Another vote for case by case basis, depending on time of day.  Without traffic, we’re 15 minutes from one airport and 25min from another one (both major airports, one international).  In traffic, it’s more like 45 and 60 min one way during rush hour.  So definitely depends on the time of day...off peak it’s no trouble.

short+sassy

Case by case for me also.

I have to admit, when I fly home to CA, I expect for my mom or my sister to pick me up.  If I fly into Orange County, it's my mom.  If I fly into San Diego, it's my sister.  They haven't seemed to have minded and appear to have the same assumption.  I do try to time my arrival so it is neither too early, too late, or during rush hour.

If I fly into LAX, it has been made very clear to me that I am on my own, lol.  That is very understandable!  My mom has lived in So. CA for over 55 years and has never driven in L.A., lol.  Of course, she's been in the car if other people are driving, but she won't do it.

On the same token, I always offer to pick people up who are coming into town.  But then, I'm only about 30 minutes from the airport without traffic.  60 minutes with.

missJeanLouise

Case by case but I will say, I am always down to take/ pick up someone to the airport. When I was traveling it was always so nice to see a friendly face, not have to deal with the extra steps, just be able to get in the car and let someone else drive, that I like to do that for others. I will even do it for friends of friends if I am not doing anything else.

*Barbie*

we pick people up at the airport if they are staying with us and aren't renting a car while they are in town. 95% of the time it's our parents and it's not at odd hours. The downside is that my parents usually fly Southwest, which flies into Hobby, which is literally on the opposite side of town from us, and is 45 minutes without traffic. (at like 5am - any other time it's 60-90+) My ILs usually fly into Bush which is closer to our house, but still 30-35 minutes without traffic. 
Since this is only a 1-2 time per year thing, and they always pick us up and let us stay with them and borrow their cars when we're in town, it's not a huge deal. 

MesmrEwe

Team "Don't ask the husband to be involved in these cases!" He set his boundary, if LW chooses to pick them up on their time, that's LW's choice, but leave the husband out of it!  That said, still case by case basis!

levioosa

The last flight I took left at 5 am. So I paid the $16 a day for the weekend parking lot so I could drive myself without inconveniencing anyone at 3 am. When I got to my location I paid for a Lyft to take me where I needed to go. 

At 3 am, without any *ahem* watchful eyes, I can get to LAX in about an hour and twenty minutes from where I live now. But at any other time that drive can be 2-4 hours. I hate when people assume I can pick them up or drop them off at the airport. And they’re never asking me during a good time. Their flights are always at rush hour. I almost feel the opposite, like, if I am hosting you for days, potentially driving you places, cooking meals, etc, the least you could do would be to find transportation to and from the airport. 

MissKittyDanger

Case by case, always!
Examples:
With our trips - first was a really early flight there and late flight home so we cabbed it there and back.

Second trip we got lucky that flight was late enough in the day, that we could feel comfortable asking MIL and sFIL for a ride there.
On our way home it was late, but apparently a friend of ours was still up {at like 1am} and ended up meeting us at the airport. Did we ask/expect him to? Not even slightly.

When my mum went away first time, it was an early/late flight so she cabbed. For another trip, her friend's husband offered to drive her there and we picked her up since it wasn't late.

MyNameIsNot

I feel like it depends on who the visitor is. Airport is about an hour from me in no traffic, uber is about $50, but the train will get you to a station about 10 minutes away during normal hours. (It shuts down overnight). 

When my MIL comes to town, we will pick her up regardless of what time of day or how inconvenient. But when SIL or cousins come, they can take the train or get an uber unless we just happen to be close to the airport. 

banana468

I'm also going to say that if you want people to pick you up at the airport you aim to time your flights so you're not an inconvenience at your arrival time.  

If your flight gets in at midnight I'm sure you have no problems finding the rental counter or local hotel for the night.   I'll grab you in the AM.   

If your flight gets in while I'm awake we can talk.

We can handle delays on a case by case.   But asking me for a favor does not mean that airline problems get to further inconvenience just me.   The traveler needs some skin in the game. 

Jen4948

Team Case by Case.

For guests who are children, elderly or have mobility issues, or if this is their first visit, I would pick them up. I would not expect someone new to the area to give directions to a cab or Uber/Lyft driver.

For someone younger in better condition, especially if they have visited before, I still might pick them up but if they're coming at an inconvenient time, I'll tell them to take a cab or Uber/Lyft.