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USA Departure Bus Groups (updated March 23 5:20pm PST)
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March 25 Departure Bus Detailed Plan
(updated March 23 5:20pm PST)
--> Departure Buses: A Lot More Details (live it, learn it, love it)
Four Seasons travel (bus company) and I have collectively tightened our plan for Saturday morning.
All three USA Departure buses will load in the same sequence of the USA Apartments first -- Alpenpark second -- then Zum Gourmet third.
It is mission critical that everyone is ready and waiting to load at each loading location at the approximate times below (ideally a few minutes earlier than my notes here). Each load might go faster or slower than what is listed, but these are all good ballpark targets.
We are hoping for an average max of 8-10 mins load time per lodging location. To pull that off, we a lot of hands to help the driver pack super quickly. Remember also that there is a several minute drive between hotels.
Please note that if you sleep in, the buses cannot wait (people that were on time will miss their flights) and it's not practical to provide an emergency wake up for over 100 people. Literally this will be a moment in life where if you snooze -- you lose (well, you'll have to make alternative arrangements).
AND ..... it has been suggested by medical professionals on the trip that it would most likely be a very good idea for as many departing bus folks as possible to wear masks whilst on the departure buses. This is not (and will not) any type of requirement. This is purely a suggestion in an effort to help try and get as many of our crew home healthy.
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USA Departure Bus #1 Loading Plan: The early-bird express has the least flex time and more things that can go wrong. So Four Seasons and I have agreed that we are going to now plan on starting the load earlier than previously scheduled.
4:15am Bus #1 loading starts at USA Apartments in front where you were dropped off.
4:25am Bus #1 loading starts at Alpenpark gravel parking lot (uphill end of the hotel)
4:40am Bus #1 loading starts at Zum Gourmet right in front.
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USA Departure Bus #2 Loading Plan: This bus needs to stay on schedule, but we are comfortable with a faster load because there will be some daylight and I can also relay changes if something goes funky with Bus #1 loading locations. So....
6:30am Bus #2 loading starts at USA Apartments right in front where you dropped off.
6:40am Bus #2 loading starts at Alpenpark gravel parking lot (uphill end of the hotel)
6:50am Bus #2 loading starts at Zum Gourmet right in front.
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USA Departure Bus #3 Loading Plan: This bus should be easy on light and more sleep.
8:30am Bus #3 loading starts at USA Apartments right in front where you dropped off.
8:40am Bus #3 loading starts at Alpenpark gravel parking lot (uphill end of the hotel)
8:50am Bus #3 loading starts at Zum Gourmet right in front.
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--> Additional Notes For Saturday Departure
Everyone in USA lodging leaving on early Departure Buses (for sure #1 and #2) should settle all your hotel charges by the time you go to bed on Friday night.
Also make sure that any hotel or apartment safe opens correctly on Friday afternoon. You will not find help to open a stuck safe early Saturday morning (and that would be a big problem for you).
Both Alpenpark and Zum Gourmet have confirmed that there will be takeaway food items you can grab in the reception area super early on Saturday. This will allow Departure Bus #1 and #2 folks to at least have something to nibble on or drink during the drive to Munich. Departure Bus #3 folks should be able to grab a quick breakfast.
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Pay for Bus Rides Here
Bus rides for AXCS members and family are priced at a flat $45 per person/per ride. The PayPal button has been set up so you can pay for either one-way or roundtrip for either 1 or 2 people. Click on the little blue box with up/down arrows to find your payment situation. The flat price per person/per ride includes all processing fee and gratuities for drivers so there's nothing added.
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USA Arrival Bus Groups (updated to March 16 and completed!)
March 16 Arrival Bus Detailed Plan
Munich Airport Map & Instructions To Find Four Seasons Travel (our bus company) The map and instructions provided are easy-to-follow. This is where you go after you go thru passport control and collect your bags.
If you are one of the later arriving flights for your designated USA Arrival Bus, please move expeditiously so that we can keep to the schedule. If you are an earlier arriving flight or already in Munich the night prior, please target your arrival to the Four Seasons Travel counter a few minutes prior to the target loading time window.
Arrival Bus #1 (estimated load time 10-10:30am, March 16) -- marked in purple on the charts
Arrival Bus #2 (estimated load time 11-11:30am, March 16) -- marked in orange on the charts
Arrival Bus #3 (estimated load time 3-3:30pm, March 16) -- marked in green on the charts
For Arrival Bus #1, Milan and Nick Baic will be the “USA Bus Loading Leaders”. Milan & Nick will check your names off the Bus #1 list to hopefully make sure everyone is there and loaded on time. If there are any large bags that simply cannot fit on Bus #1, AXCS has arranged with Four Seasons Travel to hold those bags until JD Downing arrives to babysit those bags to put them on Bus #2 or Bus #3.
For Arrival Bus #2 and #3, JD Downing will be the USA Bus Loading Leader. Look for JD near the Four Seasons Travel when we get close to the target time windows for loading.
It will take around 3 hours with good roads to travel from Munich Airport to Seefeld USA hotels.
What if my flight arrives late?
Before you leave home, download the USA Arrival Bus chart onto a device so you can see where your flight fits relative to the original bus schedules. In many cases, a delayed flight of 30-60mins will still arrive within the original bus departure plan. So you will just have less time waiting at the airport. It will be any flights that are delayed so much that they compromise our target loading time window that will require us to adjust plans.
When you arrive late, do not panic and simply proceed as quickly as possible thru passport control and collecting bags to get to the Four Seasons Travel counter.
Four Seasons Travel will allow us to delay USA buses up to one hour without any penalty. After that AXCS has budgeted funds to cover some additional time delays in worst case scenarios.
Our objective is to roll each bus as close to on time as possible, but also we absolutely need to load Bus #1 and #2 with as close to the designated passenger counts as possible to avoid overloading Bus #3. Remember it's not just an issue of seats -- it's also the baggage!
It is very possible that if you are delayed, we may shift some folks designated for given buses to different buses in order to stay on schedule and fully load early buses. Your patience and understanding is very much appreciated if this happens!
What if I'm missing luggage once in Munich?
As long as you identify that you are missing bags fairly quickly and go directly to your airline help desk -- you should have sufficient time to process the missing bag paperwork and not overly delay your Arrival Bus. Before you go to airline help counters to process missing bag forms, please get word to other USA skiers of what you are doing so we know why to hold the bus.
It will really help if you print out the exact information for your lodging location so that you more quickly fill out airline missing bag paperwork. The airline needs to know where to arrange transport of your bags once they get in. For AXCS Lodging Package skiers, those three addresses will be posted here shortly.
Once you finish filling out missing bag paperwork, if your bus loading time window is underway please go immediately to the Four Seasons Travel counter (or the bus itself if someone has gotten you that information).
Worst case scenarios for Arrival (what to do and NOT to do)
-> If you miss earlier flight connections than your final MUC flight and are forced to change your entire travel plan, wait to send an email to JD Downing until you have a fairly clear idea of the revised plan. Try and be concise with your messages and stick to just facts once you know something concrete. Example: Joe & Jane Smith were scheduled for United flight 1 from Big City X arriving 9am — now boarding Lufthansa flight 5 from Big City Y arriving 11am.
-> When a direct MUC flight is delayed with multiple USA skiers on it, it’s helpful if just one person provides an update instead of 10-20 messages saying the same thing.
-> Please do NOT send any updates when everything is going to plan. No news is good news.
-> The email to use for updates to JD is << jd at xcskiworld dot com >>
-> If you are super late from original morning arrival flights or arriving after 3pm in the afternoon, that is when contingency plans will need to be put in place by Bus Loading Leaders. The bottom line is that a larger number of USA folks delayed will require more patience holding bus departures than a smaller number of people. At some point, we will have to roll each bus in turn. Thank you in advance for understanding this balancing act.
-> The worst case scenario for individuals is that you arrive so late that even a delayed Bus #3 can’t wait long enough. In this case, you have several options.
a. Your first option is to go to Four Seasons Travel and they will arrange a small van to take individuals or a small group to Seefeld. You will be charged 74 EUR for this ride. AXCS has some flexibility in the budget to refund a limited number of original bus fares. So if we have only a few folks need to use this bail out option — you’ll end up with only a small added fee out-of-pocket.
b. You can also take trains to Seefeld, but this option could be funkier on timing and cost may not be better than the Four Seasons shuttle.
c. If you are super delayed and arrive Thursday evening, you may be best off making arrangements with Four Seasons Travel (or book train tickets) for Friday morning — get a room at an airport hotel — and get a good night’s sleep rather than trying to do a midnight run to Seefeld. Yes, you would be skipping a paid night in Seefeld and add expenses, but this can be better than wrecking your body before the MWC begins. Travel insurance also totally can cover added expenses.
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March 25 Departure Bus Preliminary Plan
AXCS has booked three (3) departure buses with early, middle, late loading and travel time windows. It will take 30-40mins to load each bus between our three lodging locations -- up to 3 hours to drive to MUC Airport -- and then the airport and bus company recommend allowing 3 hours prior to international departures (AXCS also wants travel leeway and it will take up to a half hour to unload buses).
Early bus will tentatively be loading at Seefeld hotels between 4:30-5am (flights departing 10:55am - 12:25pm).
Middle departure bus will tentatively be loading at Seefeld hotels between 6:30-7am (flights departing 1:05am - 2:05pm).
Later departure bus will tentatively be loading at Seefeld hotels between 8:30-9am (flights departing 3:25pm and later).
More details will follow once we are in Seefeld for Departure Day after we see how the Arrival process goes and some other logistics.