Groome Transportation - formerly Monterey Airbus — Local services in Monterey

I used the Airbus to travel to and from SFO to Monterey for a week-long conference.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend them, but they're the only "budget" provider in town so... at least make sure you advocate for yourself by communicating by phone and double checking everything they tell you. Give yourself A LOT of extra time.

I needed to be at destination by 3pm. Even though the website has a bus schedule I called and asked what the best time would be to pick up the Airbus at SFO- just to be sure the published times were up to date/accurate.

The website says it takes 2h 45m from SFO to Monterey by bus. The very friendly rep on the phone said the 12:30 bus would be fine. I asked about traffic and other stops to be sure. She assured me it would be enough time.

I was asked to be at the bus stop 15 minutes ahead of pick up time which I was. The Airbus was 30 minutes LATE picking up at SFO. I received no phone call, text, or email alert about this. After waiting for awhile I became worried I'd missed the bus, so I had to call dispatch to get an update and they assured me the bus was on the way.

There were multiple traffic and construction delays on the way to Monterey. I didn’t get to my destination until after 4pm. :(

I realize that these issues are not the company's fault, but it IS their JOB to monitor the roadways they travel and adjust their schedule and build in extra time for these issues.

To add to my disappointment, our driver told us upon arrival that it’s typically a FOUR HOUR trip! During our trip no bathroom breaks were offered to the travelers and there was no agenda posted on the bus so we’d know what to expect re: stops.

Clean, modern charter mini buses- but with little to no shock absorption. A very bumpy ride. They need to clean air intake and require masks on board- as it's very close quarters.

I also experienced problems with booking. The fee chart said $70 each way. When I signed up it didn’t give "online booking discount" promised by rep I spoke with on the phone. I had to call them back, they had to cancel my booking and re-book me via phone to apply the discount. They gave me additional $10 off for the inconvenience, which I appreciated, until I found that others I traveled with to and from the same place had paid $50 each way...?

Overall I was disappointed given the expense. I was upset about being late, especially after all the effort I made to be on time (flying in a full day early and paying for an overnight in a hotel near SFO, and calling them to confirm times/details). The whole experience didn't make for a great start to the conference I was attending.

I called them to explain what happened and they were empathetic and said they'd have the manager call me back to discuss, but the manager never...

I first want to say that I have been a very long user of this transportation between SFO and Monterey. However I cannot recommend that anyone ever uses Groome transportation services after they almost killed me and every passenger on my bus from SFO to Monterey on the 9th of July 2024. A fire began on the bus while we were on the highway, without an accident. It spread very quickly, only 30 seconds after we pulled over and evacuated flames were shooting 6 feet out of the cabin windows where we were seated. Groome then had us stand on the edge of an active highway in direct sun for almost 2 hours while they figured out what to do. We were almost hit by a passing police officer as there was no safe place to wait. Despite all of this Groome never sent a formal apology. It took 2 days before I was able to speak with a manager about the situation and that manager never apologized for what happened and stated that groom was refusing to offer any compensation for the trauma they caused and the near death experience. Additionally even a month later when speaking with managers at Groome, they stated they did not know what started the fire. 1 month after my bus burned down my brother was trapped in one of their identical busses for over an hour at the San Jose airport because the door was jammed closed. It is clear that Groome does not prioritize safety of passengers or customer relationships. I highly encourage people to look at alternatives as Groome transportation is not a safe corporation. Here are a few photos of the Groome vehicle I was on which...

Absolutely not worth it. I booked this because it had good reviews and was slightly less expensive than renting a car for the week. I can say that the shuttle was VERY clean and the driver was fine, but the experience was awful. The email said we’d be picked up from SFO at 12:30 (even though our flight landed an hour before) and dropped off by 3. We didn’t see the shuttle until 12:50 which wasn’t great since we had no warning as to why but wasn’t awful. The real issue is that we made a bunch of stops on the way and had to wait for connecting drivers. This happened multiple times where our driver kept apologizing because we were waiting for other people to get picked up before we could continue on our route. We didn’t make it to our destination until 4:20 pm. I had booked round trip and instantly regretted it. Turns out it’s cheaper to rent a car for one day on each end and not waste any time. I cancelled our return to the airport trip because I can’t afford to miss our flight and had this delay happened on the return we would have. Their site states no refunds and had it not been for the complete and utter lack of time management I would understand that but I did use their text function to contact them. I was told a manager would contact me, but that was two days ago and no word. Do NOT waste your precious time with this company unless you can afford to miss your flights or waste time at your destination. If you just need the ride and can rent a car do it. I checked Uber prices and they would have been...