Getting from Grand Prix to Airport on Sunday.... (Austin: rental car, rental)

[FrozenCucumber]

I just realized I may be screwed.
I have 6:30PM flight out of Austin on Sunday.
I also have bleacher seats to the Sunday Grand Prix which ends at 3PM (although could be 3:30PM?)

How do I get myself+luggage from Grand Prix to Airport? I figure I need to be on the road, in rental car or otherwise by 4PM -- and my luggage needs to be in that given car before the race. E.G., I can't take a taxi to Grand Prix, because where would my luggage go?

I can have a rental car (not cheap!), but there is no parking available at Grand Prix (what there was cost $200 and sold out many moons ago). Doing the Park + Ride would be making it very tight, if not impossible. Figure at least 30 min for shuttle to get to park/ride station, another 30-45 min to drive from there to airport, add in 30 min for "error" (just to get onto a shuttle)... figure that's a 2HR endeavor.. its POSSIBLE this could work.. but its also very possible i wouldn't get to airport till 5:30-6:00P for 6:30PM flight!

Having race on Sunday is kind of silly in retrospect?

Any suggestions? One out-of-box, and seemingly illegal suggestion, would be to pay someone to drop me off in my rental car, pick up up after race, and then drop me off at airport and take a taxi home from there. Not ideal since (i) not allowed to drive my rental car, (ii) not sure how pickup/dropoffs will work and whether Grand Prix allows those

Maybe I can find someone who will let me park at their place. They will drop me off at Grand Prix, pick me up and take back to their place. And then I will take my car from there to the airport!

[Komeht]

So, first of all, F1 Races are ALWAYS scheduled this way. So, I think you need to take that up with F1.

Formula One Gran Prix events span a weekend. Two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. The race is held on Sunday.

I'd ditch the rental car prior to the event and just figure out a ride to the airport - hell, its probably walking distance.

[OpenD]

I don't know where you are going to find a place to stay Sunday night, but I'd just go ahead now and reschedule your ticket to go out Monday... if you can... because there is no way you're making a 6:30 flight. And I dunno, at this point you might have to settle for Tuesday.

Let's break it down... the airport is going to be completely slammed after the race. For a 6:30 flight, which closes its gate at 6:00, I'd estimate you'll need to be in line for security by 4:00. If the race ends at 3:30, that leaves you... oh, heck... no time at all to get there, unless you have a personal jetpack at your disposal. But I've heard they're all booked. And you could walk the distance to airport faster than you could drive, if my estimates are correct. But what about your luggage? Gonna sit on it at the race?

As a certified gazillion-miler, I understand the drive to find a way to make it work, somehow. But I've also learned that every once in a while you just have to give in to the inevitable and start over to make a more realistic plan.

Or, you know... you COULD just skip the race... and head straight for the airport...

[EzPeterson]

Put the luggage in the trunk of the rental
Park the rental in the garage at the airport
Take a cab from the airport to the race
Take a cab from the race to the airport
Pick up your rental from the parking garage, loop around to rental returns.
Walk into the airport with maybe 45-60 minutes.

It's not silly to schedule the race on a Sunday, it is to schedule your flight 3 hours after the race. The good news about doing so? Not many others will have done the same, so I doubt the airport will be truly slammed.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by FrozenCucumber

I just realized I may be screwed.
I have 6:30PM flight out of Austin on Sunday.
I also have bleacher seats to the Sunday Grand Prix which ends at 3PM (although could be 3:30PM?)

How do I get myself+luggage from Grand Prix to Airport? I figure I need to be on the road, in rental car or otherwise by 4PM -- and my luggage needs to be in that given car before the race. E.G., I can't take a taxi to Grand Prix, because where would my luggage go?

I can have a rental car (not cheap!), but there is no parking available at Grand Prix (what there was cost $200 and sold out many moons ago). Doing the Park + Ride would be making it very tight, if not impossible. Figure at least 30 min for shuttle to get to park/ride station, another 30-45 min to drive from there to airport, add in 30 min for "error" (just to get onto a shuttle)... figure that's a 2HR endeavor.. its POSSIBLE this could work.. but its also very possible i wouldn't get to airport till 5:30-6:00P for 6:30PM flight!

Having race on Sunday is kind of silly in retrospect?

Any suggestions? One out-of-box, and seemingly illegal suggestion, would be to pay someone to drop me off in my rental car, pick up up after race, and then drop me off at airport and take a taxi home from there. Not ideal since (i) not allowed to drive my rental car, (ii) not sure how pickup/dropoffs will work and whether Grand Prix allows those

Maybe I can find someone who will let me park at their place. They will drop me off at Grand Prix, pick me up and take back to their place. And then I will take my car from there to the airport!

There's no way you will make it to the 6:30 PM flight, just stay another day in Austin.

[kiacook]

Having race on Sunday is kind of silly in retrospect?

So F1 should schedule the race to accommodate your schedule?

[OpenD]

Pretty good plan, EZP, but I caught a couple of mistakes and fixed them for you...

Originally Posted by EzPeterson

Put the luggage in the trunk of the rental
Park the rental in the garage at the airport
Take a cab from the airport to the race
Try to take a cab from the race to the airport and finally share one with others that gets you through the monumental traffic jam and delivers you to the airport about 7 pm
Pick up your rental from the parking garage, loop around to rental returns. Realize you've missed your flight, give up, drive back into Austin through the phenomenal traffic jam, get into downtown about 10pm with no idea what to do next.

[Dr.Mom]

Could you pack a small carry on bag to get you through the flight and Sunday night while FedExing a bigger bag for the rest of the trip? We routinely FedEx our luggage - I highly recommend it!

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Pretty good plan, EZP, but I caught a couple of mistakes and fixed them for you...

True. There's going to have to be some monumental luck on the OPs side to even make it close. I still think it might be doable, but you'd practically have to leave a touch early - and then what's the point of going to the race?

Bike between ABIA and the track, maybe? should be about a 30-45 minute ride, and the cost of a cheap bike might be less than a hotel room Sunday night.

[Austin97]

No one knows what the traffic is going to be like so everything is speculative

1) definitely check in early and get your boarding pass. Depending on your airline/status you might be able to jump the security line (like jetblue even more legroom seats)

2) You might be able to check in your bags in the morning, but a lot of it depends on the airline, airport and the phase of the moon.

3) The airport is 10 miles from the track. If you leave right at 3, I have a hard time picturing it taking over 3 hours to go 10 miles. I think it is scopro who has a property that is adjacent to the track. Maybe you can pay him to park on his land. Security lines will be more based on what flights are leaving at that time than anything else. It is rare that it takes more than 45 minutes to get through austin security.

4) a bike isnt a bad idea, you might be able to convince one of the bike shops to give you a rental and you will lock it at the airport for them to retrieve.