Travellers are getting creative to find cheaper, alternate ways to get to and from Sydney Airport and avoid being slugged the access fee for using the train at the domestic and international terminals.
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Commuters must pay $13.80 to use the two Airport Link stations on top of their original journey cost. When Polish tourists Tom and Andrew saw that their trip to the international airport on bus and train would cost them more than $36 from Bondi they started looking at other options.
"We checked Uber but from our location, the price was one thing and the time, at this time of the day, it would be about one hour," said Tom.
So instead of paying the gate fee to get a train to the international airport, the men decided they would instead catch a train to Wolli Creek and walk the two kilometres to the international terminal.
And while it made for interesting scenes as they wheeled their luggage along the banks of the Cooks River, past people practising tai chi in the park, the two of them made savings of over $27.
Canadian tourist David opted for a less strenuous option and took advice from a friend and caught a bus.
By catching a train from where he was staying in Redfern to Banksia and getting the 400 bus into the airport David made savings of $13.55.
"Most of my friends are telling me that it is too expensive for the train, [they're] telling me this is the best way," he said.
"It's two things: save money and the challenge ... if I can save half of the costs then why not?"
Commuting from Wollongong to the airport, 22-year-old Taichi Matsui and three friends found a much more tech-savvy way to save costs.
Instead of paying almost $90 they decided to catch the train to Wolli Creek and catch an Uber for the remaining journey.
This would bring their total journey to around $55, making savings of close to $35 between the four of them.
Not only are commuters making savings going to the airport, but also those coming back to Sydney.
Marnie, who's originally from Adelaide but now living in the Blue Mountains, was coming back from Adelaide and decided walking to Mascot station was the better option to avoid the gate charges.
"It probably took me like 20 minutes, but I had to stop because of my bags. It was tiring, but I did it on the way there, so it wasn't too bad," she said.
"When I go home back to Adelaide I'll always walk. It doesn't matter where I'm going, I'll always walk."
