Srilm wrote:
... When you do need to put a bag in baggage compartment of an airplane, bus, or shuttle, I recommend buying a good solid bag for it. Don't go cheap -- it won't last long -- but also don't pay extra just for a name or fancy materials.
Or get a cheap cover to go over it. I picked up a waterproof drawstring sack at a local Army/Navy Surplus store for just a couple of bucks and whenever I'm going someplace where I might have to put it in a somewhat sketchy luggage compartment I put my backpack in the sack. It protects it from the occasional luggage compartment grease and/or dirt and from getting wet from accidently landing in puddle in somewhat sketchy 3rd world bus lots. It also helps disguise my pack (which is fairly nondescript already) from standing out so much as the bag of some "rich" gringo backpacker.
I've never had any of the problems described by Srlim of "ripped, torn, zippers broken, pieces broken off, holes punched" on my bag on a BUS probably because most of the time I'm the one placing my pack inside the bus's undercarriage luggage compartment and removing it at the other end. Checked luggage on a plane is another story because once it disappears through that hole at the end of the conveyor belt it is anybody's guess how it will be handled. Moreover, the potential damage to one's bag that Srlim describes is not nearly as likely to occur because nearly all the time when going between the airport and downtown you're able to take your bag
on the bus with you.
I DO understand and appreciate Srlim's other comment. The value of money IS all relative and I can see why to some a $10 shuttle or even a $25 cab ride to/from the airport might be worth the extra money for the greater convenience and speed as well as not having to
lug around your luggage as much. It isn't worth it to me personally, not because I think that $10 or even $25 is that much, but because I don't think the lost convenience or speed is that much either, but at least I can understand that line of reasoning for others.
What I DON'T understand is the safety argument (at least if taking the bus during the daylight hours) because IMHO, as marginal as is the slightly greater inconvenience and time it takes riding the public bus into town over private transportation, the "greater safety risk" is even more marginal if it even exists at all. Seeing as though brother ID described the relatively few and NONE TOO RECENT occurrances were mostly AFTER 10PM when few if any of us would even be taking a bus into town any way and that, even then, ID wouldn't be overly concerned riding the bus at ANY TIME, I think the rest of us should at least feel similarly safe using the bus during the day (or maybe even early evening). OTOH, whether you want to have to walk the few extra steps with all your luggage out to the bus stop and take the extra 5-10 minutes getting to your hotel could be another matter.
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Pura Vida 
I live in traffic daily), but because they wouldn't let me return the car at the airport if I rented from Paseo Colon. Not even for a fee. And I didn't want to drop off the car at PC on my departure day, then have to drag my suitcases (and K*ds) around to catch a cab. I preferred to go to the airport rental car place (you only pay the airport tax if you have them shuttle you from the terminal) by bus and pick up the car and then be able to drop it off there.
