Just curious, as it seems that it takes pretty much a detective's whole day if he wants to cross from Earth to Moon (not including the time it takes to get to the Beanstalk from wherever your detective happens to be).  What have been your experiences?  Is using the Beanstalk worth the trouble, or is it usually better just to get a dropship pass?

Well, dropship passes are not all that easy to come by. I have found that chosing to switch locales is not something done without careful thought. As you say, it does take basically a whole day.

In the game I've played, I didn't see any great need to travel to the Moon, and stayed on Earth the entire time. If you spend a lot of your time following leads and playing cards there's just not a huge difference between the two, certainly not enough to spend a day travelling. That said, I imagine you'll have slightly more incentive to cross down to Earth if you start on the Moon due to the greater variety of locations. (Although it's pretty tough for Floyd due to his third directive.)

It all depends on your situation. Also, remember that your turn on the beanstalk may not be a complete waste: You gain one light card and possibley a good baggage. Crossing the beanstalk "only" takes four time, so you can either move to a single location on the moon still or come from a further distance from the earth.

Yesterday, I crossed the beanstalk twice. Even thouhg I felt hindered, I did not feel it was gamebreaking - just a minor nuisance. It is always important if you are the only one to cross, or if others have to cross, too, and have to "lose" turns as well. If you are the only one that must cross it, you'll have to ask yourself why.

Concerning Floyd, I guess it is quite OK to cross the Beanstalk in between the first and second week´s 4th day (you have seven days to do it and aquire a dropship pass when you are down there, for which Floyd gets 49 time, mind his 3rd directive)... staying on the Moon all the time seems a little dull.

For anyone the crossing can be worth the effort, when they manage to place a lead somewhere along the beanstalk (and as already said by Mike, don´t forget the good/bad baggage possibility you can get at the Castle club.