Luggage Storage at NYP/Grand Central without Amtrak ticket?

[Texan Eagle]

Is there any place, or way, I can store luggage for a few hours at NY Penn Station or Grand Central if I am not traveling by Amtrak?

I know NYP has luggage storage for $5.50 but needs a valid Amtrak ticket, isn't it? I will be arriving into JFK Airport by air early morning and driving out with a rental car booked from Times Square in the evening, and just need a place to keep my bags while I do sightseeing in Manhattan. What is my best bet?

I am not taking any Amtrak or NJTransit trains (the demand-supply threw me out of the market- one-way rental car + toll + fuel is still cheaper and 3 hours faster than Amtrak tickets for 2 pax on my route, but that's story for another day). The only train I *might* take is LIRR from Jamaica to NYP, unless I end up taking the Subway from Jamaica.

 

[John Bobinyec]

I don't know the answer to your question, but you might also consider the Port Authority bus terminal.

jb

 

[jis]

Google is your friend. If push comes to shove, here is a possibility near NYP.

http://schwartztravel.com/

$2 per hour with a max of $10 per day.

AFAIK PABT has no luggage storage facility post 9/11. Storing at Penn Station requires that you have an Amtrak ticket. Alternatiely if you are an Amtrak AGR Select Plus or above, you can use the Club Acela to store your luggage, and even yourself for a while.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Google is your friend. If push comes to shove, here is a possibility near NYP.

http://schwartztravel.com/

$2 per hour with a max of $10 per day.

AFAIK PABT has no luggage storage facility post 9/11. Storing at Penn Station requires that you have an Amtrak ticket. Alternatiely if you are an Amtrak AGR Select Plus or above, you can use the Club Acela to store your luggage, and even yourself for a while.

Jis, I saw Schwartz but it is $10 and Penn Station is $5.5 per bag, so was wondering if someone here has an ingenious idea to use the cheaper storage.

Can I buy an Amtrak ticket to somewhere for a train leaving later that evening, use that to store my bags, retrieve the bags and cancel the ticket? Will I get a 100% refund or will I be stuck with a travel voucher? If I read the rules correctly, if I purchase a "Flexible" ticket, I can get 100% refund even if the cancellation is within 24 hour from departure, is it?

If this is an option, what is the cheapest "Flexible" ticket I can purchase? What are the destinations I should search for?

 

[R30A]

I believe Yonkers is pretty reliably the cheapest destination

 

[jis]

Flexible fare to Yonkers is $31. You can buy a flexible fare ticket to Yonkers, use it to store the bag and then cancel it out I suppose.

 

[amamba]

I thought you could use the NYP storage with an NJT ticket, too?

 

[Texan Eagle]

Flexible fare to Yonkers is $31. You can buy a flexible fare ticket to Yonkers, use it to store the bag and then cancel it out I suppose.

Thanks, never even heard of a station named this.. I would have never guessed! Considering I have 3 bags to store, the NYP vs Schwartz difference will be about ~$15, enough to get me some of those famous NY style pizza I guess :unsure:

BTW, does Grand Central offer luggage storage? There are no more long distance trains from there so I'd guess no, but worth asking

 

[Texan Eagle]

I thought you could use the NYP storage with an NJT ticket, too?

But does NJTransit have any refundable fares, since everything is unreserved?

Would an LIRR ticket work? I will be coming by LIRR train from Jamaica so can I show that ticket?

 

[jis]

Heck if you are going to buy a ticket, you might as well buy an Acela First Class ticket on one of the last southbound Acelas to say Newark in First Class ($93) and store you bags for free in Club Acela. Why pay $5.50 per bag? If you cancel the Acela First Class ticket before departure you get full refund. Now then hopefully Acela First Class is not sold out by the time you decide to do so.

Supposedly only Amtrak ticket is supposed to work for the day check. However, there is lot of anecdotal evidence that very often no ticket is checked. Perhaps if you were to dust off your Amtrak cap and put it on and look very much like an Amtrak passenger they won't ask for a ticket. Who knows?

 

[BCL]

I have no philisophical issue with someone using the baggage check without a ticket - as long as there's plenty of space. We used the baggage check after my wife arrived at NYP. We weren't asked to show a ticket, and I'm not sure it would have worked after the ride was completed. You could ask first at NYP and then go to Schwartz as a backup option if needed.

 

[railiner]

Used to be, any full service hotel bell captain would check bags in a location near the bell stand. Not sure if this is still common, but it's worth a try....lot's of hotel's in the station area.....

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I do have an issue, however, with people booking limited space on a train they have no intention to travel on.

 

[Texan Eagle]

I do have an issue, however, with people booking limited space on a train they have no intention to travel on.

If Amtrak would just let me keep my bags by paying them the $5.50 per bag, I have no intention of using the workaround of grabbing somebody else's ticket either.

But if they put restrictions, and there is a legal way to circumvent it, I'd do it.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I do have an issue, however, with people booking limited space on a train they have no intention to travel on.

If Amtrak would just let me keep my bags by paying them the $5.50 per bag, I have no intention of using the workaround of grabbing somebody else's ticket either.

But if they put restrictions, and there is a legal way to circumvent it, I'd do it.

Why does Amtrak have any obligation to check your bags? You're not utilizing it for any of your travel on this trip. Pay the full price at Schwartz and then pick up your rental car.

 

[BCL]

I do have an issue, however, with people booking limited space on a train they have no intention to travel on.

If Amtrak would just let me keep my bags by paying them the $5.50 per bag, I have no intention of using the workaround of grabbing somebody else's ticket either.

But if they put restrictions, and there is a legal way to circumvent it, I'd do it.

Why does Amtrak have any obligation to check your bags? You're not utilizing it for any of your travel on this trip. Pay the full price at Schwartz and then pick up your rental car.

He's offering to pay for it, and it sounds like maybe 12 hours of storage time. It's not as if they're doing it for free. For the most I didn't sense that the baggage personnel cared as long as someone paid. I'm also pretty sure Amtrak is making money out of luggage storage.

I say go for it and then have a backup plan.

 

[Anderson]

I do have an issue, however, with people booking limited space on a train they have no intention to travel on.

I concur, with a caveat: I'm fairly sure that Amtrak rarely, if ever, sells out the last Acela of the evening now. If there was a serious risk of someone getting blocked out of a seat by this move, that would be one thing. That risk seems to me to be negligible for a late Acela or Regional.

 

[FriskyFL]

Maybe you could pay a homeless guy to watch your bag for a few hours?

 

[7deuceman]

Pay to use the restroom, luxury shower and storage, coming to Manhattan:

www.PoshStowandGo.com