First, to all of you who posted and helped me out, I want to thank you, and my girlfriend would like to thank you. So Thank you.
On other trips to NYC, we had flown into Laguardia, and rented cars for the duration of the trip. After my mini apple fest in February with Alan, in which we used the airtrain at JFK, I saw how efficient the NYC subway system was.
So when we decided to fly to New York on short notice from Chicago, I chose Newark to fly into to take advantage of the airtrain connection. I know JFK has a connection too, but to fly from Chicago to JFK on American (the airline where I had frequent flyer miles to use for this trip) one must change planes. I also booked at the Newark airport Marriott, planning to use public transportation too and from my girl-friends uncle's house in Brooklyn. We would only be staying one night.
We arrived on time on Saturday at about 9:30 a.m. By 10:15 we were in the hotel room, taking a quick nap and recovering from our early departure from Chicago. We had lunch at 11:30, with plans to catch the !:07 P.M. NJT train to Penn Station. The exact times are as follows:
1230 wait for shuttle
1235 -shuttle arrives
1245 lv hotel
1247 drp off at continental
1250 ar airtrain
1255 dpairtrain
100 ar newark ap
107 dp newark ap
130 ar penn
200 dp penn 7th ave on #2 train
230 ar president street
We could have cut the time at Penn to about 15 minutes, except that we needed a bathroom break, and my girl friend stopped to get flowers in Penn Station. We reversed the itinerary to return back to the hotel, but we stopped and had dinner at the Stage door Delicatessan which was at 33rd and 8th ave. Excellent restaurant, excellent fool.
The total cost round trip was $54 dollars for the 2 of us.
I had a rental car reserved at Hertz, and that was for $65 at one point, but canceled that when I deciced to take the train. In addition, had a rented the car, we would have had to pay 20 dollars to park it overnight at the hotel, plus about $15 dollars in tolls each way IIRC, and then pay for a half tank of guas. So you can see that we saved closed to 60 dollars on by using the train. The car may have been faster, but I have expereinced a New York traffic Jam, and don't care to again if possible. Also, with the car we would not have had that wonderful dinner at the stage door Deli.
My girlfriend, (who is not a railfan) appreciated the cost saving. We were on a tight budget, and since I was getting the plane ticket, and hotel, she agreed to get the tickets. She appreciated the opportunity to get flowers at Penn Station (her aunt really appreciated them), and we spent our time on the subway reflecting on our experiences with her family. Had I been driving, I might not have been able to enjoy the conversation as well as I did. She is planning to return to New York, and she was asking me to explain to her the routing that we took so she could do this on her own. The fact that she was willing to do this shows her confidence in the transportation system in New York City.
Again, thanks for the help. Even though this post does not have much technical jargon or detail, it does show that the airport to new york connection is viable. Even with suitcases, the trip would be manageable becuse of hi-level platforms and working escalators and elevators int he station.
On other trips to NYC, we had flown into Laguardia, and rented cars for the duration of the trip. After my mini apple fest in February with Alan, in which we used the airtrain at JFK, I saw how efficient the NYC subway system was.
So when we decided to fly to New York on short notice from Chicago, I chose Newark to fly into to take advantage of the airtrain connection. I know JFK has a connection too, but to fly from Chicago to JFK on American (the airline where I had frequent flyer miles to use for this trip) one must change planes. I also booked at the Newark airport Marriott, planning to use public transportation too and from my girl-friends uncle's house in Brooklyn. We would only be staying one night.
We arrived on time on Saturday at about 9:30 a.m. By 10:15 we were in the hotel room, taking a quick nap and recovering from our early departure from Chicago. We had lunch at 11:30, with plans to catch the !:07 P.M. NJT train to Penn Station. The exact times are as follows:
1230 wait for shuttle
1235 -shuttle arrives
1245 lv hotel
1247 drp off at continental
1250 ar airtrain
1255 dpairtrain
100 ar newark ap
107 dp newark ap
130 ar penn
200 dp penn 7th ave on #2 train
230 ar president street
We could have cut the time at Penn to about 15 minutes, except that we needed a bathroom break, and my girl friend stopped to get flowers in Penn Station. We reversed the itinerary to return back to the hotel, but we stopped and had dinner at the Stage door Delicatessan which was at 33rd and 8th ave. Excellent restaurant, excellent fool.
The total cost round trip was $54 dollars for the 2 of us.
I had a rental car reserved at Hertz, and that was for $65 at one point, but canceled that when I deciced to take the train. In addition, had a rented the car, we would have had to pay 20 dollars to park it overnight at the hotel, plus about $15 dollars in tolls each way IIRC, and then pay for a half tank of guas. So you can see that we saved closed to 60 dollars on by using the train. The car may have been faster, but I have expereinced a New York traffic Jam, and don't care to again if possible. Also, with the car we would not have had that wonderful dinner at the stage door Deli.
My girlfriend, (who is not a railfan) appreciated the cost saving. We were on a tight budget, and since I was getting the plane ticket, and hotel, she agreed to get the tickets. She appreciated the opportunity to get flowers at Penn Station (her aunt really appreciated them), and we spent our time on the subway reflecting on our experiences with her family. Had I been driving, I might not have been able to enjoy the conversation as well as I did. She is planning to return to New York, and she was asking me to explain to her the routing that we took so she could do this on her own. The fact that she was willing to do this shows her confidence in the transportation system in New York City.
Again, thanks for the help. Even though this post does not have much technical jargon or detail, it does show that the airport to new york connection is viable. Even with suitcases, the trip would be manageable becuse of hi-level platforms and working escalators and elevators int he station.