My brother will be flying from Albuquerque to Philadelphia on a business trip in a few weeks. His son lives in New York City. My brother has never visited his son in NYC; they only see each other about once a year when my nephew comes out west. So my brother is hoping that he can tack a couple of vacation days on to the trip and pop over to New York for a visit.
I’m looking for opinions on the best way to pull it off. His round-trip flight to Philadelphia will be paid for, so when his side trip is over he needs to get back there- he can’t fly to Philadelphia and fly home from New York. I’m sure there are shuttle services as well as train & bus options. I haven’t checked but I’m guessing that ground-based transportation would be cheaper than flying. I told my brother a rental car is probably not the best option since he would have to deal with driving and parking in NYC.
TLDR version: Anyone have any advice, experience or opinions on the best way to get from Philadelphia to NYC and then back again a few days later?
Amtrak will take you to Penn Station on 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in midtown Manhattan. It’s very centrally located and accessible to lots of taxis and public transportation if he needs to meet someone from there.
I usually make the trip from NYC to Philadelphia by Bolt or MegaBus, but I am a total cheapskate. The trip is usually $10 - $15 each way and takes about two hours.
Note that Amtrak has two services between New York City and Philly: the good one (Acela Express) and the less good one. The Acela is the one you want to use. Fewer stops and it’s a lot faster. And the trains are newer and more comfortable.
I third (or whatever) the Amtrak option, but remember that you have to get from Philly airport to 30th Street Station to catch Amtrak. The best option is to take the local SEPTA commuter train straight from the airport.
Amtrak is currently showing a lowest one-way fare (less-desirable departures on the slower service) at $41, and not many of those. The next bump up is $54. Acela (the service recommended by other posters) is about double that.
I just checked their websites, and they’re showing fares as low as $5-$9!!!
Not sure whether that gets you a ding or a gold star on your cheapskate card.
Amtrak is great, but the local commuter rail will be a much better deal. NJ Transit I think runs from Philadelphia 30th st Station to Manhattan (check the website). Not sure off-hand about airport to 30th st or whether there are trains from the airport.
I believe on the regionals you have to use SEPTA from Philadelphia to Trenton then transfer to NJ Transit from Trenton to NYC (single ticket, but make sure you get a ticket to New YORK Penn Station, not NewARK Penn Station). From PHL airport to 30th St. it’s a local SEPTA line.
I’d just take Amtrak for the convenience or the bus for the economy.
NJ Transit does not go to Philadelphia, but you can take SEPTA to Trenton and then NJ Transit from there to Penn. Sure, it costs a bit less, but it takes three times as long and is not nearly as fun. And there’s no beer car.
ETA: I should say that NJ Transit will not get you from Philly to New York. They do have a train between Philly and Atlantic City, though.
On Amtrak, the Acela is faster and a higher level of service than the regular regional or through trains, but for the bit more than an hour ride between Philly and New York, you just save a few minutes and it almost certainly won’t be worth the extra fare.
SEPTA (Philadelphia-Trenton) and NJ Transit (Trenton-New York) offer a joint ticket for the trip; about two-and-a-half hours total for under $20 one-way. As others have noted, SEPTA also serves the airport.
Acela is only marginally faster between NY and Philly. If you really want to do it on the cheap and not have to put up with the bus, take SEPTA to Trenton and NJ Transit to NY. The latter leaves on the same track in Trenton that the former arrives on, usually only a few minutes later. Both SEPTA and AMTRAK leave from 30th St. station and both NJ Transit and AMTRAK come into Penn station in NY.
