Hi everyone. My boyfriend and I live in London and need to be in the Philadelphia area the weekend of June 3-4. We have a bit of flexibility on dates, but they have to include that weekend. Most flights we have found are around $600-$660 rt per person all in. That's a bit steep considering it is very early summer. I can qualify for some reduced youth fares, but he cannot.

We could fly from alternate UK airports, or even other ones in Western Europe, and fly into any NYC area, PHL, or even Washington DC airports if it would get us a better overall deal. Has anyone seen anything good for that time period?

Also, has anyone on here ever used the standby/Flightpass system? (www.airtech.com, www.airhitch.org, www.air-hitch.org) ? We have thought of that option but not sure how well it would work outside of the low season. Would welcome any feedback on that, or courier/consolidator options.

Thanks for your help

It may well be early summer... but unfortunately that week happens to be a week when much of Europe is on holiday. It's school half-term in the UK, and the week-end 3/4/5 June is a holiday week-end in many countries in Mainland Europe this year. I suspect that most cheap seats will have sold out quite some time ago.

Check prices flying London to NYC (I suggest EWR) and then take the train to Phila for about $100 RT. The train info at www.amtrak.com . There are cheaper trains (and a really cheap bus) but it is a bit more complicated.

MisterNice

Since you want to be as cheap as possible. I would suspect fares LON-NYC are cheaper than LON-PHL, since PHL has only 2 carriers serving LON (US & BA) and 3 carriers serving the rest of Europe (US, LH, & AF). If you do come into NYC, your CHEAPEST way to get to PHL is via Chinatown to Chinatown bus. $20 RT and about 2 hours each way.
http://www.staticleap.com/chinatownbus/

$618 LHR - PHL (1 June)

$496 ( 30 May) DUB - LGA(You should find plenty of LCC fares LON-DUB if you book ahead) but is it really worth the hassle for minimal saving? :confused:

New york fares are not worth considering at that time of year the savings (if any I had a quick look and LON - NYC fares seem higher at the moment) will be swallowed up by ground transportation in the USA and trust me after a TA you do not want to face a 2 or 3 hours onward journey on PT.

Have fun in Philly and grab a cheesesteak (cue pats/ginos/jims debate :p )

There are cheaper trains (and a really cheap bus) but it is a bit more complicated.

Train isn't so bad. Just take the Skytrain to the NJTransit to Trenton. Runs less than $10. Then connect to the SEPTA train to Philly. Runs about $7 or $8, iirc. The AMTRAK is the same thing except that you don't have to transit in Trenton. I don't know of busses going from EWR to Philadelphia but maybe there is. Don't under any circumstances bother with the bus from NYC. It's great if you're in NY (or philly), but from EWR the cost will be the same as taking NJT/SEPTA and it will be a horrendous hassle.

(cue pats/ginos/jims debate :p )

I like my steak to have mooed or clucked at least once in its life. :)

Train isn't so bad. Just take the Skytrain to the NJTransit to Trenton. Runs less than $10. Then connect to the SEPTA train to Philly. Runs about $7 or $8, iirc. The AMTRAK is the same thing except that you don't have to transit in Trenton. I don't know of busses going from EWR to Philadelphia but maybe there is. Don't under any circumstances bother with the bus from NYC. It's great if you're in NY (or philly), but from EWR the cost will be the same as taking NJT/SEPTA and it will be a horrendous hassle.



I like my steak to have mooed or clucked at least once in its life. :)It's Airtrain (http://www.panynj.gov/airtrain/). A $5 additional fare from the terminals at JFK to the train stations. Your NJTransit or Amtrak ticket has the fare included to/from EWR.

Skytrain, Airtrain, whatevva!!! :) The little car that looks like it was taken from a box that said "Matchbox" and that *still* doesn't take you to the city.

Instructions were for Newark. JFK comes out to be about $10 more pp each way because you have the $5 Airtrain supplement, the $2 for the subway, and the extra $2 or $3 for the NJTransit. Going to PHL from JFK on the slow boat is a pain in the butt. Exponentially worse from LGA, which is the seventh level of hell. If you can go into EWR, I think the train's a good alternative, but I wouldn't bother into JFK. They do have a service that a friend used between Philadelphia and EWR/JFK called Dave's Limo Service. Runs about $50 pp, each way and is basically a shared-ride van. Again, unless you can save $200+ per ticket, I wouldn't personally bother. Dinking around on a train or van for three hours after a very long plane ride isn't my idea of fun.

Anyway, just to lend a hand since I have done these all at some point or another.

EWR: Take Airtrain to Newark Airport station, connect to NJTransit to Trenton (express or local, doesn't matter), connect to SEPTA to Philadelphia, Cost about $20

JFK: Take Airtrain to Howard Beach, connect to NY Subway to Penn Station, connect to NJTransit to Trenton (express or local, doesn't matter), connect to SEPTA to Philadelphia, Cost about $30

LGA: Beg someone to tell you what bus to take, cry, wait for two hours by the curb as menacing people stare at you, cry, get on the bus and wonder if you are having flashbacks to Beirut in the 80's, cry, get to NY Subway, connect to Penn Station, sniffle and wipe your eyes, connect to NJTransit to Trenton (express or local, doesn't matter), connect to SEPTA to Philadelphia, Cost about $25