Amtrak Guest Rewards - NYP-PHL commute

Hi everyone,

Complicated situation.

Basically, my wife is in NYC, but I'll be attending school in Philly. Choice 1, which is not appealing, is to live apart and see each other on the weekends. Choice 2 is to commute. Is there anyone that does the NYP-PHL commute, and do you particularly advise for/against it? I know a monthly on Amtrak is expensive, but we'd be saving the money from rent in Philly. Also, since we live close to Penn station and my school is close to 30th street in PHL, there's very minimal other travel time included in the commute.

Any advice, either for or against? Any more convenient ways of commuting? Or even cheaper?

Thanks!

Is moving a possibility? The Metropark station is 35 minutes from new york and 50 minutes from philly on Northeast Regional trains.
Schedule :
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249237330548&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_W02.pd f

Hi everyone,

Complicated situation.

Basically, my wife is in NYC, but I'll be attending school in Philly. Choice 1, which is not appealing, is to live apart and see each other on the weekends. Choice 2 is to commute. Is there anyone that does the NYP-PHL commute, and do you particularly advise for/against it? I know a monthly on Amtrak is expensive, but we'd be saving the money from rent in Philly. Also, since we live close to Penn station and my school is close to 30th street in PHL, there's very minimal other travel time included in the commute.

Any advice, either for or against? Any more convenient ways of commuting? Or even cheaper?

Thanks!
I know several people who do this and one more who stays with a friend in Philly one night a week, so he's only commuting 4 days/week.

You have as ideal a situation as exists. If you live inbetween NYP & PHL, both of you have to commute and frankly, once you get on the train, whether it's 60 or 90 mins. really doesn't matter that much.

Expense is a factor, but you can't drive it for less and the bus isn't likely cheaper and it's likely significantly longer.

A lot of people living in suburban NY and around cities such as LA and SF, have longer commutes. It just looks more daunting because yours will be between two large cities.

It's absolutely doable. I do the commute daily from MET-WIL which is very similar to NYP-PHL. It makes it a long day and most of the weekdays I don't contribute too much around the house. If you don't have any kids that involves activities etc then it absolutely doable. I do it with kids so it gets little hectic in the evenings.

As you mentioned it gets pretty expensive and takes a little toll on your body but given the choice between living separately and doing the commute I choose the later.:)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Although it will take longer (2 hours each way) and not be as comfortable as Amtrak, utilizing Megabus or similar services should be considerably cheaper, especially if one is able to book weeks in advance. A roundtrip for less than $10.00 is certainly possible.

I've had co-workers who've done that commute for years. I have co-workers now who do a 2-hour (each way) commuter bus trip. I've also had a boss who drove 2 hours each way.

I'd definitely prefer Amtrak over those other options. Couldn't you schedule your classes so that they're just a few days out of the week, and commute less?

I'd definitely prefer Amtrak over those other options. Couldn't you schedule your classes so that they're just a few days out of the week, and commute less?

Good suggestion, or maybe take some online or online/in person hybrid classes? I did some in college and they made my school/work life a lot easier.

Hi everyone,

Complicated situation.

Basically, my wife is in NYC, but I'll be attending school in Philly. Choice 1, which is not appealing, is to live apart and see each other on the weekends. Choice 2 is to commute. Is there anyone that does the NYP-PHL commute, and do you particularly advise for/against it? I know a monthly on Amtrak is expensive, but we'd be saving the money from rent in Philly. Also, since we live close to Penn station and my school is close to 30th street in PHL, there's very minimal other travel time included in the commute.

Any advice, either for or against? Any more convenient ways of commuting? Or even cheaper?

Thanks!

I've been making that commute daily for about five months now, with plans to continue indefinitely. While it's not always great, it's definitely doable, and if you have a regular schedule (particularly if you have to be in PHL for eight hours a day or less), it's really not a terrible time commitment. Getting in by 9 am means taking a 7:25 train in the morning, and there are quite a few options around 5 pm (normally a 5:00, 5:18, and 5:55, with an additional 5:33 train on Thursdays and Fridays) that get you home about an hour and a half later. If your hours are unpredictable, then you'll sometimes find yourself having to wait around for an hour because you missed the earlier train by a few minutes - that's not so fun, but it happens to many regional rail commuters, too.

The monthly pass costs $1278, which breaks down to $31 each way if you're riding five days a week, four weeks a month - that's cheaper than the lowest Amtrak bucket ($35) and you have the flexibility of taking almost any Regional or Keystone train (no Acelas, though). It's also probably cheaper than maintaining a second residence in Philly and commuting on the weekend.

The monthly pass is more expensive than the bus or NJT/SEPTA combo, but I find the extra cost is well worth the convenience and speed, compared to sitting in traffic on the bus or switching between two regional lines. The Amtrak trains are also quite comfortable, and you can generally find a pair of seats to yourself, too.

Finally, since this is FlyerTalk, I will also point out that the monthly pass gets you 2 AGR points/$1, whereas buying the $35 tickets net 100 points each way. (So you would have 2556 points/month with the monthly compared to 4000 points/month buying individual tickets. I don't think the difference is worth the extra expense, but it's worth noting nonetheless.)

Hi All
I've done Acela once a few years ago and it was certainly nice
I guess business class.Is first class worth the difference?
Im planning a 2:05 PM departure on a Friday NYC to Philadelphia
Is the train crowded at that time of day? 180 each way seems like a lot to me
Thanks for the feedback

Hi All
I've done Acela once a few years ago and it was certainly nice
I guess business class.Is first class worth the difference?
Im planning a 2:05 PM departure on a Friday NYC to Philadelphia
Is the train crowded at that time of day? 180 each way seems like a lot to me
Thanks for the feedback

Depends. F will get you a meal that is much more decent than you get on most airlines and a bigger seat (1-2 seating). If that's of use to you, consider trying it. However, I do PHL-NYP and WIL-NYP quite a lot, and I would suggest checking fares on the Regionals - given that there's not a huge time difference between Acela and Regional on this part of the Northeast Corridor, you may save quite a bit of money, even if you book Regional business class. Just be advised that Regional biz is nowhere near as modern as the Acela's (hence the lower price) but it gets you a bigger seat and a drink from the cafe car.

I would expect there to be a pretty decent chance that any Friday afternoon Acela will sell out. It will certainly be almost sold out. However, the 2:05 pm is Regional train 83, not an Acela. The Acela is a 2pm departure, train 2121.

Typically, I book Acela F only when I'm pressed for time (therefore taking the faster Acela) and my only shot to eat is en route (e.g., AM meeting in Philly, PM meeting in Manhattan). It's a nice ride, but generally not worth the cost differential.

i've got a similar question as the OP, but will be doing this commute much earlier in the day. Will need to be in PHL by 7am daily sharp M-F. Does anyone have experience with the on-time reliability of early AM Amtrak trains?

My experience in the afternoon is generally good, but I have encountered delays from time to time.

Thanks!

i've got a similar question as the OP, but will be doing this commute much earlier in the day. Will need to be in PHL by 7am daily sharp M-F. Does anyone have experience with the on-time reliability of early AM Amtrak trains?

My experience in the afternoon is generally good, but I have encountered delays from time to time.

Thanks!

NER 151 and 111 are usually on time and rarely get delayed unless there are overhead wire or tunnel problems (which would affect all trains).

151 leaves NYP @ 440AM and gets to PHL @ 601AM

111 leaves NYP @ 530AM and gets in PHL @ 653AM.

Hi All
I've done Acela once a few years ago and it was certainly nice
I guess business class.Is first class worth the difference?
Im planning a 2:05 PM departure on a Friday NYC to Philadelphia
Is the train crowded at that time of day? 180 each way seems like a lot to me
Thanks for the feedback

If you paying from your own pocket then the price differential is generally not worth it unless..

a) the thought of suits jostling you and knocking you out with their huge laptop bags in Acela Business gives you nightmares...or
b) you can drink liquor like a fish and eat all of your meal or
c) the bigger space and better wifi (my opinion but this is the only time I have been able to use Amtrak's wifi...it seems unbearably slow in business) is important to you.

I think the up charge for FC is $70 from NYP-PHL so you have to decide how much return in convenience is that worth to you?

NER 151 and 111 are usually on time and rarely get delayed unless there are overhead wire or tunnel problems (which would affect all trains).

151 leaves NYP @ 440AM and gets to PHL @ 601AM

111 leaves NYP @ 530AM and gets in PHL @ 653AM.

great to know. thanks. do you know how the early AM trains are in the opposite direction in terms of reliability?

See here (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&p=1237405732511&cid=1237608335166) and here (http://www.amtrakdelays.onlineschedulingsoftware.com/) for some good resources regarding historical on-time performance.

See here (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&p=1237405732511&cid=1237608335166) and here (http://www.amtrakdelays.onlineschedulingsoftware.com/) for some good resources regarding historical on-time performance.

thanks!!!