New England - PHL to MVY - Sooo Many Routes - Help? (Low Priority!)

Aright guys, I say low priority because I don't really want to take time out of anybody's day just because I can't freakin' decide, but kind of wanted to know if anybody had any strong opinion and/or experience.

As stated in the title I'll be traveling from Philadelphia to Martha's Vineyard on August 23rd and will be returning on August 26th. Not sure yet whether I want to do the extremo cheap route or the "quick route", but here's my options: car, train + bus + ferry, train + fly, fly + fly.

I should probably mention that I do have a few things that I COULD use:
- Free RT on Amtrak anywhere in the northeast.
- 25k in US Air Miles (enough for RT)

btw - I'm sure I'm forgetting or am way off on some costs here. So once I'm corrected I'll edit them as I get some responses

Option 1: Car + Ferry
Cost: ~ $100 (four people total. $50 for gas. $50 for Ferry)
This would be the cheapest obviously, but I'm getting to the age (27 y/o) where the thought of road trips w/ friends are no longer cool. I'll get tierd of them after a couple hours, they'll want to stop to eat and/or bathroom every three seconds, and I might end up getting car sick.

Option 2: Train + Bus + Ferry ($58 for bus. $50 for Ferry)
Not a bad gig. I believe I would have to take the train to South Station and then take the Peter Pan Bus to the ferry. Not a bad gig, but I'll have to worry about connection times and the 5 hours amtrak + 3 hours bus and ferry would just annoy me (I think). Then again, I'll get to ride Acela (never done that before!) and I'll get so see the scenic route they brag about on the website by riding the ferry!

Option 2a: Just realized there's a ferry from PVD'ish area to MVY. That's a curveball as of now. Thoughts?

Option 3: Train + Fly ($209 for the flight + $40ish RT for taxi)
I'm leaning towards this - I'm not a morning person so this way I'll be able to rest up on Amtrak and then by the time I awake I'll be at PVD. By this time I'll be ready for a brewskie at the barskie's and can hit up the flight. The connection times are VERY wierd here. Seems like I always need to wait a couple hours. But I've always been told there's "celebrity Sightings" on these flights. So I would be all up for that! Only celebrity I've ever seen was Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn since I lived in West Chester for 7 years.

Option 4: Fly + Fly ($30 in taxes from US Air for award booking)
Hell, why not right? Just fly on it. It's cheap. Negative is I'm still worried about the connection. If I use my free flight on this then I honestly want it to feel like I'm going directly from PHL to MVY. If it still takes be 5hr+ to get there this route I'll be pissed. And with going through security and all that I wouldn't doubt it would. I kinda wanna hold out and use this at a later time for somewhere cooler and/or longer. lol!

PS - Does anybody know if I could ever get a cheaper price on PVD to MVY with Priceline Name Your Own Price? Seems like the prices are pretty set on the website, but Name Your Own Price always seems to go cheaper!

Thanks!

So many options, let me throw another at you:

New York/New Jersey to MVY (http://www.seastreakusa.com/marthas.aspx)

And another:

New Bedford to MVY (http://www.seastreak.com/newbedschedules.aspx)


And let me dispose of one: Train to South Station, then bus from there. You are going well out of your way once you get past Providence, to continue to Boston and then reverse your way down to Cape Cod.

Frankly, the drive to New Bedford, then ferry to MVY is probably the most direct non-flying route that doesn't leave from NY or NJ.


IF you decide to drive to the Ferry at Woods Hole, Falmouth, or Hyannis, find out for sure ahead of time where parking is. The lots at the docks usually fill up early and they bus you from "remote parking", which can easily add an hour onto your transit time, causing you to miss expected ships. And if you're thinking of taking your vehicle on a ferry with you, you gotta have a reservation long in advance to ensure there's room.

Personally, I'd take option 3. Driving the northeast corridor is no fun, flying PHL-BOS isn't a very good use of points, and flying Cape Air is just plain fun.

Amtrak will drop you off in downtown PVD (or BOS if you prefer), giving you some time to relax downtown. You can find flights from PVD or BOS to MVY for under $200 r/t, and it's really worth the money. All Cape Air flights will be on nine-seat Cessna 402s, and if you're lucky you can score seat 0C, right next to the pilot (not sure if you're the type of person who enjoys flying for the sake of flying, but I am and I loved it). Personally I think the Cape Air experience is part of the vacation rather than just transportation.

Out of my Element's option looks pretty reasonable too; around $200 and a lot less stress than the train-to-airport connection.

Well I was almost sold on the NY or NJ to MVY option until I looked at the price! lol. Alot more than I was hoping.

Yeah, KPWM - You hit it spot on. I do like 'flying for the sake of flying'. I admit it. Though I try not to let it show to much while at the airport or on the plane (not that it really matters?). Nonetheless, I'm sure I'm locked into the hittin amtrak to PVD and flyin to MVY.

Thanks for the input guys!