onefatsurfer

My GF is flying into EWR on the 25th. Her flight is scheduled to arrive at 5:45 PM from MEM. How bad should I expect the flight to be delayed? Also, how early should I get there to pick her up? I've never gone to the airport the day before thanksgiving, but since we're in a LDR right now I'm getting used to the whole airport layout, etc. What kind of a nightmare are we talking about here? How many hours should I expect this to take?

craz

too many unknowns, will she be checking bags? what will the weather be in MEM and EWR? or wherever the plane is flying into MEM from? or what the weather will be any where along the flight path?

For times as these I usually have the people Im picking up meet me elsewhere, if they are traveling light or its not a hassle for them with the bags they will have. So at EWR Id try and have them take the airtrain to a non-Term stop say P4 or by the rental cars whichever is accessable (@ JFK its Federal circle)

at times Id tell them to jump on a Hotel Airport shutte say Hiltons and Ill pick them up from the Hotel. Anything depending on time of arrival and weather conditions.

the other week I circled for 40 mins till my Mom made it curb-side @ Term C, and that was with a 12:30am arrival, there were alot of late arrivals and it was a Zoo

767-322ETOPS

What airline is she flying? Terminal C is the the busiest (and if she's flying CO that's likely where she'll come in at). What direction are you approaching the airport from?

onefatsurfer

She's flying CO and will be flying into terminal C most likely. I don't think she's checking bags, but I'm not sure of that 100%. She has a CO CC so they're free, but the baggage claim is probably a nightmare, huh? I'm gonna have her pick up a bottle of whiskey while she's there, maybe some 18 year chivas

craz

pick up the Chevas where Memphis? is it that much cheaper? it cant be @ EWR since I dont believe theres a liquor store @ EWR. Thats with the exception of Duty Free that cant sell liquor to anyone not going out of The US

onefatsurfer

o, crap. didn't realize you couldn't shop there unless you were traveling internationally. I figured if you could get into the duty free shop, you could buy stuff. that blows.


anyway, i'll be coming from the south, from the turnpike. If that's really bad, I could take the parkway to 22 or 78 and use those to get to 1&9. Which is the best option?

craz

Well a person can shop and buy at Duty Free even if not flying out of the US, HOWEVER thats for anything Except for Cigarettes,Cigars (if they sell em) and Liquor. For those 3 you need to be leaving the US in order to buy

Now anything else you will be charged the reg sales tax so depending what the ST is where you are from you may save a couple of cents or not. Also its usually manufactors list price, so Im sure the likes of Perfume or Cologne can be had at a discount shop or on sale at a Dept store for less $$.

As for the best road I dont know, I always go with a road that has no tolls , even to Philly .I take the 1 south to the 295 to the 95. I HATE tolls

Analise

22 is always a nightmare; avoid it.

How far south? NJT would be the best and at least you'll have lots of lanes open going NB from 8A until EWR.

If the NJT is really bad, you could get off at exit 11 for the GSP North to 78 East. If the GSP is bad, I guess you get off the GSP immediately and take Route 1 north to EWR. That will be stop and go just like Rt 22.

Dugernaut

According to the CO website for today, MEM is an RJ flight and arrives at TERMINAL A. Lately, my supersecret way is to exit the Turnpike at 13A and pull immediately over to the right and park. There will be several limos and other cars waiting as well. I then have my party call me after they have exited the RJ and picked up their gate checked bag on the jetway. I then proceed to Terminal A and meet them on the upstairs Departure level. Usually it is much less traffic and the PA cops aren't as likely to move you out as quick as they do on the arrivals level. If she's checking a bag, have her call you once she grabs it from baggage claim and then head into the airport.

I hate doing the terminal circle of loops around EWR.

craz

I hear ya and know what you mean, however I prefer doing the crawl @ EWR anytime over JFK.

it takes alot more time @ JFK to do the go around then @ EWR

onefatsurfer

lucky for me, there was no traffic at all! my car is very low (sports car) so I hate going into the parking lots with those spikey things they have at the ticket booths, so I just waited in front of the terminal. Security didn't say anything to me, which is good.

I was kind of nervous, though, since my car doesn't have a catalytic converter.. I thought they'd give me a ticket for stinking up the place, lol. Luckily, they didn't say anything at all^