cmsnurse

I'd like to fly into PHL and go to Atlantic City for a couple nights. Do I need to rent a car, or could I go by train without to much trouble. If I'm there without a car is there some place budget to stay walkable to the boardwalk. What would be a good hotel price for the boardwalk. Going Aug. 16th 17th or 17th 18th. Any train info and cost would be appreciated to decide vs car rental.

rittenhousesq

Welcome to Flyertalk! ^ I can't help you with Atlantic City hotels, but if you fly into PHL, you can take the Septa R1 train from the airport to 30th street station (about a 20 minute ride) and then catch a New Jersey Transit train to Atlantic City.

The Septa train departs every 30 minutes from terminals A through E and a one way ticket to 30th street will cost you $7.00, cash paid on the train. You can go to the New Jersey Transit web site to get fare and schedule information for the train from 30th street to Atlantic City.

Good luck!

PHLstudent

You can purchase the ticket on the NJ transit train but there is sometimes a surcharge. There are 2 ticket machines in 30th street station. One by where the Septa R trains let you off and one by the Amtrak check in machine. I would suggest purchasing a ticket before hand.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

If you are not a member of any of the casinos' player programs, your best bet for an inexpensive room is probably a bid on Priceline. And unless there is something special going on in town, you're probably better off arriving on Monday, rather than Sunday. You can get an idea of some successful Priceline bids at www.biddingfortravel.com, and at www.betterbidding.com.



In addition to the NJ Transit train to A.C., Greyhound offers their "Lucky Streak" bus service from Philadelphia to A.C. every hour on the half hour. The roundtrip is $20, and you would have to get to the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal from 30th Street Station -- probably a short ride on a connecting train. (I'll let the Philadelphia experts weigh in on that.) The upside to taking Greyhound is that they will drop you right at the casinos, and the casinos will pay you a rebate -- typically cash or a certain amount of free slot play -- that could reduce the bus fare to almost nothing. Check with Greyhound for details of the current casino bonuses if interested.

ClimbGuy

If you take the greyhound option you would take the R1 Septa airport train to Market East station, this is very close to the greyhound terminal. Greyhound should drop you off at a casino. You can call greyhound to find out what their current casino promotion is.

If you take the NJT train route you would get off the R1 at 30th st. Personally I prefer the train. The bus clientele isn't very hygienic, the bus stop at the tropicana which I walked through once was full of people sleeping on benches and smelled like urine.

As for hotels you may want to look at the Econo Lodge Beach Block. I stayed there once, it is clean and close to the boardwalk and closer to the Tropicana's casino floor their the Tropicana's own hotel.

If you go on a weekend a lot of the hotels have cheap rooms that will rival the Econo Lodge and other budget hotels.

joejones

Take the train. The Greyhound terminal in Philadelphia is practically an extension of the North Philly ghetto. Not worth visiting. The train stations in both Philly and Atlantic City are well-maintained, the service is pretty reliable and you'll have a roomier and smoother ride.

dukenilnil

I've taken the train and it is definitely the way to go in my opinion. It's an easy walk from the A/C train station to the boardwalk. Can't help with hotels though, trying to figure that one out myself for an upcoming trip.

guv1976

I think that some consideration needs to be given to when the OP will be traveling. For example, on weekdays, NJ Transit currently buses passengers on some trips from Philadelphia to Hammonton, to connect to the train there. And there is a two-hour gap between service during parts of the day.

MisterNice

Its about a one mile walk through some very nasty areas to Pacific Ave where most of the larger hotels are. I guess one could walk it during the daytime but neverdo it at night. My advice is take a taxi.

MisterNice

ClimbGuy

There are also small buses called Jintys that you can take from the train station to the various Casinos

jhayes_1780

Need to get from the Taj Mahal to PHL. Searching the web I see I can take:

• Amtrak to PHL(30th street station). Where do I get it in ACY? And how long to get to the actual PHL airport from the 30th st station?
  
• Greyhound from ACY (again, where do I actually board the bus) to 2100 broad st. (and same as above, how long and how do I get to the actual airport).

Finally, timing is quite sensitive for me. What service in everyones opinion is more reliable?

joejones

There is no Amtrak in Atlantic City. Take a NJ Transit train to 30th Street (90 minutes, runs every 1-2 hours), then change to a SEPTA R1 train for the airport (20 minutes, runs every half hour). If you're really pressed for time you might want to look up some of the limo services listed here.

rittenhousesq

As noted above, the train you need to take to Philly is run by NJ transit. However, if you were to take the bus you would under no circumstances take it to 2100 Broad St! If this is north Broad St. you would be dropped off in the ghetto (ever see the Bill Murray movie "Quick Change?"). You take the bus to the Greyhound Bus terminal on Arch St. which is right next to the Market East train station where you can catch the SEPTA airport train (note it is no longer called the "R1").
However, the train is by far the best route.

bitburgr

Be aware that the Septa Airport Line provides service every 30 minutes on the half hour (assuming you are leaving from Suburban Station...5 minutes prior if you leave from Market East). And the train is approximately 20 minutes to the airport.

Does the Taj think you are a somebody? Can you score a limo ride to the airport from them?

jhayes_1780

Nope, I am somebody with Harrahs/Ceasars, MGM, and Hilton (Resorts Intl). I only go to AC once a year.

Anyway, Hotel (Pennsylvania Ave Shuttle)->Amtrak->Septa worked like a charm.

Thanks for the advice everyone.