aztimm

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PHL

If you are from out of the region and need to fly to AC on AA, I still would think the door to door time is shorter by just getting off in Philly and renting a car. it's almost exactly 1 hour from PHL airport to downtown AC by car. Maybe a little longer if you hit rush hour in the PHL area and bridge. By the time your half way there, the PHL-ACY bus will be boarding and by the time you get into downtown AC, the AC bus will be 40 minutes behind you.

maokh

My girlfriend and I, trapped in Cape May (WWD), are starting to book travel out of ACY to the wild blue yonder. We are now waitlisted for first class on the ACY-PHL segment. However, this first segment refuses to produce a seat map. While it's possible someone might beat us to it, i will document the experience inside the "Luxury Bus".

Will we get upgraded? Will we be served the much loved bologna sandwich? What will the safety briefing be like? We will have to wait until late June.

aztimm

Having rented vehicles from PHL and done security there a few times (I generally avoid it), I would say the ACY bus would be time/money well spent.
There are no reasonably priced gas stations very close to PHL. Last summer I exited somewhere off of the Blue Route and drove around in what ended up being a large circle until I found one.
I've also encountered the traffic jam/accident on the Blue Route while in a rental car, which resulted in missing my flight from PHL.

Overall, if you can return a vehicle to ACY or ABE, clear security there (that is a disaster on a good day at PHL), and arrive post-security, just having to make your way to a gate, then that is easily worth $50 to me.

I visit family in Northeast PA regularly, and will usually opt to fly to AVP or ABE just to avoid beginning the trip at PHL. I'll arrive at AVP and be at my gate in 15 minutes, or less. That includes parking/returning the rental car (there's a cheap gas station just the other side of I-81), checking bags, and clearing security. At PHL...on a good day that might be 30 minutes, but on a not-so-good day easily an hour to 90 minutes.

Segments

A bit off topic, but when returning a rental car at PHL the best gas station option is the Wawa on Bartram near the employee parking lot. May not be the absolute cheapest but usually reasonable price and closest to rental car return lot.

PHL

Gas is something you have to look for around PHL. There are stations near the airport, but you'd have to use a smartphone to map a good one along your airport route.

As a PHL O&D flyer, I'm only speaking from the perspective of a passenger with PreCheck. The curb to gate time for me is usually under 20 minutes - maybe a few minutes more if I have to do the self-luggage check in. I've NEVER experienced 60-90 minute waits. but I've had pre-check for 12 years, and I have seen very long lines at B (no PreCheck there) that makes me wonder why more people don't get PreCheck. I feel the same way when I see a line of cars at a cash toll booth when there are wide open lanes for EZ-Pass cars. To each their own.

If I were going up to NE PA, like the Scranton/Poconos area, I would also probably opt to fly directly into ABE or AVP if I was coming from far away. I still content that I can get to downtown ACY in 60 minutes from the moment I step into a car anywhere around PHL airport. Ditto for the return. 1 hour from AC to rental car/parking lot. The check in process will be dependent on airline and if someone has PC or not.

I'll be curious to hear any experiences once this bus service kicks off.

beyondhere

Maybe, but I assumed the benefit is more getting out of towners a more convenient way into AC without having to rent a car in PHL, or take trains.

The locals in Atlantic County seem to have no problem making it to Flyers, Sixers, Eagles games in South Philly with their cars. As long as there is parking, although parking has been more limited in PHL lately.

LINDEGR

I don't think so at all. This is intended for connecting service from PHL to the world.

LINDEGR

That is very outdated information. The economy lot at PHL reopened on 21 April 2022 to much fanfare. It is, however, a smaller version of its prior self.

PHL

That's interesting since none of it was planned to ever reopen as of December 2021. 1850 out of 7000 spaces are open again. PHL wants to build out more cargo facilities, which is exactly what that lot is intended for so this 1850 space opening may be temporary, or they decided to leave. small carve out for a city operated economy lot.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/philly-a...-indefinitely/

LINDEGR

I am not sure where you get your information but NJ Transit currently runs trains on this route - DAILY SERVICE! It takes just over 90 minutes.

PHL

My comment may have been misinterpreted, though you didn't include the piece I was replying to that said: "On most days would be faster than train with all its stops, detour loop through N Philly and then 30th Street station.".

My point was that NJT doesn't serve any PA stations *EXCEPT* Philadelphia 30th Street. NJT runs it from that station *ONLY* to AC, and yes it's about 90 minutes making numerous local stops along the way in South Jersey. As it gets into NJ, many of the riders are casino employees who definitely save money on gas, tolls and wear and tear from driving this trip every day. But for the occasional AC visitor, it's far from any kind of express/high speed route.

In the context of this thread, it's a longer, more cumbersome route for someone to get from PHL airport to Philly 30th Street station on SEPTA and then shlep from the upper to lower platforms to get the NJT train. Certainly more than 90 minutes when all said and done.

silverthief2

I used dummy dates of 6/20 and 6/23 for a DEN-ABE roundtrip and the PHL<-->ABE bus segments now appear as options on AA dot com. AA6351 and AA6352.

Still no seatmaps visible.

SOBE ER DOC

AA has now announced another bus route...PHL-LNS.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/loc...f353fe096.html

Not sure I understand AA's strategy here.

LNS is a 35-mile (30 min) drive from MDT, a very underutilized airport in a region with 1.8 million people within a one-hour drive. As a pax I'm not sure if, given a choice, I would choose a 90 minute bus ride without traffic that can easily jump to 2+ hours during rush hour and / or inclement weather.

footballfanatic

Will there be PDB on the bus? Main cabin extra?