The train from 30th Street Station to EWR takes about 60 minutes. You can usually get to Terminal C within another 10 or so minutes unless the AirTrain is :rolleyes:.

Agreed, but remember you have to deal with getting to 30th St Station, traffic on I-676 or the Schuykill can be absolutely brutal at rush hour.

Just from City Ave to 30th St Station (about 6 miles) can easily take 45 minutes (I know, I've done it many times). As you wrote, there are alternate routes (and it depends where you live), but in my experience almost every major highway in and around Philly is a parking lot at rush hour.

Then, of course, you have to take the train, which will add at least 90 minutes all told to your journey (boarding the train, the ride from 30th St Station to EWR, the EWR AirTrain ride).

Personally, that is not something I would do just to avoid flying the occasional US flight out of PHL.

Dont forget Parking its anything but Cheap at ZFV I think its now $20 a day:(, so maybe if you gonna be dropped off and picked up but I wouldnt go with ZFV if I was gonna be parking there, especially on a reg basis

Then again if its for biz maybe the OPs company will pick up the tab , OK the 1st time till they see the cost and KO, after that

Agreed, although long term P6 & 7 at EWR is now also $15/day (although there are cheaper non Port Authority options near EWR).

Whether you park at P6 or 7 or one of the off-airport lots, you also need to factor in plenty of extra time to park and get back to the terminal on the shuttle.

Well, my situation is this. I will be living within walking distance from 30th street, so that is good on mornings I don't need to go to office first. If taking an afternoon flight out west, I would probably be going from the office, which is 20 miles northwest of the city in Wayne

In that case, the trip to EWR will be much easier than otherwise, no question.

Still, you may want to consider SEPTA (Philly's regional rail system which has a train from 30th St to PHL) to PHL as a more convenient option, depending on your trip

Septa also has the regional rail from Wayne area (Paoli I think?) to 30th Street, from which the OP could connect to EWR or PHL via either Amtrak or Septa.

Oh, and in an earlier post someone stated that I-95 and the NJ Tpk were parallel to each other and you could see one road from the other. Believe that poster meant I-295 and the NJ Tpk.

who uses P6 or P7 when EZWay and ABC are $9 :D:D:D no having to wait for the bus and if the weather is bad you will suffer at P6 or P7

most it took me from EZ or ABC was 10 mins as the shuttle was leaving the lot just as I pulled in

Agreed especially if hes walking distance from the house to 30th St for getting to PHL but it will also depend on when they are flying back into PHL and what the SEPTA schedule is at that hour, Id assume my flight will be delayed and if I dont get the 1st train when is the 2nd if its gonna be an hour wait, Id rather pay for parking then indure a long wait in the wee hours

60 minutes to EWR from 30th street I stand corrected
 

I would have thought it would be longer but the average seems to be 65 minutes with the long 73 minutes. But there are only 3 trains before 12:00 with one of those at 5:15. The next set of trains is between 15:00 and 18:00 with 4 trains so the schedule is rather limited. The round trip Amtrak fare would be $164 for near rush hour trains, and between $100 and $138 for the other options. To me this does not seem like a good price but to each their own.
My other point is I would view this like I would view a flight with a connection, I would avoid it. I would still look for non-stop flights regardless of carrier instead of doing this to stay on one carrier.

All agreed. Also, if you have luggage, getting it on and off Amtrak can be a pain.

Plus, although the actual train ride is 65-73 minutes, when you add in the boarding time and the EWR AirTrain, this is a 90-minute ride.

Yes, that was my bad. I did mean I-295 & the NJ Tpk.

Also, it's stunning to me that I-95 and I-276 meet (near Exit 6 on the NJ Tpk) but there is no connection, so that you have to take a fairly circuitous trajectory of secondary roads to get back to I-276.

Remember in NJ the turnpike is I-95
 

If you are on I-295 in NJ going north once you are above Burlington it gets interesting. If you continue on I-295 North you will eventually end up on I-95 South in Pa. If you are using I-295 you would need to then take I-195 to the NJ turnpike (also known as I-95). Leave it to NJ to make a circle out of a interstate. And if you take I-95 north through Pa in crosses under the Pa turnpike (I-276 in that area), but does not connect. It is easy to get on the Pa turnpike at the Bristol interchange. Exit I-95 at Route 413 (South stay left on off ramp) to I-13 North to Pa turnpike connector bridge (about 10 minutes time). And if you stay on I-95 north through Pa into NJ without turns you end up on I-295 south.

Depending on where you are coming from 202 to NJ to 78 to Newark Airport. I am in Bucks County so this is my route.

Just more reason to bite the bullet and take the flight from PHL regardless of carrier.

I have 2 thoughts on all of the above.
If you really want to avoid flying US, then take CO to CLE and connect there. You have plenty of options to the West and the connection is a whole lot easier than EWR where delay is their middle name.

Second. There are much worse things in life than taking US (or just about any other US airline) and I see them every day. So, take US when it is easiest or the only feasible flight and accept whatever inconvience (if any) there is on US.

Yeah you have to take Route 1 on the PA side to get to 95 in PA.

Note to those unfamiliar with the area: This does NOT mean that you cannot easily get from PA Turnpike to NJ Turnpike in this area. If you stay on PA tpk (276) and go over the bridge into Jersey, it dumps you right onto NJ tpk at exit 6.