Definitely. Just last month my friend who lives in Princeton Junction and I were traveling together. There were no nonstops to our destination from EWR or PHL so he took the train up to the city, where I met him at Penn Station and we rode LIRR and AirTrain together to JFK. It was totally smooth on the way to JFK. He did end up with a roughly 35 minute layover at Penn on the way back because we arrived at Penn just after the NJT train departed, but 35 minutes at Penn beats a 2 hour layover in a connecting airport somewhere (where there's always a risk of misconnecting).

Note that it would be fine to take Amtrak (where tickets are reserved for a specific train) from NJ to the city because you know in advance which train you need to take, but I'd be wary of committing to a specific reserved ticket on Amtrak going back to NJ, because you don't know exactly when you'll get to Penn. Having the flexibility to just jump on the next departing NJT train whenever your LIRR train arrives is awfully nice.

While I agree with this, note that the Amtrak price differential between fully-refundable tickets and other tickets between NYP and PJC is sometimes quite small:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dca5c66713.png

I love that you’ve never done it but still believe you are being “concrete.” I’ve never had it take that long. Ever. The worst traffic I can remember was after a World Cup match at the Meadowlands in 1994, when traffic to Manhattan getting back through the Lincoln Tunnel was gridlocked. Even then (without the benefit of GPS), I got back to Brooklyn in 45 minutes by going over the Bayonne Bridge to the Verrazzano. I think it’s reasonable to budget 2 hours for the ride just in case (and highly recommend relying on Waze to direct you), but it’s extremely rare, to be concrete, that the trip will take longer.

Glad you added specific time duration recommendations, which was my goal to help OP. :rolleyes: Also not sure what a meadowlands world cup match and brooklyn has to do with the specific route of EWR to JFK.

You’ve never done it so you wouldn’t know, right?

Lol that's right, I never traveled from EWR to any points east of the east river in 1994.

Yet you’re still happy to provide “concrete” — if inaccurate — advice.

I think the OP has gotten a lot of good (and accurate) advice on here. The OP clearly should consider the cost savings involved and the hassle of driving to JFK. In addition to the advice on here, I do think checking Google maps and waze for their estimates makes a lot of sense. One other factor to consider — I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet — is that it’s easy to park for free at JFK in Howard Beach and to take the airtrain to the terminal. There’s a thread on here about that which I have followed and have saved a good amount of money. (I have not tried the version that avoids paying the airtrain fee; I’ve been very happy just not having to pay for parking.)

Here is the thread I referenced: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/new-...n-station.html

So, sitting at a bar on my second old fashioned, out of curiosity I decided to check Google and waze’s estimates for this trip. I chose Trenton as a proxy for half way between Philadelphia and Newark (although it’s obviously closer to Philly). It’s a Friday nights at 8pm NYC time; I would expect reasonably heavy Friday traffic, but of course it’s near impossible to predict on this route. But here’s what I’m coming up with:

Google maps Trenton to EWR: 60 minutes
Google maps Trenton to JFK: 90 minutes

Waze Trenton to EWR: 50 minutes
Waze Trenton to JFK: 80 minutes

I (until this Friday) live in the Princeton area and have taken 149 flights since 2015 that either took off or landed at JFK, so I guess I have some "concrete" evidence on how to do it.

I would budget 3 hours to be safe. Even when you get to the long term lot you still need to walk to the AirTrain from where you parked, and if your going to T5 especially its a long walk from the air train to security.

The worst the ride ever was for me was 4+ hours, but that was Thursday afternoon on Memorial Day weekend, so I knew I was going to hit monster traffic.

I usually take the train to JFK via Princeton Junction, LIRR and AirTrain. I've also done it the "cheap way" Penn Station get on the E and transfer to the Q10 SBS to Leffords (but that is a looooot longer, but only one Subway swipe.)

Exceptions to the rules are flights before 8AM so you are on the road so early its a non factor, or landing late night (after 9pm).

I have at 4AM done it in less than 60 minutes, but that was really pushing it just to see if its possible.

From the Turnpike you go via the Outer Bridge into Staten Island then the Verrazano to the Belt Parkway.

For me if the savings is greater then 200USD or their is a nonstop vs a connection somewhere (internationally) then I go for it.

Happy to answer any specific questions, but I consider EWR/PHL/JFK for almost every trip I shop for fares from this area. LGA I use sparingly and have never attempted to drive there.

For the benefit of those not local to the area, it's officially the "Outerbridge Crossing," named in honor of Eugenius Outerbridge, the first chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. ;)

Do you budget 3 hours drive time or 3 hours pre-flight time? How does your 3 hours compare to what you budget for EWR and PHL?

In terms of your driving directions, they may perfect sense — especially as you have a fair bit of experience. I still would have Waze on my CarPlay to see if it’s recommending anything different.

Again off peak I am usually looking at 3 hours pre filght. Although, once getting the early Copa flight down to PTY I almost got hosed, because the Air Train was being replaced by buses. I have never missed a flight due to my control. An early TATL I will leave 4/5 hours preflight time. I once got burned and cut it SUPER close because 2 miles before the JFK exit a nasty multi car collision occurred a couple minutes in front of me nothing could get through. I made that flight by paying the eye watering garage rate, but I made it no chance in the long term lot.

For the train I usually leave the house 5 hours before flight time if I am walking to the station.

PHL is tricky because from Princeton the most direct route requires going through Center City PHL, so that can be a mess depending on the time of day. There are other ways where you go down 295 in Jersey and then cut over on the Betsy Ross, etc. When conditions are optimal or its off peak that is a 60 minute drive give or take. The issue there is off site parking adds quite a bit of time on the Essen Ave lots.

The train takes forever, but I've done it for longer trips. Its NJT to SEPTA at Trenton then transfer at 30th Street for the Airport line. The Trenton to Philly schedule usually lines up, but weekends there are mid day service gaps of SEPTA, so its not always good.

Newark Airport is by far the easiest and I have that down to a science I leave 2.5 hours before flight time usually if I am driving the off airport lots are a shorter transfer. The only thing that can get you there is peak consultant travel time at C the pre check/clear lanes can be a zoo.

A few times a day there is an express train where its just 36 minutes from Princeton Junction station to Newark Airport Rail Link. Otherwise, its about 52 minutes on the local train. Again, because I have done that trip literally hundreds of times. I have spiced up and gone to Newark Penn and then the 66 bus over to the Terminals it all depends.

I guess I am not really that scientific its all case by case some days I want to be in the security line at the start of boarding, and some days I want to hang out in the lounge for a bit.

After being firmly in team drive for a couple years, but since COVID I have pretty much always done the train. Overall, I find it easier and my usual off site lots have gotten so expensive even on the expense account it feels ridiculous to submit hundreds of dollars in parking receipts. Honestly, the break even on Uber both ways is down to only like a 5 day trip from Princeton to EWR less if you can expense the mileage to.

When I was parking for 7.95 a day driving just felt like an easier move, now its 28.00 a day I am more open to Uber/the train.

Of course, just as there are some Amtrak trains from PJC to EWR, NWK, and NYP, there are also some from PJC to PHL 30th Street Station. And the early morning departure is sometimes a real bargain:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8b08a65449.png

thanks for all the tips but we are driving to EWR already booked it, don't want the hassle of driving/train/etc to jfk, and would never take mass transit to an airport.

we drive to ewr in 80 minutes - park at a fav private lot for $13/day - they drive you to the airport in 5 min and pick you up right away after landing after you call.

btw - we have used ewr about 5 times, have used phl about 30 times, love love love EWR compared to PHL...but we only go to ewr when we cant get directs out of phl
we live 50 min from PHL, 80 min from EWR