Fly or Amtrak?
 

Hello Everyone,

I need to be in Herndon, Virginia on July 22nd for a July 23rd meeting. I will be there all week, and travel arrangements will be paid for from my employer. My question is, what is the best way to get there from Central New Jersey.

AFAIK I have two options. I can take an Amtrak from the New Brunswick station into Washington DC and then pickup a rental car to get to the Herndon area hotel.

OR I can take a flight from Newark airport into Dulles, and get a rental car there.

Which do you think is the better way to go?

Also, I will be staying in a Marriott for 5 days the following week. My employer gives us the points for our stay, but do I need to setup an account with Marriott beforehand or can I do it at the hotel to earn the points?

Thanks

I would take Amtrak. It won't take that much longer after you factor in showing up early for security checks at the airport, and it's a much more pleasant and spacious journey.

You can set up an account at the hotel. Ask the front desk for an application and they will credit your stay to your new account.

Do a search for 'Marriott Platinum Challenge', and you'll learn how you can get Marriott Platinum status before your stay. You'll then get all the Platinum benefits.

You can also receive extra points if somebody refers you. I'll volunteer :D PM me if interested.

Also certain amtrak routes can be credited to UA for mileage.

I would definitely take Amtrak. Also look into the business class upgrade if it is available. It usually is under $50 and the cabin err.... car tends to be quieter.

Fly to IAD and rent. It's a miserable drive out to Herndon from Union Station and, if it's between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, there will be gridlock on 66.

That's completely accurate. I lived in Fairfax for a couple of years and I sat on that horrible road enough to drive me out of there.

Sorry about my previous comment I didn't remember exactly where Herndon was.

Will the traffic be that bad on a Sunday afternoon? I have to confirm my plans tomorrow but am still torn between flying and taking the Amtrak

I am also looking to find a reliable limo service for my future travels. Can anyone recommend a place other than Yelp to find a company in the central NJ area? Also, what type of rewards can I expect from a car service to the airport? Every ten trips you get one free?

From what I've seen, it's limited a UA codeshare operated by Amtrak, that connects from/to a flight segment into/out of EWR.

I didn't think anything had changed, but as always correct me if I am wrong. :)

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"I can take an Amtrak from the New Brunswick station into Washington DC"

I'm not seeing any Amtrak service offered from NBK to WAS on Sunday, July 22. You can board Amtrak at Metropark/Iselin, or at Trenton. Or you can board a Trenton-bound NJ Transit train at NBK, and connect to Amtrak at Trenton.

It won't help the OP but: "Earn 500 award miles per Business class segment or 750 award miles per First class segment on Acela Express trains (no connecting flight required) between New York's Penn Station and the following train stations: Boston's South Station, MA; Boston's Back Bay Station, MA; Boston's Route 128 Station, MA; Washington D.C. For reservations for the Acela Express markets listed above, call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL and be sure to provide your MileagePlus number to receive award mileage credit."

So on NE Regional it's still limited to code share segments to/from EWR?

Assuming you are doing roundtrip, so there is also the drive back from Herndon to Union Station on Thursday (?). In that case, I would definitely do air from EWR to IAD.

The Sunday drive is unpredictable. It probably won't be too bad, but it can be. Also, you'd be using the regular lanes on the toll road, not the Dulles access lanes.

Also, you get the miles... This is assuming that the airfare is reasonable. I'm guessing it should be ok, as it is the DCA market that can be crazy prices, exploiting the fact that there are many business travelers.

with the hassle of renting a car, I would also consider just driving. I would imagine it would be about 3 and a half hours, all in all less time than either Amtrak or flying, though things could turn out bad flying.