Hi. I am trying to book Thanksgiving airfare but I am confused about how students get to the airport and back. Could someone provide precise details? I would also like to know the latest that the trains run to Princeton before selecting a flight time. Thanks.
It’s SO easy! And reasonable. Go on the New Jersey Transit website and plug in Newark terminal to Princeton (NOT Princeton Junction.) You will get on the tram at Newark airport and take it to the NJT stop. There, use the same ticket t buy a ticket and scan it to get on the first train. You will get off at Princeton Junction, and transfer there to the “dinky” (take your ticket and show it to the conductor if he asks) which is a smaller train that will take you directly in to campus. The dinky runs every 15-30 minutes, in case you miss your transfer.
For example from EWR to Princeton:
http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TripPlannerItineraryFrom
Depart : NEWARK AIRPORT RAILROAD STATION at 3:32 PM
Board : Train 3853 toward TRENTON TRANSIT CENTER
Arrive : PRINCETON JCT. at 4:23 PM
Depart : PRINCETON JCT. at 4:28 PM
Board : Train 4153 toward PRINCETON
Arrive : PRINCETON at 4:33 PM
Fare Regular Child/Senior/Disabled
Bus $0.00 $0.00
Rail $18.00 $11.25
Transfer Fee $0.00 $0.00
Total $18.00 $11.25
From Princeton to EWR -
Purchase a ticket at the dinky station to Newark Airport.
Get on Dinky
Transfer at Princeton Jct to Newark Airport
At airport, keep ticket and scan to get on the airport tram
Also, you can take NJT to port authority and then take the subway to JFK really easily, if necessary. Check Hopdtop.com.
There is also a direct bus from Port Authority every 30 minutes or so to LGA.
Google it.
It looks like 12:16 am is the last train you could take. There are two later trains that could take you to Princeton Junction but the dinky doesn’t run that late.
^ True, but if you prefer a later flight you could take a cab from Princeton Junction to campus.
where are you flying from? look to see if your airport flies to trenton mercer airport, which is a lot closer to princeton
EWR is definitely the easiest airport, and although the description sounds complicated, it really is very easy.
PHL is another nearby airport served by major airlines, and you can get from PHL to campus by public transportation.
Thank you for the responses. I does sound really complicated since I am not accustomed to public transportation but S will undoubtedly find it less stressful than I do. The best prices are through JFK, but for simplicity I booked EWR for Thanksgiving. Mercer wasn’t an option. For future reference, how much longer does it take to get to JFK instead of EWR?
From JFK, the only economic way to get to Princeton is to use airport shuttle service (e.g. http://www.nycairporter.com/OurServices/JFKAirportShuttle.aspx) to get to EWR first and then take the train from there. However, waiting for shuttle and travel by shuttle will take at least 3 hours to EWR from JFK. I think it’s not worth the trouble. From LGA, it’s a little better, but still I think it’s too much trouble.
PHL/Princeton route: My DD did this once using NJT and SEPTA trains. Sincere there are few SEPTA runs to/from Princeton if you want to meet your departure time, or want to arrive in Princeton before late night, you will have to leave Princeton early in the morning, or fly into PHL early.
Travel between EWR and Princeton (as well as Princeton and Manhattan/NYC) by train is actually not complicated at all and efficient in time and money. My DD almost never used public transportation before college. She is travelling all over the region by train now.
*** For my travel to visit Princeton, PHL is always preferred because airfare is cheaper or comparable to EWR, and car rental is much cheaper at PHL almost all the time. Also, I believe driving from/to EWR to/from Princeton will cost you more because of highway tolls.
It is easy and reasonable to do jfk. Use hopstop.com to figure out the subway from jfk to penn station. It is one train without transfers (I think it’s the e) and takes u right to the AirTran which takes u right to the terminal. From penn station NYC you can train right to Princeton. Timing will depend upon time of day, how long between train transfers, etc. jfk will be probably longer by at least 45 minutes, I guess.
Fwiw, my niece, who graduated from Princeton in 2012 and now works in product development at Uber, told me an Uber car from Princeton to EWR (and presumably vice versa) is only $55.
This is less than half of what a taxi/town car would be.