<p>Many thanks for the links, CIEE83 and Descartesz!</p>
<p>Hi, I just booked kiddo’s August airline ticket to Newark (EWR) & now need to get the final connections to New Haven figured out. I called Connecticut Limo and they said their last shuttle to New Haven leaves at 4pm, so that option is out. So we’ll look at using Amtrak.</p>
<p>I am wondering if someone experience traveling this route to Yale can answer some questions for me.</p>
<p>(1) Approximately how long does it take to get from the Newark airport baggage claim to the Amtrak train station? (flying Southwest airlines) </p>
<p>(2) Is it better to buy the Amtrak ticket now? The fare is showing as $70 1-way to New Haven. I am wondering if the flight it delayed, will Amtrak honor the ticket on a later train, or allow a $70 credit against a new ticket?</p>
<p>(3) The Southwest Flight is scheduled to arrive at 4:20pm. There is an Amtrak train at 6:02pm arriving New Haven at 8:19pm, or a 6:56pm train arriving at 9:31pm. I’m thinking that with getting the checked bags, kiddo could probably catch the 6:02 train.</p>
<p>(4) Anything else you can tell me about Newark Airport/Newark Amtrak and connections? Is it pretty easy to navigate?</p>
<p>(5) If worse case, there are major plane delays & the flight misses all the Amtrak trains, has anyone had their student stay in a Newark airport area hotel, then take the morning train the next day? By the way, can an 18-year old check into a hotel with a debit/visa card?</p>
<p>Thanks for any info you can give. This will be the first time going through Newark, as kiddo flew to Bradley/Hartford for Bulldog Days.</p>
<p>We have never gone the EWR route so we would also like to know the answer to this question.</p>
<p>When DS was a freshman, one upperclassman told him that he had better be familiar with the hotels near any airport he might get to, just in case he’s stuck there due to various reasons. If there is a hotel that is attached to the airport (like at BDL or DFW), it will be the best.</p>
<p>A matter that was always bothering us in the past: Since DS lived thousands miles away, he tended to arrive at campus very late (say, 8 pm or even 9 pm.) At the beginning of the fall semester, he usually arrived a day or two before his roommate, who lives 50 miles away and he could afford to arrive at campus at the last minute. Is there a convenient way to pick up the key to the room? What if a student arrives at almost mid night? I have never configured this out. Knocking on the door of the master? Picking up the key from the Phelp Gate? (The key to the residential college is electronic one. I think the key to each room is still a physical key.)</p>
<p>I believe there’s a Marriott across the parking lot from EWR. I’m sure kayak or a similar travel site can map out all the hotels. Certainly there are many up and down route 1-9 there.</p>
<p>One thing you may want to check is whether there is an age limit. When our daughter traveled alone for the first time, in high school going cross country for camp, we realized that some hotels might not rent a room to someone below some threshold. 18 makes some sense there but I could imagine this could apply under 21, or to 17 year old freshmen.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is an option for you for future flights, but we fly Southwest into Hartford a lot. It’s much closer to NH and CT. limo seems to have a lot of shuttle times available there. Again, depending where you’re coming from that might not be an option, but I thought I’d mention it.</p>
<p>The cheaper option would be:
Newark Airport to Penn Station: [To</a> & From Newark - AirTrain - Ground Transportation - Newark Liberty International Airport - Port Authority of New York & New Jersey](<a href=“http://www.panynj.gov/airports/ewr-to-from.html]To”>http://www.panynj.gov/airports/ewr-to-from.html)
Shuttle (S) from Penn Station to Grand Central: <a href=“http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/subwaymap.pdf[/url]”>http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/subwaymap.pdf</a>
Grand Central to New Haven: [MNR</a> Schedules](<a href=“http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm]MNR”>Schedules)</p>
<p>Thanks gibby, yalemom15, Yale84alum, and mcat2 for all the replies, so far</p>
<p>Yalemom15, I’m glad you pointed that out. I hadn’t realized Southwest flew into BDL/Hartford. I checked fares & it’s $100+ higher than Newark, but it saves the $70 Amtrak fare, although the earliest arriving flights are already gone at reasonable airfares. Would still require the CT Limo ground transportation from BLD to New Haven, which only runs every 2 hours. But I will keep this option in mind for future trips. Thanks.</p>
<p>Gibby, I am not looking for the cheapest route for this 1st trip. Actually trying to do as few connections and ground transfers as possible as kiddo will probably be travelling with 2 free checked bags on Southwest.</p>
<p>Since I still haven’t gotten any answers to my Newark airport to Newark Amtrak questions here on the parents thread, I’m going to try posting this question in the general Yale forum & hope for an answer from some student travelers. Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>Which bank is more convenient near Yale campus?</p>
<p>We went with BofA because they had a ATM near or on campus.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Chase is not bad either, especially if you are in Timothy Dwight (it’s essentially next door)</p>
<p>We went with BofA also.
In the past, there was a BofA ATM inside the Cross Campus Library (Bass Library now.) Is it still the case now?</p>
<p>Agree that Chase is in a relatively good area. Unless you are in ES or MC, Chase is not that far away (and is arguably in a better area than the area where BofA is in.)</p>
<p>There is a BoA ATM in Durfee’s on Old Campus.</p>
<p>There’s also a TD Bank on Chapel, near College St. S uses that one…</p>
<p>Oh, and one more thing about “which bank”. It may matter far less than you think. While my daughter is in TD, and thus next door to Chase (which is also our family bank which makes it particularly convenient for transfers), I don’t believe she has ever darkened their door OR used their ATM (or anyone else’s). She just uses her debit card for <em>everything</em>, including the laundry machines.</p>
<p>Sorry, I think I missed the earlier note on the EWR question and was only replying to its response about marriott.</p>
<p>The train station is about 5-10 minutes away via monorail, plus any waiting time… Not bad at all. It is a very small station and easily navigated. Only thing out of the ordinary is a gate that confirms people paid a special surcharge. NJ transit tickets go through a machine but I think you show Amtrak tickets to an attendant to be buzzed through.</p>
<p>Most dc-ny regional trains stop there but I don’t know about the ones that go to Boston; in worst case transfer in NYC or take NJ transit into NY and connect there. Few Acela.</p>
<p>Regarding Gibby’s suggestion for metro north… Fine if you are unencumbered but awful if you have luggage. Stick with
Amtrak.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>There is still a BoA ATM in Bass library.</p>
<p>Right, I believe the Amtrak ticket includes the air train portion.</p>
<p>RE banks…our student does not have a local band acct.
Has a debit card from the credit union here in home town and an AmEx card.
Has had little need for cash since books can be handeld via amazon, campus store etc. Meals are all on plan. Can use the visa debit card or am ex anywhere else…Even via Paypal, the payment gets done via AmEx. Unlike having to open a checking acct in my college town, k1 has not even had checks made for the acct.</p>
<p>Does a student need a laptop lock?</p>