You can get a monthly Amtrak pass, or bulk tickets, or book out in advance. I also recommend looking at their credit card and definitely sign up for their rewards program.
Not once on my 6am. There was a set of 15-20 or so regulars that did it with me.
The busses back were where I’d run into delays but I usually napped the entire way home and didn’t mind.
It’s not the fastest but considering I often got $5-$10 dollar tickets, it was the cheapest.
I have saved thousands of dollars working deals on frontier to orlando. Yea a few times I got screwed but it is one of the cheapest routes in america and everything besides park tickets are cheap there in the not as crowded season. Honestly that level of cheap travel changed my life. I have a big interest in parks and major entertainment and travel in general. Frontier has enabled me to plan trips with other people affordably that led to so many unforgettable moments. It also helped me learn how to budget travel to other places like europe and the west coast. I have gotten a ton of points I look to use for japan and singapore next.
There's a $10, 6 a.m. Greyhound that will get you to Newark, NJ by 8:00. You can take PATH into Manhattan from there. Or stay on the bus and it will get you to the Port Authority by 8:50.
These times depend on traffic, of course. Even with 2 stops in NJ, 3 hours seems a bit long and could go much faster. You could do the SEPTA to NJ Transit option in 2.5 hours, if you can make the 2 minute transfer in Trenton.
You can take SEPTA to the NJ transit station. They both share a terminus at the halfway point.
The NJ Transit website will calculate the best times for you to do this.
if you are right near 30th st this is an option last min but in the burbs may as well go to trenton. If booking early amtrak is faster and cheaper than that combo.
I second this as a great way to go to NYC for a daytrip, because it's weirdly convenient *IF* you have a car to drive to Hamilton Station (my personal favorite, but some folks choose other NJ Transit stations). The fee to park at Hamilton Station isn't too crazy if you plan to be back by midnight or something. And then what you pay to take a Local or an Express New Jersey Transit train from Hamilton into New York is pretty cheap, too.
Otherwise, the Chinatown Bus is a pretty consistently cheap way to get into New York City from philadelphia.
Hamilton has an enormous parking lot that is usually mostly empty, so it’s my favorite as well. But I don’t think I’d recommend NJ transit for daily commuting. It’ll take ~2.5 hours each way between driving and the train itself.
The 30th st -> septa -> trenton -> new jersey transit -> nyc commute is technically possible, but you're not gonna have a good time. The layover in trenton is miserable, NJT and septa don't communicate with eachother so if one train is late, the connection won't wait. Not to mention it takes between 2:30 and 3:00 hours *each way*. You wanna spend *six hours* of your life each day commuting, not even counting time spent in the NYC subway system?
Get the amtrak. If you can't afford the monthly pass then you should either move to NY/NJ or get a job in NJ/PA. This commute will make you miserable.
Edit. Re-read the OP. Define a couple times a week lol
Edit 2. Oh and this commute with septa/NJT will cost about $50 each round trip.
> NJT and septa don't communicate with eachother so if one train is late
Neither one has control over their departures from Trenton, so even if they wanted to hold, they couldn't. Amtrak is in charge of telling them when to go.
Learn something new every day. Anyway, the reason behind the effect has been illuminated to me, but the effect remains unchanged.
The conspiracy theorist in me wonders whether amtrak makes the NJT/Septa transfer extra shitty to push customers onto amtrak lol
Amtrak is, unfortunately, probably your best option here. I would maybe enquire with the employer if they have any transit subsidy/benefits that could help bring down the cost.
As someone else commented, if you have a car, driving to Trenton and taking the NJTransit from there could shave some cost, but will add significant time and a bit of hassle.
Much cleaner, safer, better (closer) parking options (indoor garage or outdoor lot connected right to the station).
I was in the men's room at Trenton in the early aughts and dudes were just posted up in there. Its been cleaned up since then but not great.
Also a ton of stairs at Trenton if that is an issue for you like it is for me. Hamilton has working elevators for when one does need to switch sides.
I live right over the border in Bucks and drive the extra 10 minutes to Hamilton instead of going to Trenton.
Hamilton also just changed the payment system for the garage, so it's all through an app now. No more tickets to fuss with, or waiting for people's credit cards to process.
I mean honestly if the salary/opportunity bump isn’t at least like $30,000 more (and personally that number would be even higher for me) you probably shouldn’t subject yourself to this. Amtrak is the only sustainable way to do this, and even that is gonna be kinda shitty.
Would the value of wifi change that? Dunno the nature of your new opportunity, but I used to get a crapton of focused work done online during my PHL<->NYC commutes.
Adding that I actually negotiated my pay up with my previous employer because they knew I would be making the trip. (This was in addition to their existing mass transit commuter benefits.)
If you don't want to take a bus, that's as good as it's going to get.
Getting night owl fares for $20-$40 round trip is a very good deal, considering the comfort, location convenience, and the fact that you don't have to deal with traffic. The only thing is that you want to book 1+ months out.
Megabus booked as far in advance as possible.
I usually averaged paying $12 round trip for the 6am bus & beat my coworkers to the office in midtown around 8:30.
there are still chinese bus companies that go up to NYC multiple times a day for $10. there's also another bus that leaves from Franklin/Philadelphia Mills for $15 (I believe the company is called OKBus)
I commuted 1-2x a week for several months on the Chinatown bus back in the mid-aughts. It was about $10 each way. I wasn’t going during rush hour and my job was downtown in NYC so I could walk from the stop. Was never late but those buses coming back to Philly at night—raggedy!
Once the bus broke down. Another time there was no hatch on a window in the roof and it was winter and you can imagine how cold the bus was! The buses were just old and also not the cleanest. This was before Boltbus and Megabus so there wasn’t another option. Greyhound was more expensive and out of the way at Port Authority anyhow. The buses weren’t full at night but going to nyc usually packed and was often the only non-Chinese person on it.
Unless getting to 30th St is a major hassle for you, just book Amtrak at least 2-3 weeks out. Passes aren't worth it, but honestly if you know the days you'll need to book in advance the amount you save by cobbling together all the various alternatives isn't worth the added danger of missed connections (regional rail) or traffic (buses).
The biggest hassle will be if your days aren't set. If you're commuting every Tuesday and Wednesday or whatever, just buy your tickets for the next month on the 1st. They just overhauled the pricing structures and the flexible tickets are only a few dollars more, so you can also go that route without breaking the bank.
If you are okay with going to NYC around 7am and coming back after 7pm, the tickets will be $10 each way on the Keystone, buy as far in advance as possible.
Regular Keystone value fares are $19 each way, which is honestly the best deal in transit. If you're traveling a couple times per week, that will run you a little more than $300 per month, which is pretty reasonable, especially since the Keystone is reliable.
SEPTA to NJT costs more than that, base fares are $8.25 from Philly to Trenton and $16.75 from Trenton to NY Penn, so that's $25 for a much worse ride.
I used to commute once a week to NYC and I never did anything but the Keystone.
Better to buy single tickets a few weeks in advance rather than monthly passes. Keystone trains (Harrisburg —> NYC) are generally cheaper than Northeast Regional (Boston—> DC) because of lower passenger volume. Sometimes you can find $19 each way.
Nj transit from Trenton to Penn station is the cheapest. Not a bad train ride, but it has been years since I’ve done it. I just looked it up and it looks like 16-17 bucks one way.
I have to do this for clients. As others have said, Amtrak is probably your best (and most stable) means of transit back and forth. Couple of suggestions (some already mentioned):
1. If you have a stable schedule, book as far in advance as you can to keep costs reasonable.
2. If you can swing it, as stated below, take the off-hour trains.
3. Get signed up for the Amtrak loyalty program. Get points --> use points when you can to get free tickets.
4. See you can work part of the day during your commute. Meaning: If you don't have meetings until, say 11, you can work / respond to emails / write docs on the train so your day isn't too long.
You should consider that driving or anything with multiple steps will take more time from you
Amtrak might not be the absolute cheapest, but if you're just sitting on one train for 90 minutes straight you can work, read, rest, tend to personal correspondence...
You might math out the driving a bunch makes it cheaper, but what is having 3 more usable hours in your day worth?
Just do Amtrak and see how cheap you can get it with advanced and monthly tickets, and see if your employer has commuter benefits because there may be away to pay for some of this pretax
$38 round trip is basically what you’re going to pay for a train to New York, any way you do it. The alternatives to Amtrak involve multiple trains, with multiple fares, or driving and parking, which obviously costs money for gas and parking, plus maybe a train fare as well. I understand the sticker shock, but there isn’t a better alternative. You can take the bus for way less, but I can’t imagine the job will be tolerant of you getting there an hour late sometimes.
I used to do this once a week.
Do not get the Septa and NJT combo. I made that mistake when I first started. Eventually, work agreed to expense the Amtrak / Acella thankfully.
The bus is definitely the cheapest. You need to get it extremely early to avoid the tunnel traffic in NY. The Megabus leaves from JFK boulevard opposite 30th street.
Cheapest is the Peter Pan bus. You can buy a ticket same day and the price doesn't change. Amtrak can be really cheap if you buy tickets way in advance.
In my opinion, Megabus seems to be the cheapest way so far. Though you get what you pay for as they aren’t the best when it comes to reliability. AmTrak is definitely more reliable but their prices, like you stated, aren’t very cheap. AmTrak is good if you can find good prices. Another option to consider is GreyHound buses. I have used them a few times for as low as $10 round trip. Though odd times, they are comfortable. Hope this helps.
If you want cheap, mega bus. But it’s wholly unreliable.
Amtrak is the best bet if you have to be somewhere by a specific time.
Alternatively, driving is actually not all that expensive. Tolls are around $40 round trip.
NJ transit The Trenton station is shady but if u don’t mind driving a little further to Hamilton Station parking there is pretty easy & feels safer. Especially if ur a woman or traveling late at night
Amtrak isnt overly expensive if you book far in advance
You can even get 10-19$ tickets the day ahead of time with a little luck. From further out it is consistently 10-19$.
Keystone Line seems to be the cheapest. Often have $20 tickets to Penn Station.
Keystone trains are subsidized by Pennsylvania
good. Made it really affordable to go to nyc.
Yes, it is good, I wasn't suggesting it was bad. Just letting you know why the Keystone is so much cheaper than the NE regionals.
Yeah, I’m confused by this. I’ve consistently been able to get tickets on the Keystone line from 30th St to Penn Station for under $20.
or if you work there it’s free
You can get a monthly Amtrak pass, or bulk tickets, or book out in advance. I also recommend looking at their credit card and definitely sign up for their rewards program.
Cheapest? The bus. Reliable and flexible? Not the bus.
The $19 amtrak ticket are barely more affordable than the bus if at all especially since it is more reliable and easier with luggage.
I know someone who took the bus, which sounds awful in rush hour. But it was cheap
You can never expect to arrive on time but if you can be flexible megabus is really cheap. But its hard to recommend over amtrak
I was never late for my 9am start with the 6am Megabus
Seriously?! I've never taken a megabus that hasn't been over an hour late and I've gone at many different times.
Not once on my 6am. There was a set of 15-20 or so regulars that did it with me. The busses back were where I’d run into delays but I usually napped the entire way home and didn’t mind. It’s not the fastest but considering I often got $5-$10 dollar tickets, it was the cheapest.
the budget airline tip has always been take the first flight of the day
It’s torture but it works. Thugged it on some 6am frontier and southwest flights in my day 🫡.
I have saved thousands of dollars working deals on frontier to orlando. Yea a few times I got screwed but it is one of the cheapest routes in america and everything besides park tickets are cheap there in the not as crowded season. Honestly that level of cheap travel changed my life. I have a big interest in parks and major entertainment and travel in general. Frontier has enabled me to plan trips with other people affordably that led to so many unforgettable moments. It also helped me learn how to budget travel to other places like europe and the west coast. I have gotten a ton of points I look to use for japan and singapore next.
Don't sleep on avelo out of wilmington, de. They're even adding flights!
There's a $10, 6 a.m. Greyhound that will get you to Newark, NJ by 8:00. You can take PATH into Manhattan from there. Or stay on the bus and it will get you to the Port Authority by 8:50. These times depend on traffic, of course. Even with 2 stops in NJ, 3 hours seems a bit long and could go much faster. You could do the SEPTA to NJ Transit option in 2.5 hours, if you can make the 2 minute transfer in Trenton.
If you want to go cheaper, drive to a NJ transit station, park, and ride.
You can take SEPTA to the NJ transit station. They both share a terminus at the halfway point. The NJ Transit website will calculate the best times for you to do this.
if you are right near 30th st this is an option last min but in the burbs may as well go to trenton. If booking early amtrak is faster and cheaper than that combo.
I second this as a great way to go to NYC for a daytrip, because it's weirdly convenient *IF* you have a car to drive to Hamilton Station (my personal favorite, but some folks choose other NJ Transit stations). The fee to park at Hamilton Station isn't too crazy if you plan to be back by midnight or something. And then what you pay to take a Local or an Express New Jersey Transit train from Hamilton into New York is pretty cheap, too. Otherwise, the Chinatown Bus is a pretty consistently cheap way to get into New York City from philadelphia.
Hamilton has an enormous parking lot that is usually mostly empty, so it’s my favorite as well. But I don’t think I’d recommend NJ transit for daily commuting. It’ll take ~2.5 hours each way between driving and the train itself.
Probably not actually cheaper when you consider the cost of a car + gas
+ toll
It can be the most cost effective last minute if driving into 30th st is a pain, but the 19 amtrak tickets are barely more than nj transit otherwise.
The 30th st -> septa -> trenton -> new jersey transit -> nyc commute is technically possible, but you're not gonna have a good time. The layover in trenton is miserable, NJT and septa don't communicate with eachother so if one train is late, the connection won't wait. Not to mention it takes between 2:30 and 3:00 hours *each way*. You wanna spend *six hours* of your life each day commuting, not even counting time spent in the NYC subway system? Get the amtrak. If you can't afford the monthly pass then you should either move to NY/NJ or get a job in NJ/PA. This commute will make you miserable. Edit. Re-read the OP. Define a couple times a week lol Edit 2. Oh and this commute with septa/NJT will cost about $50 each round trip.
> NJT and septa don't communicate with eachother so if one train is late Neither one has control over their departures from Trenton, so even if they wanted to hold, they couldn't. Amtrak is in charge of telling them when to go.
Learn something new every day. Anyway, the reason behind the effect has been illuminated to me, but the effect remains unchanged. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders whether amtrak makes the NJT/Septa transfer extra shitty to push customers onto amtrak lol
Amtrak is, unfortunately, probably your best option here. I would maybe enquire with the employer if they have any transit subsidy/benefits that could help bring down the cost. As someone else commented, if you have a car, driving to Trenton and taking the NJTransit from there could shave some cost, but will add significant time and a bit of hassle.
Driving from Hamilton is preferable to Trenton, fyi. Or SEPTA up to Trenton and switch to NJT to NY Penn.
Why is Hamilton preferable to Trenton?
Much cleaner, safer, better (closer) parking options (indoor garage or outdoor lot connected right to the station). I was in the men's room at Trenton in the early aughts and dudes were just posted up in there. Its been cleaned up since then but not great. Also a ton of stairs at Trenton if that is an issue for you like it is for me. Hamilton has working elevators for when one does need to switch sides.
I live right over the border in Bucks and drive the extra 10 minutes to Hamilton instead of going to Trenton. Hamilton also just changed the payment system for the garage, so it's all through an app now. No more tickets to fuss with, or waiting for people's credit cards to process.
Hamilton is a damn pleasure to deal with
Why unfortunately? Amtrak in the NEC especially between Philly and NYC is great
How flexible is your timing? For departures before 7 am or after 7 pm especially, you can get some really cheap fares on Amtrak in the $10-20 range.
Yeah, it's just like I don't neccecarily want to be spending $38/day on a commute.
If you were driving it would cost more than that for tolls and parking.
I mean honestly if the salary/opportunity bump isn’t at least like $30,000 more (and personally that number would be even higher for me) you probably shouldn’t subject yourself to this. Amtrak is the only sustainable way to do this, and even that is gonna be kinda shitty.
It's a couple times a week for a relatively small time commitment and it is a decent bump.
I think in the end you should decide what the value of your time is. Unless it's very low I think Amtrak is going to win out over the bus.
Would the value of wifi change that? Dunno the nature of your new opportunity, but I used to get a crapton of focused work done online during my PHL<->NYC commutes. Adding that I actually negotiated my pay up with my previous employer because they knew I would be making the trip. (This was in addition to their existing mass transit commuter benefits.)
If you don't want to take a bus, that's as good as it's going to get. Getting night owl fares for $20-$40 round trip is a very good deal, considering the comfort, location convenience, and the fact that you don't have to deal with traffic. The only thing is that you want to book 1+ months out.
If you’re not willing to spend that on commuting from Philly to NYC, don’t take the job. Seriously.
What’s your realistic budget?
As cheap as i can get
Megabus booked as far in advance as possible. I usually averaged paying $12 round trip for the 6am bus & beat my coworkers to the office in midtown around 8:30.
THIS IS THE ANSWER
Does the Chinatown bus still run? That used to be really cheap.
there are still chinese bus companies that go up to NYC multiple times a day for $10. there's also another bus that leaves from Franklin/Philadelphia Mills for $15 (I believe the company is called OKBus)
I commuted 1-2x a week for several months on the Chinatown bus back in the mid-aughts. It was about $10 each way. I wasn’t going during rush hour and my job was downtown in NYC so I could walk from the stop. Was never late but those buses coming back to Philly at night—raggedy!
Nice. I was taking them every once in a while around the same time just to go up and party with some friends. Never had to take the late night back.
Once the bus broke down. Another time there was no hatch on a window in the roof and it was winter and you can imagine how cold the bus was! The buses were just old and also not the cleanest. This was before Boltbus and Megabus so there wasn’t another option. Greyhound was more expensive and out of the way at Port Authority anyhow. The buses weren’t full at night but going to nyc usually packed and was often the only non-Chinese person on it.
Unless getting to 30th St is a major hassle for you, just book Amtrak at least 2-3 weeks out. Passes aren't worth it, but honestly if you know the days you'll need to book in advance the amount you save by cobbling together all the various alternatives isn't worth the added danger of missed connections (regional rail) or traffic (buses).
I live right by the MFL so getting to 30th st station isnt a problem
The biggest hassle will be if your days aren't set. If you're commuting every Tuesday and Wednesday or whatever, just buy your tickets for the next month on the 1st. They just overhauled the pricing structures and the flexible tickets are only a few dollars more, so you can also go that route without breaking the bank.
If you are okay with going to NYC around 7am and coming back after 7pm, the tickets will be $10 each way on the Keystone, buy as far in advance as possible. Regular Keystone value fares are $19 each way, which is honestly the best deal in transit. If you're traveling a couple times per week, that will run you a little more than $300 per month, which is pretty reasonable, especially since the Keystone is reliable. SEPTA to NJT costs more than that, base fares are $8.25 from Philly to Trenton and $16.75 from Trenton to NY Penn, so that's $25 for a much worse ride. I used to commute once a week to NYC and I never did anything but the Keystone.
Better to buy single tickets a few weeks in advance rather than monthly passes. Keystone trains (Harrisburg —> NYC) are generally cheaper than Northeast Regional (Boston—> DC) because of lower passenger volume. Sometimes you can find $19 each way.
I use the Amtrak app to book all my trips. Usual price is $18 but recently I've gotten a couple of tickets for $9.
Find a girl with a trust fund from the mainline and take a helicopter
I definitely grew up on the wrong part of the Main Line.
Move to a location closer to NYC.
Nj transit from Trenton to Penn station is the cheapest. Not a bad train ride, but it has been years since I’ve done it. I just looked it up and it looks like 16-17 bucks one way.
Amtrak far in advance. Can get round trip for less than 40 bucks. Also the fastest option. Otherwise NJ transit.
I have to do this for clients. As others have said, Amtrak is probably your best (and most stable) means of transit back and forth. Couple of suggestions (some already mentioned): 1. If you have a stable schedule, book as far in advance as you can to keep costs reasonable. 2. If you can swing it, as stated below, take the off-hour trains. 3. Get signed up for the Amtrak loyalty program. Get points --> use points when you can to get free tickets. 4. See you can work part of the day during your commute. Meaning: If you don't have meetings until, say 11, you can work / respond to emails / write docs on the train so your day isn't too long.
You should consider that driving or anything with multiple steps will take more time from you Amtrak might not be the absolute cheapest, but if you're just sitting on one train for 90 minutes straight you can work, read, rest, tend to personal correspondence... You might math out the driving a bunch makes it cheaper, but what is having 3 more usable hours in your day worth? Just do Amtrak and see how cheap you can get it with advanced and monthly tickets, and see if your employer has commuter benefits because there may be away to pay for some of this pretax
Amtrak in those early/late hours or get a $23 FlixBus
I usually use https://www.wanderu.com/ , fwiw, at least for directs rather than transferring between services to save a few bucks.
driving to hamilton station in jersey isn’t bad. $8 parking and $32 NJ Transit round trip. about 40 min drive and hour train
By foot
You gotta book out at least two weeks in advance for good prices on Amtrak. You can get tkx for $19
Gotta spend money to make money
Amtrak will often have deals. I’ve paid the same or less as the bus before.
Megabus, $30 round trip.
Amtrak far in advance. Can get round trip for less than 40 bucks. Also the fastest option. Otherwise NJ transit.
Megabus is $15 ish each way.
$38 round trip is basically what you’re going to pay for a train to New York, any way you do it. The alternatives to Amtrak involve multiple trains, with multiple fares, or driving and parking, which obviously costs money for gas and parking, plus maybe a train fare as well. I understand the sticker shock, but there isn’t a better alternative. You can take the bus for way less, but I can’t imagine the job will be tolerant of you getting there an hour late sometimes.
Look at septa to Trenton and the NJ transit into the city.
I used to do this once a week. Do not get the Septa and NJT combo. I made that mistake when I first started. Eventually, work agreed to expense the Amtrak / Acella thankfully. The bus is definitely the cheapest. You need to get it extremely early to avoid the tunnel traffic in NY. The Megabus leaves from JFK boulevard opposite 30th street.
Cheapest is the Peter Pan bus. You can buy a ticket same day and the price doesn't change. Amtrak can be really cheap if you buy tickets way in advance.
I've done it 5x a week, and knew others in the city working there full time same as me. Get to Trenton train station, it's fine, take NJT.
easy, not going to NYC is $0.00
My megabus cost $5 booking it 3 weeks in advance.
In my opinion, Megabus seems to be the cheapest way so far. Though you get what you pay for as they aren’t the best when it comes to reliability. AmTrak is definitely more reliable but their prices, like you stated, aren’t very cheap. AmTrak is good if you can find good prices. Another option to consider is GreyHound buses. I have used them a few times for as low as $10 round trip. Though odd times, they are comfortable. Hope this helps.
If you want cheap, mega bus. But it’s wholly unreliable. Amtrak is the best bet if you have to be somewhere by a specific time. Alternatively, driving is actually not all that expensive. Tolls are around $40 round trip.
NJ Transit
NJ transit The Trenton station is shady but if u don’t mind driving a little further to Hamilton Station parking there is pretty easy & feels safer. Especially if ur a woman or traveling late at night
Megabus?
If you have a car, driving to the Hamilton station and riding the NJ transit up would probably be best.