Submitted by stigochris t3_1186ded in baltimore
I’ve recently gotten a job opportunity that’s going to require me to make trips up NYC multiple times over the next couple months. After a little bit of research seems like the train is pretty pleasant, but expensive(150-200 round trip?), and the bus is cheap but crowded. Any tips on how I could make this an affordable but not dreadful trip?
Heck, I found a trip to Philly in April that would cost $5 for coach and would be about 1hr 15 min.
yep, just got $28 each way for a trip booked in june
I wonder if they still have monthly passes to NY. It may be a few hundred dollars but if you go enough it would be worth it.
Yep, I go to slightly-upstate NY about 6x/year, always get my amtraks about a month in advance (or longer). Usually ends up being about 90$ round trip for BWI to Croton-Harmon.
Can you get reimbursed for the travel?
I would take the train and sign up for the rewards program. Just try to book early and use a credit card to earn points.
Or move to CT or NJ or Brooklyn or Queens or the Bronx.
Or not take the job.
Definitely do Amtrak, but if your company isn’t going to reimburse any and ALL travel, that’s a red flag right off the bat
if you can book 60 days out amtrak has several NE regional trains a day for 30 bucks one way.
I travel between NYC and Baltimore pretty frequently, and go with the train when its a reasonable cost, and use OurBus when its not. OurBus seems to be about $30 each way, and its stop is a block from Penn Station, which beats a lot of the other buses that stop near the beltway. And the bus has never been crowded when I have taken it, which is usually Fridays/Sundays.
Ourbus also picks up in Columbia. We took last week. Less crowded, cleaner and better Wi-Fi.
The Amtrak website seems terrible. I can barely get it to function. Is that what you use or am I missing something?
Agreed. The mobile app is quite a bit better.
It's confusing, you need to make sure you choose the right starting station and final destination, not all lines stop at all places. Check the specific line that goes from here to there.
Wanderu is great to book through. It will show you all train and bus options for your itinerary
The mobile app is slightly better
I mean the bus you still get an individual seat and there's usually luggage racks/storage. Yes the train is a little bit more comfortable but it's only a 3 hour ride. I've used Megabus, FlixBus, and OurBus and have had very few problems with any of them. Megabus is occasionally late showing up but I still usually arrive within 20 minutes of the anticipated time.
the last time i used Megabus my seat was broken and waiting in line to come home the bus driver and one of the megabus employees got into a fist fight. We take the train now lol.
Amtrak doesn’t sit in traffic, at least not in the northeast corridor
I was on a Megabus that stopped at one of the NJ rest stops and then left passengers behind when it left.
I had a Megabug just not show up one time and customer service essentially shrugged.
Maybe cause u was waiting for megabug instead of megabus lmao
Of you book Amtrak a few weeks in advance it’s a good bit cheaper.
If you like to drive, drive to N central Jersey, park at the Metro Park station, and take a quick cheap train the rest of the way. Parking rates are cheap there and the drive is about 2.5 hours.
Take the bus up and train back or vice versa
I’ve been commuting between New York City and Baltimore for over three years. If you book Amtrak in advance (probably at least six weeks in advance, but it varies), you can almost always get a ticket for $29 or sometimes even less because they do have sales from time to time. Traveling near holidays can cost more but the key is to buy ahead of time. Bus is also an option. Wanderu.com is really handy for seeing options for bus and train in one place. Bus usually costs $25-$29, sometimes $40-50 if same day. I’ve taken the bus a few times and it wasn’t awful (I used Bolt Bus but they stopped coming to Baltimore, I think). One more thing, if you book your ticket through the Amtrak app, you can reschedule it on there if you need to. Even if you buy a basic ticket.
How reliable do you find the different modes? I generally thought the train sucked less because it didn’t have highway congestion but I know there were two times I took Amtrak that had two hour delays. And I’ve only taken it like ten times!
Amtrak does have delays sometimes but overall I’d say it is reliable. Most of the time the delays are minor (like 5-10 mins). In the ~3.5 years I’ve used Amtrak (usually one ride per week) I have had 2 or 3 major delays. One was due to a severe snow storm and in the other it was a summer storm that knocked a tree onto the tracks. The third time I can’t recall specifically. So I think you may have just had some bad luck. I always plan in some extra buffer (at least an hour) if I need to be sure I don’t miss something important at my destination
Yeah that sounds like bad luck. My two delays were 1) Somehow the electric engine they insert at Penn Station got messed up. And 2) Someone was unfortunately killed on the track by the train ahead of ours.
NE Regional should be quite a bit less than 200/rt if you book 14 days advance.
Amtrak sells its tickets in “buckets” starting with the cheapest, and as seats are booked the tickets become more expensive. I’ve definitely made that trip for as little as ~$50 on the Northeast Regional but I booked the tickets over a month in advance.
I definitely recommend the train, keep in mind even a coach seat on Amtrak is an experience comparable to business class on most airlines
I love Amtrak
I take the bus up constantly. The train is way more comfortable and nicer. But the bus price is unbeatable. I tend to go twice a month
Amtrak points add up fast. Do the train - faster, more reliable time wise, more comfortable, and the quiet car is clutch to get work done. I prefer Acela because it’s faster and has priority on the tracks.
I believe a certain amount of your commuting costs are able to be tax write offs.
Amtrak is perfect especially if you live in the city. I go up once in a while and I walk to the train station. Brings you right into Penn Station. Such an easy trip.
Definitely backing up those saying book early if possible. I got a one way for $35 and the return for $100. The bus isn't horrible as I used to take it a bunch but take headphones/ear buds to drown out the noise from other people lol
If you book ahead of time or get one of the multi-trip passes it's much less expensive than that (I'd budget ~$100 round trip, but you can often get cheaper tickets on the Northeast Regional) and Amtrak really is the best experience. Make use of the loyalty program and any discounts (student, veteran, disability, etc.) you qualify for. Ask you job about commute/travel benefits. For reference, driving would likely also be at least $100 round trip due to tolls/gas/etc.
Your job should expense your travel.
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The bus sucks. Take the train. If you have to take the bus, use Megabus.
Bus if you're doing something naughty. Frequent trips. Seems sus 🤨 🤔
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Megabus! So many times both up and back.
I’m from NY, an accountant and now live in Baltimore.. I wouldn’t expect a NYC employer to reimburse you for any travel. I’d also be worried about state taxes as the traveling will show the job should be technically based in NY. States have and will continue to crack down harder on this rule since COVID. You might end paying a lot in taxes and still stuck on whatever transportation you decide to take..
also the correct answer truly depends on where you are going in NYC. Best way might be fly to NWK and take Path to downtown Manhattan if going to Wall Street or SoHo. Anywhere midtown or above take the train. The Baltimore COLA vs NYC salary if negotiated correctly should negate any money saved by taking a more painful way.
Also, are you staying in NYC overnight? The hotels airbnbs and meals will be more expensive than any of this transportation bs.
• Amtrak prices vary on ALL of their platforms. You can find web prices, kiosk prices and app prices to be different from calling in directly. • Late nite trains are typically the cheapest in an emergency • Get those Amtrak points. If you’re really making this regular, those points do add up
that’s all i can think of for now. Hopefully this is new material.
Delta has non stop flights from BWI to JFK for ~$200. Unless you don’t like airports, there’s really no reason not to fly. Trains and busses get delayed just as frequently, so if you can optimize your time in the airport as much as you would have on the train, it’s reasonably cost effective.
Gotta disagree with this. I take Amtrak BWI-NYP every other week and it's night and day as far as convenience. The flight is much faster than the train, so time-wise it's probably a wash, but the train is very comfortable; big comfy seats, power at every seat, a dining car. You also don't have to show up 1+ hours early to get through security. Also, if you're staying in Manhattan the cost of an Uber or the amount of time it take to take public transit from JFK to Manhattan and back adds another level of burden.
Learn how to teleport.
It’s like is this a real question? Do you believe there is magic answer out there that defies the laws of physics which you just haven’t figured out?
Idk. If you book Amtrak or the bus like 6 months in advance you can get a good discount.
It’s like is this a real response? Do you believe that being a rude on Reddit to strangers magically heals all of your life problems?
Idk. You can just keep scrolling if you don’t have anything productive to contribute.
These days seems people would rather publicly crowd source their questions instead of googling them like the rest of us.
You could have kept scrolling too.
I’m moving to Baltimore in a month and have some events in nyc this summer, so I’m here for the advice. It’s much easier and more helpful to get advice from people that have experience with something rather than just googling and trying to figure it out yourself without experience.
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This just showed up in my feed. All I needed to do was tap, because I was interested in the advice.
fre_d_dy t1_j9flwlw wrote
Amtrak is cheaper if you can book a good ways in advance. So if your work trips can be planned in advance by a couple months you can get tickets for $30-$40 each way.