Parking at EWR?

April 19, 2009 12:58 PM

I need to get from Philly area to Newark Airport. I can drive, but airport parking is expensive. I will be gone for 9 days. Is there a better way?

The cheapest near-airport parking I can find is $8/day at E-Z way parking. I have read some bad reviews of it (things missing from cars, minor damage), but I am not too concerned with that since I drive an old worthless car and won't be leaving any valuables. Still, that will be $72 just for parking.

Do I have any better options? I've looked into driving to a NJ train station (Princeton Junction or Hamilton) and taking NJ transit the rest of the way -- those stations have cheaper daily parking. But I'm hearing that the daily lots tend to fill up early in the morning. My flight is around 7pm, so I won't be trying to park until late afternoon (going early in the morning isn't an option, I only took a half-day from work).

A cab ride would clearly be much more expensive as would be taking amtrak from Philly and Newark. Any other ideas? Thanks.

posted by whataboutben to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

Amtrak from Philly to Newark, followed by the Air Train?
posted by furtive at 1:04 PM on April 19

Park at the train stop Levittown and take the SEPTA R7 one stop to Trenton. Take NJTransit to the Newark Airport stop. Take the monorail from there to the airport.

Alternatively just take the SEPTA R7 from Philly to Trenton (if you start in 30th St station, buy a round trip ticket at an NJTransit ticket machine - SEPTA has no ticket machines) and the NJ Transit to the airport train station and then the monorail to the airport.

These options are definitely cheaper than Amtrak. However, SEPTA does not run late at night.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:07 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Where in the Philly area?
Could you leave the car @ home and take SEPTA to Trenton & Transfer to NJTransit?

Or since that is long, Amtrak from Philly to NY have some trains that stop at the Newark airport stop.

Furtive, you have to make sure to get off at the Newark *Airport* stop. Newark will leave you in, well, Newark.
You could probably cab it from there which would be cheaper than from Philly. Not all Northeast corridor trains stop at Newark Airport.
posted by xetere at 1:07 PM on April 19

I've parked at the Hamilton station plenty of times early on a Friday afternoon, and I've never had a problem finding a space. Theoretically, all the commuter's cars are still there as well. Just make sure the train you take is one that actually stops at the airport in Newark. If memory serves, not all of them do.
posted by ersatzkat at 1:18 PM on April 19

Princeton Junction has terrible parking but Hamilton should be fine, especially on a Friday.
posted by InsanePenguin at 1:23 PM on April 19

Definitely take NJ Transit, its much cheaper and runs a ton more trains then amtrak. I stop at the newark airport stop every morning while commuting. Remember, you can't buy a round trip to the airport because you have to pay extra to take the air train (monorail from newark airport stop into the terminals).
posted by Mach5 at 1:36 PM on April 19

How did everyone know I was leaving on Friday?
posted by whataboutben at 1:41 PM on April 19 [1 favorite]

Dude, if you can't sneak out earlier than lunchtime, you're not sneaking out earlier than Friday :)
posted by ersatzkat at 1:55 PM on April 19

9 days would be a work week + two weekends, minimizing actual time away from work.
posted by QuakerMel at 2:13 PM on April 19

SEPTA (R7?) to Trenton. NJ Transit to Newark. I don't know how to help you from there... but, you're in Newark; hire a cab at the worst.
posted by Netzapper at 5:11 PM on April 19

Transbridge Bus Lines has service from some locations in the Philly area straight to Newark Airport. Maybe you could bum a ride to one of the bus stops?
posted by bergeycm at 5:41 PM on April 19

With a little more specific information I'm fairly sure that there are enough of us who live and die by the Northeast Corridor that we could get you there cheap and easy. (If you weren't cheap and easy already.)

In the very vaguest terms possible: I would take a cab to the closest train station, then head north. Chances are the cab to and from will cost you roughly the same as the long-term parking will AND it will save you the worry about leaving your car unattended in a parking garage for an extended period of time.

But again, this all depends on where you actually live. Paoli, Center City and Bucks County are all in the Philly Area - but each requires a totally different route and plan.

(FWIW: Hamilton's got a giant parking garage and it is nice and clean and well-lit.)
posted by greekphilosophy at 7:50 AM on April 20

Transbridge Bus Lines run a commuter bus from various places in PA. Bucks County has numerous spots and one stop on the way to NYC is the Newark airport.
posted by myturnplease at 1:53 PM on April 20