Travel to USMA

Bigdog1987

10-Year Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
392
If you are traveling from the South (NC/SC/GA/VA) with your parents to R-day and your parents are going to get a rental car, which airport from this list would be the best for the rental car price/access and proximity/feasibility of travel to USMA?
Laguardia
JFK
Newark
Islip
Albany
New Haven
Hartford
White Plain
Newburgh

Does anyone have any experience flying into these airports for the purpose of getting a rental car? I know that for a cadet to come home and travel to USMA alone the situation would be different.

Thanks in advance.
 
Well, I have no information on prices or accessibility, but I do know that JFK, being that an international airport and having flown there a few times myself, there are several car rental companies such as Hertz and Avis.
 
My cadet and I flew into Newark several times and picked up a rental car there. Good airfare and rental car price. However, this was over a year ago before oil prices went whacko and both times we got a compact or economy car. It can be tricky leaving Newark and heading in the right direction so take a GPS or have excellent detailed directions.

We have driven to WP many times and have done the 11/12-hour drive in one day several times. I-81 is not a bad drive and is very pretty through Virginia. Came down the New Jersey Turnpike two Sundays ago and on to I-95 then I-85 and that wasn't bad either. Lots of tolls though!:thumbdown:

Lots of upperclassmen parents recommend White Plains to avoid NYC traffic. Don't know about the rental car prices there.
 
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We (coming from the south too) have flown in and out of Newark, White Plains, Stewart (Newburgh) and Hartford. We prefer Stewart of the 4.
Hartford - Too far. Not worth it because the plane fare is no cheaper than closer airports.
Newark - travel to WP from here is a little complicated if you are not familiar with the route, plus there are several tolls along the way.
White Plains - for us, this is usually the cheapest airport for plane fares. The drive is about an hour to WP. Some traffic depending on time and day.
Stewart - plane tix price is usually the highest of these 3 but to us, it is worth it to pay a little more for the convenience. It is the closet to WP (30 minutes) - no traffic -no hassle. Easy beautiful drive to WP over Storm King mountain.
Albany - have heard of people flying into Albany for WP trips. About 2 hours and easy drive down the interstate. Again, when I have checked plane fares, it is no less expensive than closer airports.

Rental cars: Have not noticed price variations between these airports. We use Budget and it is available at all. Another plus about Stewart, being smaller, we usually get a bump up in car. Due to the small number of cars there - they usually don't have the car that we reserved.
 
If you use kayak.com, the search field will let you enter several airports. The search results will show you just about everything you need.

Great way to sift thru mountains of info.

Also, prices for air/lodging/rental cars change daily. What may be a good price one day, may be considerable higher or lower the next.

With airfares, once a ticket is purchased, not much you can due to benefits from the changing prices. With hotels and rental cars, you can change up until the last moment if prices are lowered. Just be sure to book the new price before canceling the previous reservation.

Which airport is best? We've used EWR and HPN, as we fly in from the West Coast, and have family in Westchester County. The drive from EWR to WP is not bad at all; just check out Google Maps ahead of time; also helps a lot to have GPS. Note well: after studying the maps, I ignore some of the routes the GPS recommends. The GPS doesn't always choose the best route.
 
M2inOR -
Could you share the route you found best from Newark to WP?
There are several different ways to go and the 2 times that we did it, we definitely did not choose the best way - either time!
 
M2inOR -
Could you share the route you found best from Newark to WP?
There are several different ways to go and the 2 times that we did it, we definitely did not choose the best way - either time!

Sure.

I-78 to Garden State
Garden State to I-87/287
I-87/287 to Palisades Parkway
Palisades Parkway to US 6, then 9W North to West Point

Yes, there are a few tolls on the Garden Sate, but only a few bucks.

What's nice about the Garden State is that no trucks or commercial veihcles are permitted. Crowded during the normal rush hour, but much better than I-95 to the Palisades.

Mike
 
Sure.

I-78 to Garden State
Garden State to I-87/287
I-87/287 to Palisades Parkway
Palisades Parkway to US 6, then 9W North to West Point

Yes, there are a few tolls on the Garden Sate, but only a few bucks.

What's nice about the Garden State is that no trucks or commercial veihcles are permitted. Crowded during the normal rush hour, but much better than I-95 to the Palisades.

Mike

We're from NJ and have tried a few different routes and prefer the route above the best.
 
Thanks M2inOR for the directions and LSSmith for the :thumb:
We may take advantage of the cheaper air fares into NYC now that we know the best route to WP.
Thanks!
 
how about avoiding tolls?

We're from NJ and have tried a few different routes and prefer the route above the best.

I've only gone once, and I'm from the western US where we have very few tolls and interchanges compared to that area, and frankly I got lost between Newark and WP, both ways. I'm just that good :rolleyes:

On the way back, I accidentally went a route that had no tolls, and it was faster, and as best as I can tell, this is the route I ended up on:
http://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NDEuMjU5NDMzNzEzMjY1MzJ+LTc0LjAxNjAxMjA2NTExMjMmbHZsPTExJmRpcj0wJnN0eT1yJnJ0cD1wb3MuNDAuNzMxOTdfLTc0LjE3NDE4NV9OZXdhcmslMkMlMjBOSl9fX2VffnYuNDAuOTE1Mjc3MjIxMDI4MTdfLTc0LjM1MDc1MTc1MDE3MTE4X1VTLTIwMiUyMCUyRiUyMFJvdXRlJTIwMjAyfnYuNDEuMzI0MTgxMjgwMDU3MzQ2Xy03NC4wMDQ2ODI0MTQyMzM0X1VTLTYlMjBFYXN0JTIwJTJGJTIwUGFsaXNhZGVzJTIwSW50ZXJzdGF0ZSUyMFBrd3klMjBOb3J0aH5wb3MuNDEuMzY5ODcxXy03My45NjU2NDNfSGlnaGxhbmQlMjBGYWxscyUyQyUyME5ZX19fYV8mbW9kZT1EJnJ0b3A9MH4wfjB+

So for those who are familiar with the area, I was wondering what you thought of this route? Not the most direct but it was actually faster because I never had to stop for tolls.

Thanks!
 
I've only gone once, and I'm from the western US where we have very few tolls and interchanges compared to that area, and frankly I got lost between Newark and WP, both ways. I'm just that good :rolleyes:

On the way back, I accidentally went a route that had no tolls, and it was faster, and as best as I can tell, this is the route I ended up on:
http://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NDEuMjU5NDMzNzEzMjY1MzJ+LTc0LjAxNjAxMjA2NTExMjMmbHZsPTExJmRpcj0wJnN0eT1yJnJ0cD1wb3MuNDAuNzMxOTdfLTc0LjE3NDE4NV9OZXdhcmslMkMlMjBOSl9fX2VffnYuNDAuOTE1Mjc3MjIxMDI4MTdfLTc0LjM1MDc1MTc1MDE3MTE4X1VTLTIwMiUyMCUyRiUyMFJvdXRlJTIwMjAyfnYuNDEuMzI0MTgxMjgwMDU3MzQ2Xy03NC4wMDQ2ODI0MTQyMzM0X1VTLTYlMjBFYXN0JTIwJTJGJTIwUGFsaXNhZGVzJTIwSW50ZXJzdGF0ZSUyMFBrd3klMjBOb3J0aH5wb3MuNDEuMzY5ODcxXy03My45NjU2NDNfSGlnaGxhbmQlMjBGYWxscyUyQyUyME5ZX19fYV8mbW9kZT1EJnJ0b3A9MH4wfjB+

So for those who are familiar with the area, I was wondering what you thought of this route? Not the most direct but it was actually faster because I never had to stop for tolls.

Thanks!

The GSP route is a flat hour and roughly 60 miles from Newark. This route is about 20 miles longer and I would think in most cases probably about 20-30 minutes longer.
 
When I lived in Maryland, I made the trip to/from USMA lots of times. Since my wife was often with me, I stayed on the NY Thruway until "RLTW's exit" (aka Woodbury Common Premium Outlet Exit). Then I took 293 to 9W.

It was 300 miles door-to-door for me, and I even did the round trip on the same day several times.

For anyone on the East Coast who ever drives up, the WPPC of MD, DC, & VA has a map that shows how to avoid the toll at the MD/DE border. It lengthens the trip by maybe 5 minutes...

http://www.west-point.org/parent/wppc-mddcva/images/delawa1.jpg
 
Our GPS took us on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...was just glad it was 1 a.m. and no traffic...it was horrible. I'd rather pay more and fly into White Plains or Newburgh than do that again...everyone said "just take the Garden State Parkway." It wasn't labeled, or else it's called something else; it's like when we tell people new to Atlanta..."just take Peachtree."
 
Our GPS took us on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...was just glad it was 1 a.m. and no traffic...it was horrible. I'd rather pay more and fly into White Plains or Newburgh than do that again...everyone said "just take the Garden State Parkway." It wasn't labeled, or else it's called something else; it's like when we tell people new to Atlanta..."just take Peachtree."

:eek: LOL!!

I finally stopped to look at the map at the last exit before Connecticut! The Tappan Zee bridge and I are old friends unfortunately! Thank Heavens for Garmin and lifetime map updates!! :thumb:
 

We did the outer I-287 route one time when we drove up from our Princeton/Rutgers visit. Very nice and relaxing; no tolls, and quite a bit longer than the Garden State route.

Stopping for tolls on the Garden State aren't a problem at all, unless you frequently travel without any money in your pocket. No, they don't take credit cards.

I wouldn't consider this route from Newark to West Point unless the real-time traffic warnings on the radio or GPS indicated all red routes on I-95 AND the Garden State.

The Garden State is well marked when you pay attention to the road signage. Alas, on a GPS, you'll need to know the actual highway numbers. That is why it is wise to check out the routes BEFORE you get into the car.

I'm pretty good at memorizing maps, so I occasionally deviate from the GPS instructions when I see traffic slowing down to a crawl. Once you know the lay of the land, it is pretty easy to take alternate routes.

Don't try this if you don't have a good sense of direction.
 
The Garden State is well marked when you pay attention to the road signage. Alas, on a GPS, you'll need to know the actual highway numbers. That is why it is wise to check out the routes BEFORE you get into the car.

We were scheduled to fly into Newburgh, via Detroit...but the flight was cancelled at the last minute. The only option was to switch to Newark. All my pre-printed directions were for Newburgh. My hotel was in Newburgh, my car rental, etc...it was PPW, and I wasn't missing it!! We might have missed a major sign leaving the airport, but we had the GPS and figured we were good to go...(we were just so thrilled our luggage made it!)...it makes for a funny West Point travel tale now. Lessons learned: always fly direct, fly early in the day, and put your phone charger in your carry on. All's well that ends well. :thumb:
 
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