Can anyone point me to a thread or comment on air transportation into Syracuse and Ithaca. Student would be traveling from Denver. I noticed that lots of flights are cancelled in the winter. Would it be best to bring a car to campus and drive to Syracuse airport? How is parking around Ithaca?
@Coloradomama – I have enough info to be mildly helpful but not enough to be accurate. Hopefully someone else will weigh in.
There are shuttle services to Syracuse airport for breaks. The problem is that the time may not always be convenient for your student’s flight. This is the first hit when I googled:
http://cornelltickets.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=891&cid=25
Students used to just ask around to find others traveling at similar time and then share a taxi. I imagine they now use more efficient Facebook or chat groups to find each other.
I think a permit to park at Cornell is $750/year plus the additional cost of insurance. (Your car insurance premium will drop a great deal when student is more than 100 miles from home.) Beyond that, I don’t know how much student would need to pay to park at Syracuse, so I would try the shared taxi or Cornell shuttle route.
A car cannot be used on campus, and really is not needed in Ithaca, unless the student wants to explore the surrounding area on weekends.
My first few years there I did not have a car and did not think I needed one or miss one.
My last of couple years there I did have a car, and found that it materially enhanced my experience. I was able to explore Ithaca, and the general area beyond the campus, in a way that I couldn’t do without a car. It was particularly useful when I stayed there over the summer.
The last year D2 attended she had a car, and made good use of it. Aside from broader exploration purposes, she used it for shopping runs to the supermarket & other shopping, go to the (further away) movies, etc. Mostly on weekends. And of course to drive to/from home (We live 4-5 hours away, not Denver). She lived in lower Collegetown (off campus) and did not have too much trouble parking- though it does get tight there- but got snagged for alternate side of the street violations a few times. Neither of us used cars to get to classes, we walked. I would get lazy and drive to upper Collegetown sometimes instead of walking, and also use it to go to the Commons downtown. My sense is she was less lazy than I was and generally walked to those destinations, weather permitting. I was impressed that she walked to/from downtown (because there is a steep hill) but she did.
Ithaca airport does not have zillions of flights in/ out in a day. So if a flight gets canceled there may not be another one for a long time. That’s the issue, seems to me. Syracuse is a better bet in that regard. This may not be as efficient, but if your kid gets friendly with someone in the NYC metro area he/she might go down there to visit for a day or two, then leave from LGA or JFK. Friends aside, there are also buses daily from Ithaca to NYC. Southwest flies direct to Denver from Buffalo, and there are buses from Ithaca to Buffalo. I imagine this is not the best option, but just mentioning fwiw.
Thank you @monydad and @CT1417. My son was just there, drove from Cleveland, and its been exciting watching the storm. He may enroll in grad school there, I guess I am a helicopter parent, to be checking for an older son, but just want to figure out the best way for me to visit him in Ithaca too. I like the LGA and JFK for me, as I have friends in NY, good idea. I could also rent a car from Newark NJ and drive up that way, or Buffalo, all good idea. Thanks again.
If you’re visiting him, and he doesn’t have a car there, it probably would be better if you come up with a car so you can take him off campus someplace.
If the flights work out better you could also do this from Philadelphia, which is a 4 hour drive from Ithaca.
Oh…if he’s in grad school, then, yes, he would want a car. I thought he was going to be a freshman, so disregard my prior comments about not needing a car. He still won’t be able to park near the academic buildings, but he may want to explore Ithaca.
If you will be in Manhattan visiting friends, and if he has a car up there, you might want to take the C2C bus :https://transportation.fs.cornell.edu/coach/schedule/default.cfm
It departs from near Grand Central Terminal and Cornell Med School (uptown near 70th & York) and then travels directly to campus.
Did he just drive through that storm? Yikes! First full day’s closure in 24 years. If you plan to fly in, make things easier on yourself and avoid the winter months.
I’d suggest that you plan to visit in mid-October.
You live in Cleveland? Overnight Amtrack from Syracuse.
@brantly my son lives in Cleveland, and visiting Cornell in a few weeks. He may want to fly back and forth to Denver to see his parents, if he chooses Cornell. Thats good info about the Amtrack from Cleveland to Syracuse, he was looking at a bus or renting with Hertz for the next visit. The down the road visits would be from Denver, not Cleveland. Thank you.
@CT1417 thank you. I did not know about the intercampus bus from NYC. He is driving back to Ithaca tomorrow. He got a rental car.
Its good to know Cornell only closed campus once in 24 years. Michigan and Case Western were closed for cold about four years ago in his freshman year. He will make up his mind after this next visit between Michigan, UIUC and Cornell for physics. Its all pretty specific to advisors at each school. I am probably jumping the gun trying to figure out transportation for him. There is a way to get there, and he does need a car in all three locations it seems to me. Thanks.
Ithaca has flights to Detroit (Delta), Newark (United) and Philadelphia (American). I live in Ann Arbor, so I’ll put a plug in for the Detroit airport as a great and reliable place to connect through. My daughter starts at Cornell in the fall, so we’ll find out how good Delta’s service, generally very reliable, to Ithaca is. Syracuse isn’t far, but the Ithaca airport is so very close to campus.
@nmcorm Thank you. All three airlines fly to Denver, so that will work. I am probably kidding myself that my kid will even fly home anymore, during grad school, but I might want to see him! I am on pins and needles with his decision, I need to calm down as any of the three are good in physics. He is lucky to have great choices. Hard to let go for me. Cornell is just so beautiful compared to UIUC, though. Michigan being his other choice is a great location too, and very easy to get to for us. Its all very exciting.
I’m from SoCal and my freshman son has only been home for two weeks over winter break. He flew in and out of Syracuse and took the Cornell shuttle bus to campus. Syracuse can get snowed in as it happened to my son getting home last December. He elected to take a greyhound bus to Albany airport so he wouldn’t have to spend the night at Syracuse airport. Other than that, no issues
@CALSmom, thank you, sounds exciting, all the travel options. Good to know that there are so many trains and buses in New York State. Well, its now down to Cornell and UIUC after his visit to Cornell. I am hoping for Cornell, in spite of the travel time. Getting to Urbana is a similar trek, from Chicago. Or trains to Peoria and hitch hike! I’ll have to check Albany for direct flights, to Denver.
@Coloradomama there’s Ithaca Thompkins airport which is super close (few miles) to my son’s dorm. Very convenient to Cornell, the only thing is flights are more expensive than Syracuse. The drive to Cornell from Syracuse is about an hour via freeway and quaint villages. I quite enjoyed the drive when I took my son to Cornell last August. If your son is into nature, Cornell has the beautiful gorges to hike and wineries too. Plus there’s the huge farmers market at Lake Cayuga.
My daughter is a junior at Cornell. You have 3 airport options: Ithaca, Syracuse, and Binghamton. We’re from SoCal. The key is to book early if you want to fly from/to Ithaca as the flights are limited and more expensive. Sometimes, if you factor in the cost of bus ride to Syracuse (which is about $89), it’s comparable. My daughter doesn’t fly home during Thanksgiving or Spring break. She only come home during Winter break and Summer. It’s too short and if your flight is cancelled, you might spend majority of your time at the airport. When we visited Cornell in April 2014 after she was accepted, our flight was cancelled from Syracuse because of snow so we missed our flight in La Guardia. Then our flight the following day was delayed again and we almost miss our connecting flight in Phoenix.
Surprisingly she never had any cancelled flight coming out from Ithaca or Syracuse after that. She had a cancelled flight Sophomore year from SoCal to Ithaca after Winter break. She ended up flying to Binghamton. Lucky for her, she had a friend that flew the same day/flight with her and another friend picked them up from the airport. This summer, she’ll ride with her BF to Boston then take the flight from Boston to SoCal (will probably save her about $200 if you factor the bus ride to Syracuse).
Travel to and from is a pain! Chicago here. 12 hour drive. Sophomore D flies home for Thanksgiving directly out of Ithaca Tompkins thru Detroit, connecting to Chicago. I book this flight in June/July because limited availability of seats. This is a popular option for students who only have a few days off and Tompkins is much easier but also much more $$$.
Winter break she takes Big Red Bus to Syracuse (Reservation necessary. Bus drops off at airport or Amtrak station. You can book this on the Cornell website) and takes the Amtrak home to Chicago. It’s a much cheaper option and since the break is a long one, it makes more sense, and it’s a better option if the weather is bad. This past December (2016), there was a bad snowstorm, and the bus barely made it to Syracuse. Once there, all the flights out of Syracuse were cancelled for up to two days, so a mass exodus of kids took cabs to the Amtrak station to see if they could get on a train. My D says she is always the only student who gets dropped off at Amtrak by the Big Red Bus. Everyone else is going to airport–but this year, she was the one who had no worries.
All this to say is that it is a tough in and out. She does not come home for Fall break, February break, or Spring break. It’s just not worth it, and the dorms and dining halls are open, so it’s just the way it has to be, limited travel resources being what they are…
However, she would not change it for anything. She loves Cornell and DH and I are happy she’s there.
@2018dad Thanks for the realistic picture. Has your daughter tried a bus to Binghamton airport? Looks like Delta flies from Binghamton through Detroit to Denver. Denver may have different airline options compared to LAX. If my son brings a car, and I think he will,perhaps he can start an Uber service to airports, in his spare time! Is Uber more than the $89 bus? Binghamton seems to be a little closer than Syracuse if there are flights from there.
My son had a great visit to Cornell’s physics department. He is making decision this week, between UIUC and Cornell. Both seem to have lively performing arts and music venues. Cornell has Hockey ! and better hiking. I am not sure what to hope for, just want him to find the best advisor.
To get to UIUC, it was suggested: a flight to Chicago ,a train to Peoria and hitch hiking! Cornell has more choice in airports and, if global warming warms things up sufficiently, may be easier to get to in the winter, eventually. 
update on Binghamton airport, Delta may still fly after the renovation.
http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/2017/02/10/runway-project-suspends-delta-service-may/97737260/
Some students will spend the shorter breaks with friends who live in more accessible locations. Or visit friends at other colleges. I had friends home for Thanksgiving and visited friends at other schools for the short breaks.