Confused Int'l Student LOL

<p>So I received this message from PREPARE coordinator. </p>

<p>Hello again,</p>

<p>Thanks for the information. I'm afraid you cannot move into your dorm
until Monday, August 18th. If you arrive in New York at 12:00 noon on
Sunday, August 17th, there are two things you could do.
1) You could stay in a hotel overnight in New York (near the airport, for
instance), and travel to Ithaca by bus in the morning of Monday, August
18th. We would then pick you up at the Ithaca bus station and take you to
check in and to your dorm.
2) You could travel to Ithaca by bus from New York on Sunday, August 17th.
You would probably arrive here in the evening, so you will need to book a
hotel here in Ithaca for one night, and take a taxi from the Ithaca bus
stop to that hotel. We will then pick you up from that hotel and take you
to check in and to your dorm on Monday, August 18th. If you can still find
a room for a night in a hotel in Ithaca, this is probably the best choice.</p>

<p>Let us know if you have any more questions, and when you confirm your
plans, please fill out the travel information form and return it to us by
email attachment.</p>

<p>Sincerely,
Irene Vrinte
Student Coordinator</p>

<p>So what do you think is the best way? How do I book a hotel in NY or Ithaca? Which one would be cheaper?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>check hotels by the airport you are arriving at in NYC - they may be surprisingly cheaper than Ithaca due to the good old supply and demand law ...it is hard & expensive to get a room in Ithaca at move-in time...</p>

<p>then too if your flight arrives late from Asia you won't be as upset about not making it to Ithaca that night for your room...you are going to have a long flight and need to give yourself time to adjust before moving on to the next stage...</p>

<p>yeh i second to what memphismom said
my mum tried to book a hotel in Ithaca like a month ago
the hotels are expensive (brutally overpriced!!) and vacant rooms around the move-in period are hard to find</p>

<p>Thank you very much guys! And can someone please explain a little bit about the procedure? I am totally clueless.</p>

<p>you can go to hotels.com or another travel/reservations website...</p>

<p>and put in your dates and such...</p>

<p>"Stay in a hotel at NY"---->You could look at the hotels that are close to JFK on the net. Many have a shuttle too to and from from the airport. Book to stay there the 17th night. (*<em>Take the hotel shuttle to JFK on the 18th morning- from there it is convenient to take the airport bus to the Bus Terminal</em> )</p>

<p>"Take a bus to Ithaca" ----> Shortline buses (Coachusa.com) run a frequent and convenient bus service to Ithaca. Most will go through the Cornell campus before arriving at the terminal bus station. You could get off at the North Campus from where the student representatives will take you to your room.</p>

<p>**However, the bus to Ithaca will start from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and NOT from JFK. You can take the airport shuttle (from JFK) to the Port Authority terminal (approx 20$ charge). </p>

<p>There may be other options albeit better ones for you to travel but this worked best for me when I arrived as an International student with loads of baggage!!!</p>