<p>My S has applied to Cornell, but we are concerned that travel between California and Ithaca will be expensive, brutish and long. Any Californians with experience that can tell us what it is like?</p>
<p>The "easiest" airport is Syracuse, and from there it's ~40 miles to Cornell. Of course, there are not nonstops to SYR from the left coast. You can also fly nonstop into PHL, EWR, or JFK. It's a ~4 hour drive from the first two airports and 4.5 from JFK. Of course, that assumes you don't try to navigate at rush hour. Surprisingly, the drive from Philly seems the easiest of the three -- go SOUTH from the airport to 476 connector.</p>
<p>I think the only way you could manage expensive, brutish and long is if you decided to round up your oxen and take the Oregon trail. Seriously though, they're air planes, It's a 7.5 hour flight or so with a stop over from san diego to nyc (flown it many times) and from there you can take a bus/cab/subway to the bus station and take a bus straight to campus. There might even be a bus more directly straight from the airport.</p>
<p>OR as bluebayou pointed out,you could come in at Syracuse, or try to get a connecting flight to ithaca airport. Whatever way you try to work it out, the only thing that's going to be annoying about the trip will be lugging around your suitcases between transportation.</p>
<p>Ok im a freshman at Cornell and I live in AZ. Lets just say it took me two days to get home because of weather cancellations. The most annoying trip will always be during winter break.</p>
<p>around breaks there are lots of buses running to the syracuse airport. I've never taken one but I certainly get plenty of emails about them.</p>
<p>i am a freshman this year from southern california.
the travel isn't as bad as you would think it, but it's pretty bad.
i bought a one way ticket to cornell in august for around 400, from lax to ithaca with a lay over in philadelphia
i went back to ca for fall break. the ticket was around 500, but it was only because i bought it last minute. it was straight from ithaca to lax, with layover in philadelphia again
i bought another over priced ticket, around 600, but that was because it was for thanksgiving. although i never used that ticket yet
and i got smart, finally!, and bought my winter break ticket 2 months in advance for only 280 or so, with tax 330. but it was from syracuse to lax. it was snowing that day, and it was fine, my flight was not delayed. (it was a layover in detroit) but the only thing that sucks is that i had to take a cab from ithaca to syracuse, which was 140.
hope my experience helps you a little</p>
<p>Not too hard since they came out with 'em planes.</p>
<p>one need not take a cab from ithaca to syracuse airport...</p>
<p>there is a cornell sponsored charter from cornell campus to syracuse airport that runs at peak times...</p>
<p>or you can arrange an aiport limo service with ithaca airlines limousine (forget the exact name) for like $75 roundtrip...</p>
<p>if you know you're goin to cornell...you can book your flights now and get a cheap price from ithaca (tompkins county regional airport) (see academic calendar).</p>
<p>layovers layovers layovers</p>
<p>i usually take LAX-chicago/DC-syracuse-ithaca</p>
<p>Continental, LAX - EWR - Ithaca for 265over spring break.</p>
<p>its possible to get airplane tickets for Ithaca to SF/LA/SD from $250-$350 if you search 2-3 months before and buy (look up the Cornell Academic planner and plan accordingly). early enough, the ITH - EWR - LAX sometimes have ridicuously cheaper prices than travelling from a major airport (like the $265 posted by oldfort). And I'll say that snowstorms will be the one thing that will screw things up. Also another tip, never fly with US Airways ... they just suck, no other explanation. Northwest is okay, and Continental is better ... I wish Jetblue or Virgin America flew out of Ithaca, but thats wishful thinking.</p>
<p>Great trip to catch up on reading or write a paper.</p>