<p>My D, now a freshman in Princeton, is thinking about coming home (to CA) for the fall break in October. She doesn't want to leave on Friday as there might be some ECs, evening activities there etc. But we want to have her most of the weekend as during the weekdays everyone else in the family will be more busy. The logical solution would be to catch some early morning Saturday flight ... but we are not sure how easy it is to get safely to the airport during those "wee hours". </p>
<p>Is any kind of shuttle to airport provided by Princeton for students who leave for school breaks? I remember hearing/reading about it somewhere, but can't find any information about it on Princeton web-site. Where could I find its schedule?</p>
<p>Or should students go on their own? If so, what are the shortest and safest way to get to Newark or Philadelphia airports late at night or early in the morning?</p>
<p>it depends on how early morning flight you mean. Newark is the most easily accessible airport, and NJ transit is very safe. They start running trains ~6, and at that time take just over an hour to get to the airport. Plus once you get to the airport you need to take the air train to get to the terminal. So you could catch a flight that left any time after 9.</p>
<p>The other option is the airporter, which is a van service. For about $25 you can get a ride to the airport, and they have pretty reasonable rates for private car service as well. The airporter leaves from baker rink. </p>
<p>Almost all of my friends took the train to newark to get to the airport, as its a shorter train ride than drive generally due to traffic. But if you want her to leave before 9, then the airporter might be her best bet. </p>
<p>Philly is much harder to get to, because it's 4 trains instead of 2. The trains are also slower, since SEPTA takes a while to get into philly. Still possible, but much easier after freshman year when hopefully you know someone with a car that you can talk into taking you.</p>
<p>But if you want her to leave before 9,
then the airporter might be her best bet. </p>
<br>
<p>Yesterday I've seen the reasonably priced tickets for a non-stop flight, leaving at 6:58 a.m. or something like that. I would grab it at once if not for transportation concerns. :( The first airporter gets from Princeton to Newark at 5:45 a.m. Is it too late for any around 7 a.m. flight?</p>
<p>Is she taking luggage? If she's not taking luggage and it's a sunday morning then it's probably all right. If she has to check luggage then it might be iffy.</p>
<p>You can also check JFK flights from NYC. Can take the NJ transit train to grand central then catch the subway to JFK via Jamacia Station.. Jet Blue has some great cheap flights out of JFK.</p>
<p>njtransit goes in to penn station-- but you can take the lirr to jamaica station and then the air train. It ends up being pretty expensive, since the airtrain costs money as well, and takes well over 2 hours from princeton to jfk, even if everything goes right and the connections are quick (1.5 hours to NYC, 25 min to Jamaica, 15 min to airport, plus connections).</p>
<p>Newark's the best bet. One hour should be enough if she's not checking luggage. If the flight's that early, NJT won't cut it. The earliest the trains get to the airport (add in transfer time) is ~7:30. I'm a Southern Californian, and there's nothing that's more convenient then Newark --> SNA.</p>