RG0105
Got my interview invite on 3/1...now trying to figure out flight options. For those that flew into NYC and drove up to Ithaca, how was it?
It wasn't too bad, I probably saved 200$ by doing it, and it gave me 4 hours of driving each way to talk to myself, listen to podcasts, ask myself interview questions and gave me the chance to visit NYC for the weekend, which was nice.
There wasn't any snow while i was driving, so that made it easy, a bad storm might change your opinion completely though if you aren't accustomed to driving in the snowpocalypse.
the scenery is pretty ugly in the winter, but i drove up at night and didn't even notice.
having a car in Ithaca was nice to see some of the lake and waterfall and visit campus quickly (and warmly), but some hotels have shuttles if you want to save the time and fly right in.
i also found that flights into NYC were much more frequent and easier to fit to your itinerary (i.e. i spent 4 hours driving instead of a 3 hour layover, and i got to leave ithaca when i wanted, rather than wait for a scheduled flight) so comparing time spent/saved, it wasn't too different.
i also hear there is a bus with wifi that will take you to Cornell from NYC for 70$
and i think i spent about 60$ in gas round trip and maybe 20$ in tolls
also if you fly into la guardia, take the whitestone bridge around manhattan (DO NOT follow google maps until you've crossed whitestone, that will save you a good hour in traffic)
also every toll road i've ever used was in europe, so i was taken by surprise when i crossed the toll bridges with just a credit card and they only accept cash... i was fortunate to sweet talk a police officer out of the ticket, but I wished i would've known beforehand
hope that helps