International Advising

Making travel plans

After obtaining your visa, you can secure your travel plans to Schenectady, New York. You must contact the International Advising Office (internationaladvising@union.edu) with your finalized travel itinerary. The office can also help with travel questions. Be sure you confirm the date by which you must be on campus.

Once in Schenectady, all arriving international students should ask to be dropped off at the Union College Campus Safety Office located at College Park Hall on 450 Nott Street, between Erie Boulevard and Park Place. (College Park Hall is a short distance off campus and not shown on the campus map.) Available 24 hours / day, a Campus Safety Officer will assist you in getting to your residence hall.

After arriving at JFK, LaGuardia or Newark airports

From Newark airport, you must plan to travel into New York City in order to connect to a direct flight to Albany, or board a bus or train. A monorail is used for terminal-to-terminal transportation within the airport, but walking between terminals is very easy.

Similarly, passengers arriving at JFK or LaGuardia will have to find additional transportation to Schenectady via a connecting flight from JFK to Albany, or by way of a train, bus or shuttle van service. If you fly to Albany, a taxi service can transport you from the Albany airport to Schenectady for approximately $30.

Trains run to Schenectady from New York City's Pennsylvania (PENN) Station on 8th Avenue between 31st and 33rd streets. One-way tickets cost approximately $50. You should reserve your train tickets in advance. Once at the train station, the gate/track for your train will not be posted until about ten minutes prior to departure, and you will have to board your train rather quickly.

Busses for Schenectady (Greyhound or Adirondack Trailways) depart from the Port Authority terminal on 8th Avenue between 40th and 42nd streets. The area around the Port Authority is potentially dangerous, and we advise you to arrive there by taxi, not by subway or on foot.

In Schenectady, the bus and train stations are within one mile of the campus. You will need to take a taxi to campus. If a taxi is not immediately available at the station and you need to call one, please remember that local calls cost 25 cents. The phone number for Capitaland Taxi is (518) 372-7777.

Direct transportation is available between JFK or LaGuardia and Schenectady through Premiere Transportation Group. Please make your shuttle van reservation at least 48 hours in advance of your arrival. Shuttle passengers must call (800) 772-2172 (Mon-Fri) or 518/573-1608 (Sat-Sun) immediately upon arrival. The Express Shuttle will not depart JFK later than 6:30 pm or LaGuardia later than 7:15 pm. The cost of the one-way shuttle van is approximately $65.