Travel from Manhattan to JFK - How long?
 

I have a 7 p.m. flight tomorrow (Friday) out of JFK. I am staying on the Upper East side. What time should we leave Manhattan to allow adequate time for a 7:15 domestic flight. I am checking bags and flying F.

Are you talking cab/car service or train? Domestic or International flight? One thing you are going at rush hour and Friday summer at that. If by car, I'd leave no later than 4:30 PM (assuming domestic flight).

We will be taking a taxi. Flying domestic-- JFK-LAX. With it being the summer and traveling in Rush hour I wanted to get a few ideas.

4:30 sounds about right. At worst you should get in at 6pm and still have 1:15 until your flight.

Just be aware that even the priority lanes at DL get backed up, particularly if you are going out of the dump that is T2. Personally I'd head out by 4PM, particularly if you have a SC membership (which makes T2 bearable.)

As long as flight isn't departing from horrible T4 TSA you are good.

As others say get in cab - you can take Trib/RFK Bridge if 90s+ upper and let him fight it via highway or take the QB Bridge if 80s down and ask him to take Queens Blvd directly to Woodhaven. It is all local but lights should be sequence and get you there within 40 mins. of exiting the bridge.

BTW - If driver takes Woodhaven ask him NOT to turn on to the Belt Pkwy but instead continue onwards and turn on the Conduit to get to JFK.

+1 If you are the type that doesn't want to get stressed, I would leave at 4 pm to give yourself plenty of time. I also agree about taking the LIE (Long Island Expressway) to Woodhaven Blvd. to JFK as a poster further down suggests. The traffic will be horrible past Laguardia to the exit of the Van Wyck that's why I also recommend Woodhaven to steer clear of this.

Friday afternoon in the summer is the worst time to be on the roads. In a "bad" case scenario it could take 2 hours to get to JFK, I would say 75-90 minutes is most likely, but an accident somewhere could really make it bad.

I would leave at 4pm, or even better, take the train, assuming you don't have a ton of bags. From UES, 6 subway to 51st St. to E train to Jamaica is probably your best bet.

+1 if you aren't adverse to it public transportaetion is your best choice as it will get you to JFK within 60 minues and can leave at 4:45. You can worry about car transport and driving in SLC

Friday afternoon (today) in June with a SUPER weather forecast this weekend as well as Sunday being Father's Day. You would be crazy to take a taxi unless you do it early enough in which you will be waiting at JFK unless you like the stress of not moving as time ticks away.

Take the E train to the Airtrain if you want to make the flight. Taking a taxi at 4 or 4:30 won't make much of a difference. Traffic starts building up after lunch.

Have to agree with the 4.30.

If it were an airline that flew from a more civilized terminal, I'd probably say 4.45 or even 5, but with Delta, that's probably the right call.

The Belt eastbound is doing well at this time. :)

Edited to Add: News 12 Traffic just said (1:10 PM), "A lot of get away traffic" so it looks like Analise's prediction was correct.

How about taking the shuttle for $21 that picks you up from hotel?

Will we hear from the OP again? Wonder what happened.

Ditto on being nice to hear/feedback from OP -

This is more FYI for future reference - highway approach in PM hours: both GCP and VWE approach coming from LGA to JFK had been really horrible this past week (as always, really,) I had several runs this past week between home office in Queens and JFK - Howard Beach area, near Conduit Ave. & Woodheaven in the afternoon.

There is ongoing midday/long term highway reconstructions around LGA, lane closure began as the morning rush hour level off thru the afternoon (3 pm) - smack into the PM rush. Long term reconstructions/widening of the VWE around Main Street/Union Turnpike/Kew Gardens interchange area "mushroomed" out the delays in all directions except late night/predawn hours - the backup southbound on VWE and GCP began south of Long Island (Ex)pwy even before Jewel Ave. ramps (coming back from JFK, it began shortly after exiting the Belt Pkwy onto VWE northbound - with local streets/service roads equally jammed.

The only practical alternative has been the Woodheaven Blvd, which apparently everybody else has been discovering & using, including yellow taxis, car services - even Golden Touch coaches (favorite of airline crews for transport) - just haven't run into a blue "Super Shuttle" van, yet - traffic has been heavier than usual/in the past, taking an average of 30 minutes from the LIE Service Road/Queens Blvd. exit to Conduit Ave (plus another 10 minutes to reach JFK's various terminals.) "Smart" drivers leaving JFK toward midtown apparently are using WB to bypass the VWE mess, so you got it - tons of vehicles across 4+ lanes northbound toward the LIE.

Coming from UES/Manhattan, the RFK (a/k/a formerly Triborogh Bridge) is probably a "safer" bet - via 1st. or 3rd. Avenue (should the FDR Drive be jammed or shut down for whatever reasons) unless one is closer to the Queensborough Bridge, with easy "run" down Queens Blvd. & then straight down Woodheaven Blvd. Regardless, I'm leaning more toward allowing 90 minutes to get to JFK to be on the safe side, 75 minutes is only possible on a "dream" Friday (summer traffic hasn't been that might "lighter" in the past few years, now with lower gasoline prices - folks are hitting the roads again to get out of town or come into the city ...)

To stay ahead of mad traffic around the city by half a step, it's listening to 3 AM radio stations on the :08, :11, and :05 - plus Google NAV with traffic, and up to 6 traffic cam on Android to keep tabs on key bridges/city crossings ...

Travelers with light luggage/carryons and can navigate stairs & steps, the E Train to the AirTrain at Jamaica to JFK is really a practical option for any afternoon rush hour - traffic begin picking up the paces around 2:30 or 3 pm.