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JFK vs. LGA advice

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Old Sep 2, 2014, 3:32 pm
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by Often1
LGA any day of the week. Nobody in NYC uses JFK or EWR if they can avoid it.
With all due respect you are wrong. I have several NYC based colleagues who prefer EWR. Just a quick jaunt through the tunnel.
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 3:42 pm
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by NHFL9
Even more efficient is the M60 bus to the N/Q Subway at Astoria Blvd. The M60 is now a "Select" bus and makes the trip much faster than it used to. LGA to Midtown for $2.50.
The actual answer to this is that the Q70 is slightly faster (maybe 5-8 minutes all else being equal) but I would just get on whichever comes first. MTA Bus Time app lets you know where buses are in real time. I've timed this out several times.

JFK has more tarmac delays, a much larger terminal which requires a significant amount of walking to just get to the airtrain and then to transfer to the LIRR/E, is more expensive for public transit if you use the airtrain and/or LIRR (you can use buses but just go ahead and add an uncomfortable half hour onto your journey).

Using Uber or a cab, LGA is still my preference for uptown/midtown but probably not downtown.
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 4:19 pm
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by TurtleSVS
Using Uber or a cab, LGA is still my preference for uptown/midtown but probably not downtown.
I work downtown and am in JFK within an hour via Howard Beach using public transportation. It's the quickest and easiest airport via public transportation from where I work. By car it's the slowest if there's no traffic - by a lot. That said, if I'm taking a car service during rush hour it really doesn't matter what airport. I'll have to leave early and hope I catch my flight.
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 6:58 pm
  #34  
 
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Originally Posted by langbr01
I have lived in NYC for the past 12 years and choose to fly out of JFK if possible.

If you take the air train from JFK to Jamaica Station, then connect to Long Island Railroad you can be to Manhattan in 40 minutes. LIRR trains run far more frequently than New Jersey Transit trains from Newark.

LaGuardia your only options are bus to subway, taxi or shuttle service - all of which are often heavily impacted by traffic.

I suggest JFK - you can be to times square for $11 in under an hour regardless of time of day or traffic.
for residents of NYC accustomed to the PITA that is JFK-manhattan public transit, this may be true. i've lived in NYC a long time and personally, i HATE taking the train to/from JFK.

for visitors, i say LGA and take a cab/car service. way less pain and confusion.
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 7:57 pm
  #35  
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Originally Posted by tom_MN
As an out-of-towner I thought the old Q33 was easy, even with luggage.
It was easy enough, just slow. The Q70 is very fast.
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 7:57 pm
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Winkdaddy
While Delta's terminal C and D are renovated with nicer restaurants/bars etc, they still feel like 100 pounds of sh@t stuffed in a 5 pound bag...so crowded in there. JFK (terminal 4) is much less claustrophobic
For "pack a lunch before you consider walking to your gate" values of "much less claustrophobic".
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 7:59 pm
  #37  
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If you're taking taxis, definitely LGA. (Taxis from JFK often go right past LGA on their way to Manhattan.)

If you're considering public transit, JFK is perhaps a little easier than LGA, and a little slower (JFK SkyTrain to subway, LGA bus to subway) and more expensive (LGA $2.50, JFK $7.50).
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Old Sep 2, 2014, 8:14 pm
  #38  
 
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Originally Posted by sethb
For "pack a lunch before you consider walking to your gate" values of "much less claustrophobic".
LOL! Yeah the walk from the end of JFK terminal 4 to baggage claim is interminable. The moving sidewalks do very little to help.
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 7:33 am
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by TurtleSVS
MTA Bus Time app lets you know where buses are in real time.
"The Transit app" (free) will do the same and it works in any city in the US, Canada, and France. Just hit the app icon and it finds you, the closest transit stops, and with GPS locators on all the buses and trains it will compute the time till each arrives using an algorithm that takes traffic into account. Also can display the schedule, a map of the route you pick with the route highlighted (showing in real time the locations of buses and trains), and in DC will even color the background to match the color of the subway line. Really indispensable for any city dweller/traveler.
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 7:52 am
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by sbjnyc
I work downtown and am in JFK within an hour via Howard Beach using public transportation. It's the quickest and easiest airport via public transportation from where I work.
That's until you see your flight departing out of gate B41
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 8:24 am
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by sethb
If you're taking taxis, definitely LGA. (Taxis from JFK often go right past LGA on their way to Manhattan.)

If you're considering public transit, JFK is perhaps a little easier than LGA, and a little slower (JFK SkyTrain to subway, LGA bus to subway) and more expensive (LGA $2.50, JFK $7.50).
If cost is a concern, there are busses to/from JFK T5 (used to be T4) but I don't think any that go direct to Manhattan. To where I work it would take an extra 15 minutes vs train/air train.

Originally Posted by samwise6222
That's until you see your flight departing out of gate B41
True enough although now the air tran is inside the terminal so that helps a bit (especially if the weather is crap).
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 9:14 am
  #42  
 
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Beaten to it but I think the best option is actually EWR -> Air Train -> PATH. Drops you off right by Times Square.

I live in the Bronx and work in Queens 10 minutes from LGA. It is far and away my preferred airport due to proximity and just much less hassle and waiting. I've chosen to connect when traveling internationally in the Caribbean or Central America to avoid JFK. The problem at LGA of course is that if there is any kind of weather, you're pretty screwed, delay city.

I flew out on a Sunday in February to Spain via JFK and even with status in the priority line it was an hour and a half wait. (It was AA not Delta, but you get my drift)
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 9:27 am
  #43  
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Originally Posted by samwise6222
That's until you see your flight departing out of gate B41
Then it's one hour to get to JFK, and another to get to the gate.
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 2:04 pm
  #44  
 
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A few years back my wife and I flew in/out of LGA for a weekend trip. We took the Q33 which (other than being caught off guard by the requirement of COIN currency) didn't seem that bad to me, but wasn't my wife's favorite experience (she's not exactly an experienced urban traveler). On the return we shared a town car with a couple from home we had met up with for the weekend, which was only $40 split 2-ways.

These days, I can't see myself doing anything BUY Uber/X/Black depending on why I was there or who I was with, though I'd probably consider the new Q70 if I was there alone.
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Old Sep 3, 2014, 4:13 pm
  #45  
 
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Originally Posted by davetravels
LGA by far is the easiest / closest to mid-town Manhattan.

No contest.
No doubt. But has LGA fixed their awful TSA lines and waits?
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