ijgordon

Reporting a Sunday 9pm arrival to Terminal B was a bit of a cluster.

They have digital signs as you approach baggage claim indicating taxi wait times -- was 25-30 minutes. We came in on Jet Blue (concourse A), and of course the only taxi queue is at the other end of the building, and it looked *long*.

Uber was quoting $60+ to UWS (close to 2x surge), and M60 bus was arriving shortly so we decided to do that instead.

Following on from my previous post about getting TO the airport, The M60-SBS stinks. Don't take it if you can avoid it.. They need more frequency and more regularity.

Forgot that from Terminal B it then has to wind around and pick up pax at Terminals D then C. By then the bus was PACKED (fortunately we had seats). Then it takes some cockamamie routing to the Ditmars Blvd stop with a bunch of traffic lights (if they just moved the stop around the corner they could avoid all this...). Then in Astoria at Steinway St. things almost came to blows when some pax couldn't get on the bus and people wouldn't move to the middle. We sat there for 5+ minutes while people argued. Cluster.

Anyway, it took about 1h15 to get home, but I think probably only 15-20 minutes longer than if we had taken the shuttle to the remote pickup area. I couldn't get a good look, but it definitely seemed like there was a long line of cars waiting to get in, so I'm guessing it would have been 20-25 minutes from the terminal before we got into a car there.

Other observations: traffic in general around the airport wasn't too bad. Taxi line looked pretty long at Terminal C (but probably not 25-30 minutes). I think for future Terminal B arrivals before 10pm, I'll pre-order a Carmel/Dial7 and just go to the remote pickup area, but I'll definitely try to avoid this situation if I can anyway.

EWR-6785

Is it practical/advisable to walk from the Central Terminal (Southwest) with light luggage to National Rental Car? Seems pretty close on map, and would avoid the two-shuttle buses otherwise required.
But wasn't sure if that would be doable with all the construction.

ijgordon

So there is supposedly a pedestrian walkway from the terminal to the car service pickup area. I would THINK you would be able to get from the walkway onto 94th Street, which I'm pretty certain still has sidewalks and crosswalks to take you across the GCP to National. But perhaps worth a call to the local office to check, unless someone with specific experience can verify.

tonypct

LGA was yet another nightmare today. Glad I wasn't flying in or out today. Once again, people getting out of their cars on the roadways and the Grand Central Parkway, lugging their luggage over the concrete dividers, and walking tot heir terminals. I know this is a holiday weekend, but for this to happen once again is inexcusable. I'm flying out of LGA on Thursday. Hope it gets all cleared up by then!

seawolf

I flew out Sunday afternoon and got to Terminal B at 4pm. No traffic. Weird Sunday after Thanksgiving was fine but Monday is not.

ijgordon

The flights are so expensive on Sunday that nobody takes them.

S.R

Are car service drivers still coming inside and holding signs with names on them at terminal B? If so where do they park?

direwoof

Decided to drop off my rental right at LGA which seemed like a huge mistake once I realized that there is construction. My flight is at 5:30 PM on a Tuesday, and I hope to return the car around 3:00-3:30. At first, I didn't think this would be possible with the construction. I saw horror stories about how long it took to get a shuttle to the terminals. However, someone was watching over me because it seems as if JetBlue (who I am flying) are now operating at the terminal right across the street from the Hertz - which is also outside of the "main" concourse.

Do you think I'll make it time-wise? I don't have baggage, and I'm hoping since the terminal is on it's own, the security lines won't be quite as long. Assuming I get there at 3:30 at the latest, and give myself an hour to return the rental car, that still leaves me with a full hour for security. This is worst case scenario - as I really am planning to get there by 3 - so it would be more like an hour and a half.

JFK seems like a mess right now, but I couldn't see if LGA is in a similar situation. All I see are complaints about the construction.

Thanks ahead of time

sbm12

JFK overall is far less of a mess than LGA, blizzard-related meltdowns not withstanding.

That said, if you drop the car at Hertz at 3:30 there is a very good chance you'll be inside security in the Marine Air Terminal at 4:00.

Blumie

I think it’s been 15+ months since the initial reports of significant traffic problems at LGA, but I think I’ve seen only one report of a real problem in the past year. Yes, it’s a mess, but they have traffic moving quite well (relatively speaking). You will not have a problem.

EWR-6785

Bump. What is the latest on travelling on travelling out of terminal B or C/D?
Assuming I'd normally take a taxi or Uber from Terminal B to midtown, is it enough of mess that one might consider JFK instead?

oldgoldflyer

I had a rental return at LGA last year and they made me take two busses to get to the terminal.

dstan

This thread has now been merged into the existing discussion of LGA construction & traffic issues.

/Moderator

christianj

I need to fly out of LGA but am flexible on flights between AA and DL. I've heard that central terminal has the most traffic issues and I assume that is B. Is it thus safer to assume that I will have less issues flying Delta than American with terminal arrival and departure issues?

dstan

Central Terminal is B. Delta is now C and D. Terminal C actually can take the longest to get to, because you have to drive all the way around by the end of D and then come back to C, but C&D are connected airside. From where the entrance ramp splits between B and C/D, it's very close to B, still a long way to C. YMMV.