LGA-JFK travel question
 

I'm flying phx-DTW-LGA on 5/12 and arrive at 6.38 pm. My flight the next day is at 5.10 pm jfk-mad. What is the best way to get to a Marriott brand hotel near JFK? I'm looking for a hotel that has shuttle service to jfk.

Would it be better to just stay the night in Manhattan and take a train from there to jfk?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

In such situations, my preference would be to stay in Manhattan, possibly
even at a hotel close enough to Penn Station to make it to JFK by LIRR or Subway in conjunction with AirTrain from Jamaica station to JFK.

Thanks for the input. I just booked a AAA $179 at the LGA Marriott. My flight the next day isn't until 5. Uber X to JFK?

Depends on if you want to spend some time in the city or not. If you want to explore Manhattan, then yes staying in Manhattan would be best. If you just want convenience to JFK, stay at a Marriott nearby that has a shuttle. Just go to JFK and take the free shuttle

You can get from LGA to JFK airport by hired car, taxi, shuttle service, and train/bus combination. I usually just take the bus/metro combination, takes a little more than an hour to do and it's really easy and cheap.

This is fine - just leave enough time to get to JFK and leave on the early side to avoid getting caught in the beginning of rush hour traffic.

Personally though if the rates were the same at a JFK hotel I'd go ahead and get the Uber X ride out of the way the night I arrived. Plus if you get bored you can take the train into the city for a few hours

There is absolutely nothing to do at either LGA or JFK. If you are insistent on staying at one airport or the other, I would hop in an Uber at LGA on arrival and head for your JFK hotel and spend the night and the next day there. Might as well get that ride out of the way and minimize any remote traffic issues. The JFK area is also minimally nicer than LGA.

But, understand that there is nothing to do at either place and unless you are a fan of hotel restaurant food when you have the opportunity to have a good time in NYC, you are passing up something fun.

Given LGA's proximity to Manhattan, I would absolutely head into Manhattan, spend the night there, have most of the day there and then head out to JFK the next day, either by Subway/LIRR or Uber (depending on your preference). Given that you are not in a hurry, just give yourself more time.

Another vote for staying in Manhattan.

If you really don't want to go into Manhattan, though, I have very mixed feelings about staying at LGA vs. JFK. The one big advantage of staying at JFK is getting the ride out of the way so you don't have to worry about traffic getting to the airport. But I find JFK airport hotels incredibly depressing and the area offers almost nothing, while you can find cheap, top notch cuisine from every corner of the globe within a $10-15 Uber/Lyft ride from LGA (every kind of Chinese food imaginable in Flushing, Thai in Woodside, other East and Southeast Asian in Elmhurst, South Asian and Latin American in Jackson Heights, Greek and Middle Eastern in Astoria, etc.).

Obviously staying in Manhattan will cost significantly more.
Perhaps split the difference - there's a Marriott in Downtown Brooklyn that I think is pretty nice. (Though it may not be that much cheaper than Manhattan.) Probably easiest to take a taxi there from LGA, but then you can fairly easily jump on the A train the next afternoon to JFK.

Not sure what staying in Downtown Brooklyn would accomplish. It's not particularly convenient to LGA or JFK. If you're gonna go to Downtown Brooklyn, you might as well go to Manhattan. (Splitting the difference probably means staying in one of the cheesy hotels on the LIE near the Van Wyck!)

BTW, the OP is flying in on a Friday night and out on a Saturday night, for what it's worth.

The costs for my hotels in Manhattan can be less than $179+tax at hotels as good or better than the LGA Marriott. It can even make sense to buy hotel points for use at hotels in Manhattan to get the cost lower than $179. Also, Priceline and Hotwire can be your friend in NYC.

LGA Marriott has free shuttle to/from LGA but you are on your own getting to JFK the next day ... car service or Uber/Lyft it over on a Saturday should be easy, assuming Mets isn't playing at home nearby @Citi Field. There's on-site dining at typical NYC & Marriott pricing for dinner, or, grab something to eat at the Food Court upstairs at departure (landside) level first before catching the hotel shuttle. Otherwise, there's nothing within walking distance nearby ... not even a 7-11 or convenience store as it's just off/above the Grand Central Pkwy overlooking LGA (nearest to Delta) and ditto for morning breakfast (last time I drove by the area, one of the greasy spoon/24-7 diner is still there near Astoria Blvd & 94th Street, not exactly walkable) aside from hotel option. But, that's a good AAA price/rate as booked - even the Long Island City area with clusters of hotels are more expensive (Fairfield on Queens Blvd & short walk to subway connections ... not sure about free LGA shuttle, but another Fairfield closer to the airport in Astoria does run a free shuttle).

I would not recommend the downtown Marriott in Brooklyn and it's pricier with a more complicated ride over to JFK - down Manhattan Marriott has a rate similar to LGA at about $179 + taxes/fees ... in the Financial District & there are usually deals on weekends (re-check discount rates closer in depending on their bookings/occupancies). If OP heads into Manhattan, I believe the Fairfield by Marriott north of Penn Station (closer to the PA Bus Terminal) sometimes run last minute deals.

Downtown Flushing would be a possibility - both the Sheraton LGA and 1 year old Hyatt Place (roof-top bar of Manhattan's skyline & pool are excellent) up the block have free airport shuttle; and, plenty of diverse Asian dining with a 3 to 4 blocks area - plus, the popular Skyview Mall ... plenty of car service options, plus Uber/Lyft often 5 minutes away for the JFK run.

The long-term Van Wyck Expressway (I-678) to/from JFK is still unfinished & likely remained status quo in 2017, so allow extra time getting there - traffic along that route at all hours & often worst on weekend - with no easy bypass.

Mets are away that weekend:

http://m.mets.mlb.com/schedule/list/2017/05

By splitting the difference, I meant staying somewhere more interesting than a LGA airport hotel, but less expensive than Manhattan. Of course that assumes that the Brooklyn Marriott is in fact less expensive than a comparable hotel in Manhattan; I didn't check. Certainly it's possible that it isn't--there are Brooklyn neighborhoods where real estate is more expensive than parts of Manhattan.

Got it. Turns out one can stay in lower Manhattan more cheaply than downtown Brooklyn. And while lower Manhattan isn't all that interesting, I think it's more interesting than downtown Brooklyn. And traffic-wise, getting to and from downtown Brooklyn often is a nightmare. (I'm a big fan of Brooklyn -- in fact I live in W'burg -- but I find downtown to be the least interesting part of the borough. Of course one can walk from there to Brooklyn Heights and other more interesting neighborhoods, but still ....)