Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Destinations > America - USA > New York City
Reload this Page >

LGA to JFK - Airporter bus or Lyft?

Community
Wiki Posts
Search

LGA to JFK - Airporter bus or Lyft?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Aug 23, 2019, 9:26 am
  #16  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
A 12:20 arrival at LGA may mean that you aren't in an Uber until 1:00. A 3:59 PM departure from JFK means a likely bag deadline of 3:14 PM. That deadline means at the counter, not standing in a line. Not something I would cut too close. This means a maximum --- stress maximum --- ground transit time of 2:15. That is not so much time that I would chance stops along the way. Get yourself to JFK, drop the bag, go through the checkpoint and then find something that suits.
Often1 is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2019, 3:29 pm
  #17  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Mass
Programs: Independent
Posts: 4,829
I decided I wasn't going to risk it. I got to LGA, grabbed something to eat, got a ticket for Airporter, which is now Golden line or something like that, and promptly waited 45 minutes till there was a van that had enough room for me. I got to JFK about 2:45, we were fortunately the first stop.

So, from experience, I would want a little more time to be able to stop along the way. Traffic was bad, and getting in and out of LGA just too complicated.
Cloudship is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2019, 6:21 pm
  #18  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
I have discouraged any number of people from that ground transfer. The drive can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. All it takes is an accident and a bit of construction and a straight shot turns into a long wait.
Often1 is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2019, 2:16 pm
  #19  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: MSY (finally); previously NYC, BOS, AUH
Programs: AA EXP, 6MM; BA GLD
Posts: 17,248
Originally Posted by Often1
I have discouraged any number of people from that ground transfer. The drive can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. All it takes is an accident and a bit of construction and a straight shot turns into a long wait.
I have done this transfer many times and have never missed a flight. Of course an accident can screw things up, as is true on any roadway anywhere, but it's pretty reliably a 30-45 minute ride (and less on those rare occasions there is no traffic). That said, I airport-to-airport ground transfers are always best avoided no matter where in the world you are.
Blumie is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2019, 3:49 pm
  #20  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Mass
Programs: Independent
Posts: 4,829
Usually I avoid that transfer too, but this was a very last minute trip, and the JFK part got booked first. So it was that or getting up at 4:30 for train to Penn Station and then the LIRR to Jamaica and then the airtrain to the airport. And this was much cheaper.
Cloudship is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2019, 8:33 am
  #21  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
Originally Posted by Blumie
I have done this transfer many times and have never missed a flight. Of course an accident can screw things up, as is true on any roadway anywhere, but it's pretty reliably a 30-45 minute ride (and less on those rare occasions there is no traffic).
Right, but the current LGA construction situation throws a wrench into that reliability (but moreso at certain peak days/hours, it doesn't seem to be a total s-show all the time).
ijgordon is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2019, 9:50 am
  #22  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: MSY (finally); previously NYC, BOS, AUH
Programs: AA EXP, 6MM; BA GLD
Posts: 17,248
Originally Posted by ijgordon
Right, but the current LGA construction situation throws a wrench into that reliability (but moreso at certain peak days/hours, it doesn't seem to be a total s-show all the time).
Even with that I’d say the OP makes the 3+ hour connection 95+% of the times. I’d take those odds.
Blumie is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2019, 11:09 am
  #23  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Mass
Programs: Independent
Posts: 4,829
I didn't have any doubts about being able to make the connection. Worse comes to Worst you simply divert to Jamaica Station and take the Airtrain from there. The doubts were whether or not I could make a stop for lunch along the way or was better off eating in the airport.
Cloudship is offline  
Old Aug 27, 2019, 11:23 am
  #24  
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Shangri-La Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,412
On a recent weekday, a cancelled flight at JFK forced me to get to LGA, albeit at the start of the afternoon rush hour.

Instead of risking the Van Wyck/other roads, I decided to take the A from Aqueduct-North Conduit, transferred at Broadway Junction to the Z towards Sutphin-JFK (indeed, where the even less reliable AirTrain goes), then to the E to alight at Jackson Heights. Hopped on the Q70, and was at LGA within 1.5 hours.

A couple of things-- if one had taken the AirTrain to Sutphin-JFK, it would have some quite some time. Also, if it were a weekend, I might have taken the subway to "some station," then Uber'd it, if only because the subway is a different beast Saturdays/Sundays.
BuildingMyBento is offline  
Old Aug 27, 2019, 1:50 pm
  #25  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Mass
Programs: Independent
Posts: 4,829
Unfortunately NYC subway system is a maze and rather far too complicated for most people who are unfamiliar with it. It is one of my most hated systems. Perhaps this is part of the future plans, but I don't understand why there is no subway connection to LGA itself, and why there is no train connection between LGA and JFK. For that matter, why not connect JFK and EWR by at least one simple train change, if not a direct line?
Cloudship is offline  
Old Aug 27, 2019, 9:41 pm
  #26  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
Originally Posted by Blumie

Even with that I’d say the OP makes the 3+ hour connection 95+% of the times. I’d take those odds.
Of course - but I wouldn't expect it to reliably take 30-45 minutes these days, and thus guarantee enough time to comfortably stop somewhere en route.
ijgordon is offline  
Old Aug 27, 2019, 9:46 pm
  #27  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
Originally Posted by Cloudship
Unfortunately NYC subway system is a maze and rather far too complicated for most people who are unfamiliar with it. It is one of my most hated systems. Perhaps this is part of the future plans, but I don't understand why there is no subway connection to LGA itself,
It's called NIMBY. @:-)
[Though there is expected to be a train connection with the revitalization, but it will be out of the way toward Flushing, and not save any time in normal conditions.]
ijgordon is offline  
Old Aug 28, 2019, 12:49 am
  #28  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: MSY (finally); previously NYC, BOS, AUH
Programs: AA EXP, 6MM; BA GLD
Posts: 17,248
Originally Posted by ijgordon
Of course - but I wouldn't expect it to reliably take 30-45 minutes these days, and thus guarantee enough time to comfortably stop somewhere en route.
Fair enough.

Originally Posted by ijgordon
It's called NIMBY. @:-)
I know you’re being facetious, but as it is neighborhoods — almost exclusively poor neighborhoods— were devastated by the development of the city’s extensive network of highways, which didn’t just destroy back yards but entire neighborhoods. A new subway line would do the same. Ask the residents and businesses along the new Second Avenue subway line.

We all would love to hop on a train as soon as we get off a plane and have it drop us at the door of our home/hotel/office. In NYC, the cost-benefit analysis may just not be there, particularly when you consider that the existing public transportation options are far better than most give credit for. From LGA and JFK, one can get to most destinations in Manhattan in about an hour, comparable IME to flying into LHR. While LHR has the HEX, by the time you transfer to the underground and get to your destination I find it’s about an hour or more to most destinations other than Paddington Station itself (and very expensive).

I love flying into cities like Amsterdam and Stockholm, which make the transfer from the airport to the city so seamless. I don’t think that’s in NYC’s future.
Blumie is offline  
Old Aug 28, 2019, 11:14 am
  #29  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,736
Originally Posted by Cloudship
I don't understand why there is no subway connection to LGA itself,
There could be, but the people who live in the area it would go through managed to kill the idea.

Originally Posted by Cloudship
and why there is no train connection between LGA and JFK.
There just isn't that much volume going between the airports, so it's not a particularly high priority. Nearly 90% of LGA's pax either originate or terminate in NYC.

Originally Posted by Cloudship
For that matter, why not connect JFK and EWR by at least one simple train change, if not a direct line?
Again, not a huge amount of demand for inter-airport connections.
cestmoi123 is offline  
Old Aug 28, 2019, 11:16 am
  #30  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,736
Originally Posted by Blumie
A new subway line would do the same. Ask the residents and businesses along the new Second Avenue subway line.

Everybody loves the 2nd Ave Subway. The only complaint was how long it took to build.
cestmoi123 is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.