NY Airport Service will NOT take you to the Hotel Excelsior. NY Airport Service's website indicates that they only serve hotels between 31st and 60th streets in Manhattan.

If you have more luggage than you feel comfortable dealing with on the subway, your best bet will probably be Super Shuttle or one of their competitors, like Airlink.

Yeah I notice they said only midtown hotels but then on their little popup menu, it's there.

In any event, I ended up reserving at Edison because Excelsior didn't report any availability via octopustravel.com (though they had $400 rooms from their own site).

Then I went for SuperShuttle because they seem more responsive. Could call them up toll-free whereas the other one didn't reply to an email query. Prepaid everything.

The other thing I noticed was that for a 10 AM flight on Sat. morning, NY Airport Service wanted to pick up at 6:45 while SuperShuttle was a little better at 7:15.

Car Service
 

Sorry if this has been addressed before but I'm still learning my way around to all the great info on FT.

My wife lived in Manhattan for 25 years but has been away for 10+ years and is ready for a visit. She used to use a car service, Tel Aviv, to get from JFK or EWR to midtown. It cost about $35 so not a bad deal. We can't find any information about them so maybe they are out of business. Looking at the sites recommended in this thread it looks as though prices for a car service have gone up quite a bit since then :eek:

We are arriving at JFK from overseas midday on 24 Dec with 3-4 pieces of luggage. What is the best way to get to 39th & Madison without spending a fortune? Is Super Shuttle the best value for money?

When we leave we will be flying out of EWR. What options are there to get out there?

Cheers

Well I have no significant complaints about SuperShuttle other than it was a little packed from JFK to the hotel. They had 10 of us, mainly a lot of German tourists.

Most people were staying at midtown hotels so you didn't have to wait long for them to drop off at your hotel because the drop offs and pick ups were all within blocks of each other.

You could check their site to see if they serve EWR. Don't see why not.

At least at JFK, you have to go to the ground transportation desk and give them your name so they make the call for you. I had prepaid at the web site but they're basically setting up any shuttle which has room after pickups from the other terminals. They told me 30 min. but it was closer to 15.

Also, on the ride to the airport, they tend to want to pick you up like 3 hours before your scheduled flight. That is to account for picking everyone else up and the traffic. I ended up at JFK about 2 hours before a 10 AM Saturday morning flight.

So if car services are more efficient with the time, it may be worth the extra money so that you don't have to wait so long at the airport.

Tel Aviv has been renamed "Dial 7" - phone number is 777 7777. and yes prices have gone up since the past 10 years... it's about 45 USD+ tolls & tips, but you can find coupons on-line or at the airport.


There is a Coach USA bus service. It's about 13 USD one way. They have one route that stops at Grand Central, Penn Station and Port Authority and another one that service lower manhattan (Chinatown & WTC site). I personally find it more convenient than the rail option (NJ Transit + Airtrain) and cheaper than car service. During peak hours they have bus every 30 min, 7 days a week

Thanks wco81 and BBT in NY for the helpful information and contacts. We appreciate the options and feedback. And the link to Dial 7.

It will be an interesting trip - so much has changed in NYC.

Cheers