How to get from Laguardia to JFK

August 10, 2006 2:33 PM

I am flying from Atlanta to Rome with a connection in NYC, however in NYC I have to change airports. There is a 3 hour layover time. So my concern is how do I get from Laguardia to JFK the quickest and cheapest way? Or more specifically how much would I expect to pay for this cab ride(probably the quickest)?
posted by meeshelle39 to travel & transportation (10 comments total)

Similar thread on this topic.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:35 PM on August 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

Previously. Here's hoping it's not this week.
posted by deadfather at 2:37 PM on August 10, 2006

seriously. switch flights for more time or get them all on the same airline in the same airport.

with today's adventures, it's bound to be tight. ATL-LGA is dicey in the summer in the best of times...

good luck.

oh, and to actually answer your question, the only way i see it happening is by taxi. maybe $20? perhaps you want to call a car service ahead of time so you don't have to deal with the potentially long taxi line...
posted by elsar at 2:45 PM on August 10, 2006

Three hours is not enough time, especially for an international flight and today's mess. You might make it in a cab, but the main road headed that way is under construction and frankly never any good. Expect that the cab ride will take at least an hour. I would rebook a direct into Laguardia from Atlanta, and still leave at least a three hour layover.
posted by caddis at 3:16 PM on August 10, 2006

Call one of the car services such as Carmel Limo 212.666.6666 that has cars at the airport waiting. 3 hours is plenty of time unless you are doing it during rush hour. Then it will be close. Even if you are an hour late upon arrival, you have plenty of time. It is a 15 minute ride with no traffic and 45 at worst with almost bumper to bumper. If you are running late, when you get to JFK check-in see if they can escort you to the front of the security line if it is long.

I once had a flight out of LGA canceled and had 35 minutes to make a different flight to same destination out of JFK. I told the cabbie I would double his meter if we made it to JFK within 17 minutes. He laughed and took off. The entire cab ride through traffic (but not too heavy) was the scariest sustained 17 minutes of my life. However, we made it and I made my flight that had I missed I might not be still married today.

I know of no way to get from LGA to JFK reasonably without involving a car.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:25 PM on August 10, 2006

I'd give you a 50% chance of making it. I disagree with Caddis and agree with JohnnyGunn: it's very unlikely the car trip would take more than an hour, and if there's no traffic, could take you as little as 20 minutes in a taxi (based on my own experience and googlemaps)

But is 3 hours enough time for the plane to get to the gate (which at LGA takes forever), for you to collect your luggage, get to JFK in a cab and check in sufficiently early for an international flight? When terrorists are trying to blow up planes with spiked gatorade? Hmmmm... maybe not.

There must be 50-bazillion flights a day from ATL to JFK -- you can't get on one?

And what if your first flight's delayed? I was once booked on a christmas eve flight to meet my family, including my 1-month-old daughter on her first christmas, LGA-Atlanta-Tampa. But because the LGA-ATL leg was delayed, I wasn't allowed to fly b/c I'd miss my ATL-TPA leg. So what did I do? Took a cab to from LGA to JFK and got an a standby flight direct from JFK to TPA. I don't suggest that anyone else try this. I had to show the gate agent a picture of my baby just to convince him to put me on the standby list.

There is a way to get from LGA to JFK by public transportation, but unless you have most of a day, I'm not even going to bother describing it.
posted by hhc5 at 3:39 PM on August 10, 2006

I live maybe a mile away from Laguardia, and taking car service to JFK takes me 15-20 minutes.

Cab rides are officially estimated by the TLC as costing $24 - $28.

Getting through check-in and security at Terminal 4 took us an hour when we were flying to London.

YMMV, but you should be okay.  Car service would definitely cut down on the possibility of missing the flight.
posted by Remy at 3:43 PM on August 10, 2006

Yes to what Remy said... except.... you don't say what time of day you'll be commuting. Part of the trip will be on the Van Wyck Expressway, which can get quite congested. The odds of this happening are especially high between 6:00AM to 10AM, and 3PM to 7PM.
But you can hit bad traffic anytime, if there's an accident or the Traffic Gods are angry. Ya neva know.
So if you're hit traffic the drive could take double the time Remy estimates.
signed,
The Voice of Experience
posted by HarryS at 5:25 PM on August 10, 2006

What about your luggage? By the time you take your international flight, after today's events, all carry-on could be banned. Or in any case you might want to check your bags if carrying toothpaste, shampoo, etc. So add time in LGA for the bags to get to the carousel, and a little extra time at JFK to check the bags again. Three hours is too tight. Which wasn't your question, but could be a concern.
posted by bigmuffindaddy at 5:58 PM on August 10, 2006

Thanks for all of your help. to be on the safe side I changed my flight to the other one they have...which is at 630 am, totally sucks, but it puts me in NYC with more like 8 hours to navigate, not 3. :)
posted by meeshelle39 at 8:25 AM on August 11, 2006