Is LGA any better now that Terminal B is open?

[cured]

I just watched a video of the opening of Terminal B at LaGuardia. It is gorgeous. Have things gotten any better at LGA or is it still a PIA to fly into and get to Jersey?

 

It is still a long, long time till flights open for our lifted summer 2021 cruise out of Cape Liberty (crossing fingers) but I am bored with no planning to do and curiosity has gotten the best of me.

[Nitemare]

I've read the airport parts of it are great, but how much of that is due to the huge reduction in flights and passengers?

Getting to NJ is just as bad as ever, although there is still less traffic.

[Got2Cruise]

There is still major roadway construction at Lga. I was there March. Don’t know how much was completed since Covid. 

 

Getting from LGA to NJ always will be a pia. You can’t do EWR?

[navybankerteacher]

On 6/24/2020 at 8:15 PM, cured said:

I just watched a video of the opening of Terminal B at LaGuardia. It is gorgeous. Have things gotten any better at LGA or is it still a PIA to fly into and get to Jersey?

 

It is still a long, long time till flights open for our lifted summer 2021 cruise out of Cape Liberty (crossing fingers) but I am bored with no planning to do and curiosity has gotten the best of me.

Sure Terminal B is an improvement - but if you are talking Cape Liberty, why would you think of LGA vs. EWR?  There would have to be a HUGE fare differential to justify ground transportation hassle, time and cost.

[cured]

43 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Sure Terminal B is an improvement - but if you are talking Cape Liberty, why would you think of LGA vs. EWR?  There would have to be a HUGE fare differential to justify ground transportation hassle, time and cost.

It would be around $2,500 RT for our larger group, west coast to east coast, large enough amount to endure some hassle.

 

We have so many points and credits on Southwest from everything that has been canceled, we can fly everyone without spending another dime.

 

 

[princeton123211]

17 hours ago, cured said:

It would be around $2,500 RT for our larger group, west coast to east coast, large enough amount to endure some hassle.

 

We have so many points and credits on Southwest from everything that has been canceled, we can fly everyone without spending another dime.

I mean I guess thats fair-- $2500 isn't something to sniff at. Thats also assuming that Southwest even survives in its current form which isn't a sure bet but they are in better shape than others. If they somehow went into bankruptcy restructuring theres a good chance those outstanding points and credits could become worthless. 

 

For a larger group I would then just splurge on hiring a private service-- either a couple large SUVs or a minibus. Will save you a lot of headaches trying to corral your group in expensive taxis. Getting from LGA over to Cape Liberty is a total PITA and rife with opportunities to get caught in crippling traffic. 

[cured]

42 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

I mean I guess thats fair-- $2500 isn't something to sniff at. Thats also assuming that Southwest even survives in its current form which isn't a sure bet but they are in better shape than others. If they somehow went into bankruptcy restructuring theres a good chance those outstanding points and credits could become worthless. 

 

For a larger group I would then just splurge on hiring a private service-- either a couple large SUVs or a minibus. Will save you a lot of headaches trying to corral your group in expensive taxis. Getting from LGA over to Cape Liberty is a total PITA and rife with opportunities to get caught in crippling traffic. 

Thanks.  Before we lifted our cruise (now canceled) we were looking into a couple of limos from one of the two limo services that are always mentioned here.  We had a quote of a little over $200 for the trip into NJ (LGA to Hyatt on the Hudson, Jersey City) from Dial 7.

 

If travel opens up more, we will try to use the credits before and just purchase into EWR. But I don't see a whole lot of travel opportunities between now and next August, so it might just be dealing with the total hassle of LGA.  But if LGA remains a total PIA, we may make more of an effort in the next year to find ways to use them or donate the points. Which is one of the reasons I am asking so far in advance; do I save my points or try to use them.  On a positive point, if we do fly into LGA, it will make us appreciate more finally being able to board the ship the next day and give us a nice story to tell in the future. "You remember when we flew into LGA?".

 

Our flight out probably won't be till evening as it is a flight where that actually makes a stop where some can get off and then continues on to the airport the rest need to get off, that is if flight schedules remain close to what they are now.  A year out is not indicative of what we will see when flights open next year.

 

Has anyone done the Royal excursion where they drive around NYC?  Do you actually get off the bus or is it just a drive by type thing?  We really don't care about sightseeing much (been there, done that) but it sounds like it might be more entertaining than sitting at the airport.

Edited June 29, 2020 by cured
corrected the limo service we had originally booked

[AF-1]

On 6/28/2020 at 7:10 PM, cured said:

It would be around $2,500 RT for our larger group, west coast to east coast, large enough amount to endure some hassle.

 

We have so many points and credits on Southwest from everything that has been canceled, we can fly everyone without spending another dime.

 

 

Good for you;  and Southwest pulled out of EWR last year.  Have fun

[cured]

13 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Good for you;  and Southwest pulled out of EWR last year.  Have fun

I know. I was not happy to see that to put it mildly.  

 

My daughter is heavily involved in a travel sport, so we always book on Southwest because of the 2 suitcase allowance to be able to carry her gear.  I was originally happy to see that Southwest flew into EWR and started racking up all the points I could.  I had Frontier originally booked for this summer, but with all the sports stuff canceled and credits issued and all the points the family has accrued, we might just have to suffer a few hours of misery.