Transportation to JFK

[emarismom]

Thinking about booking some really cheap flights on American going into LGA and out of JFK for a September cruise.  We will stay near the LGA airport one night precruise and will transfer from the port to JFK at the end of the cruise.  At JFK we will rent a car for 5 nights to drive into Connecticut and New Hampshire before returning to JFK for the flight home.  What is the best way to get from the port to JFK?  UBER, Taxi, Subway, Shuttle?  

 

I thought about renting a car close to the port, but then I will have to drive back into the city to return it and I still would have to do the transfer to JFK. 

[princeton123211]

37 minutes ago, emarismom said:

What is the best way to get from the port to JFK?  UBER, Taxi, Subway, Shuttle?  

Either Uber or taxi-- depending on which one is faster. They are nearly priced the same-- the taxi has a flat rate of $70 but you pile on some surcharges, tolls, and tips. Ubers are typically $110ish from Midtown. Taxi will be similar. 

 

41 minutes ago, emarismom said:

I thought about renting a car close to the port, but then I will have to drive back into the city to return it and I still would have to do the transfer to JFK. 

You could look into doing a one way rental-- sometimes these work really well (typically between corporately owned rental agencies of a major provider like Budget, Avis, Hertz, and not as well from their franchise locations). Sometimes the one way drop fee will be prohibitive, but if its less than the $100 Uber/taxi fare it could be worth it purely for convenience. 

[Brighton Line]

Have you looked into the cost of picking up a car in Manhattan and returning it to JFK? A lot of times compare the cost with the drop charge to what you are paying for transportation to JFK and the rental at JFK with the airport fees added in compared to not having those fees renting in Manhattan. 

 

How are you handling your own luggage, walking from 12th Ave W 48th St. to 8th Ave and W 50th St for the E or C train s a one-mile walk uphill. I've done it both ways but I'm a New Yorker. 

 

You could ride share to Grand Central or Penn Station for LIRR to Jamacia AirTrain non-peak LIRR is $5.00 and AirTrain is $8.25 though using a 10 Trip if you have more than 2 people saves money.

[emarismom]

Brighton Line, 

 

I just booked the Alamo at 332 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036-5419 with a drop off at the JFK for 237.00!!  Thank you for the suggestion!! I had looked at it a while back, but the prices were higher!  Mapquest says it is an 11 minute walk to the car rental agency!  Do you know if that is accurate?

[mking8288]

@emarismom  Looks like you are sailing NCL in late September - street exit / disembarkation will leave you out on 12th Avenue and W. 48th Street - MapQuest's 11 minutes walk to Alamo on W. 44th near 9th Avenue (without luggage) - about 7 or 8 long city blocks.  I would probably add another 5 minutes & make sure your rollerboards or spinners got "sturdy" wheels that can handle NY's pavements & sidewalks, etc.  

 

Depending on the number in your group - you might also want to consider, using NCL's airport (bus) shuttle or transfer services post-cruise / disembarkation ... was recently priced at $37.50 p/p one-way to either LGA or JFK.   You can book this onboard the ship and cancel up to 48 or 72 hours ahead of arrival back into NY.   That's a fraction of your Alamo one-way rental with drop-off plus gasoline ... and careful with surcharges on toll with the PlatePass program option.  

 

Bus transfer will be a little slower and you'll need to wait for the bus to fill up/load other pax & luggage before they leave for the airport - relax on the way to JFK & let the city driving pro deal with the traffic and road, and, a little slower.  

 

Otherwise, licensed yellow-taxi is a fixed flat rate, with toll & all surcharges, congestion fees, etc. all inclusive is about $75 plus tips ... looking at about $90 in total; always the same as using NCL's bus transfer for 2.  Uber/Lyft are almost the same these days as yellow taxi, except that on our last 2 cruises returning to NY - their surge/congestion pricing kicked in - upon demand, jacking up the fares much higher.  Either option is good for 3 pax plus reasonable luggage.  Car service is competitive and almost the same as well - do whatever is within your comfort zones.   It seemed to me, these are all "cheaper" alternative and options to get out to JFK from the ship terminal on weekend mornings, travel time shouldn't be more than 45 to 60 minutes, curbside to curbside.  

 

If you do use NCL's airport transfer, they will drop you off at one of the terminal and/or AirTrain station's parking lot, and, then you will need to board & take the free AirTrain to the rental car stops, and from there - head over to your car rental place.  

 

If rental car pickup is preferred, keep checking back as Hertz use to / likely will continue sometimes - offer excellent deals on one-way car rental between the "city" and their airport corporate locations - with a 4 hour allowance for pickup & dropoff.  Pre-Covid, those rates were dirty cheap ... I haven't check them lately.  Good luck in whatever you choose & decide upon.  

[Nitemare]

If you don't trust the Mapquest info, double check on google maps, which is the Gold Standard for mapping in the US.