Airport transfer

Sounds tight to me. Is this on a single ticket, or are they totally separate tickets. If they are separate tickets, how do you know your flight is going to arrive on time at Laguardia, notorious for delayed flights?

This is all booked in a single ticket. I have hired a car service to be waiting for me and they claim that they can have me between the airports in 35 minutes. As you say, the only issue is a delayed flight at LaGuardia.

Without checked bags, you have a shot. Not something I would ever plan, but sounds like its a done deal.

According to the airport's website, a private car will take 30 minutes. That's assuming that traffic isn't too bad! What time of day are you doing this? Also - be sure you know which terminal at JFK you are going to - there are eight terminals. You don't want to waste any time going to the wrong terminal and having to take the train to the right one.

Will you be returning through the same route? Getting through customs at JFK can be a nightmare - that's what convinced me to get Global Entry.

Good luck!

I was landing at 8:30pm, but everything has changed in the last couple of hours. I am flying Virgin America from Dallas to NYC. I called them and explained the situation and my concern. They told me that if I called reservations at Midnight on the day I am leaving that they can put me on confirmed standby and get me a seat on an earlier flight, if there is one available, and it would cost no more than $50. I had her check and there were plenty of seats on the 3 earlier flights in. So I may have a 5 - 12 hour layover, I think I am covered there now.

I will need to check on the terminal I would leave out of.

I am returning the same route, but I already have Global Entry, so I should be ok there. Plus, I have a 12 hour layover on the way back.

I have a 12 hour layover on the way back.

geez louise!!!

aren't there direct flights between DFW and Europe any longer? When I used to travel DFW - London I never had to stop anywhere along the way. A however many hours flight plus 12 hours changing planes? You must have a big pain threshold. I would have screamed!

There are plenty of direct flights out of DFW to Europe.....if you want to pay for them. I am flying out of Love Field into LaGuardia, changing airports and flying to Europe out of JFK and I am saving a TON of money in doing so. For that amount, I can handle a 12 hour layover and an airport change. Plus, there are worse places to have a layover than NYC.

they still have flights out of Love Field?

My brother in law sang for JFK when he landed there, November 22, 1963.

they still have flights out of Love Field?

Yes, big hub for Southwest Airlines, in fact, it is their headquarters.

Yes. Love Field is booming. It has been remodeled and has more airlines in there than before. With the repeal of the Wright Amendment, Love Field has expanded the number of flights in and out of there in the last couple of years.

Try to get that change if you can. There is horrible construction going on at Laguardia and roads have been closed and others diverted. Traffic is a mess.

If you can't change, make sure the car service knows your arriving flight number and departing one as well. They will then know which terminals but you should know as well. Both at LaGuardia and Kennedy.

At 8:30 PM, traffic won't be as bad between the two airports.

If you are standing by for an earlier flight, it will get you there in the middle of rush hour. You'd better leave even earlier and have a nice loooong layover in NY. If you did, you could get on the bus to the subway to the Long Island RR and get yourself out to JFK without fighting the traffic.

As Frank said, LaGuardia has construction going on that makes it and the roads in and out a mess.

How much are you saving after paying a car service and stand by flight?

If you are standing by for an earlier flight, it will get you there in
the middle of rush hour. You'd better leave even earlier and have a
nice loooong layover in NY.

I will probably get on a the 10:30a or the 1:30p flight into NYC. My connecting flight is at 11:30p, so I will have plenty of time, even with rush hour.

As Frank said, LaGuardia has construction going on that makes it and
the roads in and out a mess. How much are you saving after paying a
car service and stand by flight?

Even after the stand by flight and the car service I'm still saving about $450 - 500 flying out of Love Field and into LaGuardia.

OP,

If there is an event at the nearby Citi field that may impact traffic too, but your driver should know about it and take it into consideration.

Also if for some reason traffic is royally screwed up there's a station in Jamaica Queens where the Long Island Rail Road, NYC subway and the JFK airtrain meet. You can have the driver drop you there and it's about a 20 minute ride, depending on the terminal. I would only consider this as a last resort.

Good luck and report back about how it went.

That's a big chunk of change.

It would be good if the New Yorkers chimed in about the transfer.

Edit: Thanks New Yorkers for setting the route straight. I'll delete what I said.

"With only a carry on I'd think a taxi or privatr car to the closest subway once you cross over to Manhattan, to Penn Station to pick up the Long Island RR, to the Sky Train would be the fastest and surest. "

This is unnecessary doubling back. You can instead take a taxi or private car to Jamaica Station (where the Long Island Rail Road from Penn Station goes) to get the AirTrain. Once on the AirTrain, it's 15-25 minutes to your terminal, depending on which terminal. The AirTrain, for much of its length, goes nonstop over the Van Wyck Expressway, sailing over the traffic jams. It costs $5 for this route.

To find your terminal at JFK, figure out who operates your flight. For example, if you are ticketed on Delta to Paris, is it actually operated by Delta or by Air France? Then, look at this list to see which terminal to use: http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk-airlines.html

There is no reason to go into Manhattan to make this transfer.

As someone who was born, raised and still visits Queens quite often, let me say that taking the car service from LaGuardia to Jamaica Station makes no sense.

By the time you would get to Jamaica Station, you'd be out of LaGuardia, past Citifield, past the bottleneck where the GCP, LIE and VW merge, and only have about 3 miles to go before arriving at JFK. And if you did get off, you'd have to deal with the traffic on Jamaica Ave.

Stay in the car.

Thanks everyone for the advise and feedback. My hope is to get on confirmed standby and this conversation all being a mute point, but if not at least I know the mountain that I face.

This has been a good learning experience for future travels. I was not aware of LaGuardia having the terrible on-time record that they have until starting this thread. I now know to look at stuff like that before booking future travels because the last thing I want to be is completely stressed out about connections while getting to my final destination of a vacation trip.