Is 4 hours adequate time to transfer from New York Laguardia to JFK?

This is a " Crystal Ball " sort of question . The distance between La Guardia and Kennedy is not very great , about 15 miles , but the traffic between the two on the Van Wyck Expressway is highly unpredictable and can be awful. No traffic , it's a breeze , add it and it can be a nightmare. I'm not trying to frighten you and I'm sure you will get other points of view , but here is an alternative : Take a cab a short ride to the NYC subway stop at Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave. and take an Eastbound " E " train to Sutphin Blvd. - Jamaica where you can switch to the automated airlink train direct to the Kennedy terminals , no traffic worries ! Go to the NYC-MTA website for the details . The time of day you will be doing this is about when the traffic starts to build . This is not nearly as complex as it seems ,particularly if you are packed light !! I understand that this is memorial day weekend but nonetheless it's a way of eliminating taking a chance !!!

Thank you, Steven. I'll certainly look into that option.

Are both flights part of the same "ticket"? If so, AA will give you a taxi voucher for a free ride to JFK. But I would call them up and insist that your Dallas flight arrive at JFK.

Thanks,Michael. It is one ticket. I didn't know abou the taxi voucher. I think I will talk to them about the JFK arrival, but on points they are very uncooperative. I'll look at possible connections before I call. Thanks for the tip about the voucher.

I'm more famiiar with United, but I'd call American and tell them it's unacceptable to fly in and out of different airports. I'm assuming since you are using points you have booked way in advance to get those original flights. I had an occurance with United about a month ago, where the original flights (using miles) was from LA direct to Munich, then connecting to Florence, and the leg from Munich to Florence was cancelled. So when I called United they proposed flights connecting in Dallas, Chicago, or Newark. I told the customer service person no, I expected a direct flight from California to Europe, without a connection in the US and that I'd booked these flights 10 1/2 months in advance of the trip. I also gave the person I was speaking to options of flying out of either LAX or SFO and to either Frankfurt or Munich. After talking to her supervisor I ended up with direct SFO to Frankfurt flights. But had I not accepted their original suggestions, I would have ended up with flights that were less than desireable. So give American a call, and suggest the flights you would want to be on.

im really glad to hear that you dont have to deal with all of that. whew! my apartment is 20 miles from jfk and i have yet to make it on public transportation in under three hours, no matter what route or combination of routes i try (note: i will never take a cab) so i really felt for you. nyc is the worst.

even with backed up traffic, you can make it. the only thing is that while sitting in the stand still traffic, you will be stressed out. someone above suggested taking a cab to the E train. this is a good suggestion because you avoid the traffic. it sucks though because you will have to take a cab, then a train and then the airtrain. all that just to go between airports. theres shuttles that go between the airports, scroll down a bit:
http://www.panynj.gov/airports/lga-airport-connections.html id be upset at the airline.

Let me throw a wrench into your plans. The Mets have a home game that afternoon that should be letting out about the time you pass by Citi Field. Expect extra traffic.

Thanks for the advice, especially about calling the airline. I called American this morning and explained that when I first made the reservation there was a 7 hour layover, which gave ample time to not only change airports but possibly stop at my favorite Italian restaurant. I explained that with the flight change, I now had 4 hours, which would probably be enough time, but that I would have not accepted that schedule if it had been the one offered from the beginning. I suggested another flight from DFW to JFK that was at about the same time. She checked and said there were no award seats on that flight. I then asked if she could do something about that since there had been a schedule change. She said she would check with her supervisor. She put me on hold and was gone a few minutes. She came back on the line and said that the change had been requested and sent to the "seating department", and that I should receive an e-mail within 24 hours. I received the e-mail within an hour.
So, thank you for the suggestion as to how to deal with the airline. It worked.

Thomas, So glad it worked out for you! I do have to say that Steven in White Plains had a good suggestion in case anyone else has to do this. We've taken the train from Manhattan to JFK several times and found it fast, easy, and direct. I wouldn't bother with a taxi once you are in Manhattan.

As an FYI, calling the airline works with not only miles, but paid fares. I booked fares over Christmas with a flight out of Steamboat, connecting in Denver to SFO. They layover was about 50 minutes, but the following flight out of Denver cost another $100 per person. Anyway, United moved up the Den-SFO, so now we only had a 35 minute connection. Called United and they changed the 2nd leg to a later flight with a 1 1/2 hour layover.